Well Christmas is over and March is coming sooner than one might think ... March 17 being the expected due date of the newest addition to the Millsap clan.

That of course means I need to get my tail into a higher gear to get the promised Baby Crib finished before said addition arrives and has nowhere to lay his or her sleepy head ...

I have made some measurable progress to that end ... the "gate" and the "headboard" or "back side" rails and slats have all been cut and fitted with mortise/tenon joints ... the pictures here are simply dry set up (no glue) to see if I have things laid out properly ... this being my first "mission style" (also called arts & craft style) furniture I have had a fairly steep learning curve on the mortise/tenon joints but after the first 20 or so it gets easier.

Next I have to make the "ends" of the cribs (7 slats in each so 28 more mortise/tenon joints yet to make ... sigh ... ) and then I can start the detail work of edge softening and finally assembly ... still many hours of shop time to go but ... hey ... I've got ... uh .... oh crap!!! ... 80 or less days ...

Gate on Left Headboard on Right

From The Crib

Gate

From The Crib

Headboard

From The Crib

Just a quick update on the deer saga ... we picked up 44 pounds of dried/smoked sausage from the processor today.  Yum!!  All neatly vacuum packed and frozen.  Several family members and friends will be getting samples in their Christmas stockings!

Well we are about  to embark on a great adventure ... I'll be updating the Med trip blog tonight with our preparations to date and our basic travel itinerary. I believe most or all of you are subscribed to that weblog at Med Trip Link

"See" you when we get back!

Early this morning I decided to hunt for the first time this season ... I had done enough practice to be confident of a 20+yd shot which is typical for bow hunting around here.  So up just at day break ... camo clothes on ... about 55 degrees F ... perfect weather, I climb up in the tripod and wait for the sunrise ... not too long after ... two 4 point "smallish" bucks are eating at the feed block and I decide one of them is small but "ok" ... I stand up, bring the bow to full draw and %^&*(*&^&*(* what the hell??? I can't see my sighting ring!!!! I had practiced over several weeks and KNOW the bow is properly sighted but for some damn reason ... I can't see the ring ... meaning I'm not on target! ... I hunch my shoulders shift my weight ... and finally "see" the ring ... and put the pin on the buck's shoulder and release ... only to see my arrow cleanly miss the deer (too low) by almost a foot ... again I think ... $%^&*(*&^%^&*(* what the hell????

OK off the stand ... deer have vanished of course ... I pick up the arrow ... walk over to my target range ... draw the bow at the target and STILL can't see the sight ring ... CLEARLY something has caused the bow to be knocked out of "sighted" ... crap ... ok ... it's a pain to sight this bow so I'll do it later ... into the house and off on regular Saturday errands we go ...

time passes ... it's late afternoon ... still plenty of daylight ... I've done several other things ... I'll see if I can sight in the bow ...

Out to the target range ... draw the bow on the target and ... there JUST LIKE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE is my sight ring ... I release on the target and hit dead on! ... nock another arrow ... draw ... sight ring is good .. release ... two arrows in a 1 inch group ... what the hell???

The three deer that have been feeding at the block all this while have been observing my skill with a jaundiced eye ... "... he ain't bothering us ..." ... I draw a third arrow on the target ... release and now have three arrows in a 1 inch group ... so what was the problem this morning???   I mean ... what the hell ????

I walk over to the target, extract the three arrows, look up and not 15 yards away the three deer have now split off a bit ... two have "moseyed" about 10 steps from the block and one doe is still holding her ground at the block and eying me with a bit of what I considered a haughty attitude ...

Ok ... I set two of the arrows in the quiver and knock the third ... I walk all the way around to the front of the big deck ... up on the deck ... walk across 30 or 40 feet of acorns crunching like snap crackle pop cereal all the way watching the doe ... she's still at the block and now proceeding to munch away clearly not concerned by me and my bow (and it's very fickle at this point sight ring) ... I think to myself ... what the hell! ... I'm NOT in camo, I'm NOT on my tripod 15 feet in the air I'm NOT up wind ... and I have clearly been seen by this animal ... if she's that damn dumb or indifferent ... what the hell!!  I'm taking a shot ... so ... once again I draw my bow to full draw and the sight ring at first isn't anywhere to be seen then as I relax a bit... it settles into place ... I release the arrow and see a clean kill shot on the animal ... naturally she jumps and runs into the brush away from me as expected ... I wait ... go into the house change into old clothes and start to run the blood trail ... easy sign all looks to be a good shot with easy to follow trail ... and then ... it happens ....

