We arrived at the immigration office this morning for John's appointment. Things went surprisingly well. There was some intial apprehension when the official informed John that they had been looking for his folder for 2 days. John produced said folder, with the explanation that the lady official handed it to him as we left last Tuesday. He was convinced it was a folder that was just copies, and not the "official" immigration office folder.....until John opened it and showed him the FM3 document. He promptly brought the lady official over to see the folder and she got a bit of talking to. He was very apolegetic and John will have his completed documents next Tuesday and we can come home. Our plan is to come home on Thursday, April 9.....yea!! Of course if by some miracle, I get called to work before then John will be on his own!
We haven't dove in 9 days....since the last really really long dive. The good news is we are feeling better and we will head back in tomorrow to check out some new leads.
We have been talking to some very helpful folks. We believe we are really close to one of the caves Robbie Schmittner is exploring so we had a chat with him yesterday. He is so nice and very helpful. I have also been working on a small project for the QRSS (Quintana Roo Speleological Survey-http://www.caves.org/project/qrss/qrss.htm ) that Bil Philips (another long time explorer) asked if we would take on. It is basically taking a copy of the survey data for Camilo, and re-entering the line names to fit the universal prefix model they have adopted. No small task as I have found out....but I hope to have it completed in a few days. We are very excited about the info we have found out and can't wait to get back into the cave to check out the leads.
The weather has completely changed this week...it is heating up and the bugs are starting to return. That would normally be no problem except our air conditioning has been out since Friday. We have a big garbage bag where it used to be and unfortunately the window slots beneath have no mesh on them. So the dilema is, if we open the slots to get a breeze in, we run the risk of all the mosquitoes coming in and biting John. They don't like me, they just go for John. And he hates their guts. It makes for some restless nights. Fernando said the air conditioning unit will be ready today....I hope he is right or we are heading to a hotel. We can't do a big dive tomorrow on the very little sleep we have been getting the last few days....I would surely run us into a wall or into some small hole from lack of focus.
The lack of sleep was also evident during the questions at the immigration office. The official asked John to write down the name of his father, mother and email. John said, "both of them are dead, they don't have email." I looked at the official and burst out laughing....he laughed a bit too....but not so much. He wanted John's email...hahaaa. No sleep makes you silly and non-functioning.
Two new restaurants opened in Tulum. One is a wine bar and restaurant two houses from Fernando's. It opened for the first time last night...tiki torches lit up the walk way. We have to try that place. And the other is on the main drag, also near Fernando's house. It is before Don Cafeto's. That opened for the first time last night also. We may have to check it out too.
That is about it. I will report tomorrow after our dive.....now back to re-entering cave line data.
Karen and John
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Random ramblings
No diving so far this week, we have been sick. Luckily with the pharmacies readily available if you know what you need you merely go get it. Z-packs (Zithromax) rock. John and I both have had what I would call bronchitis, fever and congestion, but today is our last day on the medicine and if we are feeling well enough and with any luckwe will dive on Sunday or Monday.
Fernando was supposed to go on vacation to Mexico City with his family tomorrow for 3 weeks, but he informed us today that he is not going. His wife is not up to the drive (she has been sick also...same stuff), so he will be around and wanted to know when we were going back in the cave.
It is bad when you are sick, but sick in Mexico is worse. We were feeling a bit better and wanted out of the room so we went to lunch at the Mezzanine on the beach...love that place. It makes you feel better just being there....nice waiters, good food, great music and fabulous view. We even walked on the beach yesterday and I waded in the ocean for my first time since being down here.....sad but true.
Today it was really windy (mas viento). But we headed for the beach to have lunch....at Zamas. I have discovered 2 new non-alcoholic drinks down here. Lemonada....it is fabulous and also aqua frescas. Agua frescas are fruit waters...they are lighter than juices and you can get them in a variety of fruits....mmmm. They had the canvasas down to protect you from the wind....it was funny watching people's chips blow out of the basket. We had a stategic spot, so we hardly had any of that. The sand was blasting the people laying out....not sure how they were ignoring that......maybe it was like a pumice treatment all over their body.
Bad news...the air conditioning broke in our room. Tomorrow we will figure it out, but tonight we have no air. John is doing well with it. We actually haven't had it on that much since we have not been feeling well, plus it is really nice outside and cool.
We saw Robbie at the gelato shop tomight...he and his family. His kids are getting so big. Robbie owns a dive shop in town (Xibalba) and is another primary explorer down here.
That's about it. Not alot of exciting info. Oh wait, Fernando is doing alot to his property. The shop is coming along nicely, he is also going to have a place that sells hamburgers (at least that is the plan now). The shop building is divided into 2 smaller shops. He also added a bathroom under the stairs next to his dive gear area. The wood and fixture he has installed in his shop are really nice.
No diving tomorrow....hopefully Sunday!
Karen and John
Fernando was supposed to go on vacation to Mexico City with his family tomorrow for 3 weeks, but he informed us today that he is not going. His wife is not up to the drive (she has been sick also...same stuff), so he will be around and wanted to know when we were going back in the cave.
It is bad when you are sick, but sick in Mexico is worse. We were feeling a bit better and wanted out of the room so we went to lunch at the Mezzanine on the beach...love that place. It makes you feel better just being there....nice waiters, good food, great music and fabulous view. We even walked on the beach yesterday and I waded in the ocean for my first time since being down here.....sad but true.
Today it was really windy (mas viento). But we headed for the beach to have lunch....at Zamas. I have discovered 2 new non-alcoholic drinks down here. Lemonada....it is fabulous and also aqua frescas. Agua frescas are fruit waters...they are lighter than juices and you can get them in a variety of fruits....mmmm. They had the canvasas down to protect you from the wind....it was funny watching people's chips blow out of the basket. We had a stategic spot, so we hardly had any of that. The sand was blasting the people laying out....not sure how they were ignoring that......maybe it was like a pumice treatment all over their body.
Bad news...the air conditioning broke in our room. Tomorrow we will figure it out, but tonight we have no air. John is doing well with it. We actually haven't had it on that much since we have not been feeling well, plus it is really nice outside and cool.
We saw Robbie at the gelato shop tomight...he and his family. His kids are getting so big. Robbie owns a dive shop in town (Xibalba) and is another primary explorer down here.
That's about it. Not alot of exciting info. Oh wait, Fernando is doing alot to his property. The shop is coming along nicely, he is also going to have a place that sells hamburgers (at least that is the plan now). The shop building is divided into 2 smaller shops. He also added a bathroom under the stairs next to his dive gear area. The wood and fixture he has installed in his shop are really nice.
No diving tomorrow....hopefully Sunday!
Karen and John
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Continuing saga at the " oficina de imigracion"
Headed of to the immigration office this morning in Playa. I had high hopes that John would be handed his FM3 and we would be home this weekend. He must have had high hopes also, because he released some things to be shipped to our house. We got our blue badge, number 8 and after only an hour it was John's turn. He approched the counter and they took his form, went off looking in file cabinats, consulted other officials and finally returned with a folder. He now has an appointment at 10:45 on March 31 for what we think is an interview, and when we asked how long after that we were told..."un semana, mas o menos"....which means a week, more or less. So short timeframe is...2 more weeks in Mexico for John. Karen is heading home sooner than that.
