New Years 2004
The Tradition Continues

        Starting in 1998 in Belize New Years has been spent in some exotic location scuba diving.   Except for the Y2K fiasco, I have spent every year on a diving trip usually with the same basic group of friends. In 1999 the trip was in Cayman Brac with the Eels,  2001 it was Saba, in 2002 back to Belize and last year was spent in Kona, Hawaii.  Rick, Dale, and Sherrie have been with me on most of these with Don and Gregg joining us on occasion. This year the six of us were booked on the Turks & Caicos Aggressor.  As always, the excitement before a trip is incredible!  Sherrie and I were scheduled to leave on an early flight Dec. 26.   Because Sherrie lives closer to the airport than I do, she picked me up at home Christmas evening.  This way, the shuttle can pick both of us up together, and thus eliminating a last minute crisis. 

    Prior to our trip, we toyed with the idea of using a picture from a prior trip of all of us underwater and transferring them to shirts.  We blew off the idea because we didn't think we would have the time to do this.  Christmas Eve I found myself with extra time!  (don't ask me how!) So, I went on a search of t-shirts.  We would need 4 extra large shirts, one large and one medium.  Sounds easy, right?  Try to find MATCHING colors on Christmas Eve.  I was not having any luck.  Therefore, the whole fiasco quickly became a challenge.  I was determined!  After hitting countless stores, I finally realized that if we were going to have shirts at all, I would have to come up with "Plan B."  The store I was in had 3 extra large shirts in light blue and one in medium.  I went to another place, as they were closing, and picked up one more extra large shirt and one in large (also in light blue.  I prayed they would match!)  I went home and started printing off the transfers.  I was so proud of myself that I thought to flip the picture, because we were holding a "Happy New Year" banner in the picture.  I decided to wait until I got to Sherrie's house and we'd do the ironing together.  She had done this before, I had not.  Once we started working on the transfers, we decided to add additional text to the transfers that I had already printed at home.  We added "New Years' 2004" and then added the years the tradition had been observed.  It would be different years for Gregg and Don, so we planned each transfer carefully.  We worked hard to make sure the centering was right, and the spacing was perfect.  We printed them off onto the transfers and we were thrilled.  The moment was short lived as we peeled the transfer paper from the shirts.  In our zest for centering, we had forgotten to flip the text!  Oh well, the guys would know we are blondes and they would get a laugh!  It was midnight and we thought to ourselves, "What are they doing for US tonight?  Here we are, up all night working on shirts for THEM, and they're probably sleeping!"

                                                                            

    6:30am came early enough.  The shuttle picked us up, and to my delight, it was driven by a friend of mine!  George was someone I met years ago when I worked with his mother.  Unfortunately, his mother, June, had passed away several years ago.  I was actually with her when she passed.  She would be pleased to know George is doing well!  We arrived at the airport and everything went fine as we flew to Dallas and then to Miami and then to Providencials, Grand Turk.  Our hotel was in a great area.  There were restaurants and shopping right by the hotel!  We had a great salad at a restaurant called Twenty-One.  We did a little bit of shopping, and decided to head back to our room.  As we painted our toenails, I noticed a "boom boom" type of sound.  I asked Sherrie if she heard it.  She did not.  Around 11pm, we both started hearing it, louder.  It was annoying!  I called downstairs and was told that it was a band at the nearby restaurant, and it should stop "soon."  Midnight it was still going on.  I called again.  No answer at the front desk.  I waited until about 12:30am, and got up and went down to the front desk.  I found two employees just relaxing on the couch and ignoring the ringing phone!  I was LIVID!  They told me the police had been called.  I threw a fit at them for ignoring the phone.  They just laughed.  At 1am, I called to get the number for the police, and I was given about 3 different numbers, none of which worked.  This went on until 4am, at which time we decided to try 9-1-1.  It worked.  About 15 minutes later, the police was there and the place was quiet.  So much for our good night's sleep before our diving started.  The next morning we went downstairs and "discussed" with the manager what had happened, and that we would be happy if we could stay in our rooms and rest until 3pm, at which time we would be able to board the boat.  They said the place was full and we could not stay that late.  We showed them their own guarantee policy, and if we had complaints, our room was free.  Suddenly, a room became available and we were allowed to stay until 3pm.  We rested and felt quite rested!  We ate lunch at Twenty-One again, and met the owner.  Very nice restaurant!  Finally it was time to leave and go to the boat.  We brought all our bags downstairs, and Sherrie started to check us out while I found us a cab.  There was a guy just sitting outside in his cab, and he drove to the front of the hotel.  As I started bringing ALL our bags to the cab (not one bit of help from him!) Sherrie told me they were charging us for our calls to the police.  As I went in to straighten that out, she said, "This guy is charging us right now!"  I couldn't believe it!  He had done absolutely NOTHING but drive to the front of the hotel!  When we got in, the meter read $5.  I said, "You aren't charging us ALREADY, are you?"  He said, "Yes.  Do you think I work for free?"  That was the wrong thing to say to us, especially when WE brought our own bags to HIM!  Words were exchanged as we told him what we thought!  Whatever.  At least we were finally at the boat, and the fun could now begin!

