April Trip Report – Divemaster Dara

The primary purpose of this trip was to get my Divemaster certification as a step towards becoming an instructor. So I was prepared to keep my nose to the grindstone for a full 14 days, but was relieved to complete the certification in 8 days with a few days for R&R. Although I did some preliminary preparation before arriving, it was not nearly enough to be fully prepared (in my mind). I would recommend anyone desiring to swallow DM certification in one big gulp, to get the Divemaster materials, The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving and the Diving Knowledge Workbook and complete the workbook several weeks in advance (so you can use it as a study tool). I’d also recommend refreshing all of the previous coursework, and mentally rehearsing the rescue scenarios……..then you’ll be prepared to breeze through without hours of study every evening. Roger Haug at Captain Don’s was an excellent instructor – knowledgeable, articulate, willing to listen, have open discussion and treat the experience as a learning opportunity for both of us. We worked hard and we had fun. Beyond my relationship with Roger, I found the entire staff to be very supportive and helpful with insight, encouraging words and critique.

Advancing to this level of certification has given me a new perspective on diving and divers, as it should. It remains my goal to enhance the diving experiences of those that share the ocean with me – to extend my wonder and reverence for the sea, to help others see familiar things with new eyes, and to ensure the we honor the environment with behavior that will preserve it. I anticipate I will find the same reward and satisfaction I have obtained from teaching and coaching other athletic endeavors…….gratification in helping others master a skill or grasp something they believe may lie just beyond their reach….towards this I look forward.

In reflection, this experience was stressful and exhilarating, all at once. Many of you who will read this may share the same sentiments, or have entirely different ones – perhaps for some it was a breeze…….looking back at the highlights worth sharing……accompanying AOW divers on a trip to the Hilma Hooker and then having the opportunity to help Netto rescue a baby Flamingo unable to escape the wind and waves was a memorable event. Holding the fragile bird in my arms as we returned to dock, it’s heart pounding and tired head laying across my arm, struck me as a marked difference from my days in raptor rehab – I was happy to have Jack take me to deliver the orphan to Marlis (of Sail and Canvas fame), who welcomed it with open arms. Deciding what represented a “notable” point of interest in my mapping exercise, documented on a teeny weeny slate was challenging…..and deciphering my cryptic notations even worse! But I was able to utilize artistic license and create a passable navigational tool ……which I utilized for an Orientation Dive with a crew of six that decided to join me…..kind of…..it was a bit like herding cats…….A very distressing observation of “reef crawlers” occurred at the end of my mapping exercise – watching in horror as this motley crew of about 10 divers banged over the reef ……this group was in desperate need of a buoyancy and reef etiquette workshop.

Divemaster Dara - Cont Part 2
Then there were the Dive Briefings, working at the development of “Demonstration Quality Skills” working with Ditte and her OW Referrals and a particularly humorous moment which caused me to laugh out loud, flood my mask and get water up my nose – as an ‘un-announced’ exercise Roger signaled that we would swap gear and then head in….so off came the BC’s, reg’s swapped and each of us left to struggle into the other’s gear….as I fumbled to find the velcro attachments and the quick release snap I was feeling like a small child playing dress-up in my mother’s clothes, shuffling along in shoes 5 times too big for my feet…….then I looked up to see Roger swimming off, tugging down on the cummerbund of my BC, which didn’t reached around him – he was looking like a man trying to squeeze into a child’s sweater……it just made me burst out laughing…..when we got to the surface – he scrunched his face up and said “AND you have a custom fit mouthpiece, too!” ……….this moment will remain forever fixed in my memory! By lunch on the sixth day, my head was swimming, my eyes glazed over and I didn’t believe I could absorb even one more snippet of information…….I am not sure I benefited from anything that afternoon – I just remember over and over saying to myself : “Stay focused!!! Pay Attention!!!”……I was doubting that I would be able to remember anything for the written exam the following day……..but after a run along the water and an Amstel my clarity returned and I was able to regain my composure. Whew! After a final “rescue of an unresponsive diver at the surface” exercise…complete with “oh no, I think I have a jellyfish is my wet suit – which momentarily revived the unresponsive victim” ……...I was a free woman…….off to Sorobon to ride the wind!