I did not approach the counter with John as we thought it best I stay seated. Only when I was needed for a bit of translation and interpretation did I go to the counter. John also needed to get 4 frontside photos and 3 profile photos, in black and white, matte finish. They must be starting a file of some sort....and apparently it takes a week a glue the pictures on the file and put it all together. The weird thing is they gave him his FM3 document back, along with a big folder of all the documents we provided in the first place....except they were all stamped, each and every one. Who's crazy idea was this FM3 anyway :)
If John is up to it, him and Fernando are diving tomorrow. I may go in search of a spanish tutor to hire for a few more days, since it is unlikely I will be diving until at least Friday. Or maybe I will go to the beach or take a tour...there is a novel idea!
Still not sure when I return but it will be soon.
Karen and John
I did not approach the counter with John as we thought it best I stay seated. Only when I was needed for a bit of translation and interpretation did I go to the counter. John also needed to get 4 frontside photos and 3 profile photos, in black and white, matte finish. They must be starting a file of some sort....and apparently it takes a week a glue the pictures on the file and put it all together. The weird thing is they gave him his FM3 document back, along with a big folder of all the documents we provided in the first place....except they were all stamped, each and every one. Who's crazy idea was this FM3 anyway :)
If John is up to it, him and Fernando are diving tomorrow. I may go in search of a spanish tutor to hire for a few more days, since it is unlikely I will be diving until at least Friday. Or maybe I will go to the beach or take a tour...there is a novel idea!
Still not sure when I return but it will be soon.
Karen and John
Monday, March 23, 2009
on the mend
Somehow both John and I caught terrible colds. Maybe it was the long dive? I forgot to mention John's drysuit had a leak....he got a bit to close to the cave on the scooter and the cave grabbed his suit puncturing a hole in it. So he was completely soaking wet by the end. I had some leaks too, plus a she-p blow out at maximum penetration which I won't go into. Or maybe I picked it up when I was home. Bottom line is we have been layed up most of the day. ...but are on the mend.
Tommorrow we head to the immigration office. Wish us luck. If all goes well we will come back home either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
John and Fernando are still planning a dive for Wed, but I am bowing out....to much congestion to even think about it at this point.
Wish we had more exciting news.
Karen and John
Tommorrow we head to the immigration office. Wish us luck. If all goes well we will come back home either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
John and Fernando are still planning a dive for Wed, but I am bowing out....to much congestion to even think about it at this point.
Wish we had more exciting news.
Karen and John
Sunday, March 22, 2009
More New Cave and survey up to date
John and I went diving yesterday. For me it wasn't an easy dive, just must have been one of those days, but we got everything done that we had planned to do plus we ran about 500 more feet of new line. I just seemed like it was one small thing after the other and when the dive was over I was very tired...which may be because the dive was a bit over 5 hours long. It started at the beginning of the dive, once in the cave before we took off on the scooters, I knew my rebreather had a problem. One of the injectors was stuck, basically that is a free flow, so I isolated it and I called John over. He pushed the bellows(the accordian looking part that moves the air) up and down to try to get it un-stuck. It would have been hard for me to do it beacuse I couldn't reach all the way behind the rebreather. Luckily, it worked...if it hadn't the dive would have been over.
So off we went. The next obstacle is getting through the an area we call the "breakdown". In doubles it is no problem but as I approach it in the rebreather each time mental anguish sets in. It is always something. This time I got stuck and had to unclip the scooter and sent it through on it's own before catching up to it after I was freed. As I am writing this, I am realizing that the majority of my mental anguish comes from anytime I have to push the scooter through a space because it is too small to just "drive on through". I worry about the cave and holding the scooter up so it doesn't silt out my buddy. John is driving the mini gavin and I am driving the "standard" one. His is much smaller.
We took the scooters all the way up to where we needed to survey and swam from there. We surveyed all the new existing line from last time and had enough time to lay some new line (about 500ft)....the data revealed we had surveyed about 1400ft of line on this dive. The new area is a bit deeper and had a substancial halocline.....it also was getting smaller and we suspected it was soon to becaome what we refer to as "the toilet". That means the water is going in a direction that is draining and getting smaller....not bigger. We were right...the passage finally walled out and was so small that only one person could go. John ended the line here and we called the dive at 2 hours and 47 minutes.
It is a a huge releif once you get back to the scooters....not sure why, but it is. And out we went. Of course I had difficulty clearing my ear on the way out but was able to work through it...I will pay for that today...which I am. But we completed deco and were back at Ferndo's house by 5:15.
No diving today and there may be no diving for me tomorrow either...time will tell. Johna nd Fernando may need to go do set up without me. The plan is to do another dive with Fernando on Wed to investigate a new lead. But today we rest.
Karen and John
So off we went. The next obstacle is getting through the an area we call the "breakdown". In doubles it is no problem but as I approach it in the rebreather each time mental anguish sets in. It is always something. This time I got stuck and had to unclip the scooter and sent it through on it's own before catching up to it after I was freed. As I am writing this, I am realizing that the majority of my mental anguish comes from anytime I have to push the scooter through a space because it is too small to just "drive on through". I worry about the cave and holding the scooter up so it doesn't silt out my buddy. John is driving the mini gavin and I am driving the "standard" one. His is much smaller.
We took the scooters all the way up to where we needed to survey and swam from there. We surveyed all the new existing line from last time and had enough time to lay some new line (about 500ft)....the data revealed we had surveyed about 1400ft of line on this dive. The new area is a bit deeper and had a substancial halocline.....it also was getting smaller and we suspected it was soon to becaome what we refer to as "the toilet". That means the water is going in a direction that is draining and getting smaller....not bigger. We were right...the passage finally walled out and was so small that only one person could go. John ended the line here and we called the dive at 2 hours and 47 minutes.
It is a a huge releif once you get back to the scooters....not sure why, but it is. And out we went. Of course I had difficulty clearing my ear on the way out but was able to work through it...I will pay for that today...which I am. But we completed deco and were back at Ferndo's house by 5:15.
No diving today and there may be no diving for me tomorrow either...time will tell. Johna nd Fernando may need to go do set up without me. The plan is to do another dive with Fernando on Wed to investigate a new lead. But today we rest.
Karen and John
Friday, March 20, 2009
Karen back in Mexico...again.
I arrived back in Mexico yesterday afternoon after my very short trip back to Phx. The house was still standing, I got some things taken care of and before I knew it I was back on the plane headed for Cancun. The immigartion line was crazy long....still spring break I imagine. Once you get your bags you proceed through customs. Here the procedure is you show your form, they ask how many bags you have, then you hit a button. If the light turns green, no inspection...if it turns red, you get inspected. I had brought down a Pelican case (hard black case used to haul fragile equipment, usually photo) and the female officer asked me what was in it. I told her video lights. "Lady, " she said "how many camera...1 or 2?" I told her no cameras, just the lights. She repeated the same phrase...."Lady, how many camera...1 or 2?" I looked at her blankly and thought for a minute...and replied, "1". To my delight, her next phrase was," bien, push the button." It turned green....Cool Beans, no inspection. And I was on my way to meet John outside.
In that situation I decided it would be best not to spend too much time explaining.....just answer the question the best I could...hahaaaa.