I hear kids ... LOT'S OF KIDS ... and other people .... LOT'S OF OTHER PEOPLE ... all laughing CLEARLY having a party ... and as it turns out ... sure enough there is some sort of birthday party in full swing in the back yard of my neighbor (the Bakers) ... understand we rarely ever hear or see the Bakers ... like maybe once in the last 5 years ... and NEVER small children ... their property is separated from ours by dense heavy cedar and brush ... there is easily 100 yards from the deck in my yard across my property of dense cedar brush to where the Bakers have their yard and tennis court ... so .... here I am hot on a fresh blood trail when I come up right at the property line and smack into some sort of birthday party ... with maybe 30 people all tolled ... bunches of small (4-5 yr old) kids playing on the tennis court ... people laughing ... having a fine time ...

I stop and think to myself ... "What the hell?????" .....

So as quietly and stealthily as I can I back track to the our house ... cursing my luck that on THIS DAY of ALL DAYS ... the Bakers are having a damn party in the back yard ... and I KNOW right there close by is a dead deer I REALLY need to collect and get to the processor ... Carolyn is sympathetic but wants to go look for the deer now ... I'm of a mind that I really don't want a bunch of little kids crying because I shot Bambi and their mother's and father's telling me they are sure I have broken some ordinance or other and they are gonna have my ass thrown in jail .... so I tell Carolyn we will wait until the party is over ... maybe even tomorrow ...

About 7:45PM .... I walk outside and listen ... it's dark and I don't hear any revelry from the Bakers' backyard ... so I tell Carolyn the party is over and she wants to go look for the deer ... (btw when I first made the shot I advised Carolyn to call and see when the processor over in New Braunfels closed for the day ... they accept deer for processing until 9PM ... ) ... so with flashlights in hand we begin Ninja Deer Stalking in the dark ... always a fun evening ... I found the blood trail pretty quick and we started following it ... remember we are in THICK cedar brush at night with flashlights and basically right up against my neighbor's back fence ... when ...

.... there's another flashlight ... this one over at the Bakers' ... what the hell?? ... Dan Baker calls out "... hello who's there ..." and I reply "hey Dan ... it's Bade ..." (now Dan is a nice guy but I don't think he's a real fan of bow hunting in his back yard .. or in my back yard for that matter ...) ... Dan calls back "... are ya'll looking for a deer?" ... crap! ... "Yeah we are ... " ... "he's over there ..." and Dan helpfully shines his light about 10 yards from where we were standing ... "geeze Dan ... I was tracking that deer earlier when I came up to this point and ran into your party ... I'm REALLY sorry ... I hope the kids weren't freaked out ..." .... "no ... they didn't see it ... some of the adults did ... " ... "well ... I'm really sorry I didn't know there was a party going on ..." ... "yeah it was a surprise birthday party for me today is my 70th birthday ... " ... "well ... uh .... Happy Birthday!!! ... I'll get this deer outta here right away and again I'm really sorry it interrupted your party ... " ... "no problem ... I was sent out to look for a GameBoy ... " ... "ok well good luck and Happy Birthday again ... "

So ... I go over and pick up the deer and carry it about 50 yards back on my property ... field dress it as fast as I possibly can ... get it into the pickup ... it is now 8:24PM ... it's typically ... 40 minutes at best to New Braunfels ... gonna be tight ...

But Carolyn makes all of the lights but one and we pull into the processor at 8:59PM ... I'm not sure they were real glad to see me pull up at the last second .. but they took the deer and my deposit ... looking forward to some good dried sausage ... it wasn't a big doe but will make plenty of sausage ...

