As you are no doubt aware from my prior postings, or perhaps by "overhearing" my conversations in my completely private cubicle, I have slavishly devoted myself to improving my physical condition. I have been spending countless hours in the gym under the strict tutelage of a strangely terrifying professional trainer. She says her name is "Amber," but at the end of one of my workouts I'm certain I heard her referred to as Sajida Heiralla Tuffah, a woman known to have been smuggled out of Iraq in the early days of the war to testify about the atrocities she participated in under Saddam's regime.
In fairness to Ms. Tuffah, I'm still seeking confirmation of her identity, so don't take that as gospel. You see, I heard the name during a post-workout period of intoxication, either from the natural endorphins released from the exercise or the handful of Valium I took in case the endorphins took too long. Either way, she is quite skilled in the art of pain, so you can understand my confusion.
Actually, whoever she really is, she confirmed today that I am, in fact, making a little progress. To me, the end of every workout feels like "G*DDA**SH**F*CK I'M PARALYZED!!!" but she is actually paying attention to what's going on and she says I'm improving some. I think I'll start tipping her with real bills from now on. Well, depending on who she really is.
Just out of curiosity, is there any good reason not to eat 2 lbs of fresh cherries in one sitting? Just asking.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Be Careful in Coral Reefs
Dear Friend(s):
At the request* of my only known reader, I used some of my sophisticated photographic equipment to provide a close-up image of the coral burn I received in Cozumel. Unfortunately, the really close-up pics were either focused on leg hairs or showed nothing but slightly red skin. In either case, they were not appropriately dramatic for a blog such as this. I believe the picture included here is the most dramatic in my collection.
This completely unretouched photo is noteworthy in that a) it's gross, b) it shows that even after ten days coral stings leave a mark, and c) it's gross. I've discovered that I can make the burn itch by scratching it, make it hurt by scratching it harder or poking it with a pin, or completely forget it's there by not touching it.
I presume you're thinking, "Jeebus, doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time, or have something meaningful to say?" To that offensive opinion I offer you a virtual smack in the face with a linen glove. I will, nonetheless, answer your questions:
No.
* OK, by "request" I should clarify that the topic of the leg came up tangentially in an email discussion and I threatened to (and actually did) post a close-up photo. Technically, it wasn't a request, per se.
At the request* of my only known reader, I used some of my sophisticated photographic equipment to provide a close-up image of the coral burn I received in Cozumel. Unfortunately, the really close-up pics were either focused on leg hairs or showed nothing but slightly red skin. In either case, they were not appropriately dramatic for a blog such as this. I believe the picture included here is the most dramatic in my collection.
This completely unretouched photo is noteworthy in that a) it's gross, b) it shows that even after ten days coral stings leave a mark, and c) it's gross. I've discovered that I can make the burn itch by scratching it, make it hurt by scratching it harder or poking it with a pin, or completely forget it's there by not touching it.
I presume you're thinking, "Jeebus, doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time, or have something meaningful to say?" To that offensive opinion I offer you a virtual smack in the face with a linen glove. I will, nonetheless, answer your questions:
No.
* OK, by "request" I should clarify that the topic of the leg came up tangentially in an email discussion and I threatened to (and actually did) post a close-up photo. Technically, it wasn't a request, per se.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Keepin' it Alive
Just wanted to post something new so you didn't lose interest.
I think I forgot to mention that our last day diving in Cozumel I got a little too close to some coral and got a nasty sting on my hand and leg. It wasn't too painful when I got it, but believe it or not I've still got a big red welt on my leg. I know you guys are curious, so I've taken the liberty of posting a pic. It itches a bit, but no real damage. This is why divers (smart ones, anyway) wear wetsuits even when the water's warm. If it had been a portugese man-of-war or some other free-floating jellyfish, it would have been much worse.
I think I forgot to mention that our last day diving in Cozumel I got a little too close to some coral and got a nasty sting on my hand and leg. It wasn't too painful when I got it, but believe it or not I've still got a big red welt on my leg. I know you guys are curious, so I've taken the liberty of posting a pic. It itches a bit, but no real damage. This is why divers (smart ones, anyway) wear wetsuits even when the water's warm. If it had been a portugese man-of-war or some other free-floating jellyfish, it would have been much worse.
