Sunday, November 25, 2018

Diving Bonaire 2018: Seeking the Elusive

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Do you see what I see?
The hunt for the ever-elusive frogfish and seahorses continued this season during this- our fourth- stay in Bonaire.

I have been diving for three years, logging 91 dives.  Dan has dived for four years and has 147 dives under his belt. Early on, we both studied Bonaire’s Dive Site booklet descriptions that noted seahorses among the reef and frequented those sites without much success in finding any.  We soon realized that this booklet was not only out of print, but the information was sadly out of date.   So, we began going to sites where other divers reported seeing them within the week, found the seahorse(s), and noted their habitat. Then we searched independently and finally got more skilled at locating them.  Surprisingly, the easiest to find were usually on the bottom of Kralendijk’s mooring field at a depth of about 20 feet. There they clung to a bit of coral rubble and blended in, much like chameleons do,  by turning drab hues of grayish-beige and brown. 

The seahorses pictured below were  a few of the ones found this season.
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Neither of us had ever spotted a frogfish.  Over the years, I have even gone to great lengths to scour our dive photos with hopes that a frogfish had been inadvertently captured in a shot somewhere within the reef’s countless colorful nooks and crannies. Needless to say, I haven’t noticed any yet.  We have seen a few while diving that other divers had pointed out, but had never discovered one on our own.  Dan was not as driven as I to find a frogfish, so he humored my efforts when I began the quest in earnest.  The more experienced I became in diving, the more slowly I moved along the reef, stopping often to check out small blobs I thought might be a frogfish.  Frogfish have a lure-like appendage on their head that they wiggle to attract fish, and then they gulp them down.  So, when I’d see a blob that looked similar to the specimens in our fish identification book, I’d gently fan my hand over the blob to activate the lure or nudge the frogfish to move.  Still- no success.

These two photos were taken of a frogfish that was tucked into the reef behind our boat.  A friend who knew I was DESPERATE to find one told us exactly where to look for it.
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I refused to give up, though, and during our last few weeks in Bonaire this season, I finally saw a bright yellow blob tucked into the reef that I thought might be a frogfish.  I didn’t fan this one; however, I did take several pictures and showed them to a friend who teaches a Fish Identification class in Bonaire.  She confirmed that this creature was indeed a frogfish and I had found it during it’s juvenile stage which was rather unusual!
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Monday, November 12, 2018

Toss NOODLES into Salty Water

… and boil with enthusiasm for 45 minutes! 
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Cindy Windmilling 2018 
(Photo by Auryte of sv Alka)
Noodling at Sea is a water aerobic program that was developed by a cruiser for cruisers.  Awilda “Willie” Haskins of sv Liahona organized the workout with help from a small female crew who desperately needed a daily cool down in the midst of their summer boat maintenance chores in 2010.   Word spread quickly and their numbers grew steadily, as their laughter danced over the anchorage.  In 2013, Willie published the program and made it available on Amazon.com.

The program is designed to be as easy or as challenging as the individual chooses.  The idea is to just get in the water and keep moving at your preferred speed and intensity.  Willie cautions participants to drink plenty of water before and afterward and also warns, if an aerobic movement hurts, STOP doing it

Noodling is NOT gender or age restrictive.  Over the years, we have had children within our ranks and gentlemen who aim to stay fit.
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Noodlers Pumping the Head in 2017
  
Newcomers will find some of the exercises simple, while others may be accompanied by a verbal explanation and a visual demonstration.  Willie’s crew dubbed various moves with names that are self-explanatory, such as Bicycling, Cross-Country Skiing, Spread Eagle, Side Step.  On the other hand, newbies may be intrigued by exercises like:  Frog, Twist, Chicken Noodle, Pull the Shade, Pump the Head, or J Lo.  During the sessions, a good amount of friendly banter is exchanged, especially during the last set when balancing ON the noodle is introduced.  Soon after, though, we Salute the Sun and are ALL DONE!
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Saluting the Sun in 2018
(Photo by Auryte of sv Alka)
Here in Kralendijk, Bonaire, we have been gathering for Noodling sessions at 7am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please come out and give it a try.  We meet in the water off the Fishermen”s Dock.  Feel free to secure your dinghy to sv Tranquility (green hull). We have a limited number of extra noodles you can borrow, just ask.

Come for the workout…Stay for the laughs!

