"Uncle Bob and Mama Linda" as the Water Sports kids call us, they didn't know what to "name" me, so I told them what my son's friends call me, so now I'm Mama Linda! Bob has really enjoyed working with this great bunch of kids, between the water sports group and those who work at Emerald Bay Marina, we are surrounded by a fun group of young adults who not only work hard to make our stay fabulous, but have big hearts and will be friends forever. We have such a great time while our weather window is closed that it makes being "stuck" (a real misnomer) at Emerald Bay Marina just as fun as being out cruising!

The Straw Market in Georgetown, another fun stop. While looking for a bathroom, Deary, a merchant from the strawmarket said she would show me, she was going there too. Deary says "you will need some of this tissue that I keep in my boozum, and I will let you have the stall with the door, here is how you have to flush" Deary was a dear, and she happened to have the perfect basket that was a perfect fit for Buddy! I told her I was buying a basket to fit my cat, she said it took her a week to make it, $55, but as they say...."for Buddy....PRICELESS"











Buddy shows his appreciation by actually getting into his new basket and spending the afternoon there! He is thinking "It was about time folks!"




















Capt Dan and Bob dropped the tender into the water and were out of the marina within 15 minutes of returning from Compass Cay. This was to be Dan's last dip... after getting into the water and looking in holes and ledges for lobsters for only about 15 minutes, they found this prize lobster! Yes...very yummy too! Our neighbor who has not spearfished as yet now thinks this is real easy...you just get in the boat, go out for 30 minutes and come back with this.....yeah, right!

We are on our way to MN for two weeks, when we get back we really hope to make our way to Conception. Those turtles that breed in the creek really beckon me!

As always...LIFE IS SWELL ON VEDA L!

This Hawksbill Turtle was sleeping under a shelf when Dan and Bob found him, woke him up and took him for a swim over to Veda L for a photo shoot, we then took a video and watched him swim away....VERY FAST! He had what they call a rude awakening, but it made my day. Check out the entry on the right "Capt Himes......." and the link to the photos on Picasa showing the fabulous surprise we found underwater, I wonder if anyone out there has ever seen anything like this? When we came back with 18 conch, all mature with good ruffled edges, we said "Yes, we took 18 but we left the other 2,000!"

Capt Dan Himes, our delivery Capt when we bought Veda L has FINALLY made it down to play with us, and we call it Snake Karma that has brought us such fabulous adventures since he arrived. The reason for "snake Karma?" Capt Dan saved a snake that had gotten tangled up in a net from sure death, which we then accredited our smooth ride over to Great Guana from Emerald Bay, the turtle experience, and then witnessing the migration of thousands of conch!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lindabesk/AdventuresWithCaptDan Have a look at these incredible photos, the likes of which I have never seen on any of our trips! We are blessed each day with natures wonders, like a living National Geographic magazine!

It's not chocolates, but it came in a large red "container" and was healthier for me! Bob and I were smiling as we motored out to Poor Betty's Reef just a couple hundred yards out of the marina entrance as our new engine purred smoothly! Due to rough seas I drove the tender around (more like up and down!) waves as Bob dove the ledge where he has gotten lucky previously, and in just a few moments he came up and said "Happy Valentines Day Honey!" with my present on the end of his spear. Bob dropped it into the bucket that I held over the side of the tender; next he dropped a conch in the bucket and said "now that we have dinner; let's find a place that you will like to dive and do some photography......."

We headed NE of the marina entrance and found some little rock cays where it was relatively calm, I swam around the largest of the coral heads and found many varieties of coral, above is Stag horn coral, but there was also a huge area of Elk horn coral that sat atop fire coral. My favorite little fish (not shown) are the yellow tailed Damsel fish as they have these little purple iridescent sparkles that just glow, you always find them around fire coral as they know they are protected, also makes them hard to photograph as I sure don't want to get too close to any corals, let alone the fire coral.

This Porcupine fish was swimming along the bottom with a pal, I surprised them (and they surprised me!) but I got a picture of one of them swimming away, it was a good sized one, probably just under 2' long, this is the fish that I mistakenly called a Puffer fish that was under the docks at Compass Cay. I love these guys, so chubby and cute with those big eyes.

This Caribbean Reef Squid was one of 8 that I swam with for awhile, impossible to get a good picture of more than one at a time however. I popped up to see what was going on as all of a sudden I was feeling an increase of surge and waves above me, oh yes...the wind had clocked around and now the Atlantic is starting to break over the reef not far from us. Time to leave. Once in the boat I looked at the surf and said "Buffalo Bob, pray tell, how are we getting through that?... Hang Ten, Kowabunga, Shoot the Curl?" Bob: No problem, I have paddled a board through breaking surf enough times to know how to get through breaking waves, and sure enough, no problem, he waited for a break in the surf and quickly sped through. Once out however I had to be in the front of the tender in order to keep it up on plane (with our less powerful 15hp vs our former 25hp, standing up to time the bounces through the waves (I yelled back..."I don't like this...but I'm glad the boys used to make me ski moguls!" as that is what is was like, Bob driving like he was skiing moguls, and me with bended knees in front doing the shock absorber crunch as needed, it was actually pretty fun! My husband never ceases to amaze me with his abilities and his confidence which is never unfounded.
When we arrived back at the marina we had a call from Sandals asking Bob (Uncle) to come over to teach a windsurfing lesson; so off we went, a fun afternoon with the water sports kids as Bob was teaching his student, a man from Texas, I was helping the staff, my lessons all (kind of) came back to me, and I was hoping that I remembered them correctly. By late afternoon the kids were yelling "I feel it!" Nothing like the thrill of hanging onto that boom and flying across the water for the first time. Best compliment of the day from these kids for Bob "Uncle has mad skills!"

