Witches' Hut, Bonaire			N 12° 12.4', W 68° 19.0'
Dive Number 222		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 85ft	Visibility great	Time 65m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1300psi
Notes:	The divemaster identified this site as "Witches' Hut" but it also appears to be called Weber's Joy and that's how it's labelled on the stone dive marker and also Google Maps (in case you click through). On the boat ride up, I thought I recognized the architecture of Anne's place, Villa MaraVilla. She had told me it was north of Kralendijk, and the colours looked right, so maybe! The wall drops off sharply, and Philip and I swam much of the reef farther from shore than our peers, and also ended up going a little deeper. Many of the usual critters were in evidence, but at the end of the dive, Ben joined up with us and Aaron and Shawn were nearby when Philip spied a large octopus in a rough section of coral. I love seeing octopus any time and had not yet seen one on this trip so that was cool enough, but this one was doing the thing where it changes its colour and apparent texture to match the coral - I could have watched for much longer, but eventually it got shy and tucked itself away. Thank you, Philip!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 221		Buddies Rob, Shawn	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 55ft	Visibility great	Time 61m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Another night dive! Rob and Shawn seemed happy to log as many dives as possible and since the following night would put us within 24 hours of our flights out, this was to be our last night dive of the trip. With respect to bioluminescnce, I didn't really know what I was looking for, and I didn't see anything spontaneous, but Rob showed me that if you turned off your light and waved your arms around, that in the path of the turbulent water, you'd churn up a bunch of those little tiny crustaceans and they'd leave a transient glow, like you were waving a magic wand in a movie or something. I left my light off the spent a lot of time doing this. The tarpon were also out in more force tonight. They circled close to the lights (I didn't mention before, but Rob had loaned me a very bright dive light a BigBlue - I may need to get one of those!) In fact at one point, one circled close enough that I nudged it with my thigh and gave myself a start. I also had something happen that Shawn had had happen to him the night before - I had found a small fish in my light and saw the tarpon snap it up. I'm not how I feel about this phenomenon - it's like it violates my prime directive of non-interference or something, but one tiny fish doesn't make that big a difference and it's not like tons of other divers aren't doing the same thing... Am I just trying to assuage myself? We also saw a couple spotted morays and at the pier I observed another lionfish next to a cute looking Spanish lobster under the steps as we exited. Great dive and great buddies to share it with! We put our gear away and finished the night with a late supper...

Windsock, Bonaire			N 12° 8.0', W 68° 17.0'
Dive Number 220		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 59ft	Visibility great	Time 63m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Our tour package had originally included a single dive for Sunday afternoon, but it seemed prudent that we'd stayed ashore for diving that first day while we figured ourselves out - weight, harnesses, dive buddies and the like. In place of that dive, the resort dive operator added on an extra boat dive this afternoon! Dive sites are marked around the island with little painted rock markers and named after all manner of things. This site is immediately adjacent to the airport, so see if you can guess why it's named Windsock! The dive was shallower, which means longer, which was great! We probably saw a bunch more cool fish or something! I have a feeling that this was the day that I first had the ice cream from the cafe up the road from the resort. I got a cone with one scoop white chocolate and one scoop cherry. It made a mess in my beard, but was totally worth it. I should have come here earlier!

Alice in Wonderland, Bonaire			N 12° 6.0', W 68° 17.2'
Dive Number 219		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 55ft	Visibility great	Time 58m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	The dive after the Hilma Hooker was of course much shallower and Philip and I therefore got a much longer swim. I noted that the divers got a little clustered together. Not a big deal, but I prefer to stay out of other divers' ways and not be a hazard to anyone. Fair? Also it should be said that as a Canadian I am too stubborn to admit if I am starting to get cold, and while in the water at this temperature, I happily report to my divemates' surprise that I remain quite comfortable with swimwear and rashguard only. Back on the boat after a second dive however, it can be difficult to suppress shivering. At that moment I always think that I'm going to want to go back to the room and have a hot shower, but by the time we get to shore, I'm warm already. Besides, why rinse the salt out of your hair if you're going back for more diving today?

Hilma Hooker, Bonaire			N 12° 6.0', W 68° 17.2'
Dive Number 218		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 96ft	Visibility great	Time 35m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	The most famous wreck in Bonaire and the only wreck we dove was the Hilma Hooker, built in Holland in 1951 and owned by a Columbian shipping line at the time of it's arrival in Bonaire. It had been under surveillance by drug enforcement agencies and was having engine trouble when coming to Kralendijk in summer 1984, and a false bulkhead was discovered which contained 11 tonnes of marijuana. It began taking on water and sunk in September. The owners were never found. The original name for this vessel was Midsland, but the name she bore at the time of her sinking enabled divers to gleefully boast that they "went down on the Hooker in Bonaire". Hilarious. This dive was our deepest of the week - I understand that some people sink an arm into the soft bottom that they can honestly have a bottom depth of 100 feet. Philip and I were second in the water (as usual) and made a single tour of the boat when we reached his turnaround pressure and ascending the line. A few large tarpon were on the wreck, and we never saw anything particularly exciting inside, but it was still fun to peek into the large holds!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 217		Buddies Rob, Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 59ft	Visibility great	Time 43m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1700psi
Notes:	We had heard from others that there were luminescent fish to be seen if you dived about half an hour after the sun went down. That would be cool to see, but even if we didn't see them, night dives are cool anyway! Our rep from the dive company was Rob Lowe (yes, his name is Rob Lowe), and he and Shawn and Philip and Bill and I all went for it. For me this was my fourth dive of the day; for Shawn his fifth! We descended as five, but functionally, Shawn and Bill hung back and Rob and Philip and I swam ahead. At the time I convinced myself I may have seen luminescence at the very start of the dive, but in hindsight I think it may have been the pier lights reflecting off some of the small fish close to the surface. We did see a lobster and a few large tarpon (but I would not get the full tarpon hunting experience until the following night). The highlight was seeing around fifteen of the sharptails all wriggling around in a clump together. Half of them were buried in the sand with only heads sticking out; I initially suspected that they might be newly hatched young, but the size of their heads were commensurate with those of the other eels swimming around (which measured 30 or 40 cm in length). I lingered long enough to make sure that Shawn and Bill got to see it. It was the highlight of the dive!