John had survived a few days on his own :) He had some interesting discussions with Bil Phillips, a cave instructor and explorer who now lives in Tulum. John relayed some of the discussion to me.....and this is the most important part that I took away from their conversation. During the discussion, they started talking about the new cave and the direction it is heading.....which is possibly toward another known cenote. Unfortuntely this cenote is on private property. Here is the important part....apparently the owner has made it clear to many cave divers that if they surface in the cenote on the property, they run the risk of being shot. OMG! At least now we know. Note to self: if you find a new cenote in the cave, surface at your own risk.
Tomorrow we dive. Plan is to set up a stage for Fernando, lay some new line, survey the remainder of new line, and bring out the stage bottles that were left on Monday....in that order.
Happy Friday.
Karen and John
In that situation I decided it would be best not to spend too much time explaining.....just answer the question the best I could...hahaaaa.
John had survived a few days on his own :) He had some interesting discussions with Bil Phillips, a cave instructor and explorer who now lives in Tulum. John relayed some of the discussion to me.....and this is the most important part that I took away from their conversation. During the discussion, they started talking about the new cave and the direction it is heading.....which is possibly toward another known cenote. Unfortuntely this cenote is on private property. Here is the important part....apparently the owner has made it clear to many cave divers that if they surface in the cenote on the property, they run the risk of being shot. OMG! At least now we know. Note to self: if you find a new cenote in the cave, surface at your own risk.
Tomorrow we dive. Plan is to set up a stage for Fernando, lay some new line, survey the remainder of new line, and bring out the stage bottles that were left on Monday....in that order.
Happy Friday.
Karen and John
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tabano fly.
As I wrote yesterday, this morning was supposed to be the big survey dive. Didn't happen. Why, you ask....because of a very pesky horsefly called the "tabano"! John spend much of yesterday morning talking to Fernando while he was filling our tanks. Fernado said, "you have a fly on your chin", and John thought he said "mosquito". When he came in and showed me, it was a big red bump on his chin. Assuming it was a mosquito (John has reactions to them also...plus hates them with a passion), we went about our day. Even had Sunday BBQ again at Casa Cenote. We have determined that they have the best tasting Sunday BBQ deal in the area!
Apparently, while I was sound asleep, John chin swelled up. A few years ago we visited the Crococoon Zoo to kill time before our flight back home. He got bit on the hand by the same dreaded fly while we were feeding the small deer. At about 2am that night after we got home his hand looked like the incredible hulk. I affectionaly called him "chubby mitt". And we ended up in the emergency room around noon because the swelling was moving up his arm. He received prescriptions (Keflex and Benedryl) and that seemed to do the trick.
Since we know he is highly allergic we keep those same drugs in our first aid kit down here. So this morning with a Kirk Douglas chin, he started on the prescriptions. The dive is not happening today. He had visions of his chin swelling so much that he couldn't keep the rebreather mouthpiece in during the dive. And given his history with this bite, he might be right.
It was a disappointment, but not to fret. I am leaving tomorrow but may be back on Thursday, March 19 for a few days. The tickets are only $150 one way and I can be back on Sunday or Monday or whenever I have work. We can do the dive survey on Friday when I come back.....and the set up can just be left in the cave. Plus with John on benedryl, no diving will be happening and it gives me a chance to get some things taken care of back in AZ.
At least that is the plan at this moment...unless something changes.
Apparently, while I was sound asleep, John chin swelled up. A few years ago we visited the Crococoon Zoo to kill time before our flight back home. He got bit on the hand by the same dreaded fly while we were feeding the small deer. At about 2am that night after we got home his hand looked like the incredible hulk. I affectionaly called him "chubby mitt". And we ended up in the emergency room around noon because the swelling was moving up his arm. He received prescriptions (Keflex and Benedryl) and that seemed to do the trick.
Since we know he is highly allergic we keep those same drugs in our first aid kit down here. So this morning with a Kirk Douglas chin, he started on the prescriptions. The dive is not happening today. He had visions of his chin swelling so much that he couldn't keep the rebreather mouthpiece in during the dive. And given his history with this bite, he might be right.
It was a disappointment, but not to fret. I am leaving tomorrow but may be back on Thursday, March 19 for a few days. The tickets are only $150 one way and I can be back on Sunday or Monday or whenever I have work. We can do the dive survey on Friday when I come back.....and the set up can just be left in the cave. Plus with John on benedryl, no diving will be happening and it gives me a chance to get some things taken care of back in AZ.
At least that is the plan at this moment...unless something changes.
Part of Fernando's house inside the compound.
Karen and John
Karen and John
Sunday, March 15, 2009
More new line and cave
Yesterday we left Fernando's at 9am sharp headed for the Ranch. Since last time we left the reel tied off with open cave directly ahead, we were pretty confident that there would be at least a few feet of new line to be laid.
We took the scooters up to about 5000ft and dropped them....if you remember I mentioned they are a huge benefit on the way out against the flow. The flow is not like "Florida Flow" which can blow your mask off and send you for a ride, but it is noticable and warrants a few pull and glides...especially after you have been diving for a few hours.
We found the reel where we had left it at about an hour and 45 minutes in. Fernando picked it up and headed off. The cave just keeps going! After a bit John re-directed the proposed line laying route and we took off again! We passed a really large room that was highly decorated and after that we passed through another room which we have yet to name. It had really long stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. Fernando described as having a jailhouse look, and I think it resembles a bunch of highly decorated chandeliers. We definately have to name it because you know you are in a special room when you get there and it deserves a name....just not sure what it is yet.
We went a bit further and the dive was called.....it was now 2 hours and 20 minutes. On the way out, I counted the knots, almost 800 ft of new line...780 to be exact. Woohooo!!! And agian the reel was left with open cave ahead..
The going home part when you are that far back in is always a bit of a relief. On open circuit people have a tendency to speed up the exit...but on rebreathers you just can't....or your lungs will feel it. We exited the cave at about 4 hours and 47 minutes, and figure we were around 7700ft back.
Sunday will be a day off and if all goes well, the stars and planets are aligned and the tanks get filled John and I will return on Monday to survey and get the remaining 2 stages. Remember Fernando was on open circuit so he needed 7 stages....we left 2 in to clean up later. If that doesn't work out, John will have to figure something out as I leave on Tuesday.
Miss everyone.
Karen and John
We took the scooters up to about 5000ft and dropped them....if you remember I mentioned they are a huge benefit on the way out against the flow. The flow is not like "Florida Flow" which can blow your mask off and send you for a ride, but it is noticable and warrants a few pull and glides...especially after you have been diving for a few hours.
We found the reel where we had left it at about an hour and 45 minutes in. Fernando picked it up and headed off. The cave just keeps going! After a bit John re-directed the proposed line laying route and we took off again! We passed a really large room that was highly decorated and after that we passed through another room which we have yet to name. It had really long stalagtites hanging from the ceiling. Fernando described as having a jailhouse look, and I think it resembles a bunch of highly decorated chandeliers. We definately have to name it because you know you are in a special room when you get there and it deserves a name....just not sure what it is yet.
We went a bit further and the dive was called.....it was now 2 hours and 20 minutes. On the way out, I counted the knots, almost 800 ft of new line...780 to be exact. Woohooo!!! And agian the reel was left with open cave ahead..
