First Day of Football Season

With the storm moving off and with the afternoon rains letting up, last night was free to head over to the sports bar by Hurleys and watch the Texas season opener. For a few minutes it looked like they might not be getting the game since it was on a pay per view channel but at 6:00 p.m. the signal started arriving and the game came on. The 52-10 Texas win was fun to watch though the defense gave us some big plays through the air and will have to do a lot of maturing before the Oklahoma and Missouri games for Texas to have a chance. Katie came for dinner then left a few minutes into the game to "scrapbook". When I got home I found that Katie hadn't scrapbooked at all but instead had made me a first day of football present. She hung our Texas Longhorns flag in the living room and made a coconut football cake that is pictured to the left. The game was a great way to unwind after four days of intensity surrounding the hurricane.

The mood in the sports bar was very much one of feeling lucky we could be out doing what we were doing. I spoke with a couple of other football fans and we all talked about feeling fortunate we were watching a football game and that we weren't having to deal with days of no power, water or having to spend days cleaning up. The sister islands took a real beating. Little Cayman still doesn't have power or water and the Brac has substantial damage with parts of that Island still not having power. Two Royal Navy ships have arrived to help with clean up and the government is flying crews the 88 miles over to both Islands. Our prayers are going out to everyone on Little Cayman and the Brac that things get back to normal as fast as possible. We are also praying for everyone in western Cuba that they came through last night safely and to the gulf coast residents that Gustav will weaken and hit as unpopulated an area as possible.

Rainy Saturday

We are getting a lot of rain this afternoon from the back bands of Gustav. The wind is now going from south to north the reverse of yesterday. We went shopping this afternoon and there was a tremendous sense that Grand Cayman really dodged a bullet yesterday. Gustav is now a category four having gone from tropical storm to cat 4 in less than 24 hours. I will be going to sports bar tonight to watch the Texas football game assuming it isn't so rainy that the satellite feed is interfered with. On the left is a picture of Ginger watching the storm this afternoon after we opened up the permanent shutters we have on our upstairs bedroom window. While Gypsy has been fascinated by Louie following him all over the house, Ginger has been disgusted and will not give him the time of day. We are getting more rain here on the back end of the storm then we did yesterday during the highest wind activity.

Andreas Returns

We walked over to the Kings Center roundabout at 11 and were very happy to find that the cars behind us had opened an easy to get to path down the hill and off the roundabout (picture below). We plugged the battery back in and Andreas started on the first turn of the key. While walking to the car we saw a tree cut in half in the Hurleys parking lot (see picture left). We drove around and along south sound to check out the damage. We saw one downed power line and a lot of downed limbs but very little surge damage. It is still a little breezy but no rain.

Mid-Morning update

After waking up around 4:30 and then getting back to sleep around 5:15 we slept in until 8:45. A quick look outside reveals a mostly overcast morning with gusts still occurring with decreasing frequency. We should keep having those gusts until around one in the afternoon. Gustav has apparently grown to a category three this morning as it moves over the warm waters west of us. We are very fortunate he waited to grow until after passing through our Islands. We have the mountains of Jamaica and the fact that he stayed a tropical storm while passing over that Island to thank for that. In looking at our parking lot we got a surprisingly small amount of rain and didn't see any tree's or limbs down. Even the small tree next to where we park which we both thought wouldn't make it through the night is still standing. The spot where we park wasn't flooded at all and the two areas that water always accumulates even from a normal rain had pools but not huge ones. The all clear has not yet been given as of 8:00 a.m. so we wont go get our car until this afternoon at the earliest. There is apparently heavy wave action and will be for the next 24 hours with heights pushing 14-16 feet.

The Net News has the following damage reports for the three Islands:

Little Cayman A number of light poles are down. Some are described as “cracked in half.” Trees were also toppled by the hurricane. Several docks are reported destroyed. Several boats have been washed ashore. Debris clutters the roads making them difficult to pass. As the storm was approaching, a couple was treated by the nurse after being washed into the sea. They had been on a dock taking photographs. Other than these two, there are no reported injuries at this time. Damage to the Southern Cross Club has been reported.

