Day 63

George Town, Grand Cayman. Adventures a plenty, dear reader. Today we stuck to our plan. Deanna and I woke up a little early…not much, but we had also turned our clocks ahead one hour, so more than it seemed. Deanna went to get tickets for the tender boats. This is a first for us. If you want to get off the ship at the start you need to go get a ticket. They then start calling blocks of numbers. After a while they open it up for anyone…that is what we usually do. But not today. We met Keelan and Charlotte for breakfast, grabbed our stuff, and headed out. The tender boat was pretty full…this is a good thing. The fuller the boat the sooner it leaves…remember this.

Charlotte had gone online and found Moby Dick Stingray City and Snorkel tour. We were to meet at the pier and leave at 11:45. We got there at 11:00. Keelan and Charlotte hadn’t gone snorkeling before and weren’t strong swimmers, but they were up for it. We walked around town looking for snorkel gear but only found jewelry, watches, and t-shirts.

We got on the boat and headed out. The sun was out pretty much until the moment we set foot on the boat. There was a big grey cloud blocking the sun for most the time. This was problematic on the trip out because we were getting hit by spray from the boat hitting waves. I just sat there in my swim suit rather than keeping my other clothes on. Stingray city is basically a sandbar where you can stand in the water and hang out with stingrays. Sounds ok, right?

When we arrived there were four or five other boats there so we went snorkeling first. A little reef area nearby. They had snorkel gear, but it’s kind of gross using someone elses snorkel. Deanna and I brought ours and borrowed fins. I got in pretty quick. Right as I did our guide announced that there was a scuba diver taking pictures of a moray eel. He then mentioned a few things about the eels being blind and having sharp teeth. I look under the water and there it is. The diver was sort of coaxing it out and then taking pictures…and then it started heading towards me and another guy. I got outta there. After clearing out a bit I turned around and tried to snap a few more shots. I found Deanna and we headed to the reef. Unfortunately the waves break right at the reef so it was a constant fight against current. Add to that the people were almost all of the boat and that is a recipe for sucks-ville. I got out of the current and headed back to see how Keelan and Charlotte were fairing. They weren’t. Charlotte had an inflatable vest, but it wasn’t helping…panic took over a little. We assured them that this was not optimal “first time snorkeling” and said we’d take them somewhere that was in the future.

I got out. Too many people. Then I jumped back in to “wash the sand off my feet.” While I was doing that I saw some fish swimming by the boat…little pieces of stuff floating in the water. One of those pieces looked just odd enough for me to get closer. It was less than half an inch long and less than a quarter inch wide…it was a crab. A tiny, tiny, wee little baby crab. Before I could get my camera it got lost in the current.

We then headed over to the Stingrays. This…was…awesome. There were maybe 10-15, but they were all right there swimming all around us. I have photos. I have video. Gimme time and high speed DSL. I can’t describe it in words. Deanna and Keelan even kissed one.

After that we headed back and I went through an hour and 15 minutes online deleting emails from a spam attack…3500 emails. I almost fell asleep during that process…about 5 times.

Tomorrow is relax day.