12 Mar, Mon

Mon, 12 Mar .... i made a decision this morning ... i'm leaving on Saturday ! ..there ..... it feels good to make a decision. i sent an email to Vern and reserved my place on the catamaran to go to Roatan. now i need to find a cheap place to stay ... not an easy task on Roatan ... it's much more expensive there ... to sleep and eat ... but i hope i will enjoy the snorkeling as much this year as i did last year ... worked in the morning .... no Whale Shark boat today either :( ...i set up a meeting with the Manager for 1pm tomorrow with myself and the girls to try to find some answers to our questions ... around lunch time i walked across the street to the store and found Valentine ... with her head in a bag of cat food .... i think the people that own that store are extremely tolerant of her and the other cat that 'lives' there ... the cats are constantly tearing into a bag of cat food that's on the shelf for sale ... and i'm not sure if they finish one bag, before they tear into another bag ... :( anyway ... i picked her up and we spent some time together ... around 1pm, and got my gear around to go snorkeling ... it was pretty calm this morning, so i want to go back to the Iron Shore to snorkel in the 'quiet little 'bay' by Rene's house ... where the boa was ... on the walk, i realized that the wind had really picked up ... it was actually a bit difficult to walk .. i was beginning to question my decision to snorkel out there ... the weather had changed dramatically since this morning ... and, it was MUCH worse than a few days ago when i was there. their little dog barked when i came up to the house, and his wife came down and we visited for awhile. she took me out to the shore and showed me where to snorkel and .... told me NOT to wear my fins ... she said the current was really strong between that rock island and the shore, ...where that 'nice little quiet bay' was .. and that it was shallow there, and when the current started to carry me away, i could just stand up .. and it would be much easier WITHOUT fins on .... ok, so i followed her advice ... and WoW .. i was glad i did !!!!!!!!!!! i could not believe how strong the current could be ... and she was right ... when my body was in the water, it just took me away ... but if i could stand up, i could be in control ... the problem was standing up ... i literally had to put my feet out in front of me ... as if i was sliding down a mountainside, trying to find footing to stop me. ... unbelievable! i quickly figured out how to maneuver .. but it really was a lot of work ... i was out there for probably 15min when i realized that this was not going to be a very long snorkeling experience today. ...i lasted less than an hour ... this little fish was incredibly curious of me, and would not leave me alone .... same fish, different lighting .... always trying to get a good photo of the Yellow Tail DamselFish ... it's electric blue dots just entice me ... but they are SO quick, darting in and out of the coral .. it's impossible .. but i'll never quit trying ... this is a Squirrel Fish peeking out from his hiding place ... he would not move from there ! ... and notice the large Black Spiny Sea Urchin on the left .... i spent the rest of my time watching this Juvenile AngelFish ... ... lazily swimming around, in and out of the currents ... impressed that they can deal with the force of the waves and currents so much more easy than i could ! ...at times i had my feet planted firmly against a rock, and one hand on another rock, my camera in the other hand ... barely in control ... i especially enjoyed watching it, ....attack and nip and chase away this Bar Jack that was 3-4 times it's size ! when i got out of the water, everyone was gone from the house ... i wanted to thank them again, ... but ... so i started walking home. a nice man in a 4-wheeler asked me if i wanted a ride ... i accepted ... he took me half the way ... i stopped to get a Mango ice cream on the way home :) i got home and cleaned up and tried to relax ... but ... where i live has turned into a Day Care Center for wild noisy kids ! ... i couldn't take the noise any longer, so i left, and retreated to the Dive Shop. while there i learned of a BBQ tonight at the Bar-a-cuda Bar; dinner tomorrow at RJs; and a Bandu Soup party on Thurs night .... lots of activities my last week in Utila ... :) i went to Buccaneer's for Tuna Fillet w/Lemon Garlic sauce ... it was good ... then came back home ... the kids were in bed by now and it was quiet ... while i was sitting outside working on my blog ... i heard the familiar 'meow' of Shark Bait ... he found me again ... so he was rewarded with some food :)