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Side Stepping in 2018


Friday, November 9, 2018

sv EXIT STRATEGY Breaks Record


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Believe it or not- it is just over eight years since Dan and I retired and moved onto the boat.  And EIGHT YEARS is a new record for us living in a home.  Previous to sv EXIT STRATEGY, the longest we lived in a dwelling was seven and a half years.  Many of you know that Dan was a special grades sales rep for various stainless steel mills based in the USA.  Over the years, his career took us to places we’d never been and to some we’d never choose to go.  However, we welcomed each with a fresh enthusiasm for a new adventures.

Then, in October of 2010, our retirement and transfer into the cruising lifestyle took us to places beyond our wildest dreams.  Cruising has been a good life for us and we are forever grateful that our family and friends have accepted and humored us through our abbreviated visits and sometimes seemingly mundane blogs.  

OUR HABITAT HISTORY
2 years:  2 bd. 1 bath apartment in Summit, IL 
Where I could walk to work as an LD Teacher and where our upstairs neighbors were occasionally frightfully loud. We learned that the neighborhood was nicknamed “Peyton Place”.

3.5 Years:  3 bd. 2 bath tri-level in Lockport, IL  
This was a new development with lots of families and both our babies were born here, although they don’t remember.  I had to get a driver’s license to commute 14 miles to work.

3.5 years:  4 bd. 2 bath 2-story garrison colonial in Nashua, NH 
New Englanders can be clannish, but we were welcomed warmly by all in this woodsy setting.  Plenty of children around, but our son’s best friend was a big black Lab named Dusty. 

3.5 years:  4 bd. 2.5 bath 2-story contemporary in Wheaton, IL
Glad to be back in the Midwest near family again and ensconced in another kid-filled area where babysitters were a dime a dozen.
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                        Windjammer South Lane, Indianapolis, IN
5 years:  5 bd. 2.5 bath 2-story modern colonial in Indianapolis, IN 
Here we learned that there IS “more than corn in Indiana…”  We lived in this area the longest, but in three different homes.  The kids found a red-coated stray here that we adopted as our first family dog, Amazing Grace (aka, Gracey).   Our daughter began babysitting for a neighbor here and this part time gig financed her love for thoroughbreds, equestrian jumper competitions, and more!

6 months:  2 bd. 1 bath apartment in Fishers, IN  
Yes, two adults, two teens, and one small dog managed to somehow cohabitate here somewhat comfortably while our “DREAM HOUSE” was being built about a mile away from our previous home. 

7 years:  4 bd. 3 bath multi-level contemporary in Fishers, IN  
This home was well worth the six month wait in close quarters.  We designed every part of it and that made it a perfect fit for each of us.  This is where we worked together to erect a barn and bring our daughter’s horse home from the stable.  This is where our son’s punk rock band practiced and his buddies organized a “camp” in the woods.  This is the place our children claim as “home”- Indiana.  
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Geist Road, Fishers, IN
6 months:  2 bd. 1 bath apartment in Springfield, MO 
By this time, both kids were in college, so Dan and I lived here with Gracey until we found the next house. 

3.5 years:  4 bd. 3 bath 2-story country estate in Springfield, MO
As “empty nesters” we didn’t need all this space, but we were sold on the 12+ acres along a river and the cave.  Dan bought and enjoyed two man toys here: a tractor and a bass boat.  Sadly, Gracey died of old age here and so, a year later, we adopted a blond mutt we named MO. 
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Donna Marie Drive, Homer Glen, IL 
(Decorated for "Meet Me in Margaritaville" Party)
7.5 years:  3 bd. 3.5 bath contemporary ranch in Homer Glen, IL (formerly part of Lockport, IL and near our first home) 
With all the sadness that 9-11 brought to the USA, it fortunately brought us back to live in the Midwest again when flights were cancelled indefinitely causing Dan to cancel a job interview in Houston, TX.   He had already been offered a position back in Chicago and I was silently routing for that destination.  This house was in another pleasant neighborhood with lots of children.  At that time, we were in our early fifties and only about six of the forty-eight homes were owned by old codgers like us. 

8 years and counting:  3 cabin 2.5 head Bavaria 46
We began in the BVI in October of 2010 and so far, have visited about eighty different islands or cays sprinkled along the northern, eastern, and southern edges of the Caribbean Sea. And there are still so many more to explore! 
 
After all, Captain Dan, "Home is wherever I'm with you."