My other knee STILL hurts. I looked back through my posts, and saw that it first started hurting on May 27, after our four-hour walk. I'm worried about it, because every day I can't hit the gym or the treadmill or the pool at full capacity I'm losing an opportunity to build stamina for October. I couldn't finish my treadmill program this morning.
This afternoon I decided to say "bugger it all" and went down the hill to our community pool. I tried snorkeling, but there were too many kids that kept getting in the way so I strapped on my SCUBA gear. Keeping to the bottom let me avoid swimming into the sprogs and my tank was like a turtle's shell, ensuring they injured themselves if they dove down on top of me. Even with 1500# of air I got a good 1/2 hr of strong swimming in. I think I'll try to do this a few times a week after work: good for the legs and low-impact on the knees. I'm using my old Oceanic Vector blade fins. They're harder to kick with than my ScubaPro Twin Jets, but the additional resistance will help me out in the long run.
At the pool, my only worry was that the other adults would think that I was there to catch illicit views of their precious semi-aquatic disease vectors. I'm glad that second-stage regulators are designed to be puked through, because I did my very best to stay as far away from any living creature as possible.
I've scheduled some modifications to my SCUBA gear: I'm having the low-pressure inflator hose shortened 3" to accomodate my emergency air horn which will remove this big loop that develops over my left ear. I'm also having my computer/gauge console mounted to a quick-disconnect so I can separate it from my regulator and pack it safely in my carry-on.
This afternoon I decided to say "bugger it all" and went down the hill to our community pool. I tried snorkeling, but there were too many kids that kept getting in the way so I strapped on my SCUBA gear. Keeping to the bottom let me avoid swimming into the sprogs and my tank was like a turtle's shell, ensuring they injured themselves if they dove down on top of me. Even with 1500# of air I got a good 1/2 hr of strong swimming in. I think I'll try to do this a few times a week after work: good for the legs and low-impact on the knees. I'm using my old Oceanic Vector blade fins. They're harder to kick with than my ScubaPro Twin Jets, but the additional resistance will help me out in the long run.
At the pool, my only worry was that the other adults would think that I was there to catch illicit views of their precious semi-aquatic disease vectors. I'm glad that second-stage regulators are designed to be puked through, because I did my very best to stay as far away from any living creature as possible.
I've scheduled some modifications to my SCUBA gear: I'm having the low-pressure inflator hose shortened 3" to accomodate my emergency air horn which will remove this big loop that develops over my left ear. I'm also having my computer/gauge console mounted to a quick-disconnect so I can separate it from my regulator and pack it safely in my carry-on.
Monday, May 28, 2007
I'm Famous!
Down at the very bottom of this page, you'll see a link to the "Salty Dog Blues & Roots" Podcast. Taped in Melbourne, Australia, the show is aired on Port FM 107.1 in Port Douglas, QLD, AU and over the Internet as a Podcast or MP3 download. It's my favorite podcast.
I became a paid subscriber and left Salty a Skype message, and he included my recording in his podcast this week (titled "GENERATE")! It's a two-hour show, and my bit is around 10 minutes in. Salty's a wild man and his style takes some getting used to. If you like that kind of music, I strongly recommend you subscribe to it: Learn more at http://www.salty.com.au/.
I became a paid subscriber and left Salty a Skype message, and he included my recording in his podcast this week (titled "GENERATE")! It's a two-hour show, and my bit is around 10 minutes in. Salty's a wild man and his style takes some getting used to. If you like that kind of music, I strongly recommend you subscribe to it: Learn more at http://www.salty.com.au/.
Home Again
Sorry about that last post -- I fell asleep several times while I was writing it, and there are parts I don't even remember! I don't know what I was trying to say about the do-rag, but I did buy one and it does protect my scalp from sunburn.
Anyway, we made it home safe. Our last dive was finished at around 4:30 yesterday (Sunday), and you have to wait 18-24 hours before you can safely fly. An airplane at 40,000 ft. is NOT a good place to develop DCS (the "bends").
I made this trip primarily for the purpose of training for a mega-dive trip that I have planned for October. It will involve strong currents, advanced buoyancy control skills, and the ability to get off and on small boats in rough seas. I practiced all of these this trip, except that the seas weren't rough at all. I had a de-brief with my instructor this morning and we went over lessons learned. As you could tell from my previous posts, one of my big lessons was to be more diligent in keeping up with my buddy and the rest of the group -- it's easy to get separated when the current is whipping along at 1-2 knots. If you stop, in no time at all you're pulled far away from your group and your chances of being recovered begin to fade, especially if you aren't in a country that has a good Coast Guard. I was diving into caves and holes in the coral formations and the current there is much lower than the rest of the water column. As a result, the rest of the group moved with the current while I stayed stationary. That was very annoying to the group leaders.
