svbeachhouse

Category: 2008 – 2009 Mazatlan – Revilligegedos Islands – Central Mexico – Central America – Costa Rica to Galapagos Islands Blog

  • Isla San Benedicto – Day 18

    Dear F&F,
    January 3, 2009 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

    We woke up at 6:30 am with an alarm, wanting to take an early dive. The sun does not rise until about 7:00 am. The dawn was spectacular & I was thrilled to be here & be alive from the moment my eyes opened. There were mantas all around the boat. When they are at the surface they are feeding & it has been our experience that they are not so interested in playing with us. We had a cup of tea, yogurt & suited up. We went in the dinghy out to our usual 25 foot mound, anchored & dove. We saw dolphins underwater, a white tip reef shark & a hammerhead all briefly. No mantas underwater. We came back to the boat, showered, had a breakfast of turkey chorizo with scrambled eggs & tortilla chips.

    Chuck radioed us that there were mantas all around our 2 boats. We jumped in with snorkel gear. Scott took his still camera without the strobes (less to swim with & since we were at the surface there was enough light not to need the flash). He took 100 photos. I touched one on its wing. There were up to 4 all around us at a time. But they were focused on feeding & not into playing. They didn\’t seem to mind us near them; just sort of ignored us.

    Scott & Chuck drove the dinghies while Linda & I snorkeled to \”turtle point\” where they have seen turtles many times. Linda made me a sign \”Happy Birthday Cindy\” that she took underwater. It was very sweet. No turtles today, but it was nice swim.

    We had the tanks pumped up & all the gear ready to go, so decided to go back to the 25 foot mound for a dive. We had \”Buttercup\” do a \”fly by\” right away but then she was gone. We saw 3 hammerheads cruise by. Two different white tip reef sharks, a free swimming green moray eel, lots of fish. I said hello to my lobsters & my little zebra striped fish that lives in the black urchin. Just when we were considering to surface because of no mantas visiting, one swims near. But it was a tease, not really interested in us. So I finally upped the anchor & of course a manta torments us just below as we are doing our safety stop.

    We got back in the dinghy & are heading to the boat. Mantas are everywhere on the surface. Scott gives me a gift & tells me I can go snorkel with them while he drives the dinghy & follows me. I had a \”virtual ride\” on one. I had swam near its eye many times so it saw me & knew I was there. Then I swam just on top of it, like a hovercraft. I was timid to actually grab on since I didn\’t have a tank & was panting so hard from excitement I knew I could not hold my breath long if it submerged. But what a thrill just to swim right on top of this giant & gorgeous animal. I was in heaven. It was every bit as wonderful as my ride. I finally fatigued of kicking to keep up with it, so just floated & watched it swim away.

    When we got the gear all rinsed, both showered, had a snack & a celebratory glass of Whitehaven (one of our last 3 bottles!), Chuck comes on the radio that mantas are very near our boat. I run outside & am in awe to see 3 more right near us on the surface. Before today, we had not seen so many for so many hours of the day. It was very special. The water had a lot of jellyfish, not stinging & other clear interesting looking floating critters called \”Venus\’s Purse\” (a type of pelagic jelly fish). So there is lots of nutrients that brought the mantas to the surface to feed today. We don\’t know, but we have certainly enjoyed their company.

    Scott & Cindy

    Linda has instructed me to \”take a nap & go to the spa\” before dinner which is hilarious. I am so excited from our day, I could not nap if you paid me. I am considering whether to trim my bangs or not which is about all the primping I will do. Scott is looking at the photos he took while we were snorkeling which had more manta opportunities than diving.

    Chuck & Linda of \”Jacaranda\” hosted a fabulous birthday dinner. Linda is cooked Chicken Cordon Blue & garlic mashed potatoes. She didn\’t want me to bring a thing, but when I insisted that my romaine will not last any longer, she agreed I could bring a salad. After dinner she brought out a \”Manta Cake\” with 2 candles, one each on its cephalopods (you could google manta cephalopod to see what I am talking about – hard to describe). It was chocolate cake with frosting & biscotti for the remoras & piece of chocolate stick for the tail, adorable! I was very touched. We devoured the cake, cutting it down to a juvenile size. She sent us home with the extra. A gracious host & hostess, I felt bad leaving them with a sink full of dishes when at our last dinner, she washed all of mine. But they insisted I was to be the birthday queen & not lift a finger.

    So you can rest assured I have had a very Happy Birthday. I am already scheming of how & when we can return to this magical place. It is more than we imagined or could have ever dreamed up. All of Terry\’s glowing stories are true. We are so jazzed that our permits last until the end of January, because we probably will stay that long.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Isla San Benedicto – Day 16-17…..

    Dear F&F,
    January 1 & 2, 2009

    Jeronimo (panga driver for Solmar V) showed us another mound. Not too much action, so we cut that site short & went to our tried & true 25 foot mound. As I was handing Scott his camera he noticed a few drops of water inside the housing. His heart sank. Dive over. We zoom back to \”Beach House\” in the dinghy, Scott gingerly holding his camera to hopefully prevent any drips from splashing & doing potential damage. Fortunately, it was just the slightest leak and came in through the front port ring with only 1/8 teaspoon of water. No harm, no foul!…..

