April 24, 2014 Snorkeling Sombrero Reef

I went to shore early to have the bike company pick up our bikes when they opened at 9:00.  They didn’t show up until 10:30 :(  But I was able to get a few things done using the wifi at the marina.  It was also our pump out day for our heads, so we couldn’t leave until that was done.  We are on a schedule for every Thursday.

When I returned to the boat, we had breakfast, then headed out for a day of snorkeling.  We decided to just motor right to the reef instead of sailing.  If the winds aren’t in your favor, you  have to zigzag to get there, which takes much more time.  We went to the same reef that we took Dean, 3.5 miles south of Marathon.  There were a lot of other boats here today with other snorkelers.   So I wasn’t as worried about boats not seeing us. 

Pete decided to wear a dive skin, since he hasn’t had as much sun.  You can get sunburned just laying on the water for an our or two.  You don’t have to think about that with diving.  Dave and I just wore t-shirts last time and opted to do that again.  Last time, I had a swimsuit with a little skirt on it.  This time I had the normal suit that just covers your cheeks.  WELL, the tops of the back of my thighs got sunburned this time!  Will make a mental not of that.

The snorkeling was, again, great.  Lots of variety of fish and coral, and jellyfish.  This time we saw some huge parrot fish, probably 4 feet long.  And I saw 3 kinds of angle fish, my favorite: queen angels are very colorful with blues and yellows, French angel fish are dark grey with yellow accents-the yellow eyelids really stand out, and grey angel fish-more of a washed out grey color with specks on the sides.  All of them were probably 18 inches long. 

Dave returned to the boat a earlier than us and started cleaning the hull.  When we returned we made guacamole and had a couple beers.  Then we headed  back to Marathon and cooked dinner on the boat.  We grilled hamburgers, with corn on the cob and a salad. 

It was a calm night, so Pete and I played cribbage in the cockpit until it was too dark to see.  Then we moved inside for more Malice.  I love it!

Pete picking up our mooring ball back at the marina

(and Happy Birthday Dad, he would have been 98 today)