Go deep, stay long

Photo Gallery

When I was young, I built a darkroom in the corner of my bedroom, rolled my own film, and had photos published in the local papers. While I was never more than a novice, I’ve always enjoyed photography. Digital photography and digital video have made the process much simpler. Now sharing photos is also much easier.

With all the snow this winter, I had some time to do some sorting and reorganized the gallery.

Featured Albums:

Bonaire

Cozumel

Crystal River Manatees

Flamingo snail

After a few weekends of being snowed in, I had the opportunity to work through my piles of photos and relate some memories (and pictures) of past trips.Val and I visited Bonaire on two separate trips. I’ve attached some shots of resort (Buddy Dive), and added a new gallery.

For those of you unfamiliar with Bonaire, it is 50 miles north of South America (Venezuela to be exact). The island part of the Nether Antilles. This location of the Caribbean is constantly swept by easterly trade winds. The east side of the island is subject to rough waves and the shoreline is rocky. The western side of the island is protected in the lea. Here is some of the best diving of the Caribbean.

Sunset over Kline

The shore diving really is about as easy as it gets. The dock at Buddy Dive is only a few feet from the dive shop, and the reef is only a few fin strokes away. I spent the first day draining tank after tank poking around the reef. I was working with a new still camera, and practicing with the video housing. Surface intervals were only a quick stop for fresh tanks, batteries, or tape. The top of the reef is about 20 ft deep An Al 80 lasts quite a while at this depth, and decompression is impossible, especially on Nitrox. After 6 tanks, my wife dragged me out of the water for dinner.

The next day we got a map of the island and headed out in our pickup truck (provided with the suite). The west side of the island is rimed with a seemingly continuous reef. In some places it is a double reef with sand in between. On the shore, there are areas where you can park a your truck, gear up, and make an entrance. Some areas have docks and with ladders to facilitate access. These entrance sites have names, which are both on the map, and written on yellow stones along the side of the road.

Clearner shrimp on a butterfly

Our package included boat a few boat dives. These were mostly spent visiting Kline Bonaire. This is an uninhabited island to the west of Bonaire, also protected from the trade winds. Many of these dives were deeper as the slope to Kline was much steeper.

Many sections of the reef hold different microcosm and wild life. There are many web sites describing, so I’ll just point out some of the highlights. The Hilma Hooker is a shipwreck in the sand between a double reef. It’s a nice dive, and if you’re one of the first there, you will find a few large Tarpon hiding in the holds.

Salt Pier is where the dried sea salt is loaded onto ships. The structure of the pier seems to attract schools of fish, and event the shallows are full of life.

Fish to look for:

Eels: this is the one of the first times I’ve seen eels out hunting during the day.

Frog Fish: Another first for me. They are hard to spot, as their camouflage is nearly perfect.
Tarpon: They are huge, and will follow you on a night dive.

Sea horses: Ask your Dive Master where to find them.

School of fish: There are so many fish, that sometimes you feel like one of the crowd

Spotted Eagle Rays: These majestic rays swim effortless and leave you breathless if you try to follow.

Dolphins: I’m not sure how often these appear, but on one day we got snorkel with them on the surface interval.

Is that my reflection?

Val and I had the opportunity to join Becky and Dave on their annual winter manatee trip down to Crystal River, Florida.  We packed our gear and headed down to Tampa.  An hour later, we were pulling up to the hotel in Crystal River.  Over the last few years, I’ve had some great trips down to this area.  There’s been a load of training for myself, as well as my training others.   The caves and sinkholes are difficult to blow out, so it’s a good area for scuba training for deep dives.

This trip was just for fun.  We planned to dive with the manatees, then spend the weekend relaxing.    Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative.  We left NJ just after a snowstorm.  This winter has been one of the coldest I remember.  Now that we were down in Florida, we were hoping for a little warmth.   No such luck.  Thursday morning was in the 30s with a bit of a breeze.

With the cooler conditions, Becky decided to keep the boat trip short, and head to King’s Springs.  The water clarity is not as good here, but the Manatees were active, and inquisitive.   While you were petting one manatee, another would come up behind you and nudge you for attention.  Staying in the water was the key to keeping warm.  During the entire day, there was steam rising off the surface.  Yes, it was quite cold when we got out.  After getting lots of photos, we headed back to the shore to warm up.  While it may have been cold, we had a lot of fun.