What the hell!!!

--
Bade
Like an old desperado ... painting the town beige

Well I got the new saw up and running this week and proceeded to finish dimensioning the wood for the crib/bed ... it takes a LOTTA WOOD!!!

From The Crib

From The Crib

So ... since THIS PROJECT ... isn't "due" until mid-March ... I'm setting it aside for a bit while I concentrate on Christmas presents ... "The shop is closed to visitors until further notice!"

First I have to state up front that I really DIDN'T intend to get a new saw ... wanted one sure, but times are tight.

Ok ... so I've completed the Toy Box and needed to get going on the crib ... gotta be done with that mid-March! So ... step 1 after having already purchased 100 board feet of prime rift-sawn 4/4 white oak is to dimension the lumber ... that is get it planed down to the appropriate thickness from it's rough "from the saw mill" state and get it cut to almost the final lengths/widths.

I spent a couple of hours cutting the 8ft boards from the saw mill down to 'near' the right lengths and then face jointing to smooth/flat one side of each board and one edge. The boards cut to length looked like this ... about 70bf more or less:

From The Crib

So ... having gotten that done the next step is to "rip" the boards lengthwise to get proper widths ... including some where multiple final width boards will be cut from a single wider boards as they currently sit.

I fired up my trusty Ryobi BT3100 table saw .. started the first rip and ... started feeling a serious bind of the motor and then smelling burning wood (due to the inability to feed the saw fast enough due to the motor slowing) and then the inevitable smell of burning motor ... THIS IS NOT A GOOD SIGN!! I swapped out the blade in the foolish hope that it was just a dull blade ... but when I fired the saw back up ... there were noises I don't generally hear ... and that ugly burning smell lingered ... C R A P !!!

I had worried if the small table saw I have enjoyed for several years would be up to the task of dealing with so much heavy hard wood ... I now had the answer ... "not so much!"

After seriously considering setting fire to the shop and claiming innocence ... I decided to start looking for a replacement ... I knew I needed something with more "heft" ...

I polled my internet woodworking buddies about a couple of ideas I had and one of them suggested I try to save some money by using the current "Live.com" offering that was going on ... save up to 30% of purchase price (limited to $200) ... now THAT was appealing since the saws I was looking at were beyond the budget I had in mind.

After much thought, deep serious (but fanatically fast due to the fact that the saw I wanted was only on ebay for a short remaining time and there was only one) ... I pulled the trigger on a "Cabinet Saw" (Grizzly G1023SL for those that care) and I saved (or will save after 60 days ... that's how the offer works) $200.

As for how the Live.com thing works ... and it IS worth learning about ... the following is a direct (lifted) quote from one of my woodworking fora ... give it a try it does work when they are running the promotion ...

You need to originate a search though Live.com that results in an Ebay hit that shows the "Live Search Cashback" symbol . The word "chisels" works for me just about every time. It doesn't matter what you search for initially, as long as it results in a hit that has that symbol that links you to Ebay.

Then enter Ebay thru the link from your Live.com search. You should see the "Microsoft" Cashback banner at the top of the page. Once you've got that banner, that session and the stated discount is valid for one hour....after an hour you can repeat the process to refresh it. Now you can search Ebay for any item you want, but it must be listed as a "Buy It Now" item, and they must accept PayPal as payment, and you must pay using PP. You'll see the Cashback banner at every step of the checkout process right up to confirming the purchase, so you'll know what your saving. Note that the discount is subject to change without notice....it has and will change but you won't know when until after. 30% is as high as I've seen it. You're allowed up to 6 cashback transactions per Ebay account...each transaction has a cap of $200.

Once you make the Buy It Now purchase, you'll receive an email from the MS Cashback folks stating that you've earned Cashback. It'll provide a link to set up a "Live ID" account with Microsoft. Your cashback will be available after 60 days, at which time you'll get another email with a link where you can request your payment. It typically goes straight to your PayPal account but I've read where others requested a check.

Well I believe "it is finished!" ... to borrow a phrase.

