Hi gang I know some of you have been Begging FOR A REPORT SO HERE GOES..

sunday 4;15am arrived flamingo airport. I go to budget to get car and George waits for the luggage.. and wait and waits.. I told him a green case when it was a blue case.. egad.. technicalities... got the luggage he was the last one out..Linda had collected 10 suitcases and both her children and George is still waiting , watching a blue suitcase go round...egad,, OK I am over at Budget, a short walk through the parking lot and I am checking out the car.. no hassles no problems .. this is good oops no backup light on one side NOTED ok off we go to find a house we have never been to before.. the house is great the dogs are great the kitties love attention all is good in the world .{I sure hope we are in the righ house!]. we are taking it easy this trip so no rush to get diving... NOT!!! I unpack {that is something most woman do efficently} and we wait for the caretaker to meet him Hello good bye,,,
go to wanna dive to get our tags and to do a check out dive.. great dive... camera case no camera ever on my first dive.... see all sorts of things in the rubble {Have i told you that I love rubble?? Hi Rubble!!!} the dive goes well we have our weights and we are ready to go... this time I brought my 5mil so I dont' get cold,,, I am now thinking of diving in a Tshirt.. it is HOT here and the water is about 85 degrees.. HOT in a 5 mil..{humm maybe I will sweat off a few pounds!}
we go to Bobbiejans for dinner and enjoy the food.. George should have gotten a double order of ribs but he didn't and we will know enough on Friday when we return..

Monday morning comes up with a red sky and fluffly clouds,, very nice.. I am up early to feed the dogs and G sleeps in a bit,,, {i can get all my lurking done while he is asleep,, and some chatting as well}Did I tell you I LOVE Rubble?? oh I did ..we go to an unmarked dive site that was suggested by a dear friend, the dive has an entry that was once easy but now with all the rubble on the beach? it makes it a bit harder we did manage however and had a good dive and there were wonderful sites to see like this turtle
.next we go to Oil slick.. my favorite dive.. the topography of the parking lot has changed a bit since we were last there.. there used to be a layer of soil/sand on the parking lot.. Not anymore,, the storm done took it away,,and put it in the water..lots os sand on places that were once colorful what a shame....Hopefully it will wash away in time but at what expense???

this evening we go out to Habitat for the managers party BBQ where I meet up with Jack Chalk the wonderful handsome host of Habitat and our old friend Captain Don.. Love Capt Don!!! we end up stealing him for the evening although all the young ladies certainaly came over to give the man a thrill.. the gleam in his eye was priceless

Tuesday morning comes fast and we set out to another unmarked site again thanks to a great friend.. this site is south of town and the damage was not too much there at all I don't think..there are blennies in 5 feet of water and again I don't have my dang camera!!!! I promise to go back and get Blennie photos,,,!!

to be continued,,,,,,,,tomorrow Wed clean up with Martin dive and eden dive {hee hee} and Thursday white slave and clean up with Martin



(Message edited by modfreddie on November 6, 2008)

oops here is picture of Oilslick

ok here are a few more from Monday.


(Message edited by scubahb on November 7, 2008)

and a couple more

oops sorry for the double...

Thanks for the photos Freddie! Keep em coming! Hugs to the pups and kits for me.

nice job hope ur having a great time
es

oooohhh...oilslick...did you get a shot of the new ladder?

Is the huge orange coral still OK???
HUh? HUH?

oh, your pictures are so wonderful!!!

Great shots Freddie..Please continue to keep us apprised & again thanks for all your good work on Bonaire!

Thanks for sharing the pics, Freddie! Keep em coming - we're expecting winter to hit this weekend, and any warmth you can send via photos will help!!!

Hugs to the pups and kitties!!!

Freddie,

Thanks for the pictures....

Don't forget some "land" shots for Vince!

Wow, I'm impressed Dave. Someone actually remembered that I prefer land shots over the ubiquitous UW shots.

There's more to me than just my good looks ;-)

Nice.......

