Jillapalooza

IM IN UR OCEAN. EATIN UR CARDZ.

Esmeralda, dive 45

Dive: 45
Belize Dive: 3
Date: 11/26/10
Site: Esmeralda
Avg/Max Depth: 44/68
Temp: 81
TBT/CBT: 0:59/36:03
Buddies: Ted, Nick, Curtis, Kristen, Cindy, Ellie

We hung out at the dive shop for our surface interval. Between the breeze and the shade, the tempurature was quite comfortable. I spotted a weird looking animal with a long nose and fluffy tail tied to a vendor stand on the beach. Loidy told me it was called a quash, like an anteater or raccoon, but house trained. Cindy and I walked closer to get a better look. It was a cute little thing, a baby too. Rudy said one of his kids has a quash named Tequila. He said they can’t leave anything sitting around because the quash sticks its little nose into everything, lolllll.

After the surface interval, we ventured back out to the choppy waters for our second dive at Esmeralda. This was the site with the sandy bottom where the sharks hung out. Loidy brought a food tube along, and in no time a pile of nurse sharks joined us. A moray eel also came out to play. It was neat because we’ve never seen one swimming about so boldly. They usually just sit under rocks and look ominous. The eel also bonked Loidy in the mask. Entertaining stuff.

I was in the process of descending to touch the sharks when one of the dumbheads from the other group descended on top of my head. I ended up being sandwiched uncomfortably between the ground, her, and Rudy and Ellie. I had to squirm my way out, trying not to stir up the bottom or kick anyone else. After that the sharks got crowded, so I just hung out above. It’s okay, I’m sure there will be another shark touching opportunity in the next 8 days.

The rest of the dive went well and my ear didn’t give me issues. The safety stop was a bit dizzying again, but it didn’t seem as bad as the first time. And neither of them were even close to as bad as the dive in 2007!

Because the dive shop is taking care of our gear, I have to remember to write down what’s in my dive computer before leaving the boat. I forgot this time, that’s why there’s a bunch of missing info at the top. Do not fear. I will fill it out in a timely matter. ;)

Tackle Box, dive 44

Dive: 44
Belize Dive: 2
Date: 11/26/10
Site: Tackle Box
Avg/Max Depth: 44/67
Temp: 81
TBT/CBT: 1:00/35:04
Buddies: Ted, Nick, Curtis, Kristen, Cindy, Ellie

The seven of us boarded the boat to the diveshop as well as three other people from our resort. I think it was a father and his two daughters. They were in the process of getting certified. Once at the diveshop, the seven of us boarded a bigger boat. With us came another divemaster named Loidy, two other divers, and Dianne, a Divemaster-in-training.

For our first dive outside the reef, Rudy took us to Tackle Box. The boat ride was a bit choppy. We backwards rolled into the water and descended immediately to about 40 feet. There were lots of fun tunnels to go through, unfortunately I was having equalization issues at about 66 feet. I followed from above and watched as everyone passed through the caverns. As much as I wanted to be down there with them, it was fun watching from above.

The dive was good and we swam at a leisurely pace. There was no strong current like in Hol Chan, so I didn’t have to excert much effort. I tried to stay at 17 feet for my safety stop at the end. At about 12 feet I could feel the motion of the swells. It’s an unsettling feeling to be dizzy when it doesn’t seem like you’re moving. It also helped to not watch the boat thrash around in the water, or the people trying to hold on to the ladder while they removed their gear.

Getting in went somewhat smoothly for me. I had my fins and BCD off in record time, and I kept the reg in my mouth until my gear was being pulled onto the boat. Once I was on, it was another story. A giant wave rocked the boat and I started to tumble forward. I saw Nick and aimed for him, but fell at the last minute. I smashed my nose right into his stomach. I’m just glad it wasn’t his knee or the boat!

Hol Chan, dive 43

Dive: 43
Belize Dive: 1
Date: 11/25/10
Site: Hol Chan
Avg/Max Depth: 17/26
Temp: 81
TBT/CBT: 0:48/34:04
Buddies: Ted (Nick, Curtis, Kristen, Cindy, Ellie)

Today we did our first dive here in Belize. Rudy, one of our favorite Divemasters from 2007, took us to Hol Chan. It was Cindy and Ellie’s first salt water dive, too! We saw lots of fish and some different rays. It was an easy, shallow dive, but the current was kind of crazy toward the end. Curtis was srs bzns with his underwater camera and an HD video camera.

After our dive, we went to Shark Ray Alley for a bit of snorkeling. When I jumped in the water, the first thing I did was take a deep breath thinking my reg was in. Woops. Fortunately the water only went into my mouth and not my lungs! Rudy and Martín, the captain, were feeding the fish. They got a kick out of throwing the food toward us so the fish would pummel us trying to get to it. Very awesome. True to its name, there were plenty of rays and nurse sharks. And the nurse sharks were huuuuuge! I don’t remember seeing so many that big last time.

Huntington Access, dive 42

Dive: 42
Season Dive: 1
Date: 9/25/10
Site: Huntington Access
Avg/Max Depth: 21/18
Temp: 61
TBT/CBT: 0:18/33:16
Buddies: Kristen (Curtis, Ted, Mike, Adam, Cindy, & Ellie elsewhere)

My first and last dive of the 2010 season was at Dive Fest! There was a bit of drama. I had a new wetsuit and wasn’t sure how much weight I would need. I ended up needing 30 pounds. Unfortunately, I could only fit 26 pounds in my BCD. I burned through half of my hair just trying to sink and was seconds away from climbing out and saying f*** it, when Adam and Mike surfaced. Mike had two 2 pound ankle weights that he was kind enough to let me use, and I sank easily after that. It was cold. Kristen and I did a short dive.

Dive Fest 2010

Dive Fest 2010 is officially under way! I will be reporting live thanks to my WordPress app for BlackBerry.

So far they have revealed the first clue for the medallion. BRK and I think we know which pit it’s located in. Curtis is hesitant about winning it two years in a row, but I think he’ll crack.

Keep tuned in to jillapalooza for live Dive Fest coverage. if you are any errors like Thu. A or thin or yaps it’s because I’m writing on my phone. I cannot be held responsible for missing apostrophes.

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