    Jeronimo invited us aboard \”Solmar V\” to meet the Captain, Gerardo Pazos. We were to come over at 7:30 pm. We had eaten our dinner early, about 5:00 pm, but luckily it was small portions of steak & steamed carrots.

    Then at 7:00 pm he hailed us on the radio to come right away because the chef had invited us for dinner. He explained that they only had room for 2 people, so Chuck & Linda were not included. We swung by their boat to pick up their trash since \”Solmar V\” was willing to take it.

    We were welcomed by Jeronimo & Captain Pazos. We tied our dinghy up to their big boat & went aboard. As we entered the large & lovely saloon I had the feeling that we had just entered a restaurant. We were warmly welcomed by the group of 20 divers sitting down to dinner. Jeronimo quickly settled us at a table for two and took our drink order. What an unexpected experience to have out here in the middle of nowhere! When he offered champagne I had to say yes, being New Years Day & all… And it wasn\’t just some unknown Mexican brand, it was Moet & Chandon White Star! We felt like we were at a fancy restaurant, which actually we were. Salad came next, followed by a generous portion of delicious beef with portobello mushroom sauce & a baked potato. We ate dinner (all over again) with such relish, you would have thought we\’d been starving on this deserted island!

    Half of their divers were from Massachusetts, 6 from Japan, we met a couple from Florida & another from Austin, Texas. Chip & Susan Scarlet, from Austin, are kindred spirits in their passion for the mantas here. Scott & Chip talked photography & Scott had since been suffering from a bit of camera gear envy ever since. New strobes may be on the next shopping list. One of the gals from Massachusetts has been diving out here on this boat 6 times. That is quite a tribute to the good service of the \”Solmar V\” crew and the consistent abundance of sea life seen here.

    Scott & I in the past, did 4 trips on this type of live aboard dive boat (Palau, Solomon Islands, Red Sea, and Belize). You fly a long distance, you are with a group of usually quite experienced divers, many that are underwater photographers, and you don\’t miss any of the 4 dives per day because this is your 1 or 2 week vacation for that year. We had a good time & Scott got great photos, but there was a hectic feel to the pace, no privacy or chance to relax. We prefer being alone on our own floating home, knowing we can go where we want and stay as long as we want. Scott can pursue his art at his own pace. We are daily grateful for of the luxury of time that we now have as we travel.

    Contrary to our surmising that the mantas were steering clear of the large diving groups, we heard that they had great manta encounters on most of their dives. We now conclude that the mantas love the paparazzi and only after the large boats leave are they content to model for just the one remaining photographer. Those hussies!

    While dessert was served they showed a video on the big screen of whales. Jeronimo had taken the topside footage and a past dive guest contributed with underwater film taken in the spring of 2006. It showed a mother & baby humpback whale that allowed close interaction with snorkelers. It was so touching & beautiful. The music playing along was sweet: \”Lady In Red\”, \”You are So Beautiful to Me\”, \”Sorry is the Hardest Word\” & and ya gotta love this one – \”You Take My Breath Away\”. Jeronimo told us that this particular mother & baby stayed in the Roca Partida area for nearly a month. So 3 trips of their divers got to experience these amazing creatures. Chuck has talked to cruisers down in Puerto Vallarta that have sighted whales with babies already. So we are keeping our eyes peeled for any sightings. And their song, when you can hear it, is unmistakable.

    Jeronimo showed us many of his photos from different trips. Including some shots of Scott & I both on \”Beach House\” & suited up for diving in our dinghy. He burned a CD of jpgs for us. (SEE PHOTO GALLERY, WILL BE POSTED WHEN WE GET TO SHORE SIDE INTERNET) In return as thanks, we will gave him a CD of manta photos and some hammerhead sharks.

    I personally thanked the humble chef for sharing his delicious cooking. He was pleased with our enthusiasm. I inquired if he had any extra vanilla to spare, presenting my own empty bottle. He pulled out his large bottle, half full & gave me the whole amount. Yippee! More flavorful coffee & cocoa can still be had. We didn\’t return to our boat until 10:30 pm. We had such a lovely & unexpected evening out.

    Jan 2, 2009
    Today would have been Suzanne (Scott\’s Moms), 72nd birthday. A very mixed emotion day. It\’s hard to believe she\’s been gone two years.

    We awoke to find \”Nautilus Explorer\” also anchored here this morning, so both big boats here again. Apparently they don\’t coordinate their schedules, which seems weird to us. The one item we had not yet scored from \”Solmar V\” was diesel. By the time we left last night, the captain was already in his quarters so Jeronimo advised Scott return in the morning to ask. As soon as Scott saw activity onboard this morning he zoomed over in our dinghy. The captain said the engineer, who would decide, was still asleep, but that he should return in 1 hour. He returned with 4 empty five gallon jugs. It took some doing for the engineer to drain diesel out of their big tanks into our jugs, but he did it gladly. He would not take our pesos, but wrote down information on how to email the manager of the company to ask if & how we should make payment. Some days later we got a reply that he was happy that the crew could help us & that it was his gift. We are greatly impressed with their friendship & generosity.

    Chuck & Linda were thrilled that we shared half the diesel with them, as they do not have much carrying capacity.