Looking like another great trip in progress Freddie,
Thanks

Vince my land shots usually come at the end of my vaca but I will see what I can do ..the architecture is unique here so I will have fun with it...I don't think they will be your usual land shots except possibly of our dinner date tomorrow.. you will just have to wait and see..

OK where were we???
Oh yes Tuesday ..
Stinapta emailed a friend and in turn that friend got in touch with George and I and asked if we would like to join him... well sure why not??
george and i figured it would be a BIG clean up as there was much to do. but NOOOOOO only 4 of us showed Martin, Monique, George and I.. we were told we would be hauling lumber that had sunk to the bottom of the sea in front of Divi.. Haul lumber we did.. the marine park agents filled our boat with it and then we even towed a HUGE piece of it back to the dock with us... felt good to help out the marine park.. hey I even got to wear gloves..martin posted a photo over in local if you want to see us and the lumber we hauled.. Tuesday evening we ate in garlic pasta and a salad.. Yummy

Wednesday comes too fast and we are off diving again this time to angel city.. Lots of life there and the dive is wonderful...If I were a seahorse I would want to live at Angel City alas we found no seahorses YET>>

Wednesday afternoon finds us at Eden beach checking the web cam.. Martin is not diving but G and I dive the rubble, have I told you I LOVE RUBBLE!! looking for seahorses that were there the last time we dove a few years back.. well still no seahorses but the dive was great so much to see.. at the end of the dive I go toward the pier to take a photo of the web cam when G pulls at me to look toward the pier.. Well what to my wondering eye appears but a couple of teenagers {they had to be teenagers by the quickness of it all!! hee hee} well the girl will have coral burns from the pier for sure and I am not sure what the guy will have hopefully nothing serious...if you want the photo you will have to email me.. as a moderator I can't really publish the photo here...even though I really want to...LOL
well I just about drown from laughing so hard and then when the gal bolted probably because she saw bubbles or the coral finally ate through her back.. the guy finished the job himself..egad.. again I am still underwater choking on my regulator.. hoping that the webcam is NOT showing this or worse even archiving it...we will see when it comes back online..egad.. {Note to self.. Never ever do anything below the surface of the water that you wouldn't want your mother to see you doing... OMG!!!!}
So after I come up I see George and Martin and Angela on the beach and George is walking toward the kid.. What in H3(( are you doing?? "i want to congratulate the young lad !" OMG come here this minute don't you dare!!!! Mind you we are all laughing so hard the poor kids and their chaperones have no idea why we are looking in their direction.. of course we were looking for the kid with a blue bathing trunks on.. this time where they should be not around his ankles....

here are some photos that can be posted from the dives that day..

and a couple more

Loving the pictures!
Also giggling about your interesting discovery LOL!!!

LOL on the teens! Oh to be young and foolish again!

Beautiful pics, Freddie!! And another fabulous report!! I love having something on here to look forward to everyday, so keep it up!! Oops, maybe that's not the right term to use there...
LOL!!!!!!!

Freddie...That was really a funny funny story!
Perhaps someone should have offered the girl some hydrocortisone cream for her back!

LOL!!! Tink, Martin and a few others of us had a similar experience a couple of years ago rotflmao.

Nice picture of the tongues I hope to show you my sign for Flamenco Tongues one day (no more e*l pics - okay?)

Freddie, I've most enjoyed your postings especially since you like the rubble. I'll be there in a week in the same rubble and I'm looking forward to some rubble searching....um....um....
um
um
kin I see the pic? (just for research purposes of course)

cheezy.....the debbil made me ask

|link{http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/cgi-local/bbs/show.cgi?tpc=23830&post=528957#POST528957, lovers

I heard Bel Air apartments were damaged badly (the grounds on thr sea-side) Are they being repaired yet/

Thanks for the report updates and pictures.

OK it must be Thursday...
Thursday morning we gear up and go to a place that I have named Paula's Place.. it is unmarked but it is obvious why I call it Paula's place, obviously someone named Paula left her mark inside the building for all to see..
the entry is good with just a little step and the reef is close..
there we run into yet another octopus hiding in his hole.

