Tuesday February 28^th

           Hi everybody! I’m back online here in Margarita, and again posting some of the fun we have down here!!

I had a great trip down on Monday, no problems to speak of. Got in about 4pm, and after several weeks in a row of 40-70 hr weeks, I was just too tired, and fell asleep soon after unpacking! I heard there was plenty of Carnival fun to be had at both Gabby’s and Los Piratas, but I was just too tired to attend.

Tuesday started with the sun and birds singing, and it was already looking breezy! Awesome breakfast as usual, super eggs and ham! Love that coffee!

I had to reorganize myself to the room and tech-no-stuff most of the morning, and finally ran the vacuum pump for the Anti-fog system on the camera case. Works awesome! Allows full removal of the humid air from the camera and case, and then I refill with desiccated air from a custom air dryer cartridge. This keeps the technology level low, and eliminates the canned air requirement. Seems highly effective so far! Not a bit of fogging for the entire photo session!

I rambled thru town and took a few street shots of the typical spots around town, and some of the new construction. Tito and Mary Luz have the new building going up, and have opened a store in the lower level. Very nice! (See the photo gallery.) Huge selection of grocery items, fresh fruit, sweets, cake and coffee, sub shop, and internet café!! What a beautiful store! Grand opening was a couple days ago, and it’s looking SWEET!

After the visit with Tito and Mary Luz, I snapped some of the new second story above the strip mall on the street across from El Yaque Beach Hotel, and the wall around Mobu. Looks like new apartments above each strip mall store, very nice.

Finally I got to the center just before noon, and did the meet and greet with all the friends there! Feels like home! So many fun folks here! Love ya all!

After some office setup, I got the camera and suited up for the first photo session of the year! The action was slow at first, as most are wondering “what the f$%# that dude is doing in my way!”, but after a few point and shoot motions to the aggravated surfers, they realize the photos are of them! I hoot and holler to get the smiles and reactions, and to make my presence known, and soon folks are in show-off mode!

In an hour and a half, I got plenty of shots (574) and finally filled the 1Gb memory card! Not a single fogging moment, and I tested the s&*t out of it! Plenty of spray, dunks, and spit cleans of the lens, and still no fogging!! I think I have solved the fog problem!!! So cool!

Now my only problem is keeping the subject in frame, and in the focus point, to keep the 50 ISO speed from getting too blurry. The lower ISO makes for such nice crisp shots, but you have to follow the subject very closely to keep from ‘smearing’ the shot. Still, better than the full on requirements of an SLR.

I still use the continuous shot mode, which can take 10-20 photos in sequence, about a half a second apart, vs. trying to point and shoot specific actions. The digital is just too slow to point, auto-focus, and shoot, for any air moves. The continuous works awesome to capture Jumps/jibes anyway, and the sequence can be made into a flash presentation! Some cool sequences already captured on Tuesday! (See the photo gallery.)

I may play with the flash stuff some more later, but have had difficulty getting something to post properly. I’ll provide links later, once I get this figured out.

So after a fun photo shoot, I saw the wind was up, and its was hora de navigar, time to sail!! I got a 98lt and the 5.9M sail, and made for the waves! I am so out of shape, the first couple runs were not pretty! (Can you say catapult!!) But after a few runs, the windsurf legs came back, and I was jumpin and jibin! No real height yet, but still got plenty of air! Love the float time! Such a rush! And so many ramps to choose from! I just had a total blast for the hour and a half session! (Gotta start slow for a 39 sailing days trip!!)

The happy hour was starting, and I cleaned up and met Michael and Anne for an after session beer and BS happy hour. Good to chat with friends from home, and from here. We soon called it an evening, and I made ready for the feast at Tito’s and Mary Luz’s at 7pm.

We had a full table of Vela clients, and feasted on full half pound burgers! Mummm Tasty stuff! With some chips and beer, the spot was hit! Very fun sitting on the new terrace, and socializing with friends! Plenty of sailing and other chat, before we knew it, it was 10pm!

I had a busy first day, and the body demanded some rest, so we all returned to our rooms, for a nice snooze, and restart tomorrow! Too bad to miss the Fat Tuesday parties at the local watering holes, but gotta get acclimated for a few days first! Instead I edited the 575 photos to 108 for posting, and did the upload overnight, about 2.5 hrs to upload them all! So it seems all is working, hope you enjoy it! Mas mannana.

Luego..

Tim