    Scott was tired from staying up late, getting up early & zooming back & forth to \”Solmar V\” schlepping diesel. He is also melancholy as today is Suzanne\’s birthday. When I suggested we just \”stay in\” today, he agreed. I am catching up on writing and he is beginning to edit his video footage. Linda saw 4 mantas, turtles, an eel & lots of fish while snorkeling this morning. I may join her in the afternoon if she goes again.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Isla San Benedicto – Days 13-15…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 29, 30, 31 2008

    We awoke to see the 2nd dive boat anchored. It must have come in during the night, so both commercial boats are here diving this morning. We went by each in our dinghy to be friendly. Jeronimo on \”Solmar V\” does above water photography & is really interested in seeing some of Scott\’s manta photos. He has a dream of publishing a photography book some day. We invited Jeronimo onboard our boat, but he was busy working. Perhaps another time.

    The manta Scott has named \”Buttercup\” was there to greet us right away on the morning dive. Scott is in heaven at how this manta poses for the camera. A wildlife photographers dream come true! \”Freckles\” came in for a cameo. The other highlight was a huge school of shiny silver foot long jacks. The school was 25 feet high & about 20 feet wide. I swam into their midst which is always fun.

    Scott was bummed to see all his photos from yesterday afternoon were a bit \”soft\”, he forgot to use an \”extension ring\” on the wide angle dome. Fortunately, it\’s still pretty good. He is reviewing the morning results & pleased that he corrected the problem. Out of 65 shots, he is happy with at least half. That is pretty good odds. He is getting fast at the editing. Many are \”web ready\” when we next get to high enough speed internet location.

    I squeeze in emails whenever I get a minute & try to send them during daylight since that is the only time we can connect for free via ham radio. Scott has been letting me connect again in the evening via the satellite phone since he likes to upload weather information to see how the forecast is. The lumpy seas should be decreasing in the next couple of days. Last night I was awake from 2:45 to 4:00 am. I stayed in bed even though I was pretty hungry. I think we are burning a lot of calories. It is impossible to get an accurate weight on the scale with the boat bouncing around. Scott is somewhere between 224 & 214 lbs (we are hoping on the lighter end). Usually when we are off the dock he loses a pound a week. Breakfast is usually at 7:30 am, lunch 11:30-noon, I am often hungry for dinner by 4:30 pm, so will at least snack if not just eat dinner that early.

    December 30, 2008 – Day 14

    This morning we saw \”Buttercup\”, but she really kept her distance. We can\’t help but imagine that the reef being overrun yesterday with 40 divers (between the 2 commercial boats) sort of bothers them. We didn\’t swim after her. We just floated in our usual area & she circled us but did not come close as she did before. \”Freckles\” made another cameo appearance. We saw 1 white tip reef shark. Scott got some good photos of my lobsters. They are so cute!

    I was chilly from the moment I entered the water today. The water is the same 80 degrees it has been all along, but I think over time with this much submersion, our core temperature drops just a bit. I indulged in a longer hot shower, made hot tea, hot soup for lunch & used my geeky looking beanies for the 2nd dive. I\’d been trying to be more fashionable for Scott\’s photos with my neoprene headband, but looking nerdy is better than being cold.

    In the afternoon we took Chuck for his turn on scuba. We had seen lots of mantas swimming on the surface so we were excited. The visibility was very murky & there was practically no current. There is more action when the current is flowing. It was one of the most uneventful dives we\’ve had here yet. We swam out to the place we\’d seen hammerheads before, but if they were there, we certainly couldn\’t see them in the murky blue. So we swam back to our 25 foot mound & just hung around waiting for one of our friendly mantas to appear. Chuck did just fine on scuba & we all had plenty of air to be patient. Sure enough one manta swam over our reef, but didn\’t stick around long at all. It was not \”Buttercup\”. After 50 minutes total dive time we went up. Chuck was very gracious, thanking us for the opportunity. We felt bad he didn\’t get to touch one like Linda did.

    The afternoon chore was changing the scuba compressor oil. We use a block & tackle to hoist the 120 lb unit out of its locker in the cockpit (under the bench closest to our sliding door). We support it on the table with the drain plug perched out in space. Scott removes the nut with a 17 mm ratcheting wrench, replace the plug, put new oil, checked the level. Also cleaned air intake filter & did a general check up. When diving, this is one of our most critical pieces of equipment so we make sure to take good care of it. So far it has performed like a champ.

    I make sure to put drying drops in my ears every day or so. I have a tendency to get more clogged (not wax, just water) than Scott & that makes my hearing worse & is annoying. Sometimes I use the hydrogen peroxide, but mostly the \”swimmers ear\” drops work fine. The main ingredient is alcohol.

    We had chicken tacos for dinner. I had defrosted the corn tortillas & pre-cooked chicken at lunch so it was just shred cheese, chop lettuce, opened a can of salsa, put out the sour cream & voila. Creates a lot of dishes to wash but is an overall easy & satisfying dinner.

    The Sirius reception out here has been sketchy so we don\’t get to listen to it much. We love music so I am working on making playlists. Skye used our credit card & bought 5 CDs worth of mp3 songs that we requested from the Sirius Spa & Coffee House stations. By just going through our ITunes master music library & going down my request list I am able to sort out the playlists that I want. The Spa music can really put us in a relaxed & calm mood.

