The Water is Alive

We thought we were going to sleep in, but island life begins early. Both of us were up & dressed before 7:00, just in time to attend the meeting for the early dive crew. Since one of the students has only until Friday to complete his course, he & another guy got a condensed lesson, while Jason gave us a slide show on fish ID. He then took Montana and LuRue out for a snorkel. The weather is still a bit rough, which roils the waters, but we still got to see several things. Most things we had already seen in Bonaire, but we did get to see our first Gray Angelfish.

Breakfast was about 10:00 because the divers' boat broke down temporarily. Food is generally good and is plentiful.

Polly gave three of us a mini-course on underwater photography. She has some absolutely spectacular photos of reef corals, fishes, & creatures. She has perfected her skills over the years, using different settings to enhance the details she wants, & uses strobe lights for the deep water pictures. She commented that Montana's is the best point-and-shoot camera you can get.

Since the seas were too rough for an afternoon dive (and even an evening dive later), Montana and LuRue decided to take a walk around the island. Montana wanted to walk faster because LuRue had on  uncomfortable crocs. We timed ourselves. It took LuRue 3 minutes, 10 seconds...Montana strode along in her sandals & was back at the starting point in 1 minute, 27 seconds.

We were also given a talk on corals. It got a bit technical, so some were not as interested as the rest, especially when it became political about regulations, their enforcement, and the encroachment by neighboring countries.

Before dinner, a volleyball game started & Montana held her own with the rest, including a 6-foot college girl who plays on her school team.


We covered some interesting talks at dinner...most of the guests are college students--three from Wales. Besides us, there is a young professional couple, and two middle-aged women. We are 10 guests in all.