Dive Day #1

First diving day with Brendal and Chris. 

Happy Divers

Lots of Yellow Tail

This dive took us to a deeper reef that provided the backdrop for more large schools of fish then we have previously experienced in the Bahamas.  

As this reef is not visited as frequently, several large Lionfish were dispatched during the dives and fed to the numerous black-tip sharks that joined the dive for an easy meal. 

Built in Bling

Another reason to relax here

In his attempts to help get our larger luggage off the ferry boat when we arrived today, Austin accidentally left his back-pack on board the BOLO.

His backpack contained several expensive items, including his iPad, diving regulator and his dive computer.

In the flurry and excitement of our arrival and first trip into town for a few groceries, the backpack was not missed until early evening.

After the frantic search about the cottage, the conclusion was reached that it may not have made it off the ferry boat.

Mom and Austin made a quick trip to town where they found the backpack, and all of its contents, in the safe keeping of the BOLO captain who was just finishing up the days trips to the big island.

As always, the natives here watch-out for each other and the tourists that visit their islands.

Off we go!

We got up extra early for a 5:45 departure from DFW airport.

Dreaming at dawn somewhere over Louisiana

Window seat please!

Bolo

Waiting for Bolo

Our flight from Miami to TCB was delayed slightly due to mechanical problems, but they switched airplanes and had us in Abaco in time to catch the 4:30 BOLO while a few mild thunderstorms passed through the area.

2 Shorty's

After a quick trip to town to pick up groceries and beverages, we unpacked before heading back to
2 Shorty’s later that night for a dinner that included Cracked Conch and Lobster.

International Flight Check-In Available On AA.com

What a great email to start the day with!

Bank & Bread

Today’s activities included calling Sid’s to reserve a loaf of white bread and coconut bread for our arrival and a trip to the bank for a cashier’s check for the balance of the rent.

The cashier’s check is a new thing this year.  Something must have happened to cause them to enact this policy?

Long distance calling

Added the international plan to the cell phones today just in case we need to use them while we are on the island.  The cost is reasonable as long as you remember to cancel the added service after returning to the real world.  We didn’t add any international data service, as we should be able to access Wi-Fi at the house.

Being “plugged-in” while on vacation is a matter of debate for many people, but we do enjoy our technology and we will use it to monitor our emails for anything urgent and to access the local weather forecast along with any anything else we might like to look up during the trip.

Practice-run

Today we packed and weighed everything.  Then we re-packed and re-weighed several times to get all the gear, food and a little bit of clothing balanced into six suitcases without busting the 50 pound weight limit on any individual bag.  In all, it looks to be about 270 pounds of outbound stuff!

A majority of the gear filling out suitcases is scuba diving equipment that we will use while diving for four days with Brendal.  This will be Bridget’s third year as a certified diver, Austin’s fourth.  We’ll each carry our regulators in our carry-on luggage and check the rest of the luggage straight through from DFW to TCB.