    Dale, Gregg, Don and Rick were already on the boat!  Since we only see each other once a year there was a lot of hugging and screaming and kissing, I think the other passengers were worried.  We didn't care!  We had missed our guys!!!!   

        Rick, Don, Gregg and Dale  went the cheaper route and took advantage of the reduced price of the quad cabin. Their quad cabin was small, very small. There are two sets of bunk beds with a small aisle between with a sink at the end, no bathroom.  They had to take turns getting out of their bunks, because two people could not maneuver in the quad cabin at the same time.  Their bathroom was down the hall. In addition there was no way they could store all their empty bags in what little room there was under each set of bunks.  The bathrooms on this boat are all the same. A shower and toilet in the same area separated only by a shower curtain. You can't take clothes into the bathroom if you're going to shower because they get wet either from the shower or the humidity, and drying off was nearly impossible. So they had to go back out into the hall to get to their room and because you couldn't put two people in the room at the same time it was a bit of a pain, but again they made do. Now we know why the quad is $500 cheaper per person, LOL.

    Our cabin, one of the twin cabins, shares a bathroom with the other twin cabin.  Whoever was in the bathroom would lock the door to the adjoining room, then remember to unlock it as you left.  We had to share our bathroom with two guys from another dive group.  They were very nice, only locking us out twice!  And they get extra points for putting the seat down!  HA!  After everyone on board got situated the Captain called a short meeting to explain how things were going to work and give us the bad news about the weather. A storm up North was causing some havoc with the winds coming out of the Northeast. This meant we would be a little limited in our dive site selection.  As it turned out things weren't all that bad. We did miss some preferred sites but the diving was still great. So we  visited, met the other guests, ate dinner and turned in early anticipating some awesome Caribbean diving in the morning.  The one thing about this trip that would be different than last years trip was we did not have the boat to ourselves. We had chartered the Kona Aggressor ourselves and knew everyone on the trip. You just never know who you will be spending a week with in close quarters of a live aboard. The Aggressor for this trip was sold out, we were a little concerned about who our fellow passengers would be. For the most part the group was a fun bunch and we had a great time with them...............for the most part!

        Sunday morning greeted us with clear skies and warm temperatures, what a fake out. The Captain informed us we were going to proceed all the way up to French Cay which meant we wouldn't dive until after lunch, things are not starting out well at all. Breakfast was served cafeteria style as all breakfasts and lunches were. This boat is brand new and designed for diving and we assumed they had a plan. Cafeteria style serving was obviously not in that plan. With a narrow one way path to the food and the same way out it got a bit congested but again we made do. Each day there was a different breakfast and they were all good. Plenty of food, coffee, juice, fruit and almost anything you wanted. Lunch was pretty much the same except for one day when they ran out of the main course. Dale was being a gentleman, letting the others go through the line first, and he got screwed!  Being the last in line for the first serving there was very little pasta left by the time he got there and when he went back for seconds it was totally gone. This was the only day this was an issue. Don't take all this wrong, the Aggressor is a well run, well appointed and beautiful boat. While not up to the standards set by the Fiji/Tahiti and Kona Aggressors as far as the living quarters are concerned, this is still an awesome dive live aboard. The dive deck is by far the best part of this boat. Starting with the traditional equipment locker at each station to the completely hidden fill lines it is both roomy and comfortable. You hook up your gear and never break it down for the week, simply remove your reg from the tank after your dive and the DMs refill your tank with air or pre-mixed Nitrox. Getting off the boat is a simple matter of putting on your gear, walking to the stern, climbing down a few steps to the dive platform where your fins are stored, putting on your fins a stepping off, couldn't be easier. There was always a DM in attendance to help you off or back on. I never had to wait at the ladder for a DM to take my camera or fins at the end of the dive. If you need help getting your gear down the stairs all the DMs were more than happy to lend a hand. The camera table is huge, but with all the cameras on board this trip it was pretty full. There are compressed air hoses on each side and a shelf under the table with power for battery chargers and to store non-photo stuff. Upstairs you'll find the sundeck, the hot tub, there is the bar with a sink for water, an ice maker and a cooler full of soft drinks.