My biggest disappointment was the photography. Very few of my pictures came out well. I forgot to use the fiber-optic cable that connects the camera to the strobe, but I can't say that's totally to blame. The camera I have is simply not the best underwater camera -- it doesn't give you enough control over the detailed settings, and VERY slow, and you can't turn off the pre-flash, so it scares fish off before it takes the actual picture. It's a Sea and Sea DX-860G camera/housing/strobe package. The land pictures it takes are great -- I've just had fits getting it to take good underwater pictures. In all fairness, drift dives in strong currents aren't the easiest place to get good pictures. You have to contend with tweaking the camera, tracking your subject, maintaining excellent buoyancy, and contending with the current at the same time. I'll post a few of my better ones here soon.
On the whole, this was a good trip. The service at the Cozumel Palace was outstanding -- very luxurious and convenient to downtown. There is a cruise ship dock nearby, so there's a Carlos 'n Charlies, Senor Frogs, Hard Rock, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right there, in addition to a bunch of craft, jewelry, and souvenir dealers. There's plenty to do, even if you don't dive. Here's a tip: Most of the shops sell exactly the same stuff, so the farther you get from the main drag and the cruise ship dock, the cheaper everything is. You can even haggle some in the shops deeper in town.
Cozumel is a very safe place. The community survives on tourism, and the locals simply don't tolerate crime -- I understand that criminals are booted off the island. We never felt nervous (except when crossing streets: ALTO seems to mean "slow down if you want to").
If you want a nice long weekend getaway, I would recommend this trip. Just check into the best time of year to go since it can get really crowded. You DON'T have to be a diver to enjoy it, though Cozumel is definitely known for diving. FunJet vacations will arrange air transport and lodging for a fixed price. The Palace is all-inclusive for its entire network, so if you want to go across the channel to the mainland, there's a HUGE Palace hotel there, and you can use their facilities, eat their food, etc., as if you were staying there. There are cheaper places to stay in Cozumel, without a doubt, but the Palace offers some pampering and service that we all deserve once in a while. You will, however, need to be aware that some times the planes get delayed a couple of hours, so you need to stay in contact with FunJet to avoid wasting time or missing a flight. They track the schedules of the Aero Mexico charter flights.
If you want to give diving a try, the hotel offers a SCUBA "resort course" which will let you dive once a day without getting certified (you spend a few hours in training and are supervised through your dive). Snorkling isn't limited and can be a lot of fun. The pools are magnificent, well-maintained, and interesting (one has a swim-up bar, of course). There's even a little channel so you can swim from the main pool around to where the live entertainment is. If you are into sun-worshipping, there are ample opportunities for that, as well.
Physical fitness: I never swam so hard in my life. I'm going to start tagging along with some of Deep Blue's open water classes in the pool so I can practice swimming and build up those muscles and my stamina.
That's all for this trip -- I'll put some photos up somewhere and let you know where to look.
Thanks for reading!
Anyway, we made it home safe. Our last dive was finished at around 4:30 yesterday (Sunday), and you have to wait 18-24 hours before you can safely fly. An airplane at 40,000 ft. is NOT a good place to develop DCS (the "bends").
I made this trip primarily for the purpose of training for a mega-dive trip that I have planned for October. It will involve strong currents, advanced buoyancy control skills, and the ability to get off and on small boats in rough seas. I practiced all of these this trip, except that the seas weren't rough at all. I had a de-brief with my instructor this morning and we went over lessons learned. As you could tell from my previous posts, one of my big lessons was to be more diligent in keeping up with my buddy and the rest of the group -- it's easy to get separated when the current is whipping along at 1-2 knots. If you stop, in no time at all you're pulled far away from your group and your chances of being recovered begin to fade, especially if you aren't in a country that has a good Coast Guard. I was diving into caves and holes in the coral formations and the current there is much lower than the rest of the water column. As a result, the rest of the group moved with the current while I stayed stationary. That was very annoying to the group leaders.