Barry Baracuda joins us for the dive.. he is just a small fish probably about 30 inches long..

this site is anemone city.. lots and lots of anemones with their friends hanging around

and then I see a couple of angels hanging out in a coral spray...they were like lovers hiding in the garden..\image[angels}
i also like this composure of this fish hanging in front of a fan


Thursday afternoon we pick up Martin for another work in progress.. this time Stinapta is looking for ladders that the rich people lost in front of their sea side homes.. {Yes Pegi Sue, your ladder is damaged and in the water by your steps}

We find 3 ladders and can't get them up to the boat as they are way too heavy so we lift bag them up to an area closer to where we think they belong so the owners can have them hauled..
BUT finding the ladder we are towed on a line behind the boat going at least 5 knots or so it seemed all up and down the coast line.. I think we dove {cause we were basically underwater holding on for dear life,} at least 15 sites that day or so it seemed lol that was really not as fun as it seems.. being dragged through the water for a long time is NOT fun...
this night we stay in and eat left overs from Casa Blanca.. the animals were happy to have us home and to themselves...

oops on the angels

Very nice! Thanks so much!

love the photos..and know the doggies and cats LOVE YOU...the flamingo tongues are incredibly..how far down were they?

hi ann, the flamingos tongues were probably in about 30-50 feet, that is where I do most of my diving..

Hi Freddie - great shots so far - give all my fur friends a hug and scratch from Timmmy

I love this!! And thanks for my ladder info...I bet that dropped the price by a million or two! Woo Hoo I'M COMIN' HOME!!!!

Hi Freddie, got on island last night. Talk to you soon! Just broke out dive gear, got tank card, and tanks, man, it is hot, hot, hot! Got to get wet!

Nice pics Freddie, thanks for the update and all of the work you folks are doing WHILE ON YOUR VACATION!!!

Ditto what Tom said! That is awesome that you're giving of your time and energy.

well I have to jump ahead here a bit.. this evening I did a UV night dive with Bas Noij aka Bas Obi wan. Well if you have never done this it is a must while one Bonaire,,,
I don't like the typical night dives 200 people {ok 10 people} going in with lights so bright that they can be seen by the satellites.. this dive was with another couple{LURKERS!!! come out come out please and do a trip report you two!!!} Bas and I so 4 all together.. we saw some pretty neat stuff to be sure,, the sanddivers {aka lizard fish} were spectacular with the UV equipment.. unbelievable!! we saw orange cup corals all lit up neon like.. and a lot of stuff that is there during the day but you just can't see it.. the brain corals looked like they were encrusted with jewels and the tiniest shrimp showed up on a sponge,,,Even the fire worms aka bristle worms were neon.. what a cool dive we were down about 70 minutes and never went really very far from the entry /exit point.. we went to about 45-50 feet max.. Bas gives you a UV flash light and a yellow shield to wear over your own mask... the shield blocks out all the blue from the UV light {that is rather bright when looked at with the naked eye} you could not see the little fishes that were all around or some of the corals as they just kind of disappeared into the light,,BUt there were the two tarpon that followed us the whole time...
but you could see things that you have never seen before.. wonderful just wonderful..
Bas gives you a detailed dive briefing and makes sure that everyone is very comfortable in the water.. I don't usually like night dives but the lights were not obnoxious as long as you had the shield on your mask so I just enjoyed.. It is worth the $55US for the dive,, and seeing that I charge $60US pp for a guided tour of my local dive site it is well worth the money,, So when you are on Bon look up Bas Noij at bas@noij.com and you too can learn from the master..


(Message edited by scubahb on November 10, 2008)

Sounds like a wonderful dive! Might have to make that happen next May

Thanks, again, for sharing!