        Alright, enough about the preliminaries let's go diving. Like I said above the morning on Sunday was spent sailing to French Cay for calmer seas so we would only get in three dives the first day.  As most of you know, the following dive profiles, photos, and comments are Dale's!  (unless otherwise noted by "jc") He's so good with documenting our dives!  We love you, Dale!

Dive #1: Half Mile
Depth = 99fsw     Time = 50 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 79º

    Chris said the water temp would be in the high 70s, he didn't lie. I remembered the walls in T&C to be breathtaking and my memory served me well. The reef system here appears to be in great shape, we saw very little if any damage during the week. The boat was moored in around 50fsw close to the wall which dropped off to probably 150 - 200 fsw. Almost immediately we saw an Eagle Ray coming down the wall, one of several we saw this week. Of course I attempted to swim with this graceful critter, but it soon became quite clear it was no contest and I had to let her swim away. There was also a huge Stingray, several big 'Cudas and a very cool Queen Trigger eating a dead Crab. I have no idea what killed the crab but the Trigger was having herself a feast. This was not a bad first dive at all.

        One of the most looked forward to the Aggressor experience other than the diving is the between dive snacks. We were not to be disappointed by the snacks on this trip. You would have thought we hadn't eaten at all when these came out, talk about a feeding frenzy!!!

Dive #2: Half Mile
Depth = 92fsw     Time = 57 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 79º

    Since the site didn't change we pretty much saw the same stuff. Except it was getting close to dusk and some of the night critters were starting to show up and the day critters were leaving. We saw some Parrotfish settling in for the night and found another of those giant Spider Crabs.

Dive #3: Half Mile
Depth = 52fsw     Time = 53 min.     Vis = Night Dive     Temp = 79º

    This was a nice night dive. Nothing memorable other than another huge Crab and our first Moray sighting. After we surfaced the DMs had hot dry towles and hot chocolate waiting for us. That really hit the spot. Although the water temperature was 79º, the wind was quite strong and chilled you pretty quickly. That wind did not relent all week.  (jc: Sherrie and I didn't do the night dive, but we planned to do at least one on this trip!)

        After the night dive we all pretty much crashed. The Captain had informed us we were going to change the clock to "boat time" to give us a little more daylight the following day. This meant we would get one less hour's sleep this night, but if we had more daylight for that last day time dive I was all for it. The weather report had not changed but Monday's dives would find us on "G" Spot, one of T&C premier dive sight and it meant SHARKS!!!!

Dive #4: "G" Spot
Depth = 80fsw     Time = 56 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 76º

    The water temperature dropped here, maybe because the current picked up a little. Nothing terrible and if you want Sharks I guess you have to deal with current. We found many Queen Triggers, man these things are everywhere, and our first of several Hawksbill Turtle sightings and then there was the Sharks, Caribbean Reef Sharks. We spotted a couple out on the reef, but when we returned to the boat the were all over the place. The Captain had told us to expect that. They do not feed these guys but since the Yellowtails come to the boat, the Jacks follow them and the Sharks follow the Jacks. And these Sharks are not timid at all. They will swim right at you only to veer off when they get to about five feet away. Those who know me know I love Sharks and although I have great respect I have no real fear. But when a Shark, and I don't care what kind of Shark, is swimming straight at me I hear that theme to Jaws playing in the back of my mind!!!  What a rush.

Dive #5: "G" Spot
Depth = 95fsw     Time = 68 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 77º

    More Sharks, More Sharks, and More Sharks! The coolest and a little alarming Shark encounter happened on the reef. We were swimming back from the wall when I just felt a presence behind me. I turned to see a Shark approaching. She was about 50 feet or so behind me and a little below me. Wanting the "money" shot I dropped below her as she closed. This might not have been the best of plans. As she started to swim over me she suddenly dived straight at me! Uh Oh! By now I was completely on my back in the sand and she was still coming. At the last second, or at least it seemed that way, she took off straight up. I have no clue what that was all about but my heart was beating pretty fast. I looked at Gregg who gave me the "OK?" sign, all I could do was pound my chest and laugh. But wouldn't you know, the camera was off for the whole thing!   I totally had the "money" shot and blew it! I have stated in the past that I never us my pony to extend a dive. Well I did this time. Every time I would start to ascend from the safety stop another Shark would show up. I eventually sucked the 80 dry and switched to the pony for a few minutes. I mean how often do I get to be within three feet of a Caribbean Reef Shark?  (jc:  All of us watch Dale dive, and the reason he doesn't get bit is because we're all praying for mercy for him!  We repeat these prayers when he is videoing moray eels!  However, I was able to get some great video of sharks as well!  I'll have to admit, it is a rush!)

