Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 210		Buddies Chad, Bill, Candy	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 38ft	Visibility great	Time 51m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Bill and Candy were going out for an afternoon dive after lunch and didn't seem to mind if Chad and I joined them, so long as I didn't mind their relaxed pace! They both all proficient divers and also are couple cool people so I was happy to tag along! We stayed relatively shallow and went south from the pier. The slower pace allowed us to notice some more subtle marine life. In addition to the usual collection of fish, I saw a centipede thing on one of the corals, which I haven't yet identified (maybe a fireworm?) and on a post in the sand, Bill was observant to notice millimeter scale fish in some of the dimples of the post! Cool!

Bachelor's Beach, Bonaire			N 12° 7.5', W 68° 17.2'
Dive Number 209		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 73ft	Visibility great	Time 32m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	For our second boat dive, we kept the same buddies and the same entry order; Aaron and Shawn first (Aaron is the biggest guy who uses a chair and benefits from most able helpers on board when he enters the water), then it's Philip and me. Philip gets a little assistance at the back of the boat while I backroll off one of the side gunnels. Our divemaster was Alvin who remained either divemaster or captain for the remainder of the week. In addition to the usual fish, I spied a large lobster under a small reef outcropping, and at one point someone pointed to the open water in the deeper water behind me. I turned around and saw a bait ball so large the end of it could not be appreciated; the ball was swimming South past us just a little deeper than where I was swimming, and split such that part of the ball swam more shallow than me and enveloped me inside - Alvin reported later that he could no longer see me in the centre! I had been hoping to see the baitball and being swarmed in the centre of the fish was one of my highlights of the trip (and maybe ever!)

Andrea I, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 208		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 73ft	Visibility great	Time 44m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1400psi
Notes:	This was the first dive on the boat with my Bonaire roommate and default dive buddy Philip! The boat experience before diving includes helping hoist a few adaptive divers on board in their chairs, helping people suit up who need it, and helping with harnesses that can be used to assist divers from chairs into water at the beginning of the dive, or back to chairs afterwards. Our divemaster was Malin; The wildlife on the dive was similar to what we'd seen already - I didn't record any new species, but the reef was healthy and diversely populated. When we arrived back on board and went to change the tanks for the second dive, I realized that I had used a Nitrox tank by mistake. Fortunately the dive had not been too deep, and the air setting I had used on my computer was just fine!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 207		Buddy Tom	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 50ft	Visibility great	Time 54m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	One of the great things about diving at a dive resort like Divi Flamingo is that if you feel like taking another dive, you just grab another tank! After the two tryout dives, Tom was preparing to dive again and I asked if he'd like company - it took a couple asks before he really picked up on the fact that I wanted to join him - He has hundreds of dives (maybe more than a thousand?) and would have happily gone on his own, but we eventually got in and headed North to the cruise ship pier north of our resort. We saw more of the same fish we had seen, but this was my first sighting of a light grey eel that looked a lot like a snake that I'd never seen before. It was a sharptail eel, something we'd see lots more of on the week. Tom has mad diving skills, which doesn't mean I don't feel like being a good buddy, but does mean that I feel confident I don't need to keep him under constant watch! I'm glad I convinced him to let me come - it was the only time all week he and I buddied up!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 206		Buddies Chad, Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 2400psi
Depth 73ft	Visibility great	Time 35m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1000psi
Notes:	Buddies are ready to dive! I dove with Philip (my Bonaire roommate) and Chad (another new friend), and we realized shortly after getting buddied up that Chad didn't have the correct amount of weight for the dive, so I hustled out and got him a couple more pounds of lead from the pier. It's unconventional for me to have two new buddies at the same time, and I was keen to be mindful and safe with new folks I didn't yet know well, but we all managed fine - both Chad and Philip were comfortable in the water. We swam out onto the reef and got our first glimpse of some of the local life! I was told to expect that there would be few large animals under the water and that we'd get treated to abundant small life - there are trumptetfish, filefish, cowfish, trunkfish, and of course lots and lots of parrotfish and little fishies that I don't know what they're all called. Great first dive with some new buddies!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 205		Buddy Rick	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 2700psi
Depth 34ft	Visibility great	Time 10m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 2400psi
Notes:	When Tom Cornell asked on his Christmas card whether I'd consider joining him and Brenda [and Phil] in Bonaire in May 2019 with their Adaptive dive group from Minneapolis, I was excited to dive and excited to see them and meet some new people and experience something new! We arrived at Divi Flamingo Beach Resort and came out on the afternoon after we settled in to try out the reef and get our adaptive divers in the water. This short dive was a chance for us to get in the water while our adaptive buddies suited up and prepared. It was only a few minutes and we didn't really venture out onto the reef, but since we came up again before the next dive, I'm counting it!