This is the view from our aft deck as we enjoyed the marina at Cave Cay http://www.cavecay.com/ a safe harbor that has an interesting history, there was nothing but a swamp when purchased and a few million dollars later a beautiful anchorage was dredged out for all of us to enjoy! A safe hurricane hole for sure, but we love it as it gives us a great place to tuck into on our way back to Emerald Bay from Compass Cay. We took the canoe out and had a fun little paddle within the harbor, then got brave and went out into the sound, well.....that provided a little more excericse as we were paddling against tide and wind on the way back. Let's just say that Veda L. looked mighty good as we came through the cut!

We are really worried about Buddy as he is such a nervous traveler.... We see him do this pose while sleeping frequently, but not on the dining room table! He certainly will not get a kitty ulcer. He has however given us a test in our Vet Tech skills of late, he has been going back and forth between diabetic and non-diabetic (the only mammal that does so), which keeps us in touch with Dr. Jen at Stillwater Vet, who gives us good advice and assures us that we are doing the right thing; he is one high maintenance cat...arthritis med in his special diet cat food, followed by his insulin shot, then before his morning cat nap he has his cat lax (as he can't be straining with arthritis in his lower spine), then we brush his teeth once a day, but smear salmon flavored cat "toothpaste" on his gums as well to eliminate tartar and any gum infections that "older" cats can get, then of course we do the glucose tests to be sure he is on the correct dose of insulin. He is 14 now and we have had him since he was 3, and we have certainly done more than bonded with this guy! He chose good "staff!"

Here we are back in Emerald Bay waiting for our new tender engine to arrive, we just hope to get the old Yamaha cranked up enough that we can get out and play on some nearby reefs, we need to get wet! The former Four Seasons Resort was purchased by Sandals,http://www.sandals.com/main/emerald/em-home.cfm which also owns the marina that we stay in, scroll down the main page and take a look at our "home away from home" Marina. The Grand Opening was yesterday and the helicopters have been buzzing overhead, dignataries zipping around in their golf carts, a golf tournament was being filmed, and everything is really looking great! Nice to see golfers out again, and especially nice to see The Marina At Emerald Bay filling up with boats, we just saw the new dive boat come in tonight and it is slipped next to us, will be fun to see where they intend to take their dive tours. Tomorrow I am having lunch with the Realtor who is handling the Grand Isle development and she is giving me a tour, it is lovely and has one of the most dramatic infinity pools that I have ever swam in.http://www.grandisleresort.com/

Yes, the homebody made bread today. I take some frozen loaves and some box mixes of bread for emergencies, but the emergency supplies are gone and now it is time to "do it yourself" which is always fun, I love working with yeast breads, today was the normal loaf variety, but I make a killer caramel roll.

We arrived on Cave Cay at low tide, which probably wasn't the smartest idea, but we did get in o.k. and then took a walk to the end of the airstrip where we found a shallow pool that gets surf from the Atlantic, we have seen lots of Casseopia's in our day, but these bright blue tentacles were amazing! I love the second picture showing the chambers of the Jelly! And they were everywhere. A beautiful crescent beach is on the Exuma Sound side of the island which we walked, and will snorkel the coral heads not far from shore tomorrow.

Cave Cay marina is a natural hurricane hole, you enter through a narrow cut between the high rock ledges which gives it almost a man-made look, a very unique spot to discover! A very nice marina, but the challenge was getting Veda L into the slip we had chosen, backing to starboard with a single screw, then add the wind (gusty and strong) and the current and Capt Bob has his work cut out! Good thing he is not a drinking man or we would not have had our nice walk after docking Veda L. I equate the above process with backing a Greyhound bus into a parking spot without rear view mirrors.

Rule of the Day...if you travel with a furry friend, remember where his favorite hiding spot is at home BEFORE you panic and spend 45 minutes zigzagging through Exuma Sound looking for a little furry head bobbing in the water. We were sure Buddy was on the boat, but we could not find him, we looked into every spot he has ever chosen to hide in, I did not know that Bob had taken a beach towel from the cupboard, but Buddy did and he crawled in. Then Bob closed the door not knowing that our Buddy had discovered his home away from home...THE LINEN CLOSET! Now we have our wet suits on, ready to go spear fishing, where is Buddy? I open a can of tuna to bring him out from wherever...THAT ALWAYS WORKS! No Buddy...THAT is when I panicked. So now we are convinced that SOMEHOW this silly cat of ours not only escaped but fell overboard (incredulous idea but the only one we had), so off Bob went in the tender. As he returns with a thumbs down on the approach I hear a very faint little meeeeeew, like a squeak...or was it our silly cat? I look into the cupboard that seemed to hold the meeeeew and here is what I saw. Buddy says "what is the big fuss all about? And by the way...where is that can of tuna?"