My biggest disappointment was the photography. Very few of my pictures came out well. I forgot to use the fiber-optic cable that connects the camera to the strobe, but I can't say that's totally to blame. The camera I have is simply not the best underwater camera -- it doesn't give you enough control over the detailed settings, and VERY slow, and you can't turn off the pre-flash, so it scares fish off before it takes the actual picture. It's a Sea and Sea DX-860G camera/housing/strobe package. The land pictures it takes are great -- I've just had fits getting it to take good underwater pictures. In all fairness, drift dives in strong currents aren't the easiest place to get good pictures. You have to contend with tweaking the camera, tracking your subject, maintaining excellent buoyancy, and contending with the current at the same time. I'll post a few of my better ones here soon.
On the whole, this was a good trip. The service at the Cozumel Palace was outstanding -- very luxurious and convenient to downtown. There is a cruise ship dock nearby, so there's a Carlos 'n Charlies, Senor Frogs, Hard Rock, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right there, in addition to a bunch of craft, jewelry, and souvenir dealers. There's plenty to do, even if you don't dive. Here's a tip: Most of the shops sell exactly the same stuff, so the farther you get from the main drag and the cruise ship dock, the cheaper everything is. You can even haggle some in the shops deeper in town.
Cozumel is a very safe place. The community survives on tourism, and the locals simply don't tolerate crime -- I understand that criminals are booted off the island. We never felt nervous (except when crossing streets: ALTO seems to mean "slow down if you want to").
If you want a nice long weekend getaway, I would recommend this trip. Just check into the best time of year to go since it can get really crowded. You DON'T have to be a diver to enjoy it, though Cozumel is definitely known for diving. FunJet vacations will arrange air transport and lodging for a fixed price. The Palace is all-inclusive for its entire network, so if you want to go across the channel to the mainland, there's a HUGE Palace hotel there, and you can use their facilities, eat their food, etc., as if you were staying there. There are cheaper places to stay in Cozumel, without a doubt, but the Palace offers some pampering and service that we all deserve once in a while. You will, however, need to be aware that some times the planes get delayed a couple of hours, so you need to stay in contact with FunJet to avoid wasting time or missing a flight. They track the schedules of the Aero Mexico charter flights.
If you want to give diving a try, the hotel offers a SCUBA "resort course" which will let you dive once a day without getting certified (you spend a few hours in training and are supervised through your dive). Snorkling isn't limited and can be a lot of fun. The pools are magnificent, well-maintained, and interesting (one has a swim-up bar, of course). There's even a little channel so you can swim from the main pool around to where the live entertainment is. If you are into sun-worshipping, there are ample opportunities for that, as well.
Physical fitness: I never swam so hard in my life. I'm going to start tagging along with some of Deep Blue's open water classes in the pool so I can practice swimming and build up those muscles and my stamina.
That's all for this trip -- I'll put some photos up somewhere and let you know where to look.
Thanks for reading!
Oops, Sunny Skies!
Sorry, you'll just have to be jealous. When our boat (the Nuria) came to pick us up at 12:30, the rain had pretty much subsided.
It took us over an hour to get to our first dive site, Palancar Gardens. The dive was interesting, but I got in trouble again for getting so engrossed in exploring caves in the coral formations that I fell behind the group and my buddy had to come back and search for me. Poor form. In fact, he pointed into one cave, and what I saw was the biggest scrawled filefish I'd ever seen. I completely missed the huge stone crab (its body was a foot in diameter, at least) clinging to the wall by my head, which is what he wanted me to see.
I bought a very sexy bandana/do-rag that I saw in the hotel's dive shop, and of course my buddy had to get one too. Later, I bought another that said "Cozumel." They're great for keeping my bald spot from getting sunburned.
I saw a beautiful hawksbill sea turtle, a spotted drum, a green moray eel (most of the eels I've seen have been spotted morays), and some people even saw another nurse shark on the bottom.
My camera battery died right before I saw the turtle (it's always something).
I got my first professional massage today. I was late, but they did what they could with her tight schedule. I'm falling asleep and need to get up early
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sunday Morning -- RAIN!
Well, you folks who were envying me for being in the sunshine while San Antonio was flooding can rest easy -- it's raining here. We're diving at noon anyway, but it's still a disappointment.
Yesterday we made two day boat dives and one night dive. The current was very strong on our second dive, and I surfaced a good distance from the boat and had to wait to be picked up. Might have been scary if I hadn't been between two other dive boats.
