Our shells arrive

Before we left St Thomas we sent the shells I found while SCUBA diving by Priority Mail because we didn't have the room for them in our luggage. The other reason was because one of the shells still had a part of a dead critter in it and it was beginning to really reek. We did pack it inside a zip-lock bag to keep odor contained.

Yesterday the package finally arrived and the mailman came to the door with it. When I answered the door I said "We finally are getting our shells from St Thomas." He handed me the box and the other mail and said "This box really smells bad!!" And it really did reek but not as bad as when I opened it. I took the stinker shell out and hosed it down in the yard and got all of the dead stuff out of it and then soaked all three shells in a weak mixture of Clorox.


Today I got the biggest one cleaned of the stuff that clings to the shells and then took a couple of pictures of it with Carol holding it. If you want to see the picture larger, just click on it.

Party party

We had a great time at the party last night and it seemed everyone also did. I surprised the crowd by attending in my Navy Officer Whites complete with sword. Since it was a party to recognize veterans, I set up the Hazelwood ship model and hung up the reunion flag folding it so the word reunion did not show. It was located just as guests came in so I "manned the quarterdeck" and greeted all the guests. It was fun for me and a surprise for those attending. Just before dinner I did change out of my dress whites and went into my Tropical Whites (short sleeves like a Top Gun uniform) and that made it much more comfortable. That is Carol with John and Mary Lou Serafin our friends from Trafford who live near us.











The food prepared by Marilyn Lopes was very good and the musical entertainment was also excellent.

We got home about 10 PM and went to bed shortly afterwards. Jim and Donna Henry spent the night with us and in the morning we had coffee, conversation and a good time visiting. When they left for church, we also left and headed up to Anna Maria Island for a SCUBA "Grab the Crabs" picnic.

Those divers who had got a stone crab claw recently, entered it in the contest and the largest claw winner won first choice at a very fine array of SCUBA equipment. After they got their prizes, tickets were drawn out as a raffle for the remaining stuff. One of our tickets got drawn out after a while and I got a retractable reel that I had been looking at. Not a bad prize but I was a little late to get anything better. Our second ticket was not drawn out until the very last draw. That has happened to us so often we are getting used to it. We did get a few other small things that are OK.

The meal was fresh grouper bites and barbecue pork and the trimmings. An OK meal but not the level of Marilyn's!!!

We both were tired driving home and rested the rest of the day.

Home again

Wow, it has been over a week since I posted anything on here!!

Well we got back home on Saturday NOV 7 and got right back into the swing of things here. Sunday was mostly getting unpacked and resting. Monday was YMCA, racquetball for me and aerobics for Carol. I guess I was really rested up because I played some of my best racquetball in a year. Monday was also "get the mail" and go through all of it. Tuesday was bowling as it started a week earlier and we missed the first session. The highlight of bowling for Carol is going to lunch afterwards!!!

Wednesday Carol had a breakfast to attend and I was at the Y in the morning and the still getting caught up on mail stuff and getting ready for a Veterans Day program that our community was having in the afternoon. I took the model of the Hazelwood (the ship I served on) and put it on display at the event. It was a real nice program and it a shame that more folks did not attend.

Thursday I attended a Tin Can Sailors meeting and lunch at the Legion. Naturally there was a lot of sea stories and general "bull" going on. It is a nice bunch of guys and we all have the common experience of serving on a Tin Can (Navy Destroyer). And then on Thursday evening I call bingo at our clubhouse. I enjoy it and the attendees seem to enjoy me calling. Carol won one game so it was not a total lose for the evening.

And here it is Friday evening already. We went to the Y again this morning (8AM - 9 AM)and the went to the clubhouse to help getting set up for a dinner dance this Saturday evening. It is to celebrate Veterans Day as well as to a have a lot of fun, food and dancing. I set up the ship model again and we will have Jim and Donna Henry, friends from Tampa and John and Mary Lou Serafin (Trafford friends who live nearby) join us at the party. I expect I will have some pictures of the party to post on my next entry on this Diary.

Till then, keep smiling!!

Still having fun

Monday and Tuesday Hank and went diving both days. All 4 dives were really good ones.

