Oh no IKE!

So in August we went to the Keys for a week to stay with Mike and Caroline Bedingfield. We have been home for over a month but I have to say I want to be back in the water. The Keys are on my mind as I watch the weather channel for what Hurricane Ike is doing. Growing up in PC I have had my share of boating, swimming, snorkeling etc. But it is completley different in the Keys. For one thing you don't anchor up on or near a beach. You tie up to a mooring and snorkel in 7-30 feet of water. Now that was scary the first time I did that...to float and look down at the reef 25 feet below is quite overwhelming...and beautiful. The water was amazing and the sea life incredible. Brad would scuba dive but I just snorkeled and stayed close to the boat:)! One of our last days we snorkeled and brought peanut butter on the boat to tempt the fish. It was hilarious. Hundreds of fish, all sizes just swarmed around Brad to get a little chuncky peanut butter. So many different and colorful kinds of fish were on this reef. It really was a treat to go there. The last night we jumped on the boat and went to dinner. We are taking the pic above right before we got on the boat. A storm was coming but thankfully it stayed a little north and all we got was some wind. The other pic is when just Brad and I went to an old barge and tied up to snorkel around it. There was another boat there looking for lobsters - ugly things those Florida lobsters are. We just went around checking out the barge. Brad speared some fish and fed the barracuda that was eyeing us while we swam. The barracuda are all over the reef and Atlantic off the Keys. They seem to come out of nowhere and just stare you down. After watching this one down a large angel fish I felt I needed to keep my hands and feet tucked under me. They have vicious looking teeth. Well...i hope Ike doesn't do much damage to the Keys. It is such a great place to visit. Hopefully next year I will be certified to dive:)! Still concerned about sharks though...