Calabas Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 8.6', W 68° 16.6'
Dive Number 216		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 67ft	Visibility great	Time 39m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1500psi
Notes:	Tom and Brenda were going out for an afternoon dive on the reef so Philip and I joined them! Usually if we can determine the direction of current, we start by swimming into it, so that the swim back will be easier, and less demanding on air. I feel like we went South from the pier, and saw the usual collection of fish, as well as a lionfish or two.

Munk's Haven, Bonaire			N 12° 9.2', W 68° 19.9'
Dive Number 215		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3200psi
Depth 63ft	Visibility great	Time 62m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Another dive on the Western coast of Klein Bonaire. Out on the boat it would be easy to miss the fact that we were heading over the the smaller island, and later in the week I remember someone asking if we were going to be going to any dive sites on Klein Bonaire, unaware that we'd already been. I likewise do not recall any of the wildlife details of this dive, but do remember that Mary had taken by this point to admiring my "Zen diving" - being stationary in meditative-looking poses and controlling buoyancy with breath. By the end of the dives, other buddies were sometimes heading to the surface to help adaptive divers exit the water, so Philip and I had Ben join us for the end of this dive for a while. Keeping the three of us together can be a challenge!

Leonora's Reef, Bonaire			N 12° 10.1', W 68° 19.5'
Dive Number 214		Buddy Philip	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 73ft	Visibility great	Time 57m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1100psi
Notes:	This morning's dives took place at the smaller island appropriately called Klein Bonaire. Every dive is good, but after a while, many dives start to feel like you've seen the same things over again - it's not that they're not great, but it just seems repetitive list off the same fish. I was swimming around and from time to time I would invert myself to get a close up view of the reef without having to worry that I would accidentally kick anything. I saw another adorable juvenile drum playing in an arch, and shortly afterwards, Becky started motioning excitedly to me by opening and closing her index and middle finger together and pointing. I imagined maybe she had seen a lobster and was excitedly indicating this to me with an unconventional sign, but still wasn't sure until she pointed at my BCD pocket and I eventually clued into the fact that she had seen my shears fall from the pocket of my BCD onto the reef while upside down. She and Candy and I swam back and one of the two of them found the shears and passed them back to me. I later realized that I had not alerted my buddy that I was doubling back [bad buddy!] Also Tom seemed put out that at least three of us were doubling back for a cheap pair of shears, but I think he was just concerned that in all the fracas it would have been easy for someone to hurt him- or herself or damage the reef. For my part, I kept a hand on my BCD pocket when inverting for the remainder of the trip!

Salt Pier, Bonaire			N 12° 5.0', W 68° 16.9'
Dive Number 213		Buddy Shawn	Surface temp 27°C	Starting pressure 3000psi
Depth 59ft	Visibility great	Time 62m	Water temp 25°C	Ending pressure 1200psi
Notes:	Setting up this dive, I did a few things that I almost never do. In the staging area this morning before boarding the Sea Gypsy for the Invisibles and Punt Vierkant, I spoke to one of the divers from the other group and asked her about how her diving was going. Not a big deal for a normal human, but I am usually shy about talking to people and have to make an effort to not avoid making eye contact and appear distant or aloof like an idiot. My effort was rewarded - Jody was one of the organizers of the Aquarius group of divers from California which was at Divi Flamingo at the same time as us. She knew that some members of her group were planning an excursion to the Salt Pier at the Southern end of the West coast that afternoon, and I hinted at how I'd like an invite and she said come along! I asked Shawn if he'd like to come along so I would have a buddy who I knew and he was down so we hitched a ride from the resort with Jake and Claudia to the pier! The salt pier is interesting because of the superstructure of the factory and conveyor belts that appear to send freshly refined salt to ships for export. The pier has lots of wildlife and also there is industrial detritus everywhere that has become fish and marine habitat. There had been some discussion among our group about organizing an excursion here, but a time had not yet been chosen and who knew if it would actually happen. No boats are permitted to moor near the pier, and the entry would not be easy for divers who used chairs or who had mobility issues. This was the only dive where I saw turtles and they were also uncharacteristically tame. It's hard not to wonder if the prohibition of fishing or harming marine life has made the local fauna more docile. I also saw a queen angel - not a new species for me, but the first one I had seen on this trip. Also there was an adorable tiny drum! (we would go on to see more of these). We got to see another two turtles in the shallows before getting out and drying off as much in the Caribbean sun to avoid wetting the back of Jake's pickup. As we were leaving an alarm sounded on the pier - it looked like the conveyor was changing position and we learned later that a salk tanker was to arrive within the day where it would stay and prevent divers from visiting this site for the rest of the week - if I had not inquired, we would have missed this opportunity! Is it possible that I'm not as shy as I seem to think?