Hi all,

Dan and I decided that because of the tight schedule of our move of the WebCams, which will start June 28th, and because the ReefCam needs to go back to the U.S. for a cleaning with the makers of the camera hardware before we reinstall it (and Dan needs to bring it back down with him on June 28th), we'll (well, me actually - any volunteers to help?) be taking the ReefCam out of the water tomorrow morning (June 13th), along with the cable for the ReefCam.

The other WebCams will remain running until June 20th.

Sorry about the short notice, but with FedEx to the U.S. taking a few days, we figure the company that makes the titanium housing for the ReefCam will probably need a week to examine the camera and service it. Our ReefCam is the longest they have ever had a camera stay submerged, and we suspect they will want to see how well it fared internally (and externally, for that matter!).

Jake

Jake, What is the new location for the reef cam? I'm curious as I hope to be back to Bonaire in next year and would like to dive it one time. I missed it at small wall in January.

Somewhere off shore from Eden Beach Resort. I going over there this morning to scout locations.

Please see the other threads about Saving the WebCams in this topic area for details why...

Jake

So today we have to say good bye and farewell to Charlotte. She will be missed but hopefully will be replaced with many new friends at Eden Beach.

Will we still be able to view the web cam archives when the cams have been moved? I dived the reef cam from Captain Dons (and wore my buddy out in the process) and have visited the street cam and I like to look back now and then to see where I've been and what I'm missing!

Michael...all the answers are on the pages about the cams.....click on the "7", last week on the bottom of this page and most likely every question you have will be under a topic with "web cams" in the title And, yes, the archives will still be available!

Yikes! So that means I need to STOP CLEANING THE HOUSE IMMEDIATELY and watch the reefcam ALL DAY to get a goo fix before tomorrow! Yikes! I have tears in my eyes at the thought of not seeing Charlotte anymore Since she has been a permanent fixture for 4 years...waaaaaaa!!!!

I did email WannaDive yesterday and told them to please pick a good spot where there would be some resident fish to keep us occupied...hee hee...good luck on the scouting Jake, and look forward to pictures

Cynde, all,
I think Charlotte, Pierre, Picasso, Satch and all other reefcam dwellers will follow the new cam location. They so much love to appear on the cam they will move too. Want to bet ? Just wait and you'll see I am right :o)
Ok, tomorrow the reefcam will be black, but it is just for a little while. Just think to the day it will rebirth :o)

It will be sad to see this cam go but I am looking forward to the new.

I am sure Charlotte, Bluebeard, Chubby and gang will follow. Remember, the said Hi to me when I was snorkeling in Cuba!

Michael,

The archives remain.

Folks, I did the survey dive today, and it looks like we've found a good location at Eden Beach for the ReefCam, near the wreck of the Baka Di Laman yacht. The only issue is that it will be right at 60' of depth.

Here are some pictures from that dive (most were wide angle without flash, so I apologize in advance for the poor colors.


This shows where the mooring block with the ReefCam will be placed, and where it will view the upper end of the wreck.



This shows approximately what the ReefCam will see (hopefully) when we install it.



Here's a close-up of what's at the upper end of the wreck closest to where the ReefCam will be mounted.



The cable from the ReefCam is going to go up the closest column of the pier pictured here, which is a straight shot in from the wreck, about 150' away along the benthos.



Nearby are a pair of Frogfish (male on left, female on right)



Also saw a first for me - two coronetfish swimming together.



And, last but not least, one of four scorpion fish in the shallows - all within about 6 feet of each other.


Jake

Jake, perfect spot! We get to look at a wreck all day I love it! Is that pier at Eden or WannaDive? Thanks for the fantastic pics (love the frogfish couple)

The pier is on Eden Beach's beach. WannaDive's shop is located about 150 feet to the south/right of the pier, looking from the water. All one happy family :-)

Jake

Jake, just went to Eden's website and can see the pier, and the corner of WannaDive Will it be more "complicated" to put the reefcam at 60feet? I know, like you have time to answer our busy questions...no rush on the answer...but curious minds here Now, get back to packing!

Fantastic pics Jake! Looks like a great spot! Thanks for posting!

Maybe 60 feet will provide a better buoyancy range for divers which means less dammage for baby coral :o)

Jake,

Being that we will be on the island from 30 June - 15 July and Ed being an electronics tech, I'm sure he will be willing to help re-install the reefcam!! Believe me he wants a reason to get into the water! He is ready willing and able!

