Bimini trip - continued So we slept at the marina, and woke up bright and early the next day - Chris bright and earlier than me, as usual. We got out on the water really early and headed out to a dive spot named Turtle Rocks.



We moored here and took the opportunity to get our bearings, then geared up and headed down for a looooovely dive. I don't think I really knew what to expect.. but it was just so damn clear, from the minute we put our faces in the water. I loved it. I was very, very happy. It's been a week now, so if you asked me exactly what we saw exactly, it's a struggle. The usual, but lots of 'em. Little fish. Lots of the little blue ones. I saw a tiny baby sharpnose pufferfish, and it was adorable. We saw a big, big nurse shark. A big ray. So, so many fish.

After the dive, I went to take my fins off and had, for a second, a fear-of-heights moment. That's how clear the water is there... I loved it. I didn't want to get out of the water. I stayed in the water for a good 10 minutes just floating and staring at the fish below.

Chris drove the boat around while I sat up front and marveled at how lovely this place was. Actively.



Kickin' my legs over the side, I saw fishies swimmin' by under my feet. I had to yell back to Chris every once in a while about how much I loved it there.

We saw this place, the Sapona, and decided to come back to snorkel/dive around it. Sadly, we didn't get back before dark and the next day it was too stormy around the area to dive. Next time!



We had to go back to port.. gas up, power up, get more air for our tanks, etc. This meant more showers! Woo!

While Chris gassed up, I used the opportunity to feed goldfish to the seagulls and snap pictures. I got a few I liked.





I hung out in the marina pool while Chris powered up and chatted with some ladies from Hobe Sound, then walked down to the other resort for some ice.

Chris and I got back in the water and realized that it would be too late for another dive or to go snorkeling at that wreck so figured we would just have a sunset dinner on the boat and turn in early for an early start to our next day.

And that we did.

However, I did jump back in the water for a little bit of reef-watching until our light ran out. Some barracudas gave me a scare in the distance, until I realized what they were.



Then it was burritos by Craftsman-hat-light on the boat while moored up at Turtle Rocks. It was awesome. All the stars were out. It was a perfect, beautiful night. We stayed up for a long time on the boat, just sitting there, rocking. After we finally went to bed, I made the mistake of getting back up and then ended up hanging off the side of the boat, watching all the little phosphorescent critters in the water, and the little glow-in-the-dark fish that were hunting them.

I ended up going to bed at, oh, midnight..

And at 3 a.m., we woke up with the boat rocking. The water had started getting rough. The rest of the night was bad for sleeping.. I would wake up and it would take a half-hour to get back to sleep. I could only sleep on my back since the water was so rough. I was having all sorts of crazy dreams. The water was sloshing so much. We were pounding away. At 7 a.m., I woke up and face the reality of the day. Chris was already awake. We hoped together that it was a night thing, that the water would calm back down. We then realized we had a storm heading our way, so we had to abandon our plans to dive the Sapona.

We did end up getting to dive, thankfully, which was a nice break in the choppy water.



Again, the viz was great. Lots of fishies! Lots of very confident barracuda! I was happy and didn't want to come back up to that damn choppy water!

But the rest of the day was just waves and more waves. I didn't manage to get anything down aside from an apple... Hardly was able to drink anything... Chris and I were both feeling pretty damn green. I never puked, but was very, very close. Very close.

And the gulf stream was very rough. Blech. But once we got back into Florida waters, all was calm.. We got checked out at immigration right there on the intracoastal and back to the house at 3 p.m.



Relieved, see?

I left for class at 5 with a splitting headache, getting to class at 6 and feeling like the classroom was rocking. Worse, I felt like the bedroom was rocking at 11 p.m.

Awesome, awesome trip.. but HELLUVA last day. Starting it out with no food and then not being able to eat, and not really being able to drink.. and being on choppy water for 12 hours... and then not really getting much sleep.. well, altogether, it added up to a REALLY EXHAUSTING DAY. Chris and I both took DAYS to recover from that.

Regardless, it was worth it. I totally understand now why everyone zips over to the Bahamas for the weekend. I can't wait to go back - especially now that we've learned a few lessons on how to have a successful trip to the Bahamas!  ¶ 10:43 PM