Sanctuary

Val had filled her fun quota that day, and decided to head to Homosassa Spring Wildlife State Park on Friday.  Apparently this is a wildlife preserve that also provides wildlife rescue services.  There she found many animals that had been rescued, and were now recovering before release.

The weather caused a few cancellations on Becky’s next trip, so there was room for me to join them again.  Friday, the manatee excursion headed out to the Three Sisters Spring.  There is a large sanctuary area around the springs that was filled with manatees.   Most were quietly resting, but some would come out of the sanctuary and interact with the divers.  Speaking of divers, there were quite a few.  Probably because it was warmer, but also because it was Friday.  When we arrived there were 5 boats, and numerous kayaks.    With this many people I’m sure it can be overwhelming to the Manatees.  Everyone stayed away from the sanctuaries to give the manatees their space.  Most of our crew were experienced divers, and very calm and careful in the water.  This made the manatees more relaxed, and many freely interacted with us.

Becky and Camera

Back in the springs, the water was crystal clear and warm (72), but there were very few manatees, and they were resting.  (You can’t disturb them when they are resting.)  We got a few shots of the one or two in the springs, then headed back to the river where they were more active.

After several hours trying different photo techniques, angles, and subject, we headed back to the boat.  The ride back was much warmer this day.  We quickly got changed and headed out for some hot food to warm up.

Shooting a bag while maintaining buoyancy

This fall in the Northeast was a bad season for blowouts and poor visibility.  Several hurricanes passed by, stirring up the surf.  Often, this can help the conditions by mixing the surface water with the cooler water below the thermocline.  Unfortunately this fall it cleared out the plankton on the surface, then just stirred up the bottom into soup.  At this point, the surface had over 50 ft of visibility, but the bottom would drop to less than 5.  That’s on the days we could make it out.

On the plus side, this gave me the opportunity to drag some students up to Dutch and finish up classes.  Once most of the drills are done, I dragged the camera along to grab a few shots.   After this fall, I needed the practice or I’d forget how to work the housing.  Also, I’m playing with a new lenses/port combination that takes some getting use to.  For what it’s worth, here are some of the photos that came out well.

Swimming through pillars of coral

After missing out on vacation last year, Val and I decided to head south for some warm sun and diving.

We did not realize just how low the low season is there.  Apparently September and October are quiet down in Mexico.  We felt like we had the resort to our selves.   Not that was a bad thing!

There were a few other divers, but even the boats were mostly empty.  This gave the resort staff time to work on a few projects, which they did very quietly.  On the other hand, everyone also received personal attention from the outgoing staff.

There have been a few changes since our last visit several years ago.  Damage from the hurricanes that struck the Yucatan is still evident, but there is also a lot of new construction.  The food was great as usual, and yes, I will be dieting for the next few months.

Before we arrived, we heard rumors that the weather had been windy the day before, and boat diving may still be suspended.  While true, this gave us the afternoon to unpack and unwind from the trip.   The next morning Val had the beach to herself, and I boarded the boat with a group of fellow photo enthusiasts.

Jumping into 85 degree water was a bit of a shock.  For me it was too warm.  I’ve never been in water above 80, and am not used to it.   I should have brought my shorty or 1 mil.  However, this temperature the fish were active.  We saw a lot of sharks, turtles, and rays along with schools of other fish.

After a few days, we made a number of new friends, and were able to hook up on dives, and meals.   We discussed travel destinations and dive history.   Places to go and things to see.     Underwater, we kept an eye out for each other, and provided models where needed.

I also had the opportunity to catch up some old friends that still worked in the area.  It was interesting to hear details of the storm damage over the years, as well as the changes to the Island.   The last time I was here, Nitrox was in limited supply.  Now Tech diving and gear / supplies are  available locally.   This would make a great place for Tech checkouts.  The dive sites are just a few hundred feet from shore. The water is warm and clear, and there is lots to see during deco.
Hurricane Paula threatened to head our way, so many of the resorts transported guests to more robust locations.  We felt like refugees walking through town in large groups.  We made it back the next day, just in time to pack for the trip home.   Oh well, one day of lost diving.