Liz

As Martine points out, 60 feet will actually be better from a buoyancy perspective. However stringing the cable to the mooring block will take more air (scuba) than the current 8-10 feet the ReefCam is current at :-)

The biggest issue will probably be orienting and positioning the mooring block just right for the view we want to achieve, as there's about a 10-15 degree slope at the target site.

Jake

Oh, and one more thing - I'm told there occasionally a current there. So we may have to install some sort of handhold / floating bar / something to assist people in posing in a current - though I can't imagine it being nearly as bad as the surge in the shallows where the ReefCam is now.

Jake

Liz,

Ed's help would be greatly appreciated for all the WebCam work - ReefCam work included, especially as Dan may not be able to dive due to lingering sinus problems, but also land based stuff...

Jake

That location looks perfect, great choice. We hopefully will have better visibility and maybe some bigger critters. We'll see and looking forward to it.

Awesome spot Jake and thanks for the great pictures. Looking forward to checking it out in late summer. I like the idea of a hold bar as I remember my first checkout dive with Wannadive when the current was ripping there (well, ok, ripping for Bonaire!)

Jake (and Dan et al)...

Thank you so much for all your hard work on getting a new home for the reefcam. I think the new spot is brilliant and I hope it works out like you planned it. I guess I never checked to see what the housing on the cam was rated to. I always assumed it was only water tight to about 30' or so (don't know where that came from).

The wreck should make an interesting backdrop and give the divers something else to look at when they get there. I figured it would be on a dock or something, but the deeper location makes a lot more sense.

Someday we'll make it back to Bonaire for our third trip. You can bet we'll be staying at Eden Beach and the web cams have a lot to do with that. It may be a while as most of our spare income is going towards daycare right now (2 kids - ages 2 1/2 and 9 months). Hopefully the cams will be up and running long enough for us to get in front of them again.

Michael

Jake, the spot looks great! I wish I could be there to help...

Jake, Great location choice!!!

Ditto to Susan's remark, the current can "rock" there. If the moored boats are pulling their lines taught we usually enter at the far right (facing ocean) of the beach and drift to the boat. Easy dive!

FYI, on every dive at this site for the past three years, my dive partners and I have seen at least one scorpion fish - usually smaller ones.

Again, great choice!!

Tom

Nice location for the cams Jake. Myself and several others are going to be down on July 3. I will have 2 communications techs and a civil engineer with me and I am sure we would be willing to donate a day to the cause if you can use the help. If there is anything I can bring for you, drop me an email.

Michael,

The underwater camera we use is designed for use on ROVs, and with its Titanium housing, is rated to 5000 meters, 60 fsw is a walk in the park.

Herman - Thanks for the offer, but I'm hoping that by July 3rd we're done.

I'm about to head into the water now to take the ReefCam out, as well as the cable. Wish me luck! (I have nice heavy gloves with me so that I can manage all the fire coral growing on the cable...)

Jake

Great! We will see you when we get down. We'll stop by. You will probably be in the new house as we arrive the 30th. He is really excited. Should be good time had by all!

Liz

So Bart got his pier built at Eden. Last October it was still in the permit stage. Does anyone have the picture of the pier. Where is it in relation to the waterfront building on the north end of the Eden property.

The reef came is now temp shut down looked at 8:54 and no more reef cam. But lets think of positive the new location is going to be even better.

8:56 looks like Jake coming out of water on beach cam south.

Jake. I just love the new location for the cam. Maybe we will get to see a larger variety of fish, and also do we get to see a new reef in the making from the wreck. I am really looking forward to this one. Annie B.

Jake, It looks like a great location and I'll look forward to diving it!

Thanks for the great pics Jake. Seems like a great spot for the cam. Maybe you can post some more pics every now and then until the reef cam is back up and running? It helps with the PBB.

John S. - the pier is almost half-way between the Bongo and WannaDive.

Here are some pics of the pier from early last week.







Jake

Thanks Jake.

I have one too

Jake, is that white roof thing on the left of the pier in your picture Bongo's?

Jake and Bob. Thanks for posting the beach pictures. I really like the look of the place. Guess I know where I will be staying if I ever get to go to Bonaire. Annie B.