    December 31, 2008 – Day 15

    More fun dives with \”Buttercup\”. She was back to \”her old self\” & very friendly, especially swimming circles around Scott.

    Chuck & Linda came to our boat for New Years Eve. Linda brought a delicious tortilla soup, I made a green salad & tapioca. I was happily surprised that the romaine lettuce, jicama, cucumber, bell peppers & avocado have held up so well. I\’ve lost some tomatoes. I buy the roma type as green as I can, but need to perfect my technique of trying to ripen them in stages. I made a playlist including \”A Linda Song\” (Barry Manilow), \”Chuck E\’s in Love\” (Rickie Lee Jones), and \”Buttercup\” in honor of our most friendly manta who we have nicknamed. Linda made tinfoil manta awards. Scott\’s badge was \”Manta Man\”, mine \”Manta Mermaid\” & Chuck \”Manta Snorkeler\”. It was very sweet & a good time was had by all.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Isla San Benedicto – Day 11…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 27, 2008

    I feel like we are on a spiritual retreat, out here communing with the mantas. We have had so many wondrous experiences in a row. We do not take them for granted & are in complete awe with each creature that ventures near us. We just had another 45 minute highlight encounter. Chuck & Linda tied their dinghy up to ours where we anchored to dive & they snorkeled above us. After we came up & there were just the snorkelers, the same manta that played with us deeper, came up shallow to interact with them. I got back in the water & snorkeled with them while Scott followed us with the 2 dinghies.

    Words cannot express the feelings of love & honor that we feel towards these beautiful beasts. Today\’s playmate was mouth to tail about 6-7 feet long, wing to wing 12 feet wide & we guess the weight is 1200 to 1500 pounds. And yet I feel so safe swimming under, beside, or over them. They really seem to like eye contact. The eyes are a blue grey to cobalt blue. They have an eyelid of sorts. It seems the eye rotates back under a protective flap. Scott has so much video footage that he is now switching to his still camera. He is loving every minute of such cooperative underwater subjects. Fish almost never pose like this! Today\’s manta just circled & circled & circled us, so close, eyeball to eyeball. Absolutely no fear.

    Had lunch, pumped up the tanks & are ready to jump back in for the afternoon\’s possibilities.

    Afternoon Report
    Scott decided it was time to take the still camera in. He has plenty of great video footage to work with. He hasn\’t had much opportunity to use this digital camera & underwater housing up until now. Still photography is his main passion, but more challenging than shooting video. Video can be used in low light without strobes. Most of the time the still camera requires flash when underwater. When using the wide angle lens Scott attaches two hinged arms that each holds a strobe. When extended out fully the rig is 6 feet wide. That is a lot to drag around while swimming underwater. But Scott handles it with expertise.

    As he was assembling his camera & housing he was sending out wishes to the underwater powers that be to have another friendly manta appear. He was not disappointed. I swam to secure the anchor while Scott started taking photos the minute we got down to our favorite 25 foot pinnacle. It was a different animal than the morning manta. Each has distinct markings. It was another very cooperative photography subject. I mostly stayed behind Scott so my bubbles wouldn\’t mess up his pictures. The manta swam circles around Scott giving him 120 opportunities to take breath taking shots. Back in the day when he used film, he got only 36 shots per roll, one roll per dive. Now the limitation is not running out of film, but running low on air. A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will sign off so you may go to the photo gallery and enjoy Scott\’s artwork. THESE PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED WHEN WE GET INTERNET ACCESS IN FEBRUARY, 2009.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Isla San Benedicto – Day 10…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 26, 2008

    It\’s just past noon & we\’ve already had another amazing day. Scott spotted mantas on the surface just inshore of our boat at sunrise. We had a quick cup of tea & hopped in off \”Beach House\” with tanks. Chuck & Linda snorkeled & got to see 3 manta rays & 1 turtle. They were so excited & we were happy for them. We only saw 1 manta on scuba. The visibility was pretty low, still murky from past 2 days of rain & runoff.

    After breakfast we put the dive gear in the dinghy & went out to our 25 foot mound. It is so easy to find now that we have it marked on the GPS of our depth sounder. We put on all the gear, did our backroll and along comes an all black (back) manta. All the mantas are gorgeous, but the all black ones look sleek, stealthy & spectacular. I grabbed the video camera from Scott so he could secure the anchor & while I took some footage. The current wasn\’t strong so I could swim along with the manta while filming. I give Scott tremendous credit for being our resident photographer, because I am not good at this kind of multi-tasking and he is. Framing the manta in the video screen, trying not to hold the camera steady while swimming, watching my depth, avoid swimming head first into a rock, trying to keep an eye on where Scott is. After he had secured the anchor, he came to take the camera duty away from me, but I encouraged him to go ahead & play with Mr. Manta while I continued filming. He had a great time: petting belly, going for a ride. Even grabbed hold of a remora! Chuck & Linda got to watch from the surface while snorkeling. That manta went away & a 2nd one came & played with Scott a long time. Scott had the camera in his hands then so I\’m sure we got some super close ups of its eye, mouth, etc. That one played with us a good 20 minutes. It was nice that they showed up early in the dive, while we had plenty of air. And they stayed pretty shallow the whole time, mostly 30-50 feet.

