Skiing Again!

Well, after a two year hiatus, Rabbit and Tigger are tearing up the slopes again. It has been really great to be back. We've seen so many of our long time friends and it feels really good to be back in our element again. Its been especially fun hearing about everyone's lives and all the neat things they have done over the last two years.













We've both gotten new skis...Stryker's for John and Burnin' Luv's for Cheri. Look out Killington!






Last weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We took the opportunity to slow down and shoot a few images. Hope you enjoy the beauty as much as we do!













Enjoy!
Cheri & John

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Killington, VT

Cozumel Mexico - December 4, 2010 - Paradise - Day 5 - Dive 8

Max depth of 40 Feet for a whopping 78 minutes!!

We jumped in with high hopes because if we had any chance to see sea horses, this was the place.  But, the lions seem to be eating the horses and everyone is upset about it.  Just to prove the depth of their anger, all the dive masters are now hunting the lions.  And so with each dive, there are more lions on the end of the gig.

At first I didn't catch on. Lions?  What lions in the sea and then slowly it dawned on me....the lion fish who were invading every corner of the earth with no known predators and a voracious appetite.  It was those lions that we being accused of eating the poor sea horses.  I don't know if it's true, but I do know that we didn't see any horses on this dive.

What we did see was spectacular in any case.  Paradise is not only home to the horses, but also to juveniles.  These are small fish and critters, just getting started in life.  We saw juvenile angels and all sorts of young fish that we couldn't identify because their coloration changes as they grow up.  Cheri saw her first mantis shrimp in the Atlantic.  He was small and running around with big eyes!

French Angel Intermediate Fish

 Pistol Shrimp

There were scorpion fish in many places sitting on the bottom waiting for an unsuspecting victim!  John got a cracking shot of one!

The baby king crabs were comfortably lodged in a yellow tipped anemone.  There were two in one anemone and boy we're they shy!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 4, 2010 -Dalilia Mountains - Day 5 - Dive 7

We're diving again!  Yeah!  The only catch is hat we need to get ourselves down to the marina.  Ok...we'll bite....where's the marina?  All the way through town and before the hotel zone, you will find it. So, we loaded everything into our car and struck off.

Max depth of 75 Feet for about an hour

As we prepare to jump for the second to the last time, the sun breaks and the light pours into our beloved deep.  Check the air, check the weights, check the right hand release and go go go its time to dive!

Sploosh!  We're, a quick trio back to the boat to grab the cameras and we're on our way down!  Scan scan scan, no eagle rays in sight.  Down deeper we go.  Soon we are at the bottom and the hunt begins.  We see 3 HUGE bump headed Parrot Fish.

Another magical dive.  As I was enjoying the usual suspects, I noticed a sea urchin.  As I swim close to check it out I saw a flicker of white and black.  Could it be?  Ah indeed it was an adult drum fish!  These little drummers swim vigorously back and forth as they beat their drum.  He was lodged in between pink and orange coral which made a lovely backdrop for a video. 

There was a stunning gold cleaner shrimp on carpet anemone.  Cheri fiddled with the strobe until she got the perfectly lit shot she was craving. 

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 3, 2010 - El Nortes

Day 5
Breakfast is looking a bit sparse for Cheri as she sits with two meager tostada chips in front of her.  The guacamole has turned brown from oxidation and is no longer edible.  As John is munch in away on his bakery goodies from Chedaruai he says, "OK.  Let's get you some breakfast in town". Cheri says with glee, huevos rancheros!

They find a little cafe right next to the bakery and settle in for one of the best breakfasts they've had on the island.  the coffee has a tinge of cinnamon and on the menu is not only huevos ranchos, but divorced eggs!  That's one green and one red egg with ham on tortillas!  Yummy!

We stop in to see Blanca our dive connection.  She tells us what we already know, the port is still closed.  So we press a bit and say, well if the port opens later can we go night diving.  Much to our surprise she says yes! There is another couple at the Wyndham and they want to night dive too.  So the deal is struck, she'll call around 4.

Breakfast being done, it was time to explore. Since we've got the day ahead we decide to drive north on to a stretch of island we've never been to before.

The iguanas were amazing today!

And the thing to do on a non-dive day?  Drink margaritas at Mezcalitos!

 At 4:10 (that's 4'o clock Mexican time) Blanca rings the room.  She's says it likely to be ten more minutes before she knows for sure about the port.  But the local guys say no way, but they can't confirm until they get a call from Mexico City!  So I ask, are computers better than eye balls?  Why can't they just look outside.  Laughing, she tells me she'll call back in ten minutes, which I am sure will be twenty minutes and ends up being 35 minutes!  No matter - we were just hanging out.