I put the final finish coat on Zach's toy box today and I have to say I'm fairly pleased with the outcome. Besides the aromatic cedar I used redwood from the old pool deck for the base and handles (which is the same wood I used for my big deck chair, my TV tray that I use every day, Carolyn's quilt rack and Carolyn's outdoor swing) so it has SOME family history in it's makeup and I used white oak that is part of the batch I will use to build the new baby crib for the lid and hinge reinforcements ... hopefully that will give it a little "heirloom" countenance in the future.

Here are a few pics of the finished product.

From Zach's Toy Box

From Zach's Toy Box

From Zach's Toy Box

From Zach's Toy Box

Let's see ... over the course of a number of years of woodworking I've built solid body guitars, hollow body guitars, a couple of mandolins, a banjo, several small furniture items like quilt racks, outdoor furniture, ice chests, a backyard swing, several picture frames and any number of other things ... but not once have I ever built anything that used a joinery method called a "dovetail".

Dovetail joinery is actually a very common and very old way of joining two pieces of wood at a right angle. (you can of course use dovetails to join wood at other than right angles but the common usage is for drawers and cabinetry) In the "old days" and even now many craftsmen consider "handmade dovetail joints" to be a mainstay of fine craftsmanship. These woodworkers accomplish this magic joinery with nothing more than a hand saw, a pencil, a ruler and a practiced eye. Modern day woodworkers typically rely on "jigs" and either a router or a table saw to create the joint. I on the other hand have managed to avoid using this particular joint because of the many articles and books I have read that contend that the setup of the jigs and power tools are beyond the skills of all but the most accomplished woodworker.

A few months ago ... ok ok ok ... about 3 YEARS ago I was in the local "Harbor Freight (HF)" store ... HF is the home of cheaply made, cheaply sold pacific rim tools that one can almost always count on to fail when put into actual use ... but also the place wannabe craftsmen like myself are drawn because of the low prices and ever present "sales and coupons" ... and jumped at the "sale" being had on the HF version of a "half-blind" dovetail jig for routers. (Dovetails come in two flavors basically ... "half-blind" and "through" ... without too much technical detail just know that a quality "through" dovetail router jig from a well known manufacturer (Leigh) will cost $400-$500 ...) The $29 for the HF jig was too good to pass up. After getting the jig home and then reading several woodworker forum posts about how hard the HF jig was to set up and even then how poor the actual fit of the joint ... I quietly stowed the jig in a far corner of the shop (unopened) and promptly resumed my avoidance of the mystical dovetail joint.

Recently, I decided to start a fairly ambitious project for an anxiously anticipated new grandchild and needed to secure lumber for that project. At the same time I came to the decision that I wanted to continue the tradition started by my dad of building a "toy box" for the grandchildren and delivering the toy box on Christmas morning when the grandchild has reached an appropriate age. Zach will be seven this Christmas and it is time to build him a toy box. I visited a saw mill in East Texas and bought white oak for the other project and "aromatic cedar" for Zach's toy box. I recalled that as a boy most of the toy boxes I was familiar with had lots of "knots" in them (cheap pine I suspect) and felt like cedar offered a similar look. Aromatic cedar is more often thought of for "cedar chests" that would hold blankets or clothes I suppose but I believe that this will look great as a toy box as well.

I had located a "plan" for the toy box that gave me an idea of what I wanted to build and the amount of wood required. Once I had the wood at home I examined the plan more carefully and realized that the plan was sketchy on construction details but what was clearly noted was that the "dovetail joints need to be carefully laid out and cut to assure a proper fit ..." ... well thanks a lot bucko ... I considered looking for a different plan but ultimately decided to cowboy up and learn how to execute this troublesome piece of joinery.

I read everything I could find online about using the HF jig including a set of fairly detailed setup instructions posted by another hapless woodworker that had been suckered into the $29 jig sale and forged ahead with its usage ... his assessment was that it was in fact possible to accomplish an "acceptable" joint if extreme care was taken in the jig and router setup. In general woodworking, a 1/16" accuracy is typically acceptable ... but not so in cabinetry ... in that case "perfect is almost good enough ...".