On Monday we saw a couple of turtles and got some video of them. Also saw several Moray eels and lobster. I found a couple of conch shells that were not great but at least they did not have any “residents” in them. On the second dive we went through several tunnels and on one very small diameter one I had a tight time getting through. I didn’t panic since there were 4 others to help me if I got stuck. I worked my way through without any help!!! Also saw 2 turtles and got some good video of it. I got two smaller conch shells

On Tuesday we did 2 dives also and Peter was not available so we had a different captain on the boat. He was quite good also. On these dives we were around a lot of ledges and overhangs and on the second dive I even went into a small cave. We saw several large lobsters but we are not allowed to take any of them home for dinner!!! I did find a very nice large pink conch that was nearly totally buried in the sand. It did not have a resident and I brought it up. Carol was very pleased with it. It does require a lot of cleaning.

So now we have 3 shells to bring home and naturally they stink yet. We are going to get a Priority Mail box and ship them back to us along with some smaller shells and a rock Carol found.

Enjoying St Thomas

Thursday and Friday were days to rest. We were going to go to Magens Bay on Thursday but Carol felt a little punky so we just loafed around the pool here at the Castle. There were very few people around probably because of the large number of rooms being renovated here. I did get to look in one of the rooms being renovated and they are doing a major renovation; moving partitions and changing plumbing etc. The pool bar is still closed but getting ready to open up shortly.

Friday we picked up Hank and David and went to Magens Bay for the afternoon. David never had been there and if you have not seen it it is worth at least one trip. There were no crowds because there were no ships in. While in the water at waist depth I did see a 3 foot long barracuda swim by. There were not many other fish around and maybe that was why!!!

Carol and went to the Room With A View for their new happy hour. Five dollar wine and $5 appetizers. Too good a deal to pass up. Carol had some fried fish and I had the Calamari Provencal. Both are excellent.

This is Halloween and we plan on going to the Green House for dinner and may get to see some good costumes. It will give us the chance to see our friend Doug who is the night manager there.

Tomorrow is moving day for Hank and I will pick him up to bring him here to the Castle. We are lucky because we are going to be able to stay in the same unit and will not have to move. Hurrray, no packing and unpacking to do.

Dive, Dive!!!!

On Monday Hank and I met up with Peter at Coki Beach and went on our first two dives of ten planned. There was only one other diver with us but Peter and his new “helper” dove with us. The water was a little rough and we went to Grass Cay and dove on Mary’s Mounds. Down to 65 feet for 42 minutes. Got some decent pictures with the new camera and here a couple.

　

We then went to Mingo Cay and dove the Mingo Mounds. Another good dive for 40 minutes.

On Wednesday I had a new battery in my dive computer so I got good information on the dives. We dove a Congo Cay and Mingo again. At Congo there was a lot of surge and the bottom was covered with Coral fans and other soft coral waving in the surge. Very pretty but I didn’t take any pictures of it. I did see about 6 nice big conch but each one had a resident and I had to leave them on the bottom. We went to 77 feet, my deepest dive to date.

At Mingo we saw a sea turtle and several barracuda. Went to 64 feet for 43 minutes. Water temperature is at 83 degrees and I have not been using a wet suit.

We now rest until Monday and will do 3 days of diving next week.

The Day of the Dolphins

We were up early and caught the 830 AM ferry to Tortola BVI so we could swim with the dolphins. We got to Tortola about 945AM and our scheduled time with the Dolphins was 10 AM but we got a cab and arrived a minute early!! No problem, mon!!!



This was a really fun thing to do. There was only one other couple with us and it made it like our own private show. They had us put flotation vests on and we stood on a platform about waist deep in the very large pool. We got to pet the 2 dolphins. Shake hands with them, kiss them and even dance with them.



The real fun part was going out from the platform and floating with our arms extended and then the dolphins came up from behind on each side of us. We grabbed to their dorsal fin and they towed us back to the platform. Quite a ride. It got even better though.



The next time we floated lying flat with our legs extended behind us. The dolphins then came up from behind, placed their noses on the soles of our feet and pushed. They pushed you so you could actually stand up while being pushed along in the water. The one gal got pushed so high it looked like she was standing on the water.



Naturally they took video of this entire episode and it was so good we could not resist getting one. They did a high class job on the video and we will enjoy looking at it.



Tomorrow, Hank and I will be going on our first of 10 SCUBA dives.