        I really hated to leave "G" Spot but after lunch the boat was moved to Day Canyon for the afternoon and night dives. This is a beautiful dive sight with an abundant amount of life so I wasn't really complaining.

Dive #6: Day Canyon
Depth = 103fsw     Time = 62 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 79º

    Like I said there is a ton of life on this site and the temperature was back to 79º. Along the wall we spotted a couple of Eagle Rays and on top we found a very cool Stingray hunting in the sand, Spotted Drums of various ages, Queen, Grey and French Angels and some of the biggest Sponges I have ever seen.

Dive #7: Day Canyon
Depth = 76fsw     Time = 57 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 79º

    Our attempt at getting more daylight didn't really work all that well. It certainly wasn't dark but with the cloud cover this was a limited visibility dive. We did see lots of critters including a Shark, a couple of Spotted Filefish, some rather large Grouper which seem to be in abundance in T&C and more of those Queen Triggers.

        I very rarely pass on the opportunity to dive, no matter what. But the thoughts of getting out of the water into that constant wind and freezing was more than I wanted to deal with, so I passed on the night dive. Instead I optioned for wine with dinner and spent the evening talking to the rest of the passengers and crew and turned in early in an attempt to catch up on the jetlag that was still lingering from my Arizona Christmas trip.  (jc:  When Dale misses a dive, we take his temperature!)

        The next morning's weather report was merely a repeat of the previous two mornings. It was looking more and more like this storm was not going away and we would spend the whole trip in this area. No big deal for me, I came with no expectations and so far the diving was great. After breakfast we moved to Rock & Roll.

Dive #8: Rock & Roll
Depth = 72fsw     Time = 62 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º

 

    Finally we saw an eel, a Black Spotted Eel. We were beginning to think there were none here, still waiting to find a Green Moray. We also found several of Sherrie's favorites, Spotted Drums. This site also had many large Groupers. Toward the end of the dive a shark decided to swim though the group. She made a couple passes though, decided we really weren't that interesting and swam off, cool encounter.

Dive #9: Rock & Roll
Depth = 112fsw     Time = 52 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 77º

 

    Out on the wall we encountered another Eagle Ray. I never get tired of seeing these guys. They seem to swim so effortlessly trailing that awesome tail that seems to go on forever, quite a magnificent critter. We also came across a very cooperative Hawksbill Turtle who allowed us to swim with him as long as we wanted. Why can't the Eagle Rays be that friendly? Up on the top we found many Trumpet Fish and Groupers.

        After another great lunch the boat moved to Sand Spit, yeah Sand Spit, Not Split, that's what the Captain said, who am I to question him?

Dive #10: Sand Spit
Depth = 95fsw     Time = 54 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 76º

    The highlight of this dive for me was the cool 'Cuda in a cleaning station. Little Wrasses were cleaning him, inside and out. His gills were wide opened and these little guys would go in his mouth and come out his gills. I couldn't get in a good location to get much video but it was a very cool sighting. Another Turtle paid us a visit and butterfly fish in pairs were everywhere. The current was pretty strong on this dive.

Dive #11: Sand Spit
Depth = 87fsw     Time = 45 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 75º

    Pretty much of a repeat dive with the addition of a intermediate Queen Angle fish who put on a pretty good show and a big Stingray who seemed to be late for and appointment as he went flying across the top of the reef.
 

        I guess I'm getting too old for this Gorilla diving, LOL, I once again pass on the night dive. The water temperature on Sand Spit was only 75º on the last afternoon dive and couple that with the strong current it just didn't appeal to me for a night dive.  (jc:  the thermometer was out once again!  But it gave Sherrie and I an excuse to skip the night dive!)
 

        With the weather still messing with us our schedule had to be altered a bit on this day. Like it or not we needed to start heading back. So we would do one more dive on Sand Spit and then move the boat twice before evening. Back to "G" Spot, YAHOO, and then on to The Anchor. We would only get four dives today which would include a night dive which I again passed on.
 