Cayman Brac A number of light poles are reported down.

Grand Cayman During the night, an East End shelter lost generator power. A great deal of debris was washed ashore near The Edge in North Side. There are many reports coming into the NEOC of downed trees, including one that fell on a shelter warden’s car. Fallen trees blocking main roads will have priority for cleanup

Unlike Jamaica and Haiti where there are reports of deaths it appears we have escaped with just some damage to property and a few injuries. So long as Andreas made it we will have weathered this storm none the worse for wear.

Gustav moving off

I awoke this morning about 4:20 a.m. from a particularly loud gust rattling the upstairs shutters and was very pleased to find that we did not lose power or water as the storm passed. Gustav is now about 60 miles to the west northwest of us and moving away at a 12 mph clip. We continue to get tropical storm force winds and probably will for a couple of more hours. The news reports say the sister islands got winds between 80 and 100 miles an hour. It appears our winds maxed out at 55 mph and right now they are gusting in the 30-40 mph level, just a gentle Caribbean breeze right. Though it is raining now, we have actually gotten very little rainfall and it bears repeating that we were south of the storm and not in that upper right quadrant where most of the intensity would be. There has been some flooding of low lying areas including parts of Cayman Kai and North Sound Estates which is right across from the college. We also hear that the gully which runs from the southern coast up through Newlands has flooded some houses though that happens anytime there is any kind of a storm. Will find out later today if the college had any flooding and how the roof there did. Our place has had no issues at all.

The difference in sounds between our downstairs and upstairs is dramatic and has probably affected how we felt in terms of nerves and how we reacted to this storm in comparison to Dean last year. Last year we rode out the storm upstairs with no TV and no television background noise, hearing nothing except the winds gusting outside the plywood. This year we were downstairs for the most part and had the TV on pretty constantly. When we went to bed at 11 you could really hear the gusts upstairs which was in stark contrast to what we had just experienced downstairs where they were muted and drowned out by the TV.

The AP report from George Town says a curfew was never imposed and one of the local papers, the Cayman Net News, says on their web site that as of 9 p.m. last night no curfew but police were encouraging people to stay in their homes. Not that we have any intention of going outside anyway. Grand Cayman was definitely spared all but a very glancing blow and for that we are very grateful. Will know more in a couple of hours when we can go outside and walk around. There was a surge so the beaches will be full of rocks and who knows how south sound was affected as it is particularly vulnerable to surge flooding and damage. Our biggest concern now will be getting the car back and hoping that he hasn't been blocked in by other vehicles parking under us on the roundabout. That is the one bad thing about the roundabout solution to the car, you are stuck there until all the people who come after you and block you in come to get their cars. Fortunately we parked there yesterday after most of the people who would have left the Island were already gone so we should not be stuck there long. Last year after Dean cars were still on the tops of the roundabouts 4 and 5 days after the storm as people tried to get back on Island that had been evacuated.

As the storm is moving away it is gaining strength and we should all keep the people of the Isle of Pines and western Cuba in our prayers. Finally, lets also hope that the storm does not make landfall in a very populated area of the gulf coast as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana and Texas. We will be thinking good thoughts and saying prayers for the parents and family of Brent the husband of Scott's sister Johanna who live in Slidell, Louisiana which is outside New Orleans.

Heading back to sleep for a while, will update later and take some pictures of the Island to let you see the aftermath.

