I mentioned the ray to Kathy who became a little nervous about it, and then when I saw a second, and even larger ray go by, we decided to head back to Mattie Point and explore a reef closer to the Pink House. On the way back, we saw two more baby Stingrays lying on the sandy bottom, which of course made both of us look around for the mommy. The rays seem to be peaceful enough, but they're so big and fast it's a little spooky to swim with them.

We explored the reef at Mattie point for hours. Big schools of fish came right up to us and stared into our facemasks. Kathy found a place at the very end of the point where a bunch of old fishing line had been snagged, so I dove down to retrieve the hooks and leaders for later use perhaps. While I was pulling on one of the lines tangled with a coral head, I noticed a big antenna sticking out from under the brain coral. Then I saw another one about two feet away. My immediate reaction was, "Lobster for dinner!"

Libby the Lobster was a monster. She hid under the coral in about 15ft of water, just deep enough so that I had to clear my ears when I went down to wrestle with her. At first, I just peered under the rock to get a better look. A huge Florida spiny lobster that made my mouth water just to look at. Then I began to grab the 18-inch antenna and tug on them to try to coax her out of her hidey hole. She would let me grab them and then skoot deeper into the hole. When I came up for air (too often), she would scurry out into the open and stare at me making little cursing bubbles, then retreat back under the coral when it looked like I had caught my breath.

If I had been a decade younger, Libby would have been dinner. Fortunately for her, I just couldn't stay under long enough to reach in and grab her and pull her out, and still get back to the surface for that long first breath. I had just about given up on my own volition, when the commotion we were making started to attract other visitors. I looked up and saw a four-foot long silver Bonefish poking around where we had stirred up the bottom. When I surfaced and asked Kathy, "Did you see that?" she said, yes and her eyes were really big. She was looking the other way though, and I went back under and looked where she was staring. It wasn't the bonefish she saw, but an enormous Spotted Eagle Ray flying by over the coral. With its seven or eight foot wingspan, it was easily the biggest ray we had seen yet. So that meant it was time to get out again. We swam back toward the bottom of the hill and on the way back we saw a small barracuda and a cloud of Reef Silverside minnows, each minnow about as long as your pinky finger. It was a good day for fish watching.

By the time we scaled the hillside and made it back to the Pink House, we were both completely exhausted, more tired that ever before. We rested with a (you guessed it) Cuba Libre, and then made braised pork chops with onions and a mustard/caper sauce, with mashed potatoes. Up until then, sleeping at the Pink House had been a challenge, what with the unpredictable winds and the strange noises. But that night, we both slept like babies, lying on top of the sheets with the fan going and the windows open, dreaming of Stingrays and Libby.