The going home part when you are that far back in is always a bit of a relief. On open circuit people have a tendency to speed up the exit...but on rebreathers you just can't....or your lungs will feel it. We exited the cave at about 4 hours and 47 minutes, and figure we were around 7700ft back.
Sunday will be a day off and if all goes well, the stars and planets are aligned and the tanks get filled John and I will return on Monday to survey and get the remaining 2 stages. Remember Fernando was on open circuit so he needed 7 stages....we left 2 in to clean up later. If that doesn't work out, John will have to figure something out as I leave on Tuesday.
Miss everyone.
Karen and John
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friday the 13th....that cave just doesn't want to be dove!
Today John, Fernando, and I geared up and headed to the Ranch in hopes of laying more line. We had stages, scooters, rebreathers, everything was set to go. Hauled all the tanks to the cenote, geared up and were just about ready to head off.....and guess what, my light wouldn't fire! OMG!! I always check my light because I never want to be the guy/gal in the cenote just before the dive that says...."my light won't work." Well today I was that gal. I didn't make sure the light turned on before the dive today.....it is something I always do, but for some reason today, I didn't....and we all paid. I even was thinking, my light is wonderful, it has been very good to me and never has it not fired when I turn on the switch. Knock on wood.....
On a side note, once I was diving with Danny ( GUE cave instructor and explorer) and we were doing pre-dive checks. I said, "my light is fired" and he started laughing....and said, "why would you fire your light...doesn't it do a good job for you"....or something like that. Now everytime I use that phrase, I laugh too.
Because it was going to be a big dive (5-6 hours) we all decided we didn't want to go back to the house and get another light since we would be coming out in the dark at this point. So we called the dive before it ever began. Loaded all the gear back into the truck, where it is staying until tomorrow at 8am, when we head off again. Fernando agreed because he didn't want to exit after dark either. The moral of the story is never break from your pre-dive check routine....ever, even if you think you know everything is fine....because you don't want to be that guy/gal ever again. It turned out that John thinks the battery is going bad.....so we switched it.
As we were driving away, Fernando said...that was the shortest shallowest dive ever.....and he would be right....DRAT!!
John had his own Friday the 13th incident. His rebreather loop mouthpiece came down and hit him square on the head. If he had been wearing his hood, it would not of mattered, but since he wasn't it cut him and he bled like a stuck pig. That thing is sharp. Poor John,
We go again tomorrow......when it will no longer be Friday the 13th:)
Karen and John
On a side note, once I was diving with Danny ( GUE cave instructor and explorer) and we were doing pre-dive checks. I said, "my light is fired" and he started laughing....and said, "why would you fire your light...doesn't it do a good job for you"....or something like that. Now everytime I use that phrase, I laugh too.
Because it was going to be a big dive (5-6 hours) we all decided we didn't want to go back to the house and get another light since we would be coming out in the dark at this point. So we called the dive before it ever began. Loaded all the gear back into the truck, where it is staying until tomorrow at 8am, when we head off again. Fernando agreed because he didn't want to exit after dark either. The moral of the story is never break from your pre-dive check routine....ever, even if you think you know everything is fine....because you don't want to be that guy/gal ever again. It turned out that John thinks the battery is going bad.....so we switched it.
As we were driving away, Fernando said...that was the shortest shallowest dive ever.....and he would be right....DRAT!!
John had his own Friday the 13th incident. His rebreather loop mouthpiece came down and hit him square on the head. If he had been wearing his hood, it would not of mattered, but since he wasn't it cut him and he bled like a stuck pig. That thing is sharp. Poor John,
We go again tomorrow......when it will no longer be Friday the 13th:)
Karen and John
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Camillo, yes we actually dove today
We have had a couple of set backs the last few days. Last I posted, I made the comment that our doubles were filled......I was wrong. So on Tuesday we were all set to dive, but again around 9:45 am when our doubles were not filled, we had to reconsider. Since we are diving the rebreathers we need 40% and not just air....plus some O2 would be nice since the cave runs about 62-65 ft. We have become a little more patient with life in the land of manana...so we decided to put the remaining boards on the platform and get everything all ready and loaded for the following day so we could dive. One more day...no worries.
So we head out to the ranch intending to complete the platform and we met the guard, who informed us ..."Son practicando". That meant the police were practicing shooting. So we decided we didn't want to disturb them. I also told him that we would be returning tomorrow to dive. He said they would be practicing then too....but I told him it didn't matter we were returning and we had permission.
Fernando also informed us that Connie Laroe would be bringing in a group (7 divers...aahhhh) on Thursday to dive Camillo....so that day may be out too.
So today we got there at 8:45 (which is really early down here) and were happy to see that the police people were taking down the targets. Maybe because the rain made them flimsy or they were just shot to hell and needed to be replaced. There were also some guys washing their clothes near the cenote. They were funny in that they started saying the A, B, C's when we arrived and I thing they were showing off their English. Anyway, I offered them cokes (I had brought them for the police, just in case), which they took as they left the cenote.
The dive plan was to go to the end of one of the Cambrian lines and see if it was just left in open running cave or if it walled out. If it was running we would lay more line. We scootered as far as we could and swam the rest. It was silty, mostly clay, and got really small.....dare I say nasty...because it was. It also walled out, although some sidemount person may be able to keep it running be we could not fit through. So we called the dive.
I thought we may want to scooter to cenote Camillo since we had time and tons of gas, but John said we were heading out. Once we surfaced, I would find out why. John had a huge hole in both wrist seals and his drysuit no longer could be used for bouyancy....he said his feet were so heavy throughout the whole dive he could barely swim. When he exited the cenote, I had to laugh. His legs were totally filled with water and the lower half of his body looked like the Michelin man. Completely filled with water....Oh my!!! He almost couldn't go up the ladder.
On another side note, this is the second dive I have had a total roll off. I caught it on the last dive right after it happenend, but this time, I notcied it in the cenote after we surfaced. For our non- diving friends, a roll off is when the knob to your one of your tanks rolls closed completely shutting off the gas to one of your tanks. This happens when you traverse a really long restriction...that is the only thing I can come up with as to how it happenened. Last time it shut off my main gas....that is how I knew. This time it shut off on the way out of the cave.....how the heck do I keep doing that? I was on my stage bottle so I didn't know until my suit inflation didn't work. The rebreathers are bigger and angled differently than the regular back gas open circuit tanks.....but come on. I will pay more attention to it on the next dive.
Tomorrow is another day off....fixing drysuit and hopefully finishing platform. We talked to Fernando and Friday will be our next big push. We will have 7 tanks for him to use so we can lay more line. We have already staged 3 in the cave and the other one's we will be bringing with us on Friday. He will carry 2 and John and I will each carry 1 for him. Again, the rebreathers are great because both John and I will only have 1 drive bottle and back gas, plus the safeties we already set up. We will use one full stage and maybe some backgas, but probably not......as compared to 7 stages. I still find that amazing.
Less than one week for me until I go back to Phx, I want to get 2-3 more dives in Camillo.....I hope my ear cooperates!
Karen and John
So we head out to the ranch intending to complete the platform and we met the guard, who informed us ..."Son practicando". That meant the police were practicing shooting. So we decided we didn't want to disturb them. I also told him that we would be returning tomorrow to dive. He said they would be practicing then too....but I told him it didn't matter we were returning and we had permission.
