Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Cayman Again

After another total knee replacement and a gallbladder operation, it was time to return to Grand Cayman for some R&R.......and diving. We packed our bags, grabbed a flight and were soon unpacking in our condo at Compass Point on the East End. It was good to see everyone and they greeted us like old friends.
Diving with Ocean Frontiers started the next morning with the boat leaving the dock at 8 am for a two tank dive....gosh it was good to be swimming with the fishes again. Dale spent the morning reading after a long walk and exploring.
Kayaking down the coastline was fun and challenging, especially having to paddle against a pretty strong wind, but the trip back was easy. We did take a break at a nice beach that we had all to ourselves.

Little did we know it was Pirate Week on Cayman and the island had lots of celebrations going on. One afternoon we drove down the East End Observance Day celebration, looking at artifacts from the island, listening to some rather loud music and sampling a piece of pumpkin cake.
I signed up for the night dive on Tuesday night, and it was terriffic! We saw octopus, lobster, a turtle, and lots of little creatures. Shortly after we surfaced we had the opportunity to watch the East End firework display.....a fitting end to a good dive.
After studying a map, we were off.....bound to snorkel the wreck of the Geneva Kathleen. Dale found the wreck and we soon spotted two lion fish swimming over the wreckage. We also spotted lobster, a ray, a flamingo tongue and a flounder......a good snorkel excursion for us!
On Thursday night the resort had a dinner for all the divers around the pool....barbecued chicken and ribs were yummy with all the sides...and we enjoyed talking with the other couples.

The week seem to fly by with two dives every morning and soon it was Friday and my Stingray Dive. Dale and I drove over to the Kaibo Marina to catch the dive boat...Dale found a hammock in the shade and decided to chill until I returned. The dive was good, stingrays all over....all looking for a handout of squid.
Saturday morning we packed, enjoyed a nice lunch, drove into the airport, returned our rental car, and caught our flight home.....another good week in Cayman had come to an end!

Paddling for Reds

Booked another trip with "Hector the Hunk" to go fishing and paddling in Port Aranasas, met up with him and we headed to South Bay to put the kayaks in the water. It was a fantastic day on the water....a cool crisp morning with a light breeze blowing. Lots of boats dotted the bay, so did that mean the fish were biting? We paddled along looking for reds, Hector standing on his kayak to get a bird's eye view of the water. I was using a gold weedless spoon with my rod and reel, while Hector was using a fly rod.
I caught a nice red, just over the legal limit and put him on my stringer......my first redfish from a kayak! We caught lots of undersize fish, fun to catch, but we had to put them back to let them grow. Hector landed a red on his fly rod, but it was just short of the legal limit. Finally I hooked a really nice red, he put up a good fight, but soon I had him on my stringer.
I sure did want to catch another fish and limit out, but since we had drifted a long way, we had a long paddle back to our cars......against the wind! We loaded the kayaks and our gear.....a great day on the water and two nice fish!

Limited Out!

Out on the water at POC early this morning.......Burrrr........42 degrees, a bit nippy! Dale and I enjoyed a day of fishing at POC with pal, Leslie. We caught a really nice 27 1/2 and 8 other nice reds, sure will be tasty on the grill. Lots of laughs, limited out, ice chest full......it don't get any better!