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 2, 2010 - El Nortes

El Nortes....well it's that time of the year and its not uncommon that the wind will shift and you hear the dreaded words....El Nortes!  The wind will now blow from the North and the port will close.

That's OK with us.  We'll strike off for other adventures.

Wow - animals animals animals.  Punta Sur is always a good place to drive though.

We've been coming to Cozumel for years and in all that time we had never seen an owl.  We did today!  Cruising silently along a ditch scaring up prey.  As we watched, it scared a bird into flight then tipped upside down to grab it in mid flight.  Wow!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - The Life Unusual

It's probably no secret to any of you that John and Cheri are a different breed.  The photo below just typifies the extent to which that is true.  Most divers get with their buddies and then they swim along together looking at things.  Many of them swim the whole time they are underwater, rarely stopping to truly look at their surroundings.

Not Cheri!!

As you can see the other divers on the left side of the photo...look right and there she is....upside down and enjoying the deep like no other!!!

 Enjoy!

John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - El Cedral -Day 3 -Dive 6

Max depth of 55 Feet for about 70 minutes

This is a great site for seeing sharks and other big things.  Not us, we saw little things;little things that we rarely or had never seen before.  Jackpot!  Just what we came for!

There were gorgeous queen triggers who were curious and came to have their photo taken.

On this dive we got a shot of shrimp that we had never scene before. Anyone know what they are?  Cute for sure, but a name would be great!!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - Santa Rosa -Day 3 -Dive 5

Max depth of 77 Feet for about an hour

A scrawled cow fish greeted us as we descended to depth.  These are long fish with electric blue lines and black dots.  Their dorsel fins ripple as they zip along.  The stop light parrot fish of both the green as well as the red variety were abundant and eating the reef in big bites.  If you hold your breath and listen you can hear them crunching.  Mr. and Mrs White file fish were checking us out.  

And again the health and color of the reef raised a joy deep inside of us!  As we were swimming along we heard the calls of splendid toad fish - one of Cheri's favorite fish and certainly a Mexican special!  As far as we know they are mainly found in Cozumel.  With their purple and yellow they fit right in!

Cheri looked down and saw a juvenile spotted drum fish!  This was a rare find indeed and one that Cheri was thrilled with.  She even had the presence of mind to shoot images as well as video the little guy!  

You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYWzGQMfY5g. 

She looked to her left and there was a carpet anemone.  These are usually homes to all kinds of invertebrates.  This one was no exception.  There was a spotted cleaner shrimp!  These little guys have so many 'hands' that for a long time I thought he was 2 shrimp!

Today the dive masters had guaranteed me a sea horse sighting.  So for lunch there was tuna fish in the shape of a sea horse!!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 30, 2010 - La Francessa - Day 2 - Dive 4

Max depth of 70 Feet for about an hour

There were even more turtles!  Who could believe our luck?!  even though we weren't all that deep, there were gorgeous fans that were clearly very healthy and eating all that passed by them.

 

The anemones were abundant with little bubble shrimp playing hide and seek within the tentacles.  The yellowline arrowcrabs were hanging in sponges.

The angel fish were posing.

The schooling yellow fish were hiding in the coral troughs. 

 Even lobsters and crabs were out in the day time with the sun shining so bright; very unusual! 

 
Towards the end of the dive we saw a giant grouper laying on the bottom fast asleep.  Just as we were rising up to decompress at 15 ft, there were two puffer fish.

 Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 30, 2010 - Palancar Caves - Day 2 - Dive 3

Max depth of 84 Feet for about an hour

It had been a long time since we had dove the swim throughs at Palancar Caves.   Even though the word caves is in the title, it's a misnomer.  This area is filled with coral pinnacles that have big gaps in them.  Advanced divers, who are good with their bouyency, can swim in and out of the gaps and often see a world rarely seen.  The insides of the tunnels are filled with a kaleidoscope of colorful corals; pinks, reds, greens, browns, oranges, and vivid yellows.  Big fish like to hide in them.  

Sometimes you can surprise a shark of a ray.

Eagle Ray!  Until you've seen one it is hard to describe the magic you feel when you do.  These are magnificent, shy creatures with 8 to 10 foot wing spans.  Their bellies are white, but their backs are black with hundreds of iridescent circles.  Their faces literally look like an eagle, hence their name.  As we came around one pinnacle there it was! When she saw us, she pulled up short and turned to retreat to the deep.  In those few seconds we all felt blessed.
 

Enjoy!

Cheri & John