JUCA'S GONE WILD !

everyones favorite divemaster juan carlos, aka ricky ricardo, aka juca, has been going through the idc (scuba instructors exam) for the last week and a half in utila town. its very serious stuff with the examiners flown in from the u.s. and although juca claims its nothing but work, work, work, the reality is there's an awful lot of partying at the end of each day (divemasters are infamous boozers).  seems one night he (or a friend?) had some fun with the clippers and not just on his head.  he has a group of twenty divers arriving from the states on saturday and three of my friends too, should give everyone a surprise that first day out on the dive boat! 

well it looks as though the rainy season may have finally come to an end. sunshine for four days now and a new moon and stars at night. the school of squid i'd been snorkeling with in the evenings seems to have disbanded , just a few stragglers still around. it seems they liked the dark cloudy nights with no moon or stars better. the pineapple house is progressing nicely, the ground floor bedroom floors are being tiled now and i have more plants arriving on the supply boat today. this house is going to be the best one yet, absolutely beautiful. addios amigos x 

hola , well its still a bit rainy and the west wind has been blowing for a week (very unusual, the east wind is the norm) but we had some sunshine yesterday which allowed me to paint some gingerbread trim that's going on the coral house.  we had a beautiful sunset last night, the two catamarans are anchored in the calm waters between treasure beach and the cays. germans on board cruising the caribbean for a couple of months. it seems our end of the island is becoming a popular place with the sailing set,  there's been up to six of them here at a time this month, they like our calm waters and they make the view even prettier. 

january showers make flowers

i'm back at treasure beach after spending late november and the beginning of december on my honeymoon with beth, my gorgeous new bride. we were in the maldives and had a lovely time, then back to chicago before christmas and new year, brrrr. its good to feel the sun again and see my utila friends, peter, amanda, john, bine, hugh, ryan and roger. january is the tail end of the rainy season on utila and the weather is very changeable, well its either sunny or rainy anyway, its always warm. i've been doing some planting and in the last couple of weeks i've added a dozen baby coconut palms and some bird of paradise around the coral house, next i'll be adding bananas. the construction of the pineapple house is going great and we're starting some of the interior painting this week, fingers crossed if everything arrives from the states in time we'll be completed by the end of february. its a great house and it feels nice and roomy, i kind of hope someone wants to buy the coral house so i can keep the pineapple house instead. 

snorkeling has been good and a school of squid have been hanging around the pier all week, snorkeling with them at night is especially fun, they are very curious and are definitely interested in me, they change colours constantly like chameleons of the reef . there has been lots of whale sharks this month, the second year in a row that january has been a good month with lots of sightings and tagging being done by the researchers in town. henry and victoria have opened harbor house out on pigeon cay and its very handy, a gym/restaurant/bar/internet cafe, the food is good and it's a nice spot to eat lunch or watch the sunset, definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood !