Monday, July 27, 2009

Brian's July Spearfishing in Hatteras

Okay, so here's Brian's passion: spearfishing and freediving. We did it in the Bahamas for years, but last summer was the first time it occurred to us that we should give the NC coast a try. So worth it. I haven't gone yet, but these pics show that it is clear, gorgeous, and there are plenty of fish. We eat fish all summer lonfg now, and we never have to buy it or worry about catching it with a hook and line.
This fish B has here is an African Pompano, is actually not related to the smaller pompano that we catch off the beach here, but is in the jack family. Many jacks are not good to eat, but this one is. We really enjoy it, and so do the sharks. Brian always sees sharks when he dives off the NC coast. In the Bahamas, we usually see nurse sharks and occasionally blacktip or gray reef sharks. Here, there are sand tigers around the wrecks, duskys, bulls, sandbar sharks, blacktip, and our friend just south of us saw his first Tiger shark a couple of weeks ago. A few years ago, a fishing boat out of Oregon Inlet videotaped a great white. So, we get all kinds of sharks here, which makes for some exciting dives. Maybe that's why I haven't joined him yet!

Yeah, a shark got it. This is not unusual at all. They're out there. They really just want to eat fish, but I wouldn't get in their way.
The boat belongs to Atil, who Brian met through the Virginia Beach Mid-Atlantic Longfins Club, a freediving club.


Bunch of African Pompano, coupla Cobia, and an Amberjack head.
Lovin' his Pelagic camo boardshorts and his custom speargun.

The group that went out that day. Atil has a camo wetsuit. I grew up in Louisiana with my dad wearing mossy oak camo and hunter orange and disappearing every weekend during duck and deer hunting season. Back then I never knew people hunted underwater too. Now, my husband wears black, green, and blue camo and hunts aquatic game 50 to 70 feet below the surface. Kinda crazy, but pretty cool!
Another day, at our home, a receding funnel cloud that had formed an awesome water spout!

Clamming on Ocracoke

This summer has been flying by for us so far. I've been enjoying my job doing massage and Brian has been working looooong days as the parasail boat captain. He's loving it, but I miss him a little. This beautiful sunset is on a typical Ocracoke evening from the Jolly Roger Restaurant where Brian docks the parasail boat.
Our little one pot herb garden is doing well. Our sweet friend, Tom, leaves goodies from his garden in it from time to time. I love coming home and finding fresh, ripe tomatoes and surprises like the butternut squash you see above! Thanks, Tom!
Okay, I had to snap a picture of this isle in the grocery store. Does anyone else think it's totally screwed up to put the school supplies in the junk food isle!? Jeez! This summer I've been focusing on eating as pure as possible - no processed food or factory farmed animal products, mostly fruits and vegetables - so, I really think it's sad that kids, (and their parents), get extra pressure to feed themselves disease causing, sugar and chemical laden food when they go to pick up school supplies.
On my way back from the grocery store, the ferry ride was sooooo beautiful!!! The water looked like the Caribbean!
Ahhhhhh, a lovely and relaxing day of clamming near Portsmouth Island. Brian and Scott are checking out this spot for us, while the dogs play on the land.

The weather was perfect, as you can see...

Tony's squeeze, Martha, cleverly avoiding the sun.
Cool photo, I had water on the lens... I like it.
These four little clams turned into almost 200 by the end of the day!
Playing with the underwater camera...


Yeah, I had a nice sunburn by the time it was all over. I knew I should've covered up, but the sunshine felt so good!

The dogs swam around like this for hours! So easily entertained! I think they were hunting fish.
Scott and Martha pulling the boats around to a better spot.
Ru-roh!

This was just half the story. That night we shucked every one of those clams and made clams casino. They were delicious!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Time Is Flying...

Okay, I'm not really sure that I could be more boring right now. June has been work, work, work and more work. For me, that means working on my Online Bahamas Travel Guide, which is still not ready to be released, and my exciting action/adventure/mystery novel, Bahamas Blue Death, which is still only in original draft form and just 1/3 of the way done. Since my eyes have been glued to the laptop screen working on these two major projects, which I hope to create nice streams of income through by the time we toss the bowlines and sail away to the islands this winter, I have not done much to blog about. Brian has been putting 9 - 11 hour days on the parasail boat. His goal is make and save enough money to begin building our house on in the Bahamas in January 2010. I think it's going to happen. I did manage to buy a new swimsuit, lose 10 pounds on my new pescatarian/vegan/raw foodist combo lifestyle, and become a redhead this month. You can see all of these changes in the lovely photo above. As you can tell by my pasty, white skin, I have not managed to get out and enjoy this lovely, summer weather very much at all. I have had a bit of a night life though. I get out about once a week and have nice dinner with Brian, or drinks with friends, or something more unusual like this past Tuesday when I attended the first ever Women's Arm Wresting Match at Smax. The ladies were in costume and had names like "Carm the Arm," "Boris", and "Tiny Dancer." They wore tutu's, capes, and sometimes mustaches. It was a fundraiser for the local radio station and it was a hoot! And you can shoot me now, because I didn't bring my camera! My friend Lyn got some photos and I will post them if I can get them from her. Below is a pic of a Coast Guard helicopter and boat performing a manuever behind my boat. It was fairly entertaining and impressive to watch this guy drop into the water from the whirly bird and then climba ladder back up again.
This is my poor, fat cat doing what he does best. When we go cruising again, he'll be able to shed those pounds by frolicking on the deck, climbing the rigging, and eating fresh sashimi.
Jack again, getting sick of picture taking.
Told you I was boring. I'll try to liven up the next post a bit by getting out and about more! By the way, we have also been doing extensive boat work by cutting and reshaping our engine bed to fit the new Beta Marine diesel. This just happened 2 days ago and I am still recovering from cleaning fiberglass dust out of every nook and cranny of our living space for 7 1/2 hours. I just can't talk about it yet. When the project is completely done, I'll post pics and details. It's really actually quite disturbing right now because it's not done yet and we are hoping for the best, but have no idea how it will all turn out! Yikessssss!