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Thread: Caribb-LEM: who's going?

  1. #81
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    Sweet. I'm already PADI certified advanced and Mystrys is getting her open water this spring (now her Dr. has cleared her to dive ). If we have a group of divers, it can make even FLEM's more interesting. Something to think about.

    Looking forward to seeing the video. Had it not have been a business trip, Myst and I should have done this instead of Los Cabos. Didn't have much of a choice this year, though. Next time this comes around, we'll definitely come along.

    It's great when someone does an intro class and decides to get certified (good on ya, Daniel). That is the exact same route I took years ago. We all need to get our nitrox stamp

  2. #82
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    Well...
    I'm back on UK soil at home, I think...

    Short summary: Pog on!


    Longer summary:
    I really enjoyed this holiday! Many thanks to Adam and Rich for putting all the organisation in behind the scenes to get us all there.
    It was a little bit of a mission to get down to the island (and was looking like a somewhat harder venture to leave ) but well worth every second and penny.

    The journey out started off well, I sweet talked the check-in desk girl into upgrading 2/3 flights for free + provide awesome seats. After visiting Amsterdam to see if it was still there (it is), and picking up some nice duty free, I doubled back on myself a few hours later to Atlanta; where I remained for what felt like three decades. This place was deserted, I mean completely void of all life. Even the gate-to-gate trains were 100% computer operated; I rode them all. Twice.
    Around 04:00AM a floor buffing machine accidentally burst into life for a fleeting second; and then it quickly silenced for another four hours of jam-packed nothing.



    Security then decided it would be fun to remove my newly purchased duty free JD and any tools that took their fancy in my case. Nice one TSA.
    I have not spent enough time in the USA to fully appreciate it; however the glimpse I've had of it from behind the airport walls is: it's all guns and toilet seat covers.

    Just before boarding, I met up with Cody + his girlfriend, and we dodged, ducked, dipped, dove and dodged the hoards of missionaries to the plane. (They later caught up with me 10 days later while I was taking refuge in a "Wendy's" at San Pedro... )



    We all stayed in a local hotel on the mainland, which was pleasant, but had very strict rules with stove location and "burning courtings" which obviously proved a little problematic.



    Then we met up with Adam and his wife Marie for a ~3hr ride to the port. For me, the ferry did not go down well; it did however come up very well. Several times.



    Then we met up with Rich and the resort owner, and WOW... what a beautiful place. The dive shop, resort and "monkey tail pier bar" are micron away from each other.







    Mario then arrived the next day, and we roughly spent the following days diving in the day, laser tinkering bits in the late afternoon, followed by set of great evening meals as per Rich's restaurant recommendations, and then back to rum 'n' lasers into the night.



    I had a crack at diving for the first time, and, after what felt like being thrown in at the deep end poddling around with the fish under the coral, decided I loved it and transferred to do my Basic Open Water certification (thanks for sorting that Rich!)
    Everyone else worked on their Advanced Open Water diving courses, but there was some overlap on the boat dives which was great. We also snuck in a few fun dives, and I managed to decipher the GoPro and took a few photos, attached at the end.

    Thursday evening was little show on the local beach, in which Rich took his newly fettled RGB his blue and red/blue projectors. While building + tinkering, a few diodes did bite the dust for both known an unknown reasons, which was a little frustrating. But Cody managed to patch up the green in the new RGB with a trade.
    The show went well as Rich and the locals had got strategically placed fires going to kick out some more smoke.

    Lots of photons, lots of rum... (probably too much rum if I'm honest).




    The return journey was "different" as they had closed the port due to a "battern-down-the-hatches" storm.
    So Rich stepped in and managed to organise us flights off the island on a little aircraft (cheer doooode!).




    Now for a few underwater photos. I have a lot of video I need to sort through a piece together sometime this week.





























    Thanks to everyone who made it a great trip.


    So... would I go again?
    Absolutely! Let's get a bucket load more people going should/when there be a 2nd!

    Cheers,
    Dan
    - There is no such word as "can't" -
    - 60% of the time it works every time -

  3. #83
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    Very, very nice recap. I vow never to let work interfere with missing an experience like this again. Fuck 'em.
    It's been a crazy busy week though with 11 events taking place during the time I would have been gone and at least 10 tours for weddings and other new bookings. I purposely did as little as possible but there were a couple things that came up that would have presented a challenge.