Closest point of approach

Here is the link to stormcarib.com's closest point of approach feature for Grand Cayman. Looks like around 2 a.m. and just over 50 miles. Just click on Cayman Islands Grand Cayman in the drop down menu and then click show me how close it can get.

http://www.stormcarib.com/closest2.htm

Eye moves closer to Grand Cayman

The track has moved a little closer to Grand Cayman and the eye is now about 55 miles to the east-northeast of us. We are experiencing tropical storm gusts and the upstairs shutters are shaking every once in a while. A few of the gusts have been pretty loud but nothing like the Dean noise last year. As the eye gets closer it will get louder but so far its just an annoyance. If last year is any indicator, Katie will sleep through it while I get up every hour on the hour. Our lights have flickered a few times but power has been constant. We see on the net that they have lost power up on the north side of the island but here in Red Bay the lights are still on. Both Katie and I are able to use the laptops as the Internet service still has five bars. CUC, Westel and the Water Authority here are just doing phenomenal jobs of keeping everything working through this storm. They really learned their lessons from Ivan four years ago and have put those lessons into practice. This would be a very different experience if we were in a dark house with no air conditioning and no water. We were ready for such a situation but its very nice to not have to face it at least so far. Looks like the 13 gallons we pumped today of potable water into our garbage can will now be used to flush toilets for the next couple of days.

7:00 track continues to be good

The latest track is out and the storm is definitely not going to hit us with hurricane force winds. It is now some 90 miles east of us and heading north-northwest at 11 miles an hour. It is hitting the sister islands with hurricane winds up to 80 miles an hour but here on Grand Cayman so far our gusts are just 30-40 mph. The closest point of approach on its current path and speed will be 61.2 miles away and that will happen around 1:30 a.m. our time. Every so often we hear a gust but nothing like what we heard last year with Dean and what we expect to hear later as the storm gets closer. Louie got bored and so we let him out to explore. Gypsy is fascinated by him but Ginger is keeping her distance and hissing whenever he comes close. he is back in his room right now crying through the door. He is on a special diet and so we cant let him get to the girls food and we don't want him using their kitty litter. As we approach 8 p.m. here on the Island there is rain and wind outside but full power and water to our neighborhood. we had a great dinner of beef and broccoli with pasta and are watching Stephanie's DVD's of season nine of Friends. Will try and post late tonight as the storm increases to give everyone a feel for what is going on.

Good news from Water Authority (and now CUC)

Update: We have a curfew now in effect and it will remain in force until the all clear sometime tomorrow morning. I am monitoring the storm carib site and someone just posted that the CUC (Caribbean Utilities Company) management has advised the local authorities that they would monitor line conditions and only shutdown areas that indicated a problem. They will continue to provide power and no specific shutdown has been scheduled.

Original Post: The water authority just issued a notice that they will not be cutting service tonight. Because we are south of the storm and the hurricane winds are to the north we wont get hit with more than tropical storm force and they don't expect a surge that will affect the water supply. CUC hasn't yet issued a notice and we hope that means they don't intend to cut electric service. Water is affected more than electric by the storms so that is a great sign. Its amazing the difference between a category 5 to the south like Dean 100 plus miles away and a category one 60 miles to the north. The Brac and Little Cayman are getting hit pretty hard and have already lost power intermittently.

We are getting drizzly rain and the wind has picked up. It will get stronger as the hurricane approaches and based on the last track its closest point of approach will cross right at 60 miles north of us. The local stations have gone to 24x7 coverage of the storm, one by just playing the Weather Channel and the other by simulcasting Radio Cayman. We have the Weather Channel on and they are doing a lot of Cayman coverage so for continuous updates check out that cable channel. The speed is up to 12 mph so its effects will not be as long as if it had stayed at less than 10 mph. Waiting on the 7 p.m. track which should tell us how the rest of the night will be.

Luigi and other photos

Here is Luigi our refugee visitor for a couple of days and a couple of shots outside of our shuttered up front and the trees in the wind.

Rotation really happening now

We are definitely feeling the outer band effects of the storm. We both stepped outside a few minutes ago to take stock and the clouds are moving in a counter clockwise rotation from the north to the south as they head east. The trees are swaying strongly with the gusts of wind and you can feel it against your face as you step outside. Its completely overcast and there was a little rain a while ago but right now no rain is falling. They are projecting 6 inches over night so our parking lot and access street will be lakes. The activity outside has ground to a halt and everyone is just hunkered down now. Gustav is moving at 12 miles an hour and is still 100 miles away so we will be feeling this for the next 18-20 hours. The track continues to be north and the most recent update has Grand Cayman outside the cone for the eye. With all the rain expected everyone has moved their vehicles and our parking lot is empty but for one vehicle that is dead and another big truck that is well off the ground. All the windows are boarded or shuttered closed and it has the feel of a fortress. We are cooking dinner early just in case and will update every so often as long as we have power.

