2 Feb 2010 Aced the test

Took the test this morning and aced it. I'm still not done yet. There is a hands on driving portion I have to take in 2 days. I wish there was a accelerated course for folks that have experience. On the other hand it never hurts to brush up on the basics. You always think you know eveerything until somebody shows you a different way to do it. For anybody on the way in you can download the study guide and get a head start before you come down. The test is pretty easy if you are ok with a map and can recognize most flags used in the Navy. Went and picked up some tackle today. Talked with one of the locals and he said to use wire leaders instead of mono. You can catch some fish here that have a pretty good set of choppers so to keep the breakoffs to a minimum wire is the way to go. Still haven't picked up a rod yet. That Penn slammer I was eyeballing disappeared so I have to wait now. Should have went with my first mind...

31 Jan 2010

Day two was much better than the first. I got up when the light shined through the window (which was too late for breakfast). The galley (DFAC for us Army folks),from what I was told is the 2nd best in the world. I won’t say yes or no to that statement being true because I only ate dinner there. My other two meals I stuck with places I know very well. Can’t go wrong with Subway and Mickey Ds. I whipped out my little strip map bestowed upon me by my Navy amigo from the day prior. I did a little dead reckoning with my handy watch compass and figured out that I probably could leave the compass and go with terrain association. So I plotted a beeline to the NEX (Navy Exchange) and gave it a walk thru. I then realized that I did not feel up to hauling bags around all day so I strolled to the Dive shop. I was very disappointed to find out that the only fishing equipment the dive shop has is a spear gun. I don’t think I’ll mess with that just yet. The Marina looked pretty far away on my map so I decided to try the bus. Since I wanted to familiarize myself with GTMO I took the bus headed in the opposite direction from the dive shop so I would get a little tour in. When I got to the Marina I saw some nice skiffs and pontoons. I walked in and asked the guy what I needed to do to get rollin in one of em. He said “ye gwat te go tu der Liberr und git de stud gide” . I guess there is a test to take before I can get my license. Of course I whipped out my TX, NC, and SC license and he said “dat no guut ere”. So I planned a trip to the library later. You would be amazed to find how many Jamaicans are here at GTMO. I thought I would be seeing Cuban people everywhere and I would need to brush up on my spanglish to communicate. I guess I’ll have to learn Jamaican which I think is just a broken dialect of English. After snapping a few pics I had a seat on a bench and broke my brand spanking new camera with the humongous LCD screen by sitting on it. Now I see why it was on sale. Large LCD screens don’t take much abuse before they crack. All of the functions are viewed on the screen and I guess Kodak didn’t think you needed a viewfinder on a camera with such a huge screen. Now I’m stuck with it though. I figured out it still works I just can’t see what I’m shooting though. So if my pics look a little off center that is why. I just point and take a whole crap load of shots and hope one turns out right. I looked down the hill from the marina and figured it wasn’t that far from my room after all. A little walking never hurt anybody. Good thing it’s mostly downhill though. I’ll be riding the bus coming the other way because I think it will be a little different on the way back. Going down the hill I saw the Iguana crossing sign. I was wondering where they were. I hadn’t seen one yet. But on my stroll I discovered I just hadn’t been looking hard enough. They are actually everywhere. Being that they are green they tend to blend in with the grass but when you walk by and see the grass hop up and run you probably just spooked an Iguana. I heard they are pretty darn tasty fried or grilled but I don’t think I’ll experiment here due to the 10K fine for anyone that harasses or kills an Iguana. That would make one expensive meal. My day ended with me finally going to the NEX and picking up some running shoes since I left mine at home (duh). I have not worked up the will to run around yet but now I know that I can if I so decided (which is really the important thing). I also spotted a nice Penn baitcasting levelwind rod and reel combo. I was worried about the NEX not having real rods and only the usual stuff but I guess at a place like this you sell what sells the most. I didn’t see one Zebco 808 which is my rod of choice at the chain stores. It’s cheap sturdy and gets the job done. Just not for a very long time. I wanted to buy it on the spot but I’ll pace myself. Now I need to focus on finding a “real” fishing partner. That would have to be someone just as nutty as me when it comes to fishing. The kind of person whose only concern when coming to GTMO was how long it would take to get on the water. Well it looks like the Grammys are on and I see Beyonce wigglin around on the stage so I gotta end this one so I can glue my eyeballs to the TV for awhile.

30 Jan 2010

My 1st day in Cuba was pretty hectic. I’ll just say you should make it priority number 1 make sure somebody knows that you are coming. You just might end up feeling a little orphaned in a foreign country if not. Good thing I have an extra loud voice and most people can hear me complaining all the way down halls. I just happened to meet a Navy good Samaritan at the terminal who conveniently had a truck, because 3 duffel bags full of the heavy @ss gear is pretty hard to drag down a mountain and swim across a channel with , which is just what I would have had to do if he had not shown up. I had a warm and fuzzy feeling about things once I got the low down from him about all of the cool things that Gtmo has to offer. I’ll try to take them one by one as I experience them so we can all get the GTMO experience at the same time. I don’t any shots because I was too busy trying not to end up spending the night in the jungle to take pics.