Where did I go with my force fins?

[sambolino44]

Sorry, no photos yet, but we did two dives yesterday off Esperanza, south side of Vieques with Nan-Sea Charters. Saw a couple of big moray eels (great!) and five or six big lionfish (bad!). Our divemaster was named Chipper, and he said he knew (had met?) Bob and Susanne.

Now we're off to Culebra for a few days.

After that, not sure.

 

[sambolino44]

Hi It's Soakedlontra here. I cannot remember my password so cannot long in as me so I am borrowing Sam's Scubaboard identity for now that I have some time to kill but not enough to go snorkeling or scubadiving (waiting for the Publico to go to V ferry dock).

The kayak tour of the mangrove, snorkeling at the mouth of Bioluminescent Bay and kayaking and swimming in the B Bay at night was awesome. We tight up our snorkeling gear, including the Force Fins with bungee cords on the kayak.

Too bad that while snorkeling I let myself to be entranced by a large live snail and spent a lot of time trying to take pictures of it , while Sam was snorkeling in deeper water and saw two large nurse sharks! AAARRRGGHHH!

 

[Blair Mott]

oregondiver - Great photo in Clear Lake, I have just added another dive location to the list.

Soakedlintra and Samolino44 - Great to hear about your kayak/ snorkel tour at night. Sometimes all it takes is one snail to enjoy hours of your time in the water. Here is to more great adventures coming your way., thanks again for sharing.

 

[chile7236]

i miss my force fins....they don't sell them here anymore

 

[Bob Evans]

Chile7236, Still have the Medal I was given for great service and supply. Remember having to call the U.S.Post Office due to the large amount of boxes. They can always order American Made Force Fins again, we are ready with three plants running. Now with that guy in Libya going may be I will be able to fill the large order's that I have been turning down from Libya.

 

[sambolino44]

Heard about the quake in Japan and the Tsunami heading towards the US west coast. We hope everything is alright. Internet connection is slower in Culebra. We liked the diving here better than Vieques. And on our night snorkel last night we saw octopus, squid, stingray, lobster, a massive hermit crab in a conch shell, a really nice juvenile moray eel, barracuda, etc.

Take care

Sambolino44 and Soakedlontra

 

[Soakedlontra]

We came back from Puerto Rico this morning at 1:30am and I am still under the effects of the long travel and the awesomely smooth Puerto Rican Rum on the rocks that I drunk in what looked like the smallest bar in Old San Juan while Sam was playing chess with the bartender.

This time during our dives I looked at what was there instead of day dreaming about whale sharks, dolphins and manta rays and I had a great time. Now I have five 4GB memory cards full of pictures and video clips to sort out and edit.

Unfortunately our Fantasea Remora strobe light let us down again after just a couple of dives so we had to manage with the available light only during the day. We used our main dive lights while snorkeling at night.

 

[Soakedlontra]

[vimeo]21221092[/vimeo]​

 

[Soakedlontra]

[vimeo]21463587[/vimeo]


This is the second video of the series about my recent trip to Puerto Rico. Trying to capture the bioluminescence at Bahía Mosquito in the Island of Vieques was like trying to take a picture of ghosts. It was a miracle that I was able to capture a fainted shadow of blue in video clips with my Canon S90 that does not give me much control over speed and aperture. The still images came out lighter. I was in the water kicking like a maniac with my F Fins in the attempt to produce enough light that the camera could 'see'.

(Later somebody told me that a photographer went there with tons of rolls of film, shook the water for 20 minutes and then pushed them in the darkroom in order to get an image...I did not kick for that long, though.)

Bahía Mosquito is supposed to have one of the highest concentrations of dynoflagellates in the world. It was truly amazing to be able to paddle and swim in that water and watch my arms filled with golden sparks and see fish leaving contrails when they swam their fins off to get away from the kayak. Photographs and video clips do not give justice of what is like being in that water for real!​

If you are interested in visiting bays with high concentration of bioluminescence please do not use motor boats because the pollution from those conventional engines kills the dinoflaggelates as it is happening in other parts of Puerto Rico. Choose an operator that uses electric powered boats. However I think the best way to experience this incredible phenomenon is to paddle on a kayak! And don't forget to wipe off sun block and bug juice from your skin if you want to swim with those little light guys! (they are also harmful to the coral reef!)

 

[Soakedlontra]

[vimeo]21625589[/vimeo]​