    After the 2nd manta swam away I went up to the top of our 25 ft mound to say hello to the lobsters. I saw 5 today. They are so cute & silly looking. We are getting very familiar with all the critters on that particular reef.

    Finally it was time to float the anchor up. Cool system Terry taught us: inflate a float bag clipped to the chain & it helps raise the anchor so you don\’t have to muscle it up. We just free drift with the current, holding onto the dinghy line 15 feet down for our safety stop. And here comes the last manta back again. Scott kept a hold of the dinghy while I went to give it more belly rubs & swim eye to eye with him. It is such a privilege. A wild animal, so trusting, so willing to interact with us. Amazing. We are absolutely in awe every time.

    So that was just our morning! It\’s funny, on the one hand we want to rush right back out & do it again. On the other hand we feel so completely fulfilled that we don\’t want to go again. Just savor this experience. We are eager to look at the video footage. So we may or may not go again. We get a bit lazy about it in the afternoon. And there is always tomorrow.

    If we don\’t dive again today, Scott will probably work on editing this video so we can share it with Chuck & Linda. He thinks he got some shots of them on the surface with the manta swimming below. I am sure they will be very excited to see this.

    It is such a luxury to stay here as long as we want. Well until the end of our permit January 31 anyway. It is so much better than those 10 day live aboard dive vacations we used to do. So much more relaxing & I appreciate being on our own & not having to dive in a group. I am sure the animal behavior is different with just the two of us than with 20 divers in the water.

    Afternoon Report
    It was sunny & beautiful this afternoon so I nudged Scott into a 3rd dive. The early dive had been short & shallow & we\’d had plenty of surface intervals between them all, so out we went. To the same spot we had great manta encounters on the pre-lunch dive. Struck it lucky again! Before we even got the anchor secured a giant black velvet came swimming to us. I took over anchor duty to let Scott get to filming right away. We had 20 minutes of circling, swooning, swimming & belly rubs. Neither of us tried to go for a ride. We just enjoyed sharing its habitat & being up close. Then Manta #2 swims into view. So great to see 2 together. The 2nd one was also all black (on top, they all have some white on their bellies with various patches of black that are unique & enable you to ID them). The 1st one led the parade with the 2nd one playing chase. It was incredible to watch them swirl & swoop & each come so close to them we could easily touch them many times. Then they go swimming off into the blue & we float up the anchor & hang out at 15 feet for our safety stop. And wouldn\’t ya know it but #1 comes circling under us again! Oh the limitation of these tanks. Perhaps if we stay long enough we will grow gills!

    Tired, but exhilarated we do our end of the day routine: haul the gear from the dinghy onboard the big boat. Rinse all gear in fresh water bin. Hang up gear to drip dry. Shower. And today make a salad then head over to our neighbors for the evening.

    The wind & waves are in the best possible direction so it was a very good time to be on the monohull. I did not suffer from motion sickness, and discovered we knew mutual boat friends from \”Esmeralda\” and \”Beatrix\”. We had the nightly radio chat with Terry & Dawn (of sailing trimaran Manta) who are cheering us on while we enjoy \”their\” mantas. Another great day at the island.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah….

    Dear F&F,
    December 25, 2008

    Day 9 – San Benedicto Island

    Scott and Linda went out snorkeling this morning & they got to see 2 big turtles. She was very excited.

    Scott & I did only 1 dive today. No mantas. No sharks. But lots of colorful fish & some lobsters & an eel, so always lovely to blow bubbles. It rained in the afternoon & the skies were dark.

    We caught enough rain in our dive gear rinse bin to wash the gear in rainwater – cool. The sky looks \”wintry\” but it is 77 degrees. I am so happy with the warm, but not too hot, weather. It suits me just fine. The prediction is for some stronger winds tomorrow & bigger seas. So it may get less comfy here in the anchorage.

    Lunchtime: I found some hot dogs lurking in the fridge, maybe I opened the package a week ago. A few small white dots washed off easily. Certainly Mexican turkey hot dogs have gobs of preservatives so not too worried about food poisoning…

    The afternoon project was helping Scott tweak the watermaker. The Spectra Newport 1000 is supposed to desalinate 40 gallons an hour. We got the big one so we wouldn\’t have to run the generator a long time to make a good quantity of water. But since he changed the vane pump, the output went down to 20 gallons an hour. No bueno. Kyle provided technical support by email, so Scott knew the potential remedy. He gave me a list of tools he would need & I went to our \”garage\” to fetch them:

    3 Spectra wrenches (cleverly labeled by husband so wife can readily identify them)
    1 crescent wrench (clever wife asks clarifying question: what size? Answer: 6)
    Long phillips head screwdriver
    90 degree hose tool
    Hose clamp tool
    Bucket
    Yellow ratcheting phillips screwdriver

    I tell you, I feel like I win a prize every time I come out of that garage with all the requested items. Knowing which drawers they are in, recognizing the correct item and delivering them to Scott in a timely fashion are just a few of my talents that makes him appreciate me as his boat wife.
    After the adjustment on a difficult to get to screw, we test the unit & have full output. Another successful repair by the roving Spectra Watermaker technician!

