The Adventure Continues

Helen can use fancy words like ‘symbiosis’ in her diving blog entries, but I maintain that it is a recent documentary that has increased understanding and interest of underwater life to a wider audience. That film is of course ‘Finding Nemo’. It’s difficult to look at a teaming reef (and around here, they’re all teaming…) and not appreciate the many levels of the community going on in there. It’s also difficult not to mouth “whoa dude!” when you see a turtle passing by.

Manta rays have to be the highlight of diving here. They are so weird looking and yet so graceful at the same time; I think it’s impossible not to be captivated by them. They’re surprisingly common – I’ve seen them on quite a few dives and several times on the surface when fishing or tearing around in the dinghy. Apparently, they grow up to about six meters wingspan, although the ‘babies’ we’ve seen have ‘only’ been about two and a half meters across.

Caves and overhangs are a common feature on reefs throughout the Maldives, often harbouring interesting creatures in their recesses. We found a resting nurse shark at the back of one deep overhang. The tips of their tails are shaped like an exaggerated whip and were facing towards us.

Cute little cleaning shrimp also hang out in caves and overhangs, in bustling communities that remind me of highly populated inner-city suburbs. If you extend your hand into their zone, they gather around and pick off gastronomic treats such as dead skin. They are so small and almost transparent, appearing more like mosquitoes than smaller siblings of a delicious entree. When spooked, they move away in jumps, looking like they’re ‘teleporting’ themselves away a few inches at a time.

Leaf fish have also become another of my favourites, mainly because of the difficulty in spotting them. I’ve found a lot more ‘leaves’ than ‘leaf fish’ in my searches. I spotted a beautiful purple one on my earlier diving blog, but they also come in black (really hard to find!) and white (with piercing red eyes).

Hammerhead sharks remain on my “yet to see list’. I think I’ll have time for one more dive to the area where they’ve been occasionally spotted, so watch this space. But don’t hold your breath.

13 June 2009

My sister and her family, and my mother left a few days back to fly to opposite sides of the planet, so I’ve ended with an enjoyable week of semi civilisation at the resort and moved back to Aroha. I’ve missed her, beautiful girl that she is.

My whole family doesn’t get together too often so it was a treat having them all here in paradise. I especially enjoyed diving with my sister. I’d like to think that my incessant raving over the last five years about how much I enjoy diving had something to do with her learning recently. My little nephew is growing up fast, all the more so when I see him only once or twice a year.

Rob and Kate and their kids arrived on Munerah the day before mum left. It was a little strange for them to catch up as mum happened to be in Dubai in January this year when Helen and I (and mum) met with Rob and Kate for dinner to see how realistic it would be to go cruising. It was the first time we’d seriously considered taking a cruising break, so it seemed suitable that we all meet up here about two thousand miles after that first discussion.

Rob and Kate were a huge support to us in our final weeks of preparation before leaving Dubai. They saw all of our last-minute stress, and leaving about three weeks after us, showed us none (well, very little…) of theirs.

Helen arrives with Alex and Erin this afternoon. Within about a week we’ll pack up here and head down to Chagos. It’s strange thinking that I’ve been here for about six weeks already. The time has gone really fast, with diving, land-based visits (my family), sea-based visits (Bernd on Chimani, Rob and Kate and kids on Munerah, and a number of other transiting sailors) and just chillin’ and enjoying the place. In a way, it seems a little daunting raising the anchor and heading out into the blue water again. I guess I’ve become a little too comfortable here.

In reality, I expect raising the anchor will actually take a bit of effort. I bought a new generation Manson Supreme anchor from NZ and on diving on it about a week ago discovered that it’s completely buried itself in the silty sand bottom. That’s been reassuring knowing this during the occasional twenty-five-plus knot gusts, but I’m not too sure how easy it’ll come up.

Rob and Kate left Gan for Chagos a few days back. They hit a patch of windy and bumpy sea the first day out, but they should arrive there today. Bernd is still in Chagos. It will be good to have a welcoming committee there to guide us the last couple of miles across the atoll. We will likely anchor in the Boddam anchorage in Solomon, and the charts show plenty of underwater obstructions on the way there.