The George A. Marsh, Kingston ON			N 44° 7.6', W 76° 36.2'
Dive Number 204		Buddy Gary	Surface temp 24°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 81ft	Visibility fair	Time 31m	Water temp 10°C	Ending pressure 800psi
Notes:	Mark was feeling happy with his first dive and elected to bubblewatch for the second dive of the day - Gary and I entered last (him having finished well after me on the first dive, and wanting to spend a full hour surface interval to maximize his bottom time). We had a good tour of the wreck, seeing the impressive bowsprit and stern features; had it not been for Gary, I would have overlooked the remains of on old lifeboat on the port side of the deck! We arrived up and Gary shared that this was his thirty-sixth dive... on this wreck! Here's to good buddies! And here's to getting home and resting: I agreed to cover an extra overnight shift that night!

The George T. Davie, Kingston ON			N 44° 6.8', W 76° 34.8'
Dive Number 203		Buddies Mark, Gary	Surface temp 23°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 93ft	Visibility fair	Time 19m	Water temp 9°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	This was Mark's first boat dive! We were connected to a veteran diver named Gary from Hamilton and expecting to stay down less time, descended the line last. This wreck is deeper than technically permitted for a basic open water diver, so we planned on swimming over the boat, but the visibility was middle and we ended up near the muck. The bottom was cold and dark, and we took a look at the bow and crossed over the hull. Mark's air was starting to diminish, so we swam back to the line. Gary stayed down for a few more minutes of bottom time without us, and Mark and I ascended and hung for a safety stop together. Boat dive success!

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 202		Buddies Mark, Neva	Surface temp 17°C	Starting pressure 3100psi
Depth 42ft	Visibility poor	Time 40m	Water temp 20°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	Neva and I met up with Mark at Portsmouth to make another attempt to find the lines and anchors and chairs and remember all our gear and everything! Neva had not used her wetsuit in over a year and it no longer really fits, but she managed to squeeze into it for one last dive today. We found the pipes! We found the line! We saw the anchors! We saw the chair! We saw the stop sign! We found our way home! Success! Also we saw two very large drum. Or one very large drum twice. Also I used my new dive computer. It's an Aqualung i300. And I wore my 7mm suit only without a hood, and 16 lbs and it was good. And also also I forgot to give Mark his ten bucks for the air. I owe you, buddy!

Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON			N 44° 13.0', W 76° 31.1'
Dive Number 201		Buddy Mark	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 2900psi
Depth 28ft	Visibility good	Time 45m	Water temp ~16°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	Mark and I managed to find a little more time to log another dive this afternoon. We expected to follow the Portsmouth Harbour line out the anchor and explore a line from that branches off to the Northeast - I understand it goes to another anchor? Instead, we failed to even find the first lin and just went for a leisurely swim around the harbour. Our error? We didn't head far enough South at the beginning of our dive to find the starting point; we just kept going Southeast and expected to run into the line. We saw some freshwater rum, a few bass, and the hull that's probably been there all along but which we'd never seen before just next to the pier. Then we went under again to make sure we'd know how to find the pipes and the line next time. No post dive food! I had to come home to make supper for the family!