Ohh, bye reefcam , but what a great location you find, Jake. That makes us even more addicted, with wrack-view Hope it all works out.

Yes Cynde.

Annette - it's not a matter of "if", just "when" you and Trevor will get here :-)

Jake

Jake & Dan...count Roger and I in to help with the project...let us know where and when
Roger & Karen Huff

Jake, I need info on how to email money... I can't seem to get on Paypal....is there a trick? Steve's email is Drstevestu@hotmail.com my email/computer is down again! Sad day! Gonna miss Charlotte and the bunch...the dogs, kids and of course you guys! Good luck with the move! Better days are coming! Thanks for the Memories!!!!

Meryl, go Go here for the address to send checks...I couldn't get the paypal thing to work either

Jake, I don't think I can hold my breath for 60 feet! Waaa Waaaaa You picked a great location and I look forward to seeing all the fish life around the wreck on the cams!

Gee, I think the paypal thing worked for me...I got a receipt...wonder what that is about...Sounds like the collections are coming along!

Sounds so exciting! Thanks for the update and pics, Jake!

Great spot Jake, Thx!
Wow, wreck-viewing on Bonaire, I cannot get better
Looking 4ward 2 all the new critters.
Thx. 4 the pictures!

Thanks Cynde...Check on its way this week!
Gonna miss the ole critters...but the entry, the beach and Bongo's will make it a whole new adventure....and what a place for BT get togethers and mutual dives! Bongo's even has a dance floor and music....should be some good upcoming events! SOOOOOOOOO glad everything is working out...again, congratulations Jake and Co. and hope your move goes smoothly.

Jake

There are stacks of fish and a large variety just down from the beach at about 4 metres. An ideal place for a reef cam.

I can't see the picture you tried to post, but based on your picture description (e.g. House Rubble), I would guess that this would be in front of the old Sunset Beach Hotel.

Jake

Sorry Jake,

I thought I had cancelled my post, as the image was 52k. Its now within limits and shows a typical day just under the buoy a few metres south of the Eden Beach pier. It is often teeming with life and is an ideal spot for snorkelling as well as for divers returning to shore.

There won’t be many snorkelling or free divers at the wrecked yacht. It would be a shame to exclude them.

Regards Dave

Hi David,

At first I had the same idea as you have.
That's why I thought that under the pier would be a good place. Ton's of fish and other critters, a tarpoon too.

But maybe that would be a to vulnerable place for the camera. Some reckless youth might damage it.
When the camera is 60 ft underwater, that risk will reduce significantly.

There are also a few other issues to deal with at a location such as the one you suggest, as we've learned from having the camera in shallow water:

1) Boats tying off on the mooring when they are not supposed to. There won't be a mooring buoy attached at the new location, I think.

2) Lots of glare from sunlight reflected off the shallow rubble messing with the auto-contrast of the lens.

3) Lots more algal growth because of available sunlight requiring more maintenance.

4) Rubble is kind of a boring backdrop.

5) As Bob mentions, vandalism is a very real possibility when it's shallow in an accessible location.

The other issue of the location you mention is that it is very steep. Our mooring block wouldn't need much water action to simply slide down the slope.

Yes - the new location will make it inaccessible to snorkelers and non-advanced skin divers (a very experienced or trained skin diver can make it to 60' and hang there for a minute), but it will also overcome most of the issues I listed above.

Jake

Jake, I thought you were moving.
Is everything ready?

Now I will have to do some training to freedive to 60ft You challenged me :-)

(Message edited by bpsmits on June 17, 2004)

:Is everything ready?

Not even close :-(

Jake

Jake just left to meet up with the Marine Park to move the mooring block. I think it will be happening this morning so you should see some activity on the BeachCams.

Hi Jake ,

excellent choice on the location !

Good luck on the moving , I hated it every single time we had to .

Say hi to Niki for me.

sjosss

dang , bossman calls again .
sjosss

Looks like the mooring is in route now!!!


Jake - the new spot for the cams!!! Just one question - with the mooring moving - what is going to happen to Charlotte - is she following to it's new location!?!?!? Isn't that her home!?!?!?

So they ARE moving the mooring block! WHAT ABOUT CHARLOTTE...I know, the least of your concerns at this point...did you put her in a baggie aka Nemo style to move her or lock her in her home????

Cynde - the mental pictures of that is too much!!!!LOL!!!!