So armed with the additional setup instructions and the instructions that came with the jig ... which were clearly written by someone who's 1st, 2nd and perhaps 3rd language was NOT English ... I dug around in the shop for the box with the jig. I found it under a pile of debris covered in cobwebs, dust and mouse droppings ... opened it up and heaved out the 20 pound Harbor Freight Half-Blind Dovetail jig. I spent about an hour setting up my first test cut using some scrap lumber and dove in ... when finished I fully expected the fit to be "half-assed" having been created by a "half-blind" craftsman on a "half-blind" jig ... but it turned out not to be "half-bad" ... in fact it was far better than I expected.

So ... armed with a new found confidence and again being very very careful with the setup measurements (those changed every time you change wood stock dimensions) I reset the jig to fit the actual cedar I had very carefully cut, jointed and planed to the exact dimensions I wanted for the toy box.

The results are in my opinion very acceptable ... I hope that in the distant future when Zach has passed the toy box down he will remember the story of how G'Pa learned how to dovetail on his toy box.

I have included a few pictures of my progress to date:

From Bade's web log

From Bade's web log

From Bade's web log

Regardless of the immense pain in the butt having our flight canceled last night and having to DRIVE from Dallas ... we had a great time (as always) in Cozumel.

In total we did 10 boat dives and a short shore dive and spent over 10 hours underwater for the week.

The weather held out for us in Cozumel and while we were gone we received 4.67 inches of blessed rain here at the house over the week. So everything is green and needs mowing.

Thanks for reading ... hope you enjoyed the web log ....

Next up ALASKA ....

... and I KNOW this because ... we just did it. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

When we got to the airport in Cozumel, we checked in and managed to change our flight out of Dallas from leaving at 10:40PM to leaving at 8PM .... improving our layover in Dallas from about 6 hours to only a little over 3. This you would think is a good thing ... WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got to DFW from CZM with no problem at all (in fact a little early) ... had a bite to eat after getting thru customs an rechecking our bags on to San Antonio and then sat at the gate ... there was what appeared to be a small thunderstorm that passed thru pretty quickly but we were advised that the flight coming from Detroit had been rerouted to Oklahoma City would refuel and be in Dallas a little late ... no big deal ... then about 8:30PM (flight was to leave at 7:55PM) it was announced our flight had been canceled ... no explanation just "tough" .. there are 150 passengers on this flight please line up at the desk so we can confirm you on a flight tomorrow ... the two later flights tonight (the last of which we were initally scheduled for and changed in Cozumel) are booked solid but we will put you on standby for those ... "good freakin' luck".

So ... we went to the desk (waited in line) and got confirmed on a flight for Wednesday morning ... btw ... American Airlines will NOT pay for your hotel BUT will get you a reduced rate. ... THANKS A LOT!!

So we boogied over to the rental car complex and started looking for a car to rent ... 1st price we got was $200 plus tax .... NOT .... finally got an AVIS car for what we thought would be $165 ... so we drive the giant gas guzzling Grand Marquis ... the 4 hours to San Antonio airport, arrive about 1:45AM ... it requires three passes to actually get INTO the airport because of poor signage and construction ... we got to the AVIS rental place surprised to find they were actually open at that ungodly hour only to be told the cost was $213 .... NOT .... turns out they had made the car reservation to be returned to San Diego .... we'd have to drive pretty damn fast to make that in 24 hours.

So .. got that straightened out actually paid $157 for the car and are now trying (to no avail yet) to get a refund for the DFW/SAT leg of the airfare.

Got home about 3AM ...

Other than that how did you like the play Mrs Lincoln?

...well that seems to be the case today after noon and until we leave
tomorrow at any rate. All of the other guests left for home this
morning and there will not be new arrivals until Friday so basically we
have the entire Villa Tan Kah resort to ourselves. In fact, the owners,
managers and maids have all left as well ... I think the night time
security guard will come on duty later this evening but basically we are
alone at the resort for the time being.