    Next time...

  4. #84
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    Hey Dan,
    Thanks for the write up mate. It was great finally meeting you all. I am glad to her you made it home safe and sound, just waiting to hear from Adam, Cody and Mario.
    Yea it was a bit touch and go when we heard the ferry wasn't going to run. How was the short flight from Utila to San Pedro?
    A great week was had and I appreciate everyone's help in getting my projectors tweaked. It certainly paid off at the beach party Thursday night - the locals loved it. Yea I think one too many rums were had.
    I am definitely interested in and would love to host another meet. We just need to figure out suitable dates.
    Dan, I think we should still look at building a Laserscope into a Tuk Tuk. If I can't get a Tuk Tuk I could build a trailer for the 4 wheeler - the way we could also create a fixed truss for the other lasers! Roll in, roll out

    Happy days

    Cheers
    Rich

  5. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bradfo69 View Post
    Very, very nice recap. I vow never to let work interfere with missing an experience like this again. Fuck 'em.


    Next time...
    Us too. Business trip, even though good, we'll do this next time it comes around. FOR SURE.

  6. #86
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    Home safe, I am missing an etherdream. Had to have been in atlanta when we had to remove our Honduras luggage zipties =( And I know for sure both got packed.

    Things I learned,
    Honduras has one hell of an airport "exit" tax at USD $39
    The electricians are all color blind.
    On the island of Utila the toilet uses sea water so when your snorkel you have a place to bring stuff back and look at
    The funky shower head is a water heater, gee what could happen! (ask daniel)
    Last edited by Picasso; 03-10-2013 at 14:27.

  7. #87
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    Smile Utila rocks! Caribb-LEM was great!

    Whew! Marie and I made it home OK, though I think we were probably the last ones to arrive at our destination. The Customs and Immigration folks at Miami Internation airport really need to get their shit together. Stupid-long lines and people spilling over into the baggage claim areas... UGH. Fortunately, we weren't in a hurry, as we had an 8 hour layover anyway. But next time I'll fly Delta and connect through Atlanta instead. We finally opened the front door to our house at around 10:30 PM last night.

    The trip was great fun though, and both Marie and I are looking forward to doing it again. Utila has some unique charms. True, it's still technically a 3rd world country, and it's got it's "rustic" moments, but the food was great, the SCUBA diving was some of the best I've ever experienced, and the company was warm and welcoming. Not to mention the fact that we got to play with laser projectors pretty much every day we were there! (The outdoor beach party with lasers was a total blast... We absolutely *must* do that again!)

    Rich and Sara put a lot of effort into making things run smoothly, and we were all grateful for that. For sure we would have been lost as to how to get off the island when they unexpectedly closed the ferry port due to a storm, but Sara stepped in like a pro and worked out the flights direct to San Pedro Sula airport to save the day. (Actually, next time I might just book the whole trip like that. It's not that much more expensive vs the taxi and ferry route, and it saves a day on each end of the trip, giving us more time on the island.)

    For those of you that missed it, well, all I can say is "SUCKERS!"

    Seriously though, you all missed a great event. Remember to book early next time. We announced this LEM back in May of 2012, and even though lots of people were interested, no one wanted to commit until the end. Touble is, by that time it's tough to sort out passports, international airfare, and time off from work, especialy to such a remote destination. I think that's what really hurt us. But I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone who attended Caribb-LEM when I say that it was more than worth the effort to get to Utila. Truthfully, I'd go back tomorrow if I could.

    Thanks again to Rich and Sara for all their work putting this together for us, and thanks to Cody, Carri, Mario, and Daniel for a week of laughs, lasers, diving, drinks (lots of drinks!) and fun. I had a great time with you all.

    Adam

  8. #88
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    Quote Originally Posted by Picasso View Post
    I am missing an etherdream.
    They took it?!

    Quote Originally Posted by Picasso View Post
    The funky shower head is a water heater, gee what could happen! (ask daniel)
    Well... erm, yes... the showers in that mainland hotel are really shocking.
    - There is no such word as "can't" -
    - 60% of the time it works every time -

  9. #89
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    Hey gang! I made it home pretty late Sunday night and went straight to bed. What a fun time. I did have a good time with everyone. Thanks again to Rich and Adam for the organization of CarribLEM 2013. I will get some pics and video posted up later today.

    Ciao,
    Mario

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