Hurricane Again

The local media just flashed an update that Gustav is again a hurricane. The tracks continue to be good for us as it is veering north. It will pass between the three Cayman Islands and on its present track will be 60-70 miles out. The two sister Islands will get hit by category one force winds while we should top out with tropical force and occasional hurricane force gusts. The shutters have a nice plastic center so we can watch the approaching storm. It is different from having plywood where you really don't know what is going on. The Brac which is the northernmost of the three Islands has a huge bluff and most of the residents are taking shelter up on the bluff. Little Cayman which will be the closest hasn't been evacuated but there are only 100-200 residents and they did fly off most of the tourists on Tuesday when the original track for Gustav had it passing north of the sister islands.

The winds have started picking up here but there hasn't been any rain and there is still activity outside our house. The government hasn't yet issued a time for when the water or electricity will be cut. The airport did close at noon but there wasn't the sound of planes constantly taking off this morning like there was just before Dean last year. We also haven't yet been given a curfew time though all the advisories ask that no one be out tonight. We ran the dishwasher and are finishing all our laundry in case we lose water and to be safe have filled up our trash can with potable water and now are just basically sitting around waiting for it.

As I finish this entry I can just hear the rain starting outside. The very far outer bands of our uninvited guest. If he stays on his current path it will be a lot of sound but not much fury.

10:20 Update

The 11 EST track just came out and brought more good news. The storm is drifting further north and now will pass closer to the sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. It is very possible now that we wont get hurricane force winds here on Grand Cayman just Tropical storm force. The 2 and 5 p.m. EST tracks will give us the final verdict as we start to feel the winds early this evening.

The hardest part about these storms is the waiting time. We took our car to the King Sport Center roundabout at 6:30 this morning and found a good spot slightly up the hill. The roundabout was almost full so we went at the right time. We unplugged the battery and put it in the back. Katie reminded Andreas that he got his name last year by surviving Dean so he needed to be a trooper again and not let himself get flooded. The walk back to our house was a little over a mile so not a bad early morning walk. As we walked back the familiar sound from last year of drills was very evident. Many people had gotten up early to board up their houses before it gets too hot or the rains come.

With everything closed and everyone just basically waiting this is truly the calm before the storm. I am still not sure which I prefer the sudden warning of tornado's with them passing quickly or the longer warning of hurricanes where you have plenty of time to prepare but then have to sit around a long time waiting for them. Thanks to everyone who has sent us email encouragements. We are becomming veterans at this storm thingy and with the line up of storms that are apparently going to give us an active September that is a good thing.

Friday Morning Status

This mornings early track brings a mixed bag. The good news is that the track is still north of us, though just barely, and Gustav is still a tropical storm. But it has moved closer to Grand Cayman and it will strengthen as it hits open water. That is Grand Cayman outlined in red just under the Saturday at 2:00 a.m. mark. The storm is only moving 8 miles an hour and unless it picks up speed we are in for 24 plus hours of getting smacked around starting later today. At 5:00 a.m. here on the Island it is calm outside. We got a heavy rain late last night around 10:30 for about 30 minutes but otherwise a calm night. We are filling our trash can with potable water and moving the car in a little while. The planes are still flying and will until early afternoon. There hasn't been nearly the panic as there was with Dean last August to get off the Island. The attitude of many is that this is just a Category 1 (or maybe 2) and that so long as you take precautions you should be fine. Most of the companies on Island that charter evacuation flights only do so if it is a category three or higher. Will post here throughout the day until the government cuts the power and water as the storm approaches. For Dean we only lost power for three hours, don't think we will be as lucky this time. Poor Luigi is a big baby and is crying in the back guest room. We cant let him out because he and Gypsy really got into it last night. If things get hairy later we will have to bring him upstairs and put him in our bathroom. This storm does mean that the first day of college football season, a holiday in this household, will not be celebrated as we had hoped, sitting in a sports bar watching all the games including the Texas Longhorns season opener.

Thursday evening update

8:45 update: The Cayman Islands have officially been put on Hurricane warning this evening meaning that hurricane conditions are expected within 24-36 hours.

Original Post

Today has been an extremely long day and it isn't even dark yet. In the hot sun I got to spend all afternoon and early evening, over 5 hours boarding up the college with two other men. One was Eric, April's husband and the other a worker for Dorothy Scott, an ICCI grad who owns a construction firm. Between the three of us we got all the boards up over the windows and the doors and the college is now secure. I am sunburned and in pain, this is definitely not the normal job description for an academic administrator. While I was getting to experience a construction job, Katie was busy getting the interior of the college ready, getting all the files into plastic bins, covering all the computers and basically getting this place ready in case the roof leaks. We are still at the college tonight because one of the classes wanted to finish their exam.

(By Katie) The animal folks know our names and once again we have volunteered to be a refuge for a cat. His name is Louie though the lady at the vets office where I got him called him Luigi. I ran over this afternoon while Scott was working on the college and picked him up. He is a very vocal cat who cried just like a baby the entire car ride home. When we got to the house, Ginger was somewhat interested but then was more concerned that this thing was coming to replace her. Gypsy on the other hand was not happy and, after a short bout of just sniffing him through the carrier walls, fluffed up and hissed terribly at him. He had been quiet up until that point but decided to let the girls hear his voice. That definitely freaked out Gypsy who went on a rampage. They got very upset when I carried him into one of their forbidden rooms (the downstairs guest room). It was like they were saying "HEY! You bring some stranger into the house and HE gets to stay in the forbidden room!" When I came back out, Gypsy was still all fluffed up but Ginger was very, very lovable. I think that she was worried we were going to get rid of her. Unlike Gypsy who was just upset at this new boy, Ginger was thinking of the possible long term consequences of this boy coming to stay with us. I left Louis in the guest room exploring, Gypsy with her nose to the crack under the door, and Ginger sitting in the middle of the floor looking very worried. We will post pictures later and update you on how the girls are taking to him.

The storm track keeps changing every few hours. For most of the day it was headed right for us. Now it is tracking north of us and will pass between the three Cayman Islands. By tomorrow morning it will no doubt have moved again. Once we finish up here tonight all we have left to do is get the car tomorrow morning to high ground and then sit through it. They will cut the power as the storm approaches and the water so our updates tomorrow will be sporadic.

Boarding Up

Home for a quick lunch break. This morning we put up the shutters at the house and are now in process of boarding up the college. It looks like a category one or two hurricane and right now the track is right over us. Its hot and humid here today which is making for tough work outside. Will update tonight when we have time. The whole attitude of the Island has changed overnight and today the gas stations have long lines and the supermarkets are packed. The sound of drills is now being heard pretty regularly. Fortunately our house was almost ready yesterday and we also pre-prepared the college windows and plywood so we just have to put the wood up and attach it. If that sounds like an easy job, it isn't. The wood is heavy and takes two people to carry and lift then try to line up the holes that are often over our heads. It is a heck of a work out. Will know more later tonight about the track to us. Keep an eye on the sites listed in our blog to see how things are setting up.

Thursday Morning bad news

After a full day of good tracks, the last one Wednesday before we went to bed had Gustav turning south. As we wake up this morning it has moved dramatically south and now we are in the bullseye with the storm soon to again be a hurricane expected to go just south of Grand Cayman and pass only 9 miles off our southern coast. This is the worst possible news. We will update today as we can but will be spending the day getting everything ready at the college. Our home is ready except for the shutters which we will put up this morning after my TV interview at 7:00 a.m. Keep an eye on the track and you can use the feature in the entry below from stormcarib to see how close it will come to Grand Cayman. We should start seeing the effects later tonight and will have to move our car since a southern storm means a surge that can reach our place.