    Later on, I put back on my chef hat. From the pantry, I grab the 5th (out of 6) jar of \”Cuban Mojito Sauce\” from Trader Joes to saut with chicken & serve over pasta. I am sad not to have any Christmas CDs onboard & we can\’t get the Sirius radio to play well out here. Scott makes a playlist from our master music hard drive and after discovering the technical difficulty preventing us from hearing anything last night (mute button on the computer), we have a great time listening to Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra and many other wonderful voices belting out Christmas music. Propagation for connecting to ham radio email after dark is lousy. Scott indulges me to connect via satellite phone. (We have a limited number of pre-paid minutes and try to save them for retrieving large weather files and potential emergencies.) Correspondence to and from friends and family make it a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah as well.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Isla San Benedicto – Day 8…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 24, 2008

    Last night about 1 am we awakened to rain coming down on us. We leave the roof hatch open. It stays warm enough at night to use only a sheet or no covering. Certainly no blanket needed. We are actually south of the Hawaiian Islands latitude, so we are truly in \”The Tropics\”. We scurried up, closing hatches all over the boat as fast as we could. We have 20. All of them must be closed to keep the inside of the boat dry when it rains. Wouldn\’t you know, the rain only lasted all of 15 minutes.

    I didn\’t sleep that well afterwards so was a bit slow moving this morning – up at 6:50 am instead of my usual 6:30. Scott hailed Chuck & Linda s/v \”Jacaranda\” on the VHF radio. They have been en route to join us here for 3 days & nights. They were close by & about an hour later we saw them sailing into the anchorage. We let them get their anchor down then buzzed over in our dinghy to welcome them. We knew they would just want to go take a nap so didn\’t visit long.

    We met Chuck & Linda once in the spring when we were at Tenacatita, in coastal central Mexico. Scott has talked to & emailed Chuck a lot since he is sometimes the net controller for the Amigo Net (boaters radio network). We look forward to getting more acquainted. I always enjoy hearing people\’s stories, what led them to pursue this lifestyle. Their boat is a 39 foot monohull & they don\’t carry much diesel which is why they were so slow getting here. They had very light wind for sailing & barely used their engine in order to conserve their fuel. They are hoping to buy some off the dive boats when they return in a few days. The commercial dive boats were so friendly to us, we are sure they will help them out with that if they can.

    Chuck gave us a book on the Revillagigedos with good photos & information about this island, published 1971. There is a great shot of the volcano erupting in 1952 – a fishing boat m/v \”Challenger\” was here to see it! We enjoyed looking at the book over breakfast of scrambled eggs with bacon & the last of my banana/pecan muffins, toasted with cream cheese & jam. Yum!

    We hung the laundry on the outdoor lines, filled dive tanks & were getting ready to start loading the dinghy for our first dive when the sky darkened & the rain came pouring down again. We did the Chinese fire drill, closing all 20 hatches. We decided the laundry could have another fresh water rinse so left it hanging. It is kind of fun to be snug inside, listening & watching the rain pouring. It lasted about an hour. The sun came out a bit, but there are a lot of dark clouds & it is pretty windy still. The underwater visibility is not good during & after rain so we are not diving for the first time since we have been here: 1 week.

    We invited Chuck & Linda for Christmas eve dinner. Linda brought guacamole & crispy tostadas that we used as chips. I\’d had some broccoli that was a bit beyond solo presentation, so made it into soup. Linda\’s wild rice with almonds was a great accompaniment to our steaks.

    The after dinner entertainment was a showing of \”his & her\” manta riding videos. They were inspired & eager to get in the water tomorrow.

    Yesterday, since I knew they were coming, I baked a cake. Yellow cake mix with addition of canned pineapple & toasted coconut. Quite moist & sweet, no frosting needed. They brought a tequila liqueur we\’d never tried & enjoyed sips with dessert.

    The timing of things has really worked out beautifully since we arrived here. It was great that the commercial dive boats were here the first 2 days to give us information about the dive sites. Then it has been wonderful having several days here all alone. And now it seems festive to have company for the holiday. I used my red brocade tablecloth, otherwise I don\’t really have any decorations. Just being together is a celebration.

    It is raining again! Somehow most of my laundry got dry between squalls. How wonderful to have clean sheets & with genuine \”ocean breeze\” smell.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Scott joins \”The Manta Club\”…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 23, 2008

    We took the dinghy around to the dive site called \”The Boiler\”. It was much flatter seas so a more comfortable ride than when we went out with the commercial boats. Today we had a hard time finding the shallow site to anchor on. We had tied up to the commercial boat the other day so we had a little bit of a clue on land bearings, but it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
    We used the GPS and found the coordinates that Terry had given us. We saw swirling water that we imagined was \”boiling\” but no luck. The depths were 130 feet, too deep for setting our anchor & not the right area. We were really starting to sweat in our wetsuits & getting discouraged. Then Scott remembered putting it in as a waypoint on our depth sounder when we were tied up to Nautilus Explorer. Whammo it appears from the deep: 20 feet, just as advertised.

    The shallower rock & reef mounds like this are home to all kinds of sea life & called \”cleaner stations\”. The little fish clean, or pick at the bigger fish. Kind of like other animals grooming each other.