Fernando also informed us that Connie Laroe would be bringing in a group (7 divers...aahhhh) on Thursday to dive Camillo....so that day may be out too.
So today we got there at 8:45 (which is really early down here) and were happy to see that the police people were taking down the targets. Maybe because the rain made them flimsy or they were just shot to hell and needed to be replaced. There were also some guys washing their clothes near the cenote. They were funny in that they started saying the A, B, C's when we arrived and I thing they were showing off their English. Anyway, I offered them cokes (I had brought them for the police, just in case), which they took as they left the cenote.
The dive plan was to go to the end of one of the Cambrian lines and see if it was just left in open running cave or if it walled out. If it was running we would lay more line. We scootered as far as we could and swam the rest. It was silty, mostly clay, and got really small.....dare I say nasty...because it was. It also walled out, although some sidemount person may be able to keep it running be we could not fit through. So we called the dive.
I thought we may want to scooter to cenote Camillo since we had time and tons of gas, but John said we were heading out. Once we surfaced, I would find out why. John had a huge hole in both wrist seals and his drysuit no longer could be used for bouyancy....he said his feet were so heavy throughout the whole dive he could barely swim. When he exited the cenote, I had to laugh. His legs were totally filled with water and the lower half of his body looked like the Michelin man. Completely filled with water....Oh my!!! He almost couldn't go up the ladder.
On another side note, this is the second dive I have had a total roll off. I caught it on the last dive right after it happenend, but this time, I notcied it in the cenote after we surfaced. For our non- diving friends, a roll off is when the knob to your one of your tanks rolls closed completely shutting off the gas to one of your tanks. This happens when you traverse a really long restriction...that is the only thing I can come up with as to how it happenened. Last time it shut off my main gas....that is how I knew. This time it shut off on the way out of the cave.....how the heck do I keep doing that? I was on my stage bottle so I didn't know until my suit inflation didn't work. The rebreathers are bigger and angled differently than the regular back gas open circuit tanks.....but come on. I will pay more attention to it on the next dive.
Tomorrow is another day off....fixing drysuit and hopefully finishing platform. We talked to Fernando and Friday will be our next big push. We will have 7 tanks for him to use so we can lay more line. We have already staged 3 in the cave and the other one's we will be bringing with us on Friday. He will carry 2 and John and I will each carry 1 for him. Again, the rebreathers are great because both John and I will only have 1 drive bottle and back gas, plus the safeties we already set up. We will use one full stage and maybe some backgas, but probably not......as compared to 7 stages. I still find that amazing.
Less than one week for me until I go back to Phx, I want to get 2-3 more dives in Camillo.....I hope my ear cooperates!
Karen and John
Monday, March 9, 2009
Deck Repair at Cenote Muchachos
When the oxygen did not show up on Saturday, we knew we were out of luck as far as diving the rebreathers until Monday or Tuesday. The good news is it arrived this afternoon so we will be back in the cave tomorrow!
Sunday, we had a relaxing day and decided to head over to Casa Cenote to see what the big Sunday BBQ was all about. It is kind of funny, because there are a few places now that advertise "Sunday BBQ". We had never had the one at Casa Cenote so we headed over there for a late lunch early dinner....man was that good. Ribs, pork loin, beef brisket, beans, pasta salad, and bread....plus margaritas. And the best was the entertainment....watching the shenanigan's of the owner is always a good time. He usually befriends the good looking female tourists. This time there were people there working on some sort of photo shoot and they convinced one of the "good looking female tourist types" to pose for some photos. In a bikini, on a lounge chair in the ocean. It was like watching a soap opera live. Here boyfriend was there too. Like I said, it is always entertaining at Casa Cenote.
This morning, since the oxygen hadn't shown up yet we decided we would go to the Ranch and replace the boards on the platform.
Before Photo of platform. And in process of being fixed photo.
We still have about 6 more boards to drill and nail. Or John does, when it comes to these type tasks I am the gopher and tool bringer....it works out etter that way...hahaaaa.
.
Hopefully our gas will be blended for tomorrow's dive, so we can continue with the exploration.
If not, no idea where we will dive...but the doubles are filled!!! So there is always a back up plan.
Karen and John
Sunday, we had a relaxing day and decided to head over to Casa Cenote to see what the big Sunday BBQ was all about. It is kind of funny, because there are a few places now that advertise "Sunday BBQ". We had never had the one at Casa Cenote so we headed over there for a late lunch early dinner....man was that good. Ribs, pork loin, beef brisket, beans, pasta salad, and bread....plus margaritas. And the best was the entertainment....watching the shenanigan's of the owner is always a good time. He usually befriends the good looking female tourists. This time there were people there working on some sort of photo shoot and they convinced one of the "good looking female tourist types" to pose for some photos. In a bikini, on a lounge chair in the ocean. It was like watching a soap opera live. Here boyfriend was there too. Like I said, it is always entertaining at Casa Cenote.
This morning, since the oxygen hadn't shown up yet we decided we would go to the Ranch and replace the boards on the platform.
Before Photo of platform. And in process of being fixed photo.
We still have about 6 more boards to drill and nail. Or John does, when it comes to these type tasks I am the gopher and tool bringer....it works out etter that way...hahaaaa.
.
Hopefully our gas will be blended for tomorrow's dive, so we can continue with the exploration.
If not, no idea where we will dive...but the doubles are filled!!! So there is always a back up plan.
Karen and John
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Punta Allen
There was no diving today. Tanks were not filled and ear was having serious issues. We decided to head to Punta Allen for lunch. We have tried many times to visit this fishing town, but each time for one reason or another we turn back. Reasons like, we are probably going to run out of gas, we will never get there, and I didn't realize it was this far....are the usual reasons. Today when I said, "how far is it" ...he said...."We are going to have lunch in Punta Allen, and then we never have to go there agian"!! As we passed not one, but two federal inspection stations the words to another Jimmy Buffett song, started repeating in my head......they go something like this.." we had only come for chicken, we are not tha ganga plane". In the song he goes to Jamaica for lunch and they shoot at his plane. Anyway, we did not get inspected in either station.
We finally made it to Punta Allen after about an 1.5 hours. Punta Allen is cool because it is actually a point between two bodies of water...the sea and a really big lagoon. The area is known for fly fishing and other types of fishing. The rode runs between both bodies of water.
We got to the town and had passed what we thought maybe a cool restaurant right before town. Since we didn't see anything promising...we may not have gone far enough...we turned around and stopped at a place that had a sign indicating a restaurant and bar. It was a true find.
It is called Costa del Sol. We were the only people there but it had a beautiful view of the sea. As we walked up to the restaurant, for a minute, I had thought John has lost his mind. He picked it so we had to go with it. They had a really big rooster walking around the grounds, 2 small chihuahuas...one with a sweater, some parakeets in cages, and an awesome view of the ocean. You can see there was a dichotomy going on...but agian, you have to go with it. We ordered coca-lights (diet coke in Mexico) and I asked in Spanish what they had for lunch. Instead of a menu the senorita rattled off a bunch of dishes in Spanish. Again, I am glad for the Rosetta Stone lessons. We ordered pescado a la planca (not sure if I spelled it right but it is grilled fish). Oh my was that one of the best meals ever!!! When you are in a fishing town, you just have to order the fish...those are the rules :) More about the meal....it came with tortillas, rice, avocado, black refried beans, a pickled cabbage salad, grilled onions, and a special salsa served with arm wavings and warnings about it being muy caliente. John nick named it the black death, because it had been roasted down to a black color and death because of it being so hot...but it had a great flavor. Kim would love this stuff.