My last few days were spent trying to UNWIND….amazing just how tight the springs can get before you realize they are on the verge of spontaneously becoming unwound……….so I dedicated my treasured last days to morning dives and hanging out and windsurfing in the afternoons – nothing like a good stiff breeze to clear your head. I went out to Jibe City with Juni and reconnected with Tonki, Christian, Ronald…Rubin…a great group of talented boarders. It was cool to hear about all the hardware that came home with them from Orlando last month. If only I could handle a board the way they do….IN MY DREAMS! I dropped them off to surf at Baby Beach and then kicked myself all the way back to Sorobon for having left my telephoto lens in it’s case…… got some good shots of them surfing, but no close-ups. Edwin Bonne was over from Curacao taking video, which we all assembled to watch at City Café, along with footage from the 2000 Regatta at Sorobon – awesome and inspiring footage!!!!

I was able to spend some time with Ellen, cruising the north end of the island…cameras in hand. It was great to spend the afternoon touring, visiting and then end up at their place on Playa, watching the evening slowly creep in…… Captured some good reference shots for painting…..made a tour through Rincon for the same purpose – to capture the local flavor of life on Bonaire. Bonaireans are passionate about soccer….but as with other things, it is played on island time…..I watched the Habitat team score another victory, after the game finally got underway. While it was scheduled to start at 8, the teams didn’t coalesce until about 8:45…….but it seems everyone is patient about this and just lets things go as they will, visiting in the meantime, watching the kids having their own imaginary soccer game.……hanging out. When the game did start, the wind was stiff, the field raised a storm of dust at every step….so different from the grass fields I’m used to……and then there was Easter and all of the locals disappeared. Turns out that the local custom is to camp at the beach over Easter weekend and indeed that’s where they were……..enjoying the glorious weather and companionship of a makeshift beach community………when I was growing up, Memorial Day weekend was the first holiday that turned our dunes at Glenn, on the shores of Lake Michigan, into an unruly tent community and I thought of this and smiled.

And then there was diving…..This trip is characterized by a single theme - HUGE. The Grand-daddy of all Spiny Lobsters at Bachelor’s Beach (made up for the absence of bachelor’s at this site:- )…”OMIGAWD” was the only thing that came to mind. I watched this guy for almost 10 minutes and determined his antenna was as long as my arm….the book says max size 2 ft – he had to be close to that ….I ended up doing 14 dives at Reef Scientifico because of DM Certification but it was never a disappointment….Found both the red and grey Frogfish several times, visited the garden eels dancing in the sand, discovered a multitude of varying jellies and siphonophores, encounted a pod of Dolphins passing through, saw a Porcupine fish have it’s mouth cleaned by three striped gobies residing on a small brain coral, watched a Batwing Crab greedily devoure the buttery colored meat of a black urchin, found a slipper lobster blending into the background of dead coral he was perched on – beady black eyes his only give-away, got used to the constant company of a tarpon who I gradually came to think of as my ‘‘wingman” and encountered the same old battle-scarred Spotted Moray on three separate occasions – then there were the Great Barracuda – there one moment, watching, gone the next. A few more on the BIG list: Yellow Fin Grouper at Forest lurking in a channel at about 100 ft – cautiously, curiously observing us; a free swimming Green Moray, maybe 5 ft, bearing the scars of his many years, cruising along the reef at Weber’s Joy; a yellow/green Seahorse on a small brown rope sponge at Ol Blue – again larger than I’ve seen before…..and the Big 3 Parrotfish – Midnight, Blue and Rainbow………then there were the small fishes, the creatures and the corals and sponges newly discovered…..

Divemaster Dara - Conclusion
I stayed at Yacht Club Apts across from Harbor Villlage –inexpensive, conveniently located and adequate for my simple needs. Joined Jake, Linda, Caren, Franz, Kelly & Linda, Michelle and Dennis for a nice meal at Old Inn – good Indonesian cuisine, BIG portions (the theme – HUGE - continues). Also had dinner at It Rains Fishes with a new-found friend from Hanover; food okay, service S-L-O-W; thank goodness Julia and I enjoyed each other’s company!…. I rented a truck through Total Car Rental for the last few days of my trip. Travel down was smooth; returning I was delayed in Curacao and missed my Miami connection – but ALM provided a voucher for a room and I went straight to work from Miami upon my return…… travel hick-ups are part of the adventure. Reacclimatizing has been tough - the office is feeling way too small and confining after two weeks of life with an ‘open air’ orientation……I am thankful that I left in winter and returned to spring….and even more grateful that I’ll be back on island in a few short weeks.