Since today is a non-diving day for us we took a taxi around 8:30am
down to the "Museum of the island Cozumel" ... which oddly enough
besides being a rather interesting museum ... is also home to a very
good restaurant that serves a very good breakfast. Since breakfast is
supplied by the resort and we are generally in a hurry to get prepared
to board the dive boats, breakfast usually consists of some yogurt and
cheerios ... today we splurged and had bacon and eggs and french toast
... we WILL pay for that when we get on the scales back home.

After breakfast we walked down the main street for a while. Carolyn
bought Zach a t-shirt and I tasted several high dollar tequilas. I
didn't buy any because I don't want to deal with adding weight to my
already borderline heavy checked bag and my carry on will be just as
stuffed as it was coming in. But, I did enjoy the samples.

At a little after 4PM today we made instant message contact with Brandi
and confirmed that they had made it back safe and sound from their
tequila tour weekend.

We also received an email from Mel confirming that the house was still
intact after 4th of July and we had even gotten SOME rain at the house.
All very good news!!

We plan to revisit the Chinese restaurant again tonight and then get
packed to head to the airport about 11:30AM tomorrow ...flight is
scheduled to depart at 2:05PM ... and we have a 6 hour layover in Dallas
for no good reason I can offer other than that was the cheapest
roundtrip routing I could find. Should get into San Antonio around
midnight.

Nothing else of note to report ... been fun and the weather has been
perfect.

Bade

This pic gives you an inkling of what we are seeing ... the two divers in the picture are Carolyn and me.

--
Bade
Like an old desperado ... painting the town beige

... that would be MORE SHARKS!! ... but as before ... not very big and as far as we could tell ... asleep.

We (Carolyn and I) saw 2 smallish Nurse Sharks on our 1st dive today (Cedar Pass reef) but according to some of the divers there were two under one ledge where we saw only one ... still exciting ... when the tanks are being "banged" to get divers attention and then the banging diver makes a dorsal fin with his hand on his forehead indicating "SHARK" and then points ... you can be sure every diver within hearing range is swimming like crazy to where the spotter is pointing ... seems kinda like chasing bears ... maybe not the best idea after all.

Today was our last day of diving and we had two very long (1hr+) dives with a lot of marine life and coral/sponges ... beautiful as always .

I did finally see a spotted eel on the 2nd dive today ... usually see a lot of eels but not this trip. Also no Splendid Toad Fish on this dive ... another expected to see but didn't.


Well tomorrow will be a shopping day since no diving at least 24 hours before flying ... that has been challenged lately and it's probably ok within 18 hours but no point in risking a DCS (decompression sickness -- the bends) hit.

We were dissappointed that we never got to dive with our favorite dive master Juan "A" but he spent the week with a large group from Minnesota ... oh well.

See you later ...
Bade

Trying something different. It's about 8:30PM Saturday night and we have returned from "Los Seras" taqueria (supper), I am up in the room and out of wifi range, so I am writing this email "offline" and will then tomorrow hook back into the wifi net and HOPEFULLY this note will flow out at that time, it is how I plan to do my email/blog aboard ship since the wifi connection on ship is pretty pricey.

Los Seras is a local taqueria well off the beaten path. The taxi to it from Tan Kah is 50 pesos ... a whole dollar more than to the downtown area. That in itself isn't a big deal ... but our meal this evening which consisted of 3 pastor tacos each and a bowl of bean soup for me and two crystal Frescas totaled 97 pesos ($9.70USD) so the taxi round trip cost basically the same as the meal for two of us.

Well the email of the pic didn't work so I manually stck it at the top....

... well granted it was a baby nurse shark ... and it was asleep ... and it was hiding under a ledge ... and it wouldn't come out even when the dive master tickled its nose ... by hey ... it WAS a SHARK!!

On today's first dive we really didn't see anything spectacular ... we dove the 'Columbia' reef (about 70').  We dove that particular reef mostly because it was further South than the 2nd reef all five divers on the boat REALLY wanted to dive ... 'Columbia Shallows'.

Columbia Shallows, is a very shallow (25' max) reef where many snorkel boats take guests.  This reef is very long fairly flat and has some beautiful coral heads that are chock full of small marine life.  I swam thru a school of Blue Tang fish that had to be 100+ fish.  It was like parting the "blue sea" as I glided thru them.