Here is the website in case anyone ever finds themselves in Punta Allen.
http://www.costa-del-sol-sian-kaan.com/services
And here are some pictures:
.
This is what the rode looked like a majority of the time.
Fly fishing on the lagoon side of the road near Boca Paila.
John on ocean side of bridge.
Lagoon side of the bridge, with all the sand flats.
Tomorrow, no diving again. I think we will rebuild the platform at the Ranch.
Karen and John
We finally made it to Punta Allen after about an 1.5 hours. Punta Allen is cool because it is actually a point between two bodies of water...the sea and a really big lagoon. The area is known for fly fishing and other types of fishing. The rode runs between both bodies of water.
We got to the town and had passed what we thought maybe a cool restaurant right before town. Since we didn't see anything promising...we may not have gone far enough...we turned around and stopped at a place that had a sign indicating a restaurant and bar. It was a true find.
It is called Costa del Sol. We were the only people there but it had a beautiful view of the sea. As we walked up to the restaurant, for a minute, I had thought John has lost his mind. He picked it so we had to go with it. They had a really big rooster walking around the grounds, 2 small chihuahuas...one with a sweater, some parakeets in cages, and an awesome view of the ocean. You can see there was a dichotomy going on...but agian, you have to go with it. We ordered coca-lights (diet coke in Mexico) and I asked in Spanish what they had for lunch. Instead of a menu the senorita rattled off a bunch of dishes in Spanish. Again, I am glad for the Rosetta Stone lessons. We ordered pescado a la planca (not sure if I spelled it right but it is grilled fish). Oh my was that one of the best meals ever!!! When you are in a fishing town, you just have to order the fish...those are the rules :) More about the meal....it came with tortillas, rice, avocado, black refried beans, a pickled cabbage salad, grilled onions, and a special salsa served with arm wavings and warnings about it being muy caliente. John nick named it the black death, because it had been roasted down to a black color and death because of it being so hot...but it had a great flavor. Kim would love this stuff.
Here is the website in case anyone ever finds themselves in Punta Allen.
http://www.costa-del-sol-sian-kaan.com/services
And here are some pictures:
.
This is what the rode looked like a majority of the time.
Fly fishing on the lagoon side of the road near Boca Paila.
John on ocean side of bridge.
Lagoon side of the bridge, with all the sand flats.
Tomorrow, no diving again. I think we will rebuild the platform at the Ranch.
Karen and John
Friday, March 6, 2009
Survey of new line now up to date
Today John and I went diving......ears smears....needed to get in the water. We had a few goals on this dive: set 2 stages for Fernando, take GPS coordinates from cenote Kotamundi, survey the new line that has been layed. We accomplished all of our goals. This time our dive was 4.5 hours. We made some adjustments that worked out much better than the previous dive. When we came out of the 4 hour dive earlier in the week, we were completely exhausted. So first things first, today we actually had a pretty substancial breakfast at Don Cafeto's, a restaurant in Tulum. Hot cakes, eggs and tocino (bacon)....yummmy!! On the earlier dive we did not eat breakfast at all really, just a cereal bar. That made all the difference in the world. I read an article about diving and blood sugar levels, that when they get low you can lose focus.....yeah that is me after about 3 hours of diving...have a hard time following the line on a scooter, make bad decisions...that sort of thing. John felt much better after this dive too.
Second, we dove much slower, after the other dive my lungs hurt because when you over exert on a rebreather it is like sucking air through a really small straw....and it is hard on the lungs. Going slower is better.
Third thing is we decided to take the scooters further than we have before....we took them all the way up to the beginning of the new line. Since it was just John and I, we decided to see how much a PIA it would be to push them through the small stuff in order to use them in the bigger sections, especially coming out aginst the flow. Oh yeah, it was worth it!!! On a side note, John has been diving the mini-Gavin scooter that our friend Craig helped to modify. For our non-diving friends, that is a minature version of the long body Gavins we usually ride....it is just smaller.
We added the survey info to the map, and it is really cool. Very exciting.
We also previewed portions of the video that are being put together for the documentary on Mexico TV. If I can figure out how to post some segments here I will. It is pretty cool. Ernesto, one of the guys working on the documentary, filmed some interview portions in our room tonight. Fernando and John did a good job, I got camera fright and basically just stood there. I hope they cut that part out. Plus I had crazy cave hair, since I had not had a shower and it was filmed after our dive today. The funny part is on the video of Fernando in the cave, the scooter says Karen C....hahaaaa!
Since Fernando is out of oxygen and just about every tank he owns needs to be filled, we are taking tomorrow off. My ear will thank me! Maybe we will head to Punta Allen or go see some other ruins....not sure yet...but I will take the camera.
Karen and John
Second, we dove much slower, after the other dive my lungs hurt because when you over exert on a rebreather it is like sucking air through a really small straw....and it is hard on the lungs. Going slower is better.
Third thing is we decided to take the scooters further than we have before....we took them all the way up to the beginning of the new line. Since it was just John and I, we decided to see how much a PIA it would be to push them through the small stuff in order to use them in the bigger sections, especially coming out aginst the flow. Oh yeah, it was worth it!!! On a side note, John has been diving the mini-Gavin scooter that our friend Craig helped to modify. For our non-diving friends, that is a minature version of the long body Gavins we usually ride....it is just smaller.
We added the survey info to the map, and it is really cool. Very exciting.
We also previewed portions of the video that are being put together for the documentary on Mexico TV. If I can figure out how to post some segments here I will. It is pretty cool. Ernesto, one of the guys working on the documentary, filmed some interview portions in our room tonight. Fernando and John did a good job, I got camera fright and basically just stood there. I hope they cut that part out. Plus I had crazy cave hair, since I had not had a shower and it was filmed after our dive today. The funny part is on the video of Fernando in the cave, the scooter says Karen C....hahaaaa!
Since Fernando is out of oxygen and just about every tank he owns needs to be filled, we are taking tomorrow off. My ear will thank me! Maybe we will head to Punta Allen or go see some other ruins....not sure yet...but I will take the camera.
Karen and John
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Xel-Ha Ruins
The plan was to go survey the new cave this morning, but at 9:45am our tanks were still not filled, we knew it wasn't happening. Normally that would be no problem, but since we planned on a 4-5 hour dive we didn't want to be getting out of the water at 5 or 6 since it would be dark. Also, it would be nice to give my ear another day off.
So we headed to breakfast at Turtle Bay Bakery and then decided we woudl visit the ruins at Xel-ha. They are located right on 307. The entrance fee was only 74 pesos for both of us and we spent over 2 hours walking around. There are two cenotes on the site. One is right by the Jaguar house and rumor has it there is cave, some human bones, and an altar underwater. Unfortunately it is off limits to divers and I think snorkelers also. Either Danny or Robbie had gotten permission to dive there but I don't remember who told us about it...I think Danny.
