DIVING BEGINS . . . DISASTER STRIKES! 13 & 14 JANUARY 2012

Photo Courtesy LAURIE COMPHER Our room at Lions Dive On 13 January, Neal writes: And so it was a hectic first day of dives. My camera was being uncooperative, so I left in the room as punishment. Our first checkout dive was on "The Tugboat" - a nice reef & wreck dive - saw two Spotted Moray Eels, a Spotted Drum, a few Lion fish, and assorted regulars (Parrot fish, Damsel Fish, odd Barracuda), as well as lots of soft & hard corals. Second dive (after a trip BACK to the dock to pick up someone who didn't do the first dive as his wife was taking a refresher course while we were out) was at Sandy's Plateau. On this dive, I counted 14 Lion fish. There is a real problem with them here and, in fact, they offer a LSD (Lion fish Scuba Dive) where you help spot, and watch spear fishers spear Lion fish. As an incentive you get a voucher for a Lion fish Meal at a restaurant in Willemstad. Iguanas are all around the resort & restaurant . . . Had a nice lunch, but everything here is very S L O W. Which is OK as I'm on vacation, but you almost lose your appetite by the time your the food is served, let alone waiting for the bill to be presented. . . . entertain you as you wait for your meal. Photo Courtesy LAURIE COMPHER Don't know if we'll do a shore dive today (or any day); it's a bit of a swim from the resort to the reef (and back at the end of the dive). Brian, Mike Chausse & Kerry Prentis sitting on the patio under our room . . . . . . a view of our room with the dive stuff drying in the sun (nat'chrly). . . . . . a view from our room across the canal . . . . 14 January: Disaster. Possibly no pictures. I flooded the camera this a.m. before the first dive. Don't know what happened, but as I was placing it into the camera tank, there was a large trail of bubbles. I pulled it straight up, but there was already water inside the housing. I'm trying the uncooked-rice treatment. I'll change bags of rice a couple times and see if the camera will work in a day or two. Generally it takes 72 hours to dry it out. Once I'm home and there's the picture party, I'll get some more, but there won't be much for the web pages. I did an afternoon dive from shore; it was a long swim out to the reef. I don't know how many more dives like that I'll do. We are walking to a local fish restaurant for dinner. Mimie Manahan & Margaret Novak at dinner at Augusto's across the canal from Lions Dive . . . (It's more reasonably priced.) Brian & Neal wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . . . . . for this snapper dinner.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS . . . HERE