Also on this dive we saw the tiniest "Spotted Drum" I have ever seen and I found a "Flamingo Tongue" attached to a coral branch ... very colorful.

The highlight of course was the Shark ... not a big shark but seeing one VERY up close even when it's small is a thrill and not totally common around Cozumel. 

One of the advantages of a shallow dive is the increase in total dive time you get ... this dive was 76 minutes and could have been much longer but we were all getting a bit chilled and besides ... longer than an hour dives kinda throws a wrench in the schedule for the afternoon divers if the morning divers (us) are really late getting back.

We splurged last night and ate at the "French Quarter" cajun restaurant ... Carolyn had the French Onion Soup and I had the Seafood Gumbo ... then we shared a seafood platter ... very good!  To make amends for our extravagance we will return to Los Serras tonight for really cheap tacos and bean soup.

Tomorrow will be our last day of diving ... time really DOES fly ... and then Monday we have a day of "off gassing" before flying out Tuesday afternoon. 

That's the scooby from the Dive Front...
--
Bade
Like an old desperado ... painting the town beige

We have been concerned all week about the weather ... this morning we were scheduled to depart at 9am after waiting for two divers from one of the cruise ships... it started to rain, thunder and lightening ... and we thought ... bummer ... but after the cruise ship divers didn't show up by 9:30 ... we headed out ... just Carolyn, myself and a single diver from Idaho ... almost like a private dive boat ... the rain cleared off and weather turned sunny and hot ..

Nothing really spectacular on either dive BUT the reefs we dove today were teaming with life and color ... very easy very nice long 1hr+ dives.

We "skyped" with Brandi both yesterday and today so that was a nice short visit with video and audio real time.

No definite plans for tonight's meal but it will be good I am sure.

It's just after 3:30PM here and clearly time for my afternoon siesta ... I'll post new pictured when I see something worth photo.

Adios for now
Bade

Day two of diving ... the 1st was Palancar Garden which is a moderately
deep dive if you choose to bottom out at about 90ft ... WE stayed up
aroung 60 ... the hurricane (Wilma) really beat the hell out of the
reefs and while they ARE making recovery there is still much sand and
dead coral. In the shallower areas I guess due t0 more light the corals
are healthier and there are more fish

The second dive was on Santa Maria reef .. not a place we have been more
than once or twice before ... the dive master mentioned that HE liked to
go there but that there was always SOME current ... ahem ... his idea of
SOME current and my idea of a malstorm are pretty much the same. We did
manage to hang on to some dead coral heads long enough to see the
tiniest sea horse I have ever seen ... it is rare to see a seahorse
around Cozumel and this critter was TINY. Also saw a nudibrach (look
it up) and a couple of very large Barracuda ...

We are going for Chinese food tonight ... makes sense ... when in Mexico
... eat Chinese .... last night we had Italian (Prima's).

Not much else to report ... Steven had asked if they were adding onto
Earnesto's ... no I think they are going to build SOMETHING between
Scuba Shack and Ernesto's but right now it is a lot full of rubble.

So far ... the weather is holding ...

Later
Bade

This link should point you to my Cozumel 2008 picture album online

Cozumel 2008

Well I am happy to report the wifi is functional today ... I am writing
this out by the pool and in the shade.

Today was day 1 of diving for us ... on a typical dive day we do two
dives in the morning , leaving the dock about 8:30AM and returning
around noon or 1:30PM. That includes the two dives and a "surface
interval" of about an hour between dives.

Today we dove "La Francesca" reef which is a moderately shallow "wall"
to about 60ft ... this was an hour dive ... we saw several sea turtles
and although I didn't see it most others reported seeing one GIANT
turtle ... picture bigger than our kitchen table ...

The second dive was on "Yucab" reef ... mostly flat about 50ft .... most
interesting thing there I saw was a barracuda about 4ft long and a
couple of really big lobsters.