    We did our backroll into the water out of the dinghy, made sure the anchor was secure & right away a manta came to check us out. I petted his belly & then thought he swam away, but he was still over my head. I accidentally collided with his wing as he started to swim, so my mask flooded a bit. No big deal, but the current was strong & I didn\’t want to get blown away from the reef. So I swam & took the video camera away from Scott & let him play with the manta while I taped it. He got to join the \”Manta Rider\” club! Very exciting.

    The first ride the manta swam away from me and the reef, so Scott let go & swam back to me. The manta came swimming right behind him, \”Hey – let\’s keep playing!\” So he took another ride & this time the manta stayed more near me. Every time Scott let go & swam to me, the manta swam right up to him again. He took 4 different rides over 20 minutes total. Spectacular! They are so playful & curious. We can\’t help but compare them to playful puppies. Giant playful 1500-2000 lb. puppies!

    Even when we were finally too low on air to stay down, the manta stayed right under us as we were doing our safety stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes. Beautiful. Amazing. Unbelieveable. Scott is the photographer in our family, but the video footage I took does capture the experience. Scott was so stoked. He felt very special. As he should!

    We had taken 2 tanks & sandwiches hoping to get 2 dives in at the boiler. We took nearly an our surface interval but then the current shifted & we had to jump in to move our anchor so the line wouldn\’t get chafe on the coral. Some waves started breaking on top of the reef (thus the name \”The Boiler\” – the current can really swirl around & the water gets all churned up). The current was really strong & I had to do a \”combat crawl\” on the reef to move forward against it. We got the anchor re-secured to a safe location & then enjoyed watching some white tip reef sharks. But no mantas & the visibility wasn\’t that great so we only stayed half an hour. I always feel like I am in Navy Seal training when the dive conditions are strenuous. I don\’t get scared, but it does occur to me that most people would think we are nuts.

    We are certainly getting way more exercise these days. It is plenty to do 2 dives a day. We don\’t want to push the nitrogen levels & we are pretty tired after #2. Schlepping all the gear in & out of the dinghy, plus the actual diving. Then rinsing & hanging the gear at the end of the day. There are always some chores to do. Today I get to do laundry later when we run the generator. The watermaker is still not 100% but we filled up our tanks enough to spare water for the wash. Yippee, clean sheets & towels! In the evening we look at the days video footage & re-live every moment.

    Today is 2 years ago that Suzanne died. Scott hadn\’t mentioned it in the morning, so I did not remind him. After his special manta riding time, I asked him if he had thought about it. He had not (or at least tried not too), but gave special thanks to have such a great experience on this day. It is sobering think how the time passes & people come & go from our life. We feel so privileged to have this chance to live this life, especially at our relatively young age. There are challenges, but so many wonders under the sea.

    Scott & Cindy

  • Scott joins \”The Manta Club\”…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 23, 2008

    We took the dinghy around to the dive site called \”The Boiler\”. It was much flatter seas so a more comfortable ride than when we went out with the commercial boats. Today we had a hard time finding the shallow site to anchor on. We had tied up to the commercial boat the other day so we had a little bit of a clue on land bearings, but it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
    We used the GPS and found the coordinates that Terry had given us. We saw swirling water that we imagined was \”boiling\” but no luck. The depths were 130 feet, too deep for setting our anchor & not the right area. We were really starting to sweat in our wetsuits & getting discouraged. Then Scott remembered putting it in as a waypoint on our depth sounder when we were tied up to Nautilus Explorer. Whammo it appears from the deep: 20 feet, just as advertised.

    The shallower rock & reef mounds like this are home to all kinds of sea life & called \”cleaner stations\”. The little fish clean, or pick at the bigger fish. Kind of like other animals grooming each other.

    We did our backroll into the water out of the dinghy, made sure the anchor was secure & right away a manta came to check us out. I petted his belly & then thought he swam away, but he was still over my head. I accidentally collided with his wing as he started to swim, so my mask flooded a bit. No big deal, but the current was strong & I didn\’t want to get blown away from the reef. So I swam & took the video camera away from Scott & let him play with the manta while I taped it. He got to join the \”Manta Rider\” club! Very exciting.

    The first ride the manta swam away from me and the reef, so Scott let go & swam back to me. The manta came swimming right behind him, \”Hey – let\’s keep playing!\” So he took another ride & this time the manta stayed more near me. Every time Scott let go & swam to me, the manta swam right up to him again. He took 4 different rides over 20 minutes total. Spectacular! They are so playful & curious. We can\’t help but compare them to playful puppies. Giant playful 1500-2000 lb. puppies!

    Even when we were finally too low on air to stay down, the manta stayed right under us as we were doing our safety stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes. Beautiful. Amazing. Unbelieveable. Scott is the photographer in our family, but the video footage I took does capture the experience. Scott was so stoked. He felt very special. As he should!

    We had taken 2 tanks & sandwiches hoping to get 2 dives in at the boiler. We took nearly an our surface interval but then the current shifted & we had to jump in to move our anchor so the line wouldn\’t get chafe on the coral. Some waves started breaking on top of the reef (thus the name \”The Boiler\” – the current can really swirl around & the water gets all churned up). The current was really strong & I had to do a \”combat crawl\” on the reef to move forward against it. We got the anchor re-secured to a safe location & then enjoyed watching some white tip reef sharks. But no mantas & the visibility wasn\’t that great so we only stayed half an hour. I always feel like I am in Navy Seal training when the dive conditions are strenuous. I don\’t get scared, but it does occur to me that most people would think we are nuts.