OK back to Friday.. Cleaning lady day so I clean up before she gets here we head to White Slave to give her some space.. The dive here is good the damage is in the shallows, lots of rubble.. didn't take the camera {I forgot it duh} Nothing unusual, a nice easy dive with a good exit and entrance {neither of us fell!}
We return home to find that we are locked out OOPS!! the cleaning lady leaves her number in on of the shoes outside.. We don't speak Spanish... We go to find Martin and Angela and Linda to see if anyone speaks Spanish Thank you Angela!!! problem solve... the hidden key discovered .. No harm no foul,,,
Friday afternoon finds us lounging around in the heat,,,,,did I tell you Bonaire is 3 FEET from the SUN?? VERY HOT
Friday evening I meet new best friends at Boobijans for dinner.. there are 6 of us and we all have a wonderful meal with great conversation.
go home tired and in need of rest.. it was a great day

3 feet?
hehe
feels like it huh!

Hi, Kristi. I sure wish I was there now, don't you?

Hi Freddie. Glad you liked the UV night dive even though you don't like night dives

It was a pleasure meeting you and George. Enjoy the remainder of your stay on sunny Bonaire!

Ayo!

Bas.

Hi Freddie & George

Great report! Just catching up here
Love your pics & funny stories You have such a way with words The octo is very cool & great shot of the flamingo tongues Glad you guys are having a good time
Please tell George that Maggie & Millie are losing weight- LOL
We miss you two & are looking forward to our next breakfast with you.
Enjoy the rest of your trip........
Love ya & Hugs
Judy, Les, Maggie May & Slim Millie

Saturday here on Bonaire I wish it would last forever,,,,,,,

in the morning
we go to Invisibles, Unfortunately there is a lot of damage at this spot.. very sad..
got a few pictures this is eels city sorry Major Tom,,

\image[eelteeth}


also a bunch of anemones that have all sorts of things hanging out in them



we have also seen a lot of drumfish but no juvenile ones..


In the shallows we find a razor fish

and a cowfish

George goes to wannadive windsock to catch a few rays by the water and I play on the puter,, this afternoon we go to Witches Hut where I don't take the camera. there is a tremendous amount of damage at this site.. the entry is still ok {i haven't fallen yet,knock wood!!}

I am still diving in a t-shirt as the water temp is still about 84-86 even at depth.. the coral look like they are bleaching from the heat.. not pretty at all.... very sad..

for diner we go to Rib Factory and have a good meal with good service..wanted to go to ZeeZ's but no conch fritters on the menu,,,,

Sunday rolls around early for me, I love to get up to see the sun rise.. just beautiful!!

I have a date with my new BFF to go to Red Beryl
we get there and the entry is really good very easy.. the landscape looked a little beat up but not as bad at further north..
a real slow dive for 90 minutes my kinda dive..
there we saw a corkscrew anemome

and then went a little farther into the reef and saw this tongue that was just hanging out..
with a little help from my friend we see a fire clam tucked into a coral head


then a very happy Burrfish

here are some more from that dive





more to come I am toast!!! bed time for bonzo....

I feel as though I've come along with you -- Thank you for bringing me!!
Great report - love the pics - now I get it!!!

Thank you again for all that you, George and Martini are doing to help in the clean up.

I'm hungry for BobbeJans -- ribs anyone???

sweet Freddie!
I figured invisibles would be pretty sad.
It will come back huh...
Have you dove Angel City yet? The before and after was evident there as well as Karpata

Great report and pics!!!! Thanks for taking the time to share while in paradise!!!

How are the outer reefs?

Oh and Ms Freddie, the pics with the e**s in them don't show up. New software I installed screens out all kkkkk pics. Al that shows on my kkkkkkkkkkkk is kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk static kkkkkkkkkkkkk whenever I kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk an e** kkkkkkkkkkk pic. Dang statickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Good report, Freddie!

What sort/degree of damage was done to the coral rubble 'youguns' pile on the shallow sand south of the Invisibles' entry?? That has been one of my favorite spots, especially good for infinite outgassing at the end of the dive.

(Message edited by glenr on November 13, 2008)