We are hearing reports that we will be having some 'weather' in a couple
of days. Apparently a tropical wave has formed off the African coast
... oh well all we can do is see what it brings.

Tacos were great at Los Serras last night ... charred pork chopped up
with Mexican white cheese then grilled a bit on corn tortillas ... MUI
BIEN!!!

Naps today after lunch and we plan for either Prima's or French Quarter
tonight for dinner. Both upscale for the area and both yummy!!

Now that I have wifi I'll get some pictures posted probably this evening.

Adios for now ..
Bade

We have arrived safe and sound. No problems at the airports, baggage check-in or security.

One we got thru customs, and it was pretty quick we got on one of the vans for transport ($16usd for 2) and headed to Tan Kah.

We are staying in the "Turtle Room" which is one we have not used before ... smallish and I will post pictures later ... got the a/c set where we can hang meat and all is well.

We got unpacked, checked into the dive shop got weights and lockers and thjen took a taxi down to the local grocery (WalMart type) where we spent $52usd on food stuffs and drinks ...it will be what we eat for most lunches after a morning dive. Sandwiches for the most part.

It was about 3:45PM by then and we were hungry so we walked a couple of blocks to the new "Mission Tacos" place ... we were hoping for TexMex ... we got chicken fajaits ... oh well .... went back to the room and took a siesta until 5:30PM and thjen did a quick 20 minute shore dive just to check proper weighting.

Not much else today we will likely go out late for some "Pastor tacos" at one of thje taquerias later ... then up for dive boat around 7:AM tomorrow.

The wifi is currently NOT working but Robert let me hook the ASUS up in the office ... works fine HOPEFULLY wifi in a couple of days ....

Nothing else to report ...

Bade

Well, rather than initiate a separate web log for the Cozumel trip I decided to just include it here; after all, Cozumel dive trips for us while "mucho fun" are much more in the normal scheme of things than an Alaska or Mediterranean cruise.

We depart for Cozumel on Tuesday (7/1/2008) at 7:10AM on American #1228, through DFW and hopefully arrive in Cozumel around 1:05PM. We will boogie off the plane and go through customs, then pick up the bags (always a stressful point in traveling for me) and then take one of the "vans" over to Villa Tan Kah. With luck we should be settled in our room between 2PM and 2:30PM ... we will plan to do a quick weight check shore dive after the boat traffic at the dock has died down, make a trip into town via taxi for groceries and probably catch dinner at that point ... just have to see how badly our plans go awry ...

I will be taking the ASUS computer with me as a shakedown trip for the Alaska adventure ... the last time we were in Coz I verified that wifi was available at Tan Kah ... if that is still the case I should be able to have regular reliable internet access during this stay ... hope that works out ...

Scott will be keeping an eye on the house and the cats while we are gone ... and we are always grateful he can help us with that chore ... makes leaving home with a house full of cats a little less stressful.

Our cell phones DO (or DID last time) work in Cozumel so if we need to be contacted you can leave a message on them ... we will try to check at least once a day and as I say I "PLAN" to have regular internet access this trip so email should be good as well.

We will TRY to make contact with Brandi & Steven via gmail messaging and/or skype while we are there but we may not always be back from the morning dive when they are at the school's computers ... will just have to see how that works out.

I'll do my best to post a couple of times at least while we are there ... and if all goes really well maybe some pictures too!!

Adios!!!!!!!!
Bade

hopefully .... I have established the proper links to allow a user to "subscribe" for email updates anytime I update the weblog ... I'm using "feedburner" to do this and still trying to get it set up properly.

The real purpose of this web log is to chronicle various trips Carolyn and I take.

My intention is to create separate "blogs" for each trip and then link to them from this "home page" log. I expect that more general thoughts and events will be recorded in this general log as well.

As of this writing we have 3 future trips planned ...

July 1-8, 2008 we will make a dive trip to Cozumel.
July 23- Aug 9, 2008 we will take a 14 day cruise adventure into Alaska
November 7 - 23, 2008 we will be taking off for Rome, Italy to embark on a 12 day cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean

Check the links section of this log for access to the blogs of those trips