Wonderful report -- and true to form, Fabulous, Talented, Divemaster Dara!

Like ditto (not that I'm a dittohead), great report, Dara. I am seriously jealous and I think I hate you, especially since your fixun to go back. I see you got to spend some time with Ellen, that must have been fun. Sounds like a great trip, now where's the pictures.

Dara...thank you thank you...I will be thinking about you on thanksgiving...

Dara, congrats on completing your "DiveMaster" certification. What a fabulous 14 days & like Cecil, I too am extremely envious & jealous!!! When are you going back to Bonaire? We are in the process of planning our next trip but not sure when it will be.

Thanks again for the great report!!!!
JoAnn

Way to go, Divemaster Dara! You probably have no idea how we were all cheering for you, and watching for news from you. Whew, you are the only one I have heard from so far who had to work so hard on Bonaire. Not that I feel sorry for you, of course (grin) Thanks for the report!

Thanks to all, again, for the virtual support!

Michael, you're welcome for the stuffing. I stopped by a couple times and only found the dogs at home....although they promised to deliver the goods, I was skeptical! I decided the mailbox was probably safer!

C'mon, Cecil, green is so unbecoming a Navy dude - and now that I say that, I can't remember for sure if you were a Navy dude!!! Submariner, yes...tell me I'm not losing my mind!

Hazel....I did take a long string of silver sequins with me and when I got to Small Wall I remembered that I forgot to remember to put them in my backpack (*^##%$*&@$#) .....but there's always next time....let's see, 24 days and counting (gloat, gloat - yes, I am being EVIL!!)

I finished a small watercolor of Boca Onima that I started after my island tour with Ellen....next on the docket is Ol Blue, maybe in oils......sorry, no digi-pix, my camera is an antique!

Dara,
I am clapping for you and your hard work and
your accomplishment and your outstanding
trip report -- and I don't even "know" ya (which
is only partly true, 'coz YOU are so in your
descriptions of your time on Bonaire, and in
your paintings)!

Will you post pics of the paintings that you've
finished? I loved the ones I saw awhile back
before we went on island in March.

I would do dives with you for sure - but first I
have to get certified (and get past my block
after my first PAINFUL open water test so
many moons ago on Moorea), huh? To think,
I will have to go back and review everything
again, and start all over - I think it would be
well worth it though!

Dara -

Congrats on the DM rating! Nice to meet you at Old Inn Restaurant.

Michelle

Dara, congratulations. As a Divemaster in Training I understand the work that went into it. Again...Congrats and good luck.

Hi Dara! Congrats and thanks for a great trip report. You provided terrific images ..one thing, tho... I never saw a pic of you wearing a hat like mine. Hope you didn't leave it on a plane somewhere!

You guys are makin' me blush!

Nancy GO FOR IT, GIRLFRIEND!!!!

Tim GET UP A GOOD HEAD OF STEAM AND PRESS ON!!

Ginny, von Cookieland, the hat was with me, but it was off having other adventures while I was running out to flash my sweaty smile in front of the street cam......it's a long way from the Salina to the street cam running into the wind all the way....or would that be into the wind all the way back....or into the wind no matter which way you go?????

Yes to the wind no matter which way you go! But I guess without it, Bonaire would be unbearably hot. The first time we went to Bonaire, my husband asked the lady at the car rental counter if it is always this windy...and she said what wind...LOL. No we have learned!

Ginny, that's hilarious. I once commented to the staff at Sorobon about the wind, and they also seemed not to feel it the way we did. And that is where everyone windsurfs! Maybe if Bonaireans visited me in the Willamette Valley, for example, they would miss the wind and say, "is the air always this still?" It's all about what you're used to! :-)

I actually need to figure out what hat to bring, and time is running out!

Another thing we have learned in multiple trips to tropical islands, including Bonaire, is don't bother with those adorable staw hats for tropical locales...unless they have a "tie down." Even on islands less windy than Bonaire, you really want something that stays "stuck." I typically travel with a broad-brimmed canvas hat that has a leather string if needed, as well as a crushable nylon & goretex brimmed hat, also with a string. for on the dive boats. And a baseball style cap just in case - but those blow off really easily.