Off to See the Lizard with Gordon and Ken

Aboard Blackbeard's Dive Boat

I talked Ken and Gordon into flying down to Nassau to spend a week on the Morning Star. Here they are eating cracked conch at the Poop Deck.

At dawn, on the day after we arrive, I take a walk by myself and see the local fishermen set up for business...

Our bunks are in the main cabin with a galley...one bad thing is that I put on ten pounds...now I have to lose them again....but the food was great and the rum was free...

Fruit for the week in a hammock..help yourself...

I think these railings are called lifelines? Maybe not....anyway they are mostly full of towels and dive gear....

The water temperature was 78 -80 F. I wore my two millimeter shorty wetsuit...it was plenty...the air temperature was about the same....it was the first week in December...

We did 18 dives including night dives, shark dives, wall dives, wreck dives, drift dives and just plain pretty reef dives...

I think I have the bends...my old motorcycle injury shoulder is really hurting....the shoulder is the most common joint to manifest the bends....maybe I'll stop laughing at the kids with the dive computers and get one myself? Real men have dive computers too?

Time to dive....

There goes Gordon...

Hey Gordon...hold this trident while I take your picture....

Ken is more enthusiastic about the trident...

Gordon checks his gear...

Sunrise? Sunset?

Sailboat...

Another sunset...

Bob with the trident...

Bahamas Blue

The.Morning Star...Carol and I dove from this boat in the 80s and 90s...

Endangered Bahama Iguana...
Bahama... Iguana...Madonna
Bahama ...Iguana...Madonna....Nirvana
Bahama ...Iguana...Madonna....Nirvana...Piranha

Gordon gives a grape...Why am I thinking of Gordon Gekko quotes as I snap the picture?
"If you need a friend, get a dog." or "if this guy owned a funeral parlor nobody would die!"

Want a grape? Some guy cooked one of these endangered iguanas and put it on Facebook. They extradited him and put him in a Bahamian prison....If I had Facebook, I would put all the stupid things I do on it instead of here ...

Finally! They put up the Bimini the last day....

May I take your picture, officer? Eventually, Gordon and I find the Cuba Tour Company and talk to the tour lady about Havana....High season for Cuba is December...

Daphne's on the Dock....we get Conch fritters and Junkaroo Kalik beer...."We're rushin', we're rushin', we're rushin through the crowd ... K-k-kalik, k-k-kalik, k-k-kaliking k-k-kalik, k-k-kalik, k-k-kalik, k-k-kalik, yeah."

Gordon and Ken at Daphne's...

Good companions....

Bahamas Diving

Eluthera Islands

I book another week on the Morning Star, a 60 foot sailboat that provides the opportunity to do up to 24 dives a week in the Bahamas. I do 15 dives, skipping the night dives. I've lost count of the number of times I've done this trip. I think it must be around seven. Carol used to go with me on this one back about 30 years ago.

One unusual dive is called the "Washing Machine".  The tide blows over a dip in a cut between two islands and tumbles you for about a minute. I fly up from about 50 feet to zero and back again a couple of times. Another dive is on a wreck where they feed sharks with a big chum ball and you get to watch them in a feeding frenzy for about 30 minutes.

The food on the trip is excellent. Last time I gained ten pounds. I skip breakfast and dinner this trip but gain two pounds anyway....It might be the barrel of rum punch they break out at night?

My dive buddy is Mike from up around Boston. I forgot my dive watch and compass. He does a good job of taking care of me so that I don't stay down too long or lose track of the boat.

The grog on Blackbeard's Cruises is all-inclusive. To get here you fly into Nassau, 52 minutes from Orlando. Most of the week is spent near the Eluthera Islands, about 50 miles east of Nassau.

The water temperature is 82 degrees. The other divers are all from up North. At first I'm the only one who doesn't struggle into a wet suit. They wear them all year in the great Lakes, I guess. After a few days they all shed their rubber suits and enjoy the clear, warm water.

We get some nice sunrises and sunsets. Will I do it again? Once more into the abyss? Should I do it again? Can I do it again? Only time will tell.

 It's astounding
Time is fleeting
Madness takes it's toll...

 Ahh...

 But listen closely...

 Not for very much longer...

I've got to keep control.
I remember doing the Time Warp.
Drinking those moments when
 blackness would hit me.

and the void would be calling.

 Let's do the Time Warp again.
Let's do the Time Warp again.

-Rocky Horror Picture Show