Afternoon Track

The late morning and early afternoon tracks of Gustav continue to bring good news. It remains downgraded to a Tropical Storm and is drifting slightly north. It should now pass some 92 miles to the north of us Friday late afternoon as a category one hurricane. We decided not to put up the shutters today at both the house and the college and will decide tomorrow morning based on the overnight tracks whether they will go up at all. If the hurricane will pass within 100 miles we will put up the shutters just to be in the safe side. The news is not good for the two other Islands that make up this country as both will have a close encounter Friday morning and afternoon with Gustav. Many of our students have family on the Brac which is the northernmost Island in the Caymans and they are keeping close tabs on the storm. With finals going on this week this has been an unneeded and unwanted distraction.

Wednesday Morning Gustav Update

The news this morning is good. Gustav stalled out over Haiti (good for us bad for the Haitians) and the interaction with land lessened the winds to tropical storm force. The NHC and several of the other tracking sites say that it will probably stay a tropical storm through today and regain hurricane strength early tomorrow. That means it wont be as strong as it passes north of us and hopefully wont have the time to grow too much either. The better news is that the track has stayed north and right now the closest point to Grand Cayman is projected to be 82.1 miles on Friday around 5:30 in the evening. Yesterday we filled up our second 5 gallon water container with filtered drinking water so we have 10 gallons of drinking water. We haven't had to do any shopping because we filled up our kit with food back in July. Once again its more about just waiting than anything else. Ironically, Scott has a TV appearance tomorrow morning similar to last year when his appearance right before Hurricane Dean got postponed. The TV appearance hasn't been cancelled yet so that's a good sign that the TV station's weatherman hasn't pushed them to 24x7 coverage as they do if a major weather event is going to happen.

Tracking Gustav

This evening the Cayman Islands are officially on a Hurricane Watch. the radio has hourly updates and we are all checking the various websites with increasing frequency. The current projected path of the hurricane takes it above Jamaica and south of Cuba. The sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are just below the path and as you can see on the track to the left, Grand Cayman (the largest of the three small islands west of Jamaica and furthest south of the three) is further south of the storms projected path. The best place to be is south of the storm and right now it is a small storm only about 30 miles in diameter. Its closest point on Friday is projected at about 72 miles so if it doesn't grow too much when it hits open water we shouldn't get hit too bad. The problem is it will grow when it hits open water and is projected to be a Cat 3 hurricane by Friday. At 70 miles we will get a lot of wind and rain but if it stays north and over 70 miles away hopefully not much if any flooding. We have our hurricane kit completely stocked and tomorrow morning we will put up the shutters. We learned our lesson last year with overreacting in terms of our furniture and personal items and will be more judicious this year with what we move upstairs. The college will be open tomorrow so we will still be working and we expect to have a long day getting the college ready for the storm. We will be updating the blog as events warrant to let everyone know what is going on. Keep a good thought that the storm stays north and doesn't grow. After Dean last year it isn't as scary getting ready this time but still it isn't much fun either, the price of living in the Caribbean in August and September.

Hurricane Watch

Looks like we will be getting an uninvited visitor later this week. Gustav is tracking into our neck of the woods and we are starting preparations. Today we will be inventorying our hurricane kit and buying any items, food etc needed to make sure it is complete. We are also moving all of the loose materials in our yard inside and making sure that we dont leave any potential missiles outside. This afternoon wll be spent organizing the college. Tomorrow if the track continues we will put up all the storm shutters and start moving things upstairs. By Thursday we will have to move the car. Right now the track has it coming as close as 94.7 miles north of Grand Cayman Friday around 5:30 p.m. our time. Will keep you all updated as we learn things.

To follow the official tracks go to the National Hurricane Site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

You can also track how close it will come to Cayman by going to http://www.stormcarib.com/

Under Monday August 25 update click on the closest point of approach and then click on Cayman in the drop down menu.

Another good time to keep a good thought for us and a prayer or two.