Dive #12: Sand Spit
Depth = 89fsw     Time = 56 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 75º
 

    This morning's dive revealed one of the many huge lobsters we found this week and many Spotted Drums and Groupers. This was a nice dive but I was looking forward to getting back to "G" Spot.
 

Dive #13: "G" Spot
Depth = 81fsw     Time = 58 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º

 

    Oh man what a dive!!!  Eagle Rays! three of them. If you want Eagle Rays along the wall you have to be in the lead. What an awesome dive. This and of course the Sharks were there. I could have spent the whole trip on "G" Spot and never complained.
 

Dive #14: Anchor
Depth = 75fsw     Time = 60 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º

 

    The Anchor is just that, an 17th Century anchor in a crack in the wall partially embedded in the wall. The crack is pretty wide allowing easy access to swim under the anchor. While I was videoing people making the swim though suddenly one of the group, not one of our group, gave his buddy the "Out Of Air sign"  Yikes. The DM immediately went over and offered her octopus to him, but his wife was in control and everything was "fine". Apparently he had not removed is reg after the previous dive so his tank was not filled, and he never looked. He told me he was very embarrassed and has been diving for 15 years with never an OOA incident. He offered no excuse other than being stupid. It was good to see their buddy system worked. I patted my pony and just smiled to myself. After this little incident we saw some lobsters and found our first Yellowhead Jawfish.

        It was now New Years Eve. We all decided not to attempt a midnight dive or even a fake midnight dive.  It's like, "been there, done that." 

        Maybe its the new year or maybe I finally caught up on my sleep but I awoke with new energy and ready for a full day of diving. We moved to Elephant Ear for the morning dive.

Dive #15: Elephant Ear
Depth = 88fsw     Time = 60 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 77º

 

    Elephant Ear is named that because of the huge Elephant Ear Sponges that dominate the wall. The boat was moored over the sand flats which was being patrolled by what seemed like hundreds of Stingrays. Each Stingray had a resident Jack sitting just above each one waiting patiently for the Stingray to kick up some little morsel to snack one. What a strange sight. There were also Garden Eels here, millions of Garden Eels. The colonies seem to go on forever, ducking into the sand as you approached as if they were part of some underwater ballet. I spent a lot of time and video tape trying in vain to get one close up. They are just too timid or I am just not patient enough, probably the latter.

Dive #16: Elephant Ear
Depth = 76fsw     Time = 58 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º
 

    Same critters and a navigation mistake. I had gotten off by myself and dropped down the wall a little. I was sure I knew exactly where I was when I returned to the sand. But when I looked for my landmark, a small coral head cluster that should have been off to my right, it weren't there, hmmmm. Jill and Sherrie were right above me so I gave Jill the "where's the boat" sign. She looked at me like I was insane and replied back with the "I have no clue" sign, hmmmm. Since she was pretty shallow she surfaced to get oriented. The boat was actually in the opposite direction from where I thought it should have been, hmmmm. Can you say compass heading? (jc:  Why do they all look at me like "I" know where the boat is???)

Dive #17: RGI
Depth = 109fsw     Time = 50 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º

    This first afternoon dive started with a little excitement even before we got in the water. A small Manta was spotted passing the boat, unfortunately headed down current. What we were unaware of was the Manta returned to the boat after all the diver were well into our dives and the only people privileged to see it was the crew. But it was still a nice dive with a Black Spotted Moray, several big Groupers and lots of Yellowhead Jawfish to entertain us.
 

Dive #18: RGI
Depth = 78fsw     Time = 60 min.     Vis = 75 ft.     Temp = 78º

 

    Morays, lots of Morays, where have they been all week? We saw several Black Spotted one, a more Brown Spotted one and finally we found a big Green one. This was a nice dive spent mostly on top of the wall.

Dive #19: RGI
Depth = 80fsw     Time = 52 min.     Vis = Night Dive     Temp = 78º

    I guess all I needed was rest because when the subject of the night dive came up I said "yes for sure". And this was the right choice for sure. Big Jacks were following us around waiting for our lights to land on a Squirrel Fish and WHAM, dinner for the Jack! Man, those thing can move when they want too. I sort of felt like an accomplice to murder but it was pretty cool. Suddenly Gregg started frantically waving his light at me, experience diving with Gregg told me he had found something worthwhile. He had found an Octopus, a big Octopus. At first I thought it was trying to get away from us, but I soon realized it was hunting too. On several stops it would spread itself all over the reef and stick it arms into holes. Suddenly it appeared like dinner was found, pretty neat. We also found a rather ungraceful Crab who fell off the wall and landed upside down. It looked pretty funny watching it flip itself over but it finally did. All told this was a great night dive. (jc:  I am furious with myself!  My favorite aquatic animal is the octopus, and the main opportunity to see them is on night dives.  But once I am clean and dry, putting on that damp cool wetsuit just sounds like a horrible idea.  Thus, I missed this incredible octopus.  Thanks Dale for capturing it for all of us on video!  Hurray!)

