A Birthday to Remember

Day after diving (Wolf and Felix).  Photo by Mike Ellis

Little did I know that this would be my only post for the first week of the trip - unfortunately we were hit with bad weather that made for horrible conditions.  The captain had mentioned that in all his years he had never had w full week be completely lost.  This was partly in thanks to tropical depression Ida.  


Nov. 10, 2009
This will be a birthday that I will always remember – today was the first time that my dad and I got back in the water to dive with sharks.  Could not have asked or wished for anything better.  Our trip to The Bahamas was delayed by one day – wind was blowing hard and waves in the Gulfstream were too big to take the boat out.   Eventually conditions allowed us to make the trip across …


The afternoon was spent getting everyone acclimated with the water, gear, and four lemons – we stayed in the water until early evening.  What stuck out the most today was seeing my old man’s yellow snorkel on the surface – it has pretty much become synonymous to any diving memories I have of him.


Onboard is a nice and diverse group of people – some we knew from before and others new.  

I have also been able to reconnect with my cousin Dinah whom I had not seen in about 15 years – she made the trip from London with her boyfriend, Nick. Meeting both was a true highlight for us Leanders.


Looking forward to the next two weeks of diving among sea wolves…