The difference for Pina Colada's

Since we got our blender, we have struggled to find a way to make good Pina Coladas. We have discovered the secret..... good rum. In the past we have used Caymanian coconut rum. This past weekend we tried using Appleton Estates Rum from Jamaica and it made all the difference in the world. We just need to find some cherry liquor and we can do our own Cayman Coladas.

Why its good to be south of a storm

Last month as Dolly formed to the south of Cayman we got treated to a long Sunday of a lot of rain. Cayman was to the north of the storm and that upper right quadrant of storms here in the tropics usually gets the brunt of any storm. We were lucky that with Dolly we got hit before it even really formed a tropical storm so all we got was a whole lot of rain. Today we got to experience what its like being south of a storm......not a thing. We got a few passing showers that were likely not even caused by Fay but mostly sunny and calm. Now it helps that the storm is a good 150 miles north of us but usually even if a storm is two or three hundred miles south we get a lot of rain. Today you wouldn't even have known we were officially on a Tropical Storm Watch status.

There is a party going on today for the Jamaicans on the Island. The Jamaicans make up 20% of the population on the Island (and when you include those with Jamaican heritage but Cayman status there are even more than native Caymanians) and the party started yesterday when a Jamaican won the Olympic Men's 100 Meter dash and continued today as the Jamaicans swept the Women's 100 Meters. It got mentioned at the wedding reception yesterday and the Jamaican flag was in evidence this morning when we went to church and it got a mention in the sermon. We are getting Caribbean coverage of the Olympics so any Caribbean medal is getting a lot of play but these have set off huge celebrations amongst the Jamaican community here on the Island. Swimming is also huge here so the whole Michale Phelps thing is getting a lot of play. It is neat getting the coverage from the CMC network as we get coverage of a lot of sports that are big here but don't get much coverage if any in the States, like sailing in particular.

Weddings and storms

This morning we drove all the way to the northern tip of West Bay to attend the wedding of one of our instructors at the Villas Pappagallos Restaurant. The wedding was beautiful on the water (Pappagallos is not on the coast but on a canal just down from the coast) and it was really a picturesque occasion. The big talk during the reception was on Tropical Storm Fay and whether she will impact the Cayman Islands. Right now the two sister Islands are in her cone with Grand Cayman south of the cone. All three Islands are officially on a Tropical Storm Watch and we keeping a watchful eye on the storm to be prepared if it takes a turn south. This weekend is a clean up weekend as we get the house cleaned up after a month and half almost solid of guests.

Russ and Gail headed home

Today was Russ and Gail's last day on the Island and after a morning snorkel at Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto we put them on their flight back to Houston this afternoon. Yesterday we went snorkeling at Cheeseburger reef, a reef that is about 150 yards out from a Burger King that sits right on the water just north of the George Town harbor. Then we headed back to the north side of the Island to try Queen's Monument again from a different entry point. In total this past week and a half we hit 11 different snorkel sites around Cayman with them and they hit three more on their sandbar trip to see the stingrays. As a result, we really feel like we now have a handle on the best places to go to see the different varieties of fish, reef creatures and coral. We had a great time with them and really enjoyed their visit.

East End and Northside

We woke up early this morning and headed over to the Market at the Grounds at the Agricultural grounds in Savannah. We bought some june plumbs, guava and other fruit and after walking around for a while headed east to see the sights and do some snorkeling. We stopped at the Blow Hole in East End and got some photographs. We also stopped at the Lighthouse Park and at the Wreck of the Ten Sail Monument thus hitting three of the big East End sights. We then headed around the Island in a big semi circle ending at Rum Point on the north eastern point of the North Sound. After getting in some swimming at Rum Point we headed over to the Cayman Kai public beach and swam out to the reef for some fantastic snorkeling. We saw a Caribbean Lobster, another spotted porcupine fish, a great barracuda and even a ray that swam past us.

