Things are much quieter here this weekend. This afternoon we went on a snorkeling tour to three different beaches to see how the surge had affected them.
We started out in East End at a beach near Colliers Bay that we hadn't been to before. The water was murky and even with a lot of sea weed there weren't many fish around. After swimming out to the open water and not seeing anything we headed back in got in the car and drove across the north side of the Island to Cayman Kai.
The public beach at Cayman Kai was still in good shape but like all the beaches we have seen this past week, a lot of rocks had washed up with the surge. While walking along the beach we did have a humorous moment. Some American tourists had obviously just moved in to one of the beach front houses and I guess they weren't told all beaches on Cayman are public so when we walked by and right onto their "part" of the beach to get in the water they reacted huffily. Other people were coming in the same way and at some point they must have realized they did not in fact have a private beach. American concepts of private beach property don't apply down here and I found myself enjoying their discomfort, "sorry folks gonna have to mix with the locals whether you like it or not." Too bad for them, they will be in for a long week as the snorkeling at that beach is still some of the best we have seen on Cayman and many people know it.
We ended up at Beach Bay and it was the most changed. The surge blew in many of the rocks in the carefully created pool area. The snorkeling was almost dangerous with huge boulders and rebar sticking up throughout the swimming area. The waves now came in largely unobstructed so the current and water levels were not the easy pool like quality that existed pre-storm. The beach itself was packed with rocks and getting to the water was even more of a chore than it had been in the past.
It was great to get out and go snorkeling. It is really the best part about living down here.
On Friday we returned the kitties. It was tough but the right decision. We may get some cats in the spring but right now we aren't home enough and want to do some traveling this fall.
Our air conditioning is on the fritz so we are getting to know Cayman in August with just fans. Yesterday a huge storm blew through and the septic tank backed up filling our down stairs tub with some foul smelling liquid. A lot of bleach and cleaning later the tub is clean. It affected all the units on our complex and a truck was out last night to drain the tank some. We also are dealing with some kitchen sink issues so by golly its just like being homeowners again. Will be dealing with our landlord on this no doubt in the next couple of days.
