29 Feb, Wed

Wed, 29 Feb ... Use This Post, the other one was sent in error ... Leap Year ... what is supposed to happen in Leap Year ? ...i forget :) it wasn't a good night, ... i didn't sleep well, probably worrying about the boat trip tomorrow; .... and my nice quiet place to stay hasn't been very quiet the last couple of nights, ..... and last night there were a bunch of guys outside my door talking very loudly ... grrrrrrrrrr :( i woke up at 5am with stomach cramps ... pretty bad ones .... to the point where i couldn't stand up straight ... and i knew what these cramps would lead up to :( ...and i need to get a boat ready, be in charge, and be on it for 4 hours .... with no bathroom !!!!!!! i was hoping the 'process' would progress quickly and i would be ok by 6:30 ... but that wasn't the case. ...so i prepared some 'things' to take with me in preparation for the worst, ... and walked ... uh .... kind of 'stooped' my way to the boat. John (bless his heart) was already there; even though he didn't know about the early start time. i told him i wasn't feeling well .... but that wasn't necessary, because i was bent over and sweating and i'm sure looked horrible;... but i said i would be ok. i managed to get to my office and get all the stuff we needed from there, while he got the stuff we needed from the supply room, ...First Aid Kit, Oxygen Equipment, etc. luckily, Sue, (the woman who i met with that is going to help with the intern after i leave), showed up coz her daughter was going to go on the trip with us (which was also new news included in the late night email). she helped me get the fruit and drinks from the kitchen, which wasn't ready as it was supposed to be ..... and then John found out from Willie, our Captain, that we were leaving 1/2 hr earlier, ....which was like, ... right now .... so he didn't have time to give a 'quick training' to the new Dive Masters who were just arriving to help on the boat for their first time. we all loaded on the boat, i apologized, and thanked everyone; and Willie took off from the dock. on the way to Utopia, (i wish), i tried to brief the Dive Masters as to what i needed them to do, gave them the folders and info and let them review it. Willie called me up to the 'Crows Nest' where the Captain sits ... in my condition, i wasn't very comfortable climbing up that metal ladder on the back of the boat, as we bobbed and weaved in the waves, ...but i made it safely. he said the Manager was going to call back and wanted to talk to me. she called and wanted to know if i got her email and if i had brought the Release Forms ..... i said "yes, i have them, and we can't operate like this" .... (i actually had packed up enough extra forms yesterday before i left for the day ... just in case) back down the ladder, checked with my Dive Masters and the new John, and we were all set with who was going to do what, .... as i 'crouched' on the floor of the boat, waiting out my latest stomach spasm, ....this wasn't going to go away soon.... we arrived at their dock and they were waiting ... i sat on the dock (i couldn't stand) and had them fill out the Release Forms, they got their equipment and vests on, and did their swim test ... everyone was happy and got on the boat. Chad did the Boat Briefing and we took off. i asked the group to join me in the front of the boat because it was a little quieter up there. and i went through the procedures we would follow if we saw a Whale Shark, ...... how we would get in the water, .... how far we were to say away from the Whale Shark; ... and how we would get back in the boat. ....then i spent some time telling them about the Whale Sharks. they were very attentive and excited and hopeful. ...and i think i did pretty well for my first time, ...i was nervous and still having spasms ... this group was here for a wedding; ... the bride and groom are getting married tomorrow. so everyone was hoping we would see a Whale Shark for a wedding present. they were a fun group, ... unfortunately it clouded up and Willie did his best to dodge the rain, that we saw all around us, ....so we at least stayed dry; ... he is probably the best Captain on the whole island, and we were lucky to have him. we rode around, bouncing and crashing through the waves ... it was really rough out there; and we didn't see anything. one of the girls in the group got motion sickness and had to use one of our buckets, .....Chad, the Dive Master, was so sweet to get right up and get that bucket cleaned out for her .... everyone else was looking the other way ..... i applaud him for that! ... he also initiated conversation as to whether they wanted to 'call it quits'; they said they would do whatever the sick girl wanted; ... Chad climbed up to tell Willie and we headed back in .... we had been out there about 2.5hrs. it took us another 1/2hr or so to get to a snorkel spot, where we stopped and a few people got out to snorkel ... it was still cloudy, so most opted to stay dry. ....we dropped them off and headed back to our dock as the sun came out :) .... but we didn't see any Whale Sharks :( we cleaned out the boat, put things away, ... everyone helped .... and i went home, took a shower, and laid down for awhile ...... i was beat .... eventually i was hungry, but still not wanting to eat ... went to the store to get some soda crackers ... and do you know there is not one store on this island that has any yogurt ... not even Bush's that has a lot of 'American' products. came back, laid down again; then fixed myself some rice noodle soup and went back to the office to finish up some things i had left out. then came back and here i am ... telling you my day's story .... stomach still not normal ... i wonder if it was something i ate, or something i caught ...... hopefully something i ate, if so, i'll be better tomorrow. oh, i did get in the water and snorkeled a bit when the boat stopped; .... and ran into an entire ARMY of small 2" jelly fishes. ...i've been seeing them in the water, but i could not believe how many there were .... i should have taken a photo, but i was concentrating on swimming in the other direction .... faster than if i had seen a crocodile! ...it wasn't a very good snorkel spot ..... way too deep to see much .... i only took a few photos, none of them worth much ... here is one of a school of Blue Chromis swimming by ... underwhelming huh? i got an email from Marti, the girl that i'm going to stay with in Roatan. she just found out that an attorney that was handling a trust fund for her business has disappeared ... with the money :( poor her .... so she has delayed her trip to Roatan and plans to get there on the 8th. ....so that gives me a few more days here ... a few more days to possibly see a Whale Shark !!