Washington Tour ...Thanks Jenny

Last Sunday was a beautiful day for a drive...and only having been around the water areas of Baltimore...Jenny took Paul and I for a "brunch" in Washington DC, a bit of a "tour" and a beautiful drive to Mount Vernon!!!
Only fitting that this picture is of the IRS building...corner of Constitution and 12th....
We had a wonderful brunch here at Martin's Tavern.
This is the intersection of Martin's Tavern...Wisconsin and 12th...

These guys were fun to see....
A look at the Capital building and downtown from the 14th Street Bridge.

The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River.

The Jefferson Memorial...

Looking across the Potomac toward Washington DC.

The Potomac Park....

Looking at the Potomac Park from the 14th Street bridge. Then a beautiful drive to Mount Vernon, Virginia...where it was much too crowded to get cozy with the "digs" of George Washington!!! It was a very relaxing and fun day. My first to all of these places of great historical significance...and a very enjoyable drive with WONDERFUL company! Thanks Jenny!!

The Adventure begins..Again

Thursday Oct 30 4:16 pm Back Creek, Annapolis We started our second cruising season yesterday as we sailed down from Baltimore yesterday...great sail...hit 9.2 knots in a 20-30 knot COLD wind. Guess the bottom is not too bad Anchored in Back Creek. John the mechanic came by and installed the new transfer switch. All is back together after over 1 yr. Switch burned up last summer, taking out the genset main board. Wes was able to rig a fix and I have been putzing with it since. When we crashed last night the batteries were at 100%. As I type we are at 70%. The new batteries we paid $8.o2 for are doing just fine. I do think the new inverter/charger with the ability to equalize the new batteries has increased the available amp hours. It will be interesting to see if I can get 2 yrs out of this set with proper equalizing and care.
We spent the last week with daily provisioning trips, lowering the Lady down in the water. We have much more on board as compared to last yr, but we are packing for 2 yrs...maybe longer depending on what happens next Tuesday. We had to unplug the cable TV...lost our Fox news...will soon lose our talk radio station. The drive by news is depressing...so in the tank for Obama. I can't even imagine this country run by Pelosi, Reed and Obama. Let them spread THEIR personal wealth if they want to but don't force me to give any of my hard earned anything to THEM for THEM to decide where it should be used.
I have called Baltimore my home when not cruising for the last 3 yrs. My thanks to Bill, Millie, Wes, Helen and Troy. You have been more like my family than marina employees. I'm not sure I would be sailing today without their help..Thanks...we will be back to see the new marina in a few yrs. We will miss our Mexican Train dominoes evenings with Pete and Pam..thanks for the fun times and friendship.. Thanks to Jenny for putting up with me after my surgeries, and for the use of her car for provisioning. Our thanks to all of you...you are very special people....true friends indeed.
I have been acting as weatherman for my friend Brit friend Phil. He left NJ last week on a delivery to Florida. He got slammed of the coast of Virginia by the storm that blew through her this week. We had 40 knots in the marina in Baltimore, he had 40-45 with 12ft seas offshore. The roller furled jenny came unfurled and was shredded in 45 knots. The main had a major tear and they now have serious electrical problems as the batteries are dead. They have the engine running and have enough fuel to make it to Charleston SC. I'm running my MaxSea software and giving them twice daily weather. He is calling me on his Sat phone for updates. The boat is a 41' Jeanneau... a light production boat...they spent better part of 2 days down below with just the storm staysail up. Must have been 1 hell of a ride. The winds drop below 20 knots tomorrow..they will change out the jenny repair the main and sail on to Charleston.

Last of Bonaire...needing to catch up!

So I am feeling better finally...Paul insisted that I start antibiotics...and now after almost a week of Paul looking after me...my sinus infection is almost gone. Of course after being off the boat for a week...I slipped and I seem to have bruised a rib...so Paul will still be taking care of me for at least another week!!!

This is the Lighthouse where we went diving after Omar.
True shore dives...something I had not done until now...

Varigated Feather Dusters.

The difference of colors in the foreground with the strobe and in the background...no strobe light...

Corkscrew anemone with Pederson Cleaning Shrimp....

Giant Sea Anemone among coral...