        The after dive Hot chocolate spiked with a little Baileys was great. But knowing this was our last full day of diving already was a little depressing. But we still had two more dives in the morning before this trip was over. The Captain told us we had to do a before breakfast dive in order to get in two Friday morning.

Dive #20: RGI
Depth = 93fsw     Time = 52 min.     Vis = Night Dive     Temp = 78º

 

    Dawn diving has never been my favorite because in the past it seemed like most of the critters were still sleeping. This was pretty much the case here too, but there was still enough to keep me under for fifty two minutes. Another cooperative Black Spotted Moray and a whole bunch of 'Cudas made this a nice dive.

Dive #21: RGI
Depth = 93fsw     Time = 66 min.     Vis = Night Dive     Temp = 78º

 

    The final dive was here, way too soon. But I made the best of it. Hey, I have to empty the pony anyway, might as well do it under water! I spent some time on the wall but most of it was spent in the sand with the Yellowhead Jawfish and Garden Eels. There were many small patches of coral heads and they all held interesting sights. Many juveniles were seen in these remote spots including juvenile Angels. At the end of the dive a 'Cuda who was sitting under the boat took off on a mission and hit something on the bottom. I couldn't even keep the camera on him he was so fast.

        With our diving over the crew added cleaner to the mask buckets and camera tank so we could rinse our gear. There was gear hanging from every possible spot on the boat hoping what little sun we had would dry everything. Of course a rain shower came out of nowhere, but it didn't last long. Because of the weather the decision was made to dock at a different marina than we had started out from. That was nice because we didn't have to cross open rough water. We had the traditional cocktail party upstairs and our group went into town for dinner. The other group on board sent people along with us to pick up carry out they had ordered. Dinner was pretty nice as was the beer. Jill and Sherrie still managed to shop, amazing, we sent Gregg with them to keep them under control, LOL.  (jc:  These guys just don't get it!  We've gotta shop!  It's our nature!  And it was a good thing, because this would be our last opportunity to shop, except for duty free at the airport.  We both bought lovely gold bracelets!  Mine was octopus' and hers was sealife!) 

       The next morning was departure day, always a depressing time. We had to be off the boat at 8:30 but our planes didn't leave until mid-afternoon. Don had an early flight so we said our goodbyes to him right after breakfast. Sherrie's and my plane was next in line to leave.  They wanted to take us the airport almost 4 hours early.  Ugh.  We didn't like that plan.  But, we trusted their judgment.  There was nobody in line.  It was a good thing, since there was nobody ready to check us in!  We stood there about 20 minutes before someone decided to kick it into gear.  They opened our bags and patted the tops of our clothes.  Maybe they were giving our gear and clothes the Turks & Caicos blessing.  Dale, Rick & Gregg were taken to a shopping center where they were able to do some shopping and get some lunch (see, they DO shop!).  Our flight was only 1 hour before the guys, but by the time they arrived at the airport, the line was out the door.  We were so happy we were already checked in and we used the time productively!  Sherrie had been shopping for a Tag watch.  She's wanted one for several years.  She found the perfect watch and bought it!  WaHoo!!!!  Shortly before we were to board, the guys made it through the line and they were in the waiting area with us!  We shared some fun chatting and wished we didn't have to leave.  But we knew we do our best to make this happen again next year! 

        In spite of the weather this was a great trip. It was so cool having all of us together for this one. There is talk of adding Don's wife for next year's trip.  We haven't decided on a destination yet. Some of the memories of this trip are calling the police to shut down the partying, the Eagle Rays, the close encounters with the Sharks, our messed up New Year's shirts and the rubber chicken the DMs kept tying to our tanks.  Also, let's not forget that Sherrie completed her Nitrox certification onboard!  Now, we're just waiting on Rick....

    I don't think anyone got injured on this trip and nobody had any equipment problems, that in itself is unusual for this group. I heard Rick say "it was a nice trip, not a great trip". Well Rick ya just got back from the Galapagos, ya can't compare to that, LOL!!!!!!  Good friends, good diving, good memories.  It just doesn't get any better than this!