Most of my pictures this trip have been crap. My first dive I left my camera on the boat to keep from getting distracted, and I saw many things I wanted to take pictures of. Every other dive has been hard to find anything worth photographing. Also, the pics I take aren't looking good. The clear water is screwing with my settings (I know, poor baby!)-- either the flash won't go off because there's too much light or the flash overexposes the shot. I've gotten a little too close to a few animals (like a scorpionfish), but I didn't have the right lens on the camera and he ended up a little fuzzy.
We found a den where two 8' nurse sharks were resting and I got a few good pictures, but since I had to reach the camera down into the hole, I aimed too high and didn't get them centered. At least I saw them! They were beautiful, but they were the only sharks I've seen.
Last night we did a little dive off the shore of the hotel and saw a few little critters that were amusing (eels, pilot crabs, cleaner shrimp, and juvenile queen angelfish.) There was also a large cannon.
My knee was absolutely killing me -- We walked for about four and a half hours yesterday afternoon exploring downtown, after two boat dives and before the shore dive and I though I was going to lose the leg.
Well, gotta run. See you all!
Yesterday we made two day boat dives and one night dive. The current was very strong on our second dive, and I surfaced a good distance from the boat and had to wait to be picked up. Might have been scary if I hadn't been between two other dive boats.
Most of my pictures this trip have been crap. My first dive I left my camera on the boat to keep from getting distracted, and I saw many things I wanted to take pictures of. Every other dive has been hard to find anything worth photographing. Also, the pics I take aren't looking good. The clear water is screwing with my settings (I know, poor baby!)-- either the flash won't go off because there's too much light or the flash overexposes the shot. I've gotten a little too close to a few animals (like a scorpionfish), but I didn't have the right lens on the camera and he ended up a little fuzzy.
We found a den where two 8' nurse sharks were resting and I got a few good pictures, but since I had to reach the camera down into the hole, I aimed too high and didn't get them centered. At least I saw them! They were beautiful, but they were the only sharks I've seen.
Last night we did a little dive off the shore of the hotel and saw a few little critters that were amusing (eels, pilot crabs, cleaner shrimp, and juvenile queen angelfish.) There was also a large cannon.
My knee was absolutely killing me -- We walked for about four and a half hours yesterday afternoon exploring downtown, after two boat dives and before the shore dive and I though I was going to lose the leg.
Well, gotta run. See you all!
Diving Cozumel
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post anything. As predicted, it's not been simple to connect to the net for anything but email.
The trip they set up is run by FunJet vacations, who chartered the AeroMexico flight and set us up in the all-inclusive Cozumel Palace hotel. If you're into unlimited food, drink, and enterainment, it's a good deal. It seems like many tourists are divers, but the pools have been full of people (mostly 20-somethings), a few families, very few kids. It's not the cheapest place to stay, so the clientele is a little better.
Friday's first dive was great. I saw all kinds of fish, and they didn't bolt as I approached, so I was looking forward to bringing my camera on the second dive. Of course, when I did have my camera I didn't see much and the fish were not as cooperative. Visibility was good (75ft or so, water temp was around 82), but it was better than the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no more dives on Friday.
I'll post a summary of Saurday's activities tomorrow.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Eve of departure
Tomorrow I'm leaving for my first trip to dive Cozumel, Mexico. It seems like everyone else I know has dived there many times, but this is my first. There are strong currents, so it's a drift dive (they drop you in the water, you float with the current, then they pick you up when you surface).
My friend, Andy, the SOB who strapped on my first BC and got me totally hooked on diving, said I needed to be very careful. Apparently, the water's so clear you can't determine how deep you are without your gauges and you can easily go below safe depths.
I understand our hotel has wireless internet access, so I'll try and make a few posts while I'm there (and maybe even a pic or two), but if you remember Australia, I had nothing but trouble with blogging from the road via email. We'll see how it goes.
Up at four, liftoff at seven, under water after lunch! Buen fin de semana!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Watch This Space!
I've got several new expeditions planned for 2007, including another once-in-a-lifetime dream trip!
The blog has been renamed from Homeys-Place to KevDiver. I'm revitalizing this blog so I can include future expeditions and home-front news, so check back often!
The blog has been renamed from Homeys-Place to KevDiver. I'm revitalizing this blog so I can include future expeditions and home-front news, so check back often!
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