Banded Coral Shrimp...trying to hide inside Brain Coral...

Sea Pearl, Pederson Cleaning Shrimp and Corkscrew Anemone.

Giant Sea Anemone among coral..

Huge Green Moray Eel....

Another view of the Green Moray....

Spotted Drum...okay...he wasn't wanting his picture taken.

Scrawled Cowfish...

Huge Pufferfish...

Red Coral on the dock post...

White Spotted Filefish...

And, another Giant Sea Anemone....

It will be interesting when Paul and I go back down in February or March to see if the "snow" or sand that covered a lot of the coral after Omar is still there...and how much of the damaged coral and sponges have healed...Mother Nature...should make you think...

Omar

Bonaire is a very flat island...very dry...cactus is the most plentiful plant. The coastline on the lee side (west) of the island is made up mostly of dive resorts. As a diver...that is where I stayed. As a part of the resort package we had a truck that we could (and did use) to travel around the island to different dive sites. But truly, one could have just dove off of the resort for the whole week and been happy.

I was up early and watching everyone get ready for the day of diving.The clarity of the water was, well...this is looking straight down into the water...fantastic visibility...

This too is looking straight down from the second story...and the fish were soooo friendly...

Our first few dives were right off of the dock...the first 30 feet sand...then the coral and the depth drop to 120 feet. We then took the truck and two tanks each and went up the island. After the dives we took a short tour as well...

a few flamingos on the north side of the island...

and some cute Burros on the east (usual windward) side . So, after two and a half days FULL of diving...we went for a night dive...at "Oil Slick". We found that while we were under the water some things had changed above. Getting out of the water and up the ladder was a matter of hurrying between waves and also taking plenty of time, trying to minimize the banging of ourselves and our gear on the ladder and rocks. Not an easy task.....later during the night...it rained...and the wind began to howl. This is what we woke up to.

No diving for today....

After watching the weather channel and finding that Bonaire was being ignored in the significance of Omar again and again....we then watched FOX cable news...thank heaven...that at least if we couldn't be diving...we didn't have to listen to "our" corrupt "main stream" news media.

Now and again I would go up and take pictures of the pounding that the normally quiet side of the island was taking.

And a beating the resort area was taking...

We were waiting for it to quiet so we could go diving again....

And we watched the waves destroy the docks and ladders....

All of our dive gear had been taken out of the underneath storage areas and salt water was the main event everywhere.

Out of boredom, we went to the downtown area...

It seemed that all over the island...the wind and waves were taking over.
Even being in the lee of the small island of Klein the waves were taking over.
This young man was not expecting how wet he got with this wave....thankfully Omar left. The damage Omar left to the resort. We didn't go diving on the north side after Omar...we went to the Lighthouse (southern) side for our remaining dives...but we heard from other divers that on the north (west) side coral and tube sponges had been damaged down to 40 feet or so....it happened...I was there...

A Quick Bonaire Dive Report

The delay in updating the blog is that I came back to the boat with a horrible sinus infection...due to travel related loss of sleep...Omar...and air conditioning?? Some would think that traveling would be very easy for me...my brain just hasn't gotten that "memo". So... I guess of most importance...I am now a PADI certified Divemaster.
This is Bonaire...a man-made beach below the rooms above the rocks that keep the island from erroding with the wave action...so from above the water to below the water:

Giant Sea Anemone with two Pederson Cleaning Shrimp...

Location of the Sea Anemone between the coral.

Lots of different coral among giant sponges.

The new camera works...now I will have to say that it is the camera-person that still has a lot to learn to get the best shots consistently...but am very excited that when I did get it to work...how great the shots did turn out with the color!! This is Vase Sponge.

This is a very happy Spanish Hogfish...if you look closely there is a very unhappy crab in his mouth....

Tube Sponge among coral....

Another Giant Sea Anemone...

The first 30 feet underwater has been made an underwater "beach" by the wave actions. The dive instructor and I on one night dive used these underwater locators as an obstacle course...I felt like my kids dogs doing an agility course!! It was great fun!!

Squid....

And, very large Sea Urchin...

Stay tuned for before Omar pictures...and after Omar pictures...yes, the first hurricane in 12 years in Bonaire and I was there!!!