After running over to Rum Point for some drinks to rehydrate, we headed to the Over the Edge cafe in Northside for lunch which was a new place we hadnt been to before. Finally we drove over to the Queen Elizabeth II monument just east of Old Man Bay to snorkel the reef there. We had never done that location before and were amazed at the extraordinary corals. We saw another turtle, and many familiar species of fish but the phenomenal corals were the big hit. This evening we went to the Grand Old House for a great dinner out on the deck getting to see the sunset and have dinner with the waves crashing against the shore below us.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

One of the nice things about television here in Cayman is we get both the American networks and the local networks. For the Olympics that is going to mean almost 24 hour a day coverage as the local channels pick up the Caribbean feed and then NBC gives us the American feed which is delayed until prime time in the evening. The Caribbean feed is live which meant that we got to watch the opening ceremony this morning before heading in to work. Since we work nights, the morning live feed coverage means we will get to see most of the Olympics and not miss out.

Snorkeling Cayman

This week we have tried to introduce Russ and Gail to as many of the snorkel sites here on Cayman as we can. We have hit the usual ones like Eden Rock, Smith's Cove, Cemetary Reef and Devil's Grotto along with the wreck sites for the Gamma and the Callie and the sites that are part of the Sting Ray Sandbar trip including the Sandbar, the Coral Gardens and the Trench. We also drove up to the top of West Bay and snorkeled the Turtle Farm Reef where there is a mini wall. This weekend we plan to go up to the northside of the Island and snorkel Cayman Kai and Rum Point. Gail's turtle whisperer powers continue to attract the green turtles as we saw another turtle up close at Smith's Cove (picture to left) and a turtle deep in the water at the Turtle Farm Reef. Our underwater case is working great and we are getting some great shots of unusual fish. We saw a spotted porcupine fish with its spiny needles extended, a Honeycomb cowfish, some smooth and spotted trunkfish and a couple of angelfish. With the higher resolution camera we are better able to determine the fish later with our Reef Fish book or as Katie calls it our "fishy book". We are now tracking the different species we see with date and location. Russ wants us to start a computer database with fish species, location and date seen and photograph. Most mornings this week we have gotten up and gone out snorkeling before Katie and I have to go in to work. Russ has come in a couple of times to do some computer work for the college (and thus get to write of his trip) and Gail has worked on her on line course

On Thursday we bought some fresh fish downtown in the harbor and Gail made a traditional Indonesian meal of Ikan and Colo (which is a fish based meal). We have also made our hurricane ribs and taken them to some of the local restaurants. Tomorrow we plan to go to Grand Old House and sit out on the deck at sunset. Russ and Gail leave on Monday to go home. Katie is still waiting to hear from The University of Denver on her admission to their Masters program this Fall starting in September. We have three weeks left until the end of the Summer Quarter so things are really picking up at the college. Our President Dr. Elsa Cummings announced her retirement yesterday so there will be a transition from her that will take up a lot of our time. We will have an interim President (Scott's father John) while the board looks for a permanent replacement. It shouldnt affect us much and will mean visits from John about every 6-8 weeks. Selfishly that is great for us because it means we dont have to fly up to Miami every two months or so to buy stuff and deposit money. At some point we will get Island fever and have to go but it wont have to be a packed weekend of shopping and errands instead we can relax.

Dark Knight and Wreck Snorkeling

Friday, Russ and Gail got the ultimate Cayman experience with a trip out to the sand bar to meet the stingrays. They had a blast but both got sunburned. Saturday needed to be a little slower pace so we went to the Marquee theatre and saw the Dark Knight during a matinee showing. The old style Cayman theatre is probably not going to be around much longer. The Hollywood theatre showings of the Dark Knight were all sold out while we were in an almost empty theatre. The movie was really good and we finished the day making tacos back at the house for dinner. Today we went to both the Wreck of the Gamma and the Wreck of the Callie to snorkel. While snorkeling, we saw a new species of squid and some unusual porcupine fish hiding under both wrecks. We got to try out our new underwater case for the digital camera and it worked great. We finished the day with dinner at The Lobster Pot which overlooks the north end of the George Town harbor. We sat next to the window and got a tremendous view of the water, the harbor and the school of tarpon hanging out below the deck just under the restaurant. Scott's father John is on Island teaching his class again this weekend so we have a full house.