    We are certainly getting way more exercise these days. It is plenty to do 2 dives a day. We don\’t want to push the nitrogen levels & we are pretty tired after #2. Schlepping all the gear in & out of the dinghy, plus the actual diving. Then rinsing & hanging the gear at the end of the day. There are always some chores to do. Today I get to do laundry later when we run the generator. The watermaker is still not 100% but we filled up our tanks enough to spare water for the wash. Yippee, clean sheets & towels! In the evening we look at the days video footage & re-live every moment.

    Today is 2 years ago that Suzanne died. Scott hadn\’t mentioned it in the morning, so I did not remind him. After his special manta riding time, I asked him if he had thought about it. He had not (or at least tried not too), but gave special thanks to have such a great experience on this day. It is sobering think how the time passes & people come & go from our life. We feel so privileged to have this chance to live this life, especially at our relatively young age. There are challenges, but so many wonders under the sea.

    Scott & Cindy

  • San Benedicto – Days 4,5,6…..

    Dear F&F,
    December 20-22, 2008

    I have to limit my computer time because I can very suddenly get a headache & nauseous if the weather gets a bit bumpy here at the anchorage. I thought I\’d be over that by now, but the motion sickness still jumps up & bites me sometimes. Almost every other activity (cooking, cleaning, filling tanks, rinsing gear, loading dinghy etc) I am fine with – just reading & writing are a problem.
    The ham email connections are not possible early morning or evening. So we are trying to make sure to connect between the morning & midday dives.

    We got scolded by the sailmail administrators for using too many minutes. Fortunately we have the Iridium satellite phone. The pre-paid minutes cost about $1.50 each but it only takes about 2-3 minutes to send & receive several emails. The ham radio connections are often very slow out here as we are behind a 1200 foot volcano cone. Sometimes it takes us 10-15 minutes to get in 1 email. Frustrating, but the price of being off the grid and out here on the wild side. We have had a series emails with our CPA working on end of the year stuff. We hope next year will be simpler & we can anticipate things better.

    We have continued to enjoy diving, seeing mantas on most of our dives. We haven\’t had as close an encounter as that first Manta Magic but it is still lovely to be here. Often in the early mornings there are mantas feeding at the surface very near our boat. We have gone in on scuba with then, but they seem busy & not that interested in us at that time of day.

    The Clarion angelfish is native to this archipelago. About 6-12 inches long, it is mostly orange with some green on its face.

    We\’ve seen wahoo swimming near the surface. They are nearly 2 feet long, shiny silver & known to be delicious raw with wasabi. We have heard you can ask for permission to fish for your own use, but since this is a marine preserve, we are not fishing. Just taking photos & admiring all the critters we see.

    We see a lot of green moray eels swimming out in the open here. In the Sea of Cortez they were mostly tucked in a rocky corner. Maybe they know it\’s a marine preserve here and feel safe to swim openly. Also seen but less common, are the black with white striped zebra eels. Both types have these funny \”nose horns\” that give their faces a comic \”Puff the Magic Dragon\” look.

    We always enjoy seeing octopi & had a nice time with one large one fairly out in the open. They will explore your bare finger with the suction cups on their many legs. They are not interested if we have gloves on, so we remove them. Sometimes they tug on your finger pretty strong, wanting to bring a potential tasty morsel near their beak. I get a bit timid then & let Scott play. We would never eat an octopus, they are thought to be as smart as dogs.

    We had two dives with parading hammerheads at \”The Canyon\” area. There were at least 30 to 50 sharks swimming at 100 feet deep. We have been wearing our shark shields but not turning them on. We have not really had a \”live test\” of the units. But today when one hammerhead seemed to be swimming closer & closer to Scott\’s video camera I turned mine on & swam near to protect Scott in case the shark got a little too interested. Fortunately we got some great footage with no danger at all. It is very exciting to swim with sharks in the wild.
    Scott & Terry Kennedy have nightly chat dates on the ham radio. Terry is so jazzed that we are here & trying to give us all kinds of detailed information on where to go. One spot of water looks kind of the same as another from the surface. We are enjoying doing our own exploring & have found one particular \”cleaner station\” that is a pinnacle 25 feet underwater at its top and about 60 feet at its base.

    The only repair we\’ve needed to do so far is on our main watermaker. One part started to leak. Fortunately we had a spare & Scott installed it with minor assistance from me fetching tools. It is not a 100% success yet because our output is lower than it should be. He called the company via the satellite phone & got some suggestions on how to troubleshoot it. I hope we get it fixed soon because I need to do some laundry & would love to change our sheets & towels. We use a lot of fresh water rinsing off after every dive. We don\’t like feeling all salty or sitting on the interior furniture with salty bodies. We also rinse all our dive gear every day because the salt water is so corrosive.

    Another couple, Chuck and Linda on s/v \”Jacaranda\” are drifting along on their way towards here. They don\’t carry much fuel so are trying to sail & not motor & they are not having enough wind. The commercial dive boats won\’t be back until Dec 27. I really treasure the peace & quiet, both above & below water. But it will be fun to have company.

    Scott & Cindy