Here are some photo's:
And here are the two cenotes: A smaller more remote cenote and the deep cenote near the Jaguar house and assorted structures.
Tomorrow we survey, our tanks are filled, gear is ready, and we are rested.
Karen and John
So we headed to breakfast at Turtle Bay Bakery and then decided we woudl visit the ruins at Xel-ha. They are located right on 307. The entrance fee was only 74 pesos for both of us and we spent over 2 hours walking around. There are two cenotes on the site. One is right by the Jaguar house and rumor has it there is cave, some human bones, and an altar underwater. Unfortunately it is off limits to divers and I think snorkelers also. Either Danny or Robbie had gotten permission to dive there but I don't remember who told us about it...I think Danny.
Here are some photo's:
And here are the two cenotes: A smaller more remote cenote and the deep cenote near the Jaguar house and assorted structures.
Tomorrow we survey, our tanks are filled, gear is ready, and we are rested.
Karen and John
Immigration Saga Continues
On Wednesday, we knew we would not be diving because we were beat up from the previous days dive. We decided to head to the immigration office in Playa Del Carmen to hopefully finalize and turn in all the paperwork they have requested. John has made a comment that morning,
"We will hopefully get through step 1". I would soon find out how true his statement was.
Remeber, they stamped John's FM3, retired Mexico resident visa, in the wrong spot at the border and we have been trying to get it taken care of. This was our 5th time to the office in Playa. It looked promising as we got past the first official, I'll call him the paperwork monitor, and we actually got a badge with a number and made it into the next room....wooohooo! Things were looking up. After a short time they called our number...amarillo cuatorce-yellow 14...and we were at the window talking to the next official. She was stamping every copy.....things were looking promising. We had all the necessary copies, letters and documents filled out and then they said......" It should be ready in 3 weeks". We were definately not prepared for that!!!
OMG! Those of you who were with us during hurricane Wilma, may have observed a slighly more escalated scene when they told us our seats were not available on the plane out of the country...and we were holding tickets. That was the time, I snapped like a twig, head spinning around while pounding on the ticket counter of US Airways, screaming..."NO, BUT WE HAVE TICKETS!!!" I have no recollection of this but unfortunately there were witnesses. John informed me that when I repeated the sentence...blah blah blah...3 weeks" he was afraid I was headed in the same direction. I informed them that we were leaving on Sunday....to which the official said..."go see my friend at the front desk to get another set of forms to leave the country." John had some questions, but he thought he had better get me out of there or he would never see his FM3 again!
So back to the front desk again. The official paper monitor pulled out the additional form, letter, requirements, and deposit form that we would need to complete in order for John to leave the country prior to his FM3 being completed. We took all the paperwork, walked out, and I got a bit twirly ( wigged out). And after that we got back in a cab (that is a whole other logistic story even to get to the immigration office because Playa Del Carmen is a complete zoo), back to the parking lot where the truck was and headed South to Tulum. I quick lunch stop at Lol-Ha, a restaurant on the beach in Akumal brought things back down to a Defcon 4. You know that poppers and one mango margarita were involved.
Now to figure out what the heck we are going to do....but I think we need to mull it over for a bit!!
"We will hopefully get through step 1". I would soon find out how true his statement was.
Remeber, they stamped John's FM3, retired Mexico resident visa, in the wrong spot at the border and we have been trying to get it taken care of. This was our 5th time to the office in Playa. It looked promising as we got past the first official, I'll call him the paperwork monitor, and we actually got a badge with a number and made it into the next room....wooohooo! Things were looking up. After a short time they called our number...amarillo cuatorce-yellow 14...and we were at the window talking to the next official. She was stamping every copy.....things were looking promising. We had all the necessary copies, letters and documents filled out and then they said......" It should be ready in 3 weeks". We were definately not prepared for that!!!
OMG! Those of you who were with us during hurricane Wilma, may have observed a slighly more escalated scene when they told us our seats were not available on the plane out of the country...and we were holding tickets. That was the time, I snapped like a twig, head spinning around while pounding on the ticket counter of US Airways, screaming..."NO, BUT WE HAVE TICKETS!!!" I have no recollection of this but unfortunately there were witnesses. John informed me that when I repeated the sentence...blah blah blah...3 weeks" he was afraid I was headed in the same direction. I informed them that we were leaving on Sunday....to which the official said..."go see my friend at the front desk to get another set of forms to leave the country." John had some questions, but he thought he had better get me out of there or he would never see his FM3 again!
So back to the front desk again. The official paper monitor pulled out the additional form, letter, requirements, and deposit form that we would need to complete in order for John to leave the country prior to his FM3 being completed. We took all the paperwork, walked out, and I got a bit twirly ( wigged out). And after that we got back in a cab (that is a whole other logistic story even to get to the immigration office because Playa Del Carmen is a complete zoo), back to the parking lot where the truck was and headed South to Tulum. I quick lunch stop at Lol-Ha, a restaurant on the beach in Akumal brought things back down to a Defcon 4. You know that poppers and one mango margarita were involved.
Now to figure out what the heck we are going to do....but I think we need to mull it over for a bit!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
New line in Camillo....finally!!
Today finally, John, Fernando and I set out to see if there is more cave to explore where we left off last November. This is actually the first time we pushed the cave this trip. John and I were on the rebreathers and Fernando was on open circuit. There was 5 stages (tanks) set up for him and 3 safeties (tanks also but the plan is only to use them in case of an emergency) for John and I. To give you some perspective...on open circuit Fernando used all 5 stages and a half of his back gas. We used one stage (in rebreather lingo it is called a drive bottle). The dive was 4 hours and 5 minutes long. We laid over 1000 ft of new line and we turned the dive at 2 hours.....and the cave is still running!!!
We scootered near cenote Kotamundi (about 45 minutes in on scooters), dropped the scooters and swam the remaining distance. That was a really long swim, especially with the drag from the rebreathers.....it is kind like giving 2 big people piggyback rides except underwater. I need to mention there is some flow that takes you into the cave so you have to swim against it coming out.
The new portion of the cave is really nice, lots of decorations and stalagmites (the one's on the floor). One portion looked like a small army of different heights as far as you could see. .... I know, no camera so they didn't really exist.
The thing about a 4 hour dive, is that you have to keep your mind under control. For example when your mind says, " You are 2 hours from getting out of here" ....you have to remind yourself very quickly that this is fun, the cave is beutiful, not many people see this stuff, and pull yourself together...and do it quick". That usually works and the uncertainty is beaten back down.
The shooters were not there, which was good. There was a new target hidden behind some bushes....a picture of a lady in a bikini. They had shot her full of holes. Sick and wrong, but kinda fully. Must have gotten bored with the silohoutte targets.
Tomorrow we are taking the day off to return for the 4th time to the " Oficina de Immigration". Hopefully this time we will have everything we need and they won't keep changing the requirements. More on that later. Plus we probably won't be able to walk tomorrow so we wouldn't be up for another 4 hour dive anyway. On Thursday the plan is for John and I to survey all the line that is left....and maybe add some new!
Wish us luck!!! We come home on Sunday so we want to get 2 more dives in Camillo before we leave.
