Dreary Weather Underwater Fun

Since Sunday we have had some dreary weather. Mostly overcast skies, lots of squalls with winds strong (25-30 knots) sometimes gusting to near 40 knots. We have had to hunker down in the boat a lot waiting for the occasional gap so we can get a breath of fresh air or go for a swim.

Fortunately, we found Internet. When we first arrived, we naturally turned on our computers and searched for WIFI, but there was none. So, we assumed buying a SIM card to get 3G service was the solution. But, my phone couldn’t find a network. However, a few days later, Gryphon 2 discovered there was a WIFI available now. Apparently someone realized the need and saw there were boats out here, so they turned on their WIFI service. We were disappointed to find out it was at a quite high fee $64 for 1 week of service. Yikes! But, it’s the only solution available, so we bought it. At least we can now process photos, blog, check E-mails, and Skype friends and family. Handy when you are stuck on the boat with bad weather.

Yesterday afternoon, there was a bit of a weather break, so we invited the crew of Gryphon 2 over for sundowners again. We also wanted to show them our VideoRay ROV underwater camera. When we first set it up, we had a problem. One of the propellers was not turning properly. But, Chris played with it a bit and must have loosened some corrosion, and it started working. The photo here shows Chris holding the ROV and pointing at the propeller he fixed.

We had fun exploring the night-time underwater scene with the occasional shark sighting, lots of fish, coral, and sea cucumbers. What really got our attention though were some soft snake-like critters with little probing arms on their snouts. We want to figure out what they are. We have never seen them in the daytime.

Lorraine and Karen were enjoying finishing off the wine while Chris and I played with the ROV toy. Here’s a photo of Lorraine.

Chris and I did some snorkeling on “The Rip”. A fast-moving deep pass of current on the southern tip of Direction Island that lets water into the lagoon from the Ocean. The constant flow of current is a fantastic attraction for marine life. We saw shark, lots of colorful coral, and wide variety of reef fish in the area.

One of the highlights was a school of large many-spotted sweetlips. Fortunately, the authorities have declared The Rip as no-fishing, so this school of big guys weren’t too afraid of us while we swam around taking pictures.