Bring Your Gear
In the rush surrounding getting the boat ready for our passage, some other tasks were left undone. One of those was getting a second set of dive gear for the boat. I just figured dive gear couldn't be a problem in the Caribbean. As it turns out, most of these Islands do have dive shops, but they have little gear to sell you. It has to be shipped from either St. Martin or from Martinique, at very high costs.
So with a little clever coordination, we found a solution. Zac and Chris, our two sons were coming down for a visit. Zac is skilled at many things, and internet shopping is one of them. He showed up with a complete set of new dive gear for Kelly. Meanwhile, Kel also did her part. She stopped into a dive shop in Nashville, Tennesee while in the US and purchased two 80L aluminum tanks and a new mask for herself. She ran to Walmart and bought a large, cheap rolling suitcase for the tanks and checked them through to Antigua. We've been exploring the underwater reefs since. Unfortunately, my little underwater camera couldn't take the pressure, so I'm in the market for a new toy.
There is nothing as magical as floating along a reef covered in coral, rays, lobsters, and 100's of different species of fish. That said, it is incredibly frightening to me that these beautiful ecosystems are disappearing rapidly due to global warming. Much of the coral was gray and dead, but some is hanging in there. Although the fish were plentiful, they will follow the path of the coral.
We really can't let this continue. This is a crime against the planet itself, and it is easy to overlook these suffering ecosystems just below the surface. Please watch Nemo again, and do something to help whenever you can. Sorry for the soapbox, but this issue really stings and it is so easy to focus on important problems closer to home. The link to the infographic shows that no matter "your climate change" soapbox, many of the solutions are shared. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html
I hope coral reef ecosystems are here for generations to come.
So with a little clever coordination, we found a solution. Zac and Chris, our two sons were coming down for a visit. Zac is skilled at many things, and internet shopping is one of them. He showed up with a complete set of new dive gear for Kelly. Meanwhile, Kel also did her part. She stopped into a dive shop in Nashville, Tennesee while in the US and purchased two 80L aluminum tanks and a new mask for herself. She ran to Walmart and bought a large, cheap rolling suitcase for the tanks and checked them through to Antigua. We've been exploring the underwater reefs since. Unfortunately, my little underwater camera couldn't take the pressure, so I'm in the market for a new toy.
There is nothing as magical as floating along a reef covered in coral, rays, lobsters, and 100's of different species of fish. That said, it is incredibly frightening to me that these beautiful ecosystems are disappearing rapidly due to global warming. Much of the coral was gray and dead, but some is hanging in there. Although the fish were plentiful, they will follow the path of the coral.
We really can't let this continue. This is a crime against the planet itself, and it is easy to overlook these suffering ecosystems just below the surface. Please watch Nemo again, and do something to help whenever you can. Sorry for the soapbox, but this issue really stings and it is so easy to focus on important problems closer to home. The link to the infographic shows that no matter "your climate change" soapbox, many of the solutions are shared. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html
I hope coral reef ecosystems are here for generations to come.
Dolphin Escort on Iolair's Bow
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