Karen and John
We scootered near cenote Kotamundi (about 45 minutes in on scooters), dropped the scooters and swam the remaining distance. That was a really long swim, especially with the drag from the rebreathers.....it is kind like giving 2 big people piggyback rides except underwater. I need to mention there is some flow that takes you into the cave so you have to swim against it coming out.
The new portion of the cave is really nice, lots of decorations and stalagmites (the one's on the floor). One portion looked like a small army of different heights as far as you could see. .... I know, no camera so they didn't really exist.
The thing about a 4 hour dive, is that you have to keep your mind under control. For example when your mind says, " You are 2 hours from getting out of here" ....you have to remind yourself very quickly that this is fun, the cave is beutiful, not many people see this stuff, and pull yourself together...and do it quick". That usually works and the uncertainty is beaten back down.
The shooters were not there, which was good. There was a new target hidden behind some bushes....a picture of a lady in a bikini. They had shot her full of holes. Sick and wrong, but kinda fully. Must have gotten bored with the silohoutte targets.
Tomorrow we are taking the day off to return for the 4th time to the " Oficina de Immigration". Hopefully this time we will have everything we need and they won't keep changing the requirements. More on that later. Plus we probably won't be able to walk tomorrow so we wouldn't be up for another 4 hour dive anyway. On Thursday the plan is for John and I to survey all the line that is left....and maybe add some new!
Wish us luck!!! We come home on Sunday so we want to get 2 more dives in Camillo before we leave.
Karen and John
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Carlos Santana...not quite, but I got your attention
Hoy es Domingo (today is Sunday). John did his first dive with Fernando! My ear is improving greatly ( I am self medicating ...luckily it is easy to do down here), but I wanted to hold off one more day. The film crew arrived from Mexico City this morning, so John, Fernando and the film folks went diving in Camillo. John and Fernando did a set up dive for tomorrow. They were mostly setting Fernando up, since he will be on open circuit and we will be on rebreathers. I say we because, hell or high water, I am going diving tomorrow!!! The film crew only had today , tomorrow they are filming a new conservative approach to lobster catching that is conserving the reefs around this area. It was introduced from Belize and does not use nets but rather has the fisherman catching the lobsters by hand....we know what that is like. California style. So anyway, they only had today....so I was not in the documentary...John and Fernando were. Fernando kept trying to convince me to just "go into the entrance and be filmed". But to me if I did that I would risk not diving the following day or blowing out an eardrum, so I had to keep assuring him that it was fine. He said, "you are part of the team, you should go". No really, it is OK was my response.
John, Fernando and the team left at 10:30 and I stayed behind. I didn't want to sit out in the jungle for three hours :). I had an enjoyable relaxing day, working on Spanish, going to Pollo Bronco (the best chicken place in Tulum), taking a nap, and breaking down the rebreather. I was like the local travel assist person sitting alone in Pollo Bronco. People kept stopping to ask me questions. Maybe they figured if I was eating there, I must be local...hahaaaa. Questions like, "How long to you think it would take me to walk to the Tulum Beach" or " How long would it take to walk the entire beach", or " Is this really good chicken?". Kinda funny.
For our diving friends, I also enjoyed listening to Troy's briefing to some customers he was taking to Gran Cenote and Calavera. Troy is a Canadian who works for Fernando a portion of the year; he just arrived a few days ago and today was his first day back at work for Fernando. He was lamenting about the harsh winter in Canada and was glad to be back at in Tulum for some beach time. He was sheet white when he arrived a few days ago...today he was very tan. Totally funny if you know him.
John and Fernando returned and I heard about the dive; the set up was complete and they were able to get footage. We will supposedly be given a video of the work bebfore we leave...which is cool. We go diving tomorrow...hopefully to add new line.
So when the heck is she going to get to the Carlos Santa part? :) This is for Kim and other Santa fans out there. We were going to have dinner at Ginger in town. Which is a fabulous restaurant with really really good food....specifically seafood. It is located on the south side of Tulum...of course, being Sunday, it was closed when we got there tonight. So we opted to try Charlie's tonight. John did not particularly like the restaurant before, but it has redeemed itself, which is great because I always liked it. It was pretty crowded and a band (singer plus guitarist) were warming up. The meal was great, pollo con mole, margaritas, sopa de lima and tacos de pescado. The band played many Carlos Santana tunes and the guitarist played a Santana solo that was awesome. They guy was not more than 23 years old but he was really really fabulous. The set included Abraxus, Black Magic Woman, and a guitar solo I can never remember the name of...along with some salsa stuff, Gloria Estefan and a few English tunes adapted with a salsa beat. Really fun. Plus the lady singer had a really awesome voice (john wants me to write Kick A$$ voice, but I won't do it :)!! We will hit that place more often...plus it was cheaper than alot of the places we have been frequenting!
Tomorrow we plan for the end of the line in Camillo. The shooters are supposed to be gone tomorrow...we will see. Today they were absent, which worked out well.
Karen and John
John, Fernando and the team left at 10:30 and I stayed behind. I didn't want to sit out in the jungle for three hours :). I had an enjoyable relaxing day, working on Spanish, going to Pollo Bronco (the best chicken place in Tulum), taking a nap, and breaking down the rebreather. I was like the local travel assist person sitting alone in Pollo Bronco. People kept stopping to ask me questions. Maybe they figured if I was eating there, I must be local...hahaaaa. Questions like, "How long to you think it would take me to walk to the Tulum Beach" or " How long would it take to walk the entire beach", or " Is this really good chicken?". Kinda funny.
For our diving friends, I also enjoyed listening to Troy's briefing to some customers he was taking to Gran Cenote and Calavera. Troy is a Canadian who works for Fernando a portion of the year; he just arrived a few days ago and today was his first day back at work for Fernando. He was lamenting about the harsh winter in Canada and was glad to be back at in Tulum for some beach time. He was sheet white when he arrived a few days ago...today he was very tan. Totally funny if you know him.
John and Fernando returned and I heard about the dive; the set up was complete and they were able to get footage. We will supposedly be given a video of the work bebfore we leave...which is cool. We go diving tomorrow...hopefully to add new line.
So when the heck is she going to get to the Carlos Santa part? :) This is for Kim and other Santa fans out there. We were going to have dinner at Ginger in town. Which is a fabulous restaurant with really really good food....specifically seafood. It is located on the south side of Tulum...of course, being Sunday, it was closed when we got there tonight. So we opted to try Charlie's tonight. John did not particularly like the restaurant before, but it has redeemed itself, which is great because I always liked it. It was pretty crowded and a band (singer plus guitarist) were warming up. The meal was great, pollo con mole, margaritas, sopa de lima and tacos de pescado. The band played many Carlos Santana tunes and the guitarist played a Santana solo that was awesome. They guy was not more than 23 years old but he was really really fabulous. The set included Abraxus, Black Magic Woman, and a guitar solo I can never remember the name of...along with some salsa stuff, Gloria Estefan and a few English tunes adapted with a salsa beat. Really fun. Plus the lady singer had a really awesome voice (john wants me to write Kick A$$ voice, but I won't do it :)!! We will hit that place more often...plus it was cheaper than alot of the places we have been frequenting!
Tomorrow we plan for the end of the line in Camillo. The shooters are supposed to be gone tomorrow...we will see. Today they were absent, which worked out well.
Karen and John
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