“Hilma Hooker” & “Mi Dushi”

Jacquie and Dave joined us aboard Dignity before 9am for another day out diving. Our first spot was the “Hilma Hooker” a wreck a few miles to the south. There were already two dive boats there when we arrived so we snagged the third and only remaining mooring. The two dive boats departed before we descended but there was a group of shore divers also on the wreck so we weren’t quite alone. The ship was on its side on sand nestled perfectly between two reefs. The bottom was the usual 100ft and the top of the wreck around 50ft. We were able to swim around the wreck, under some of the superstructure and into the cargo holds. We finished the dive exploring the reef at shallower depths.

(The following pics of Helen & I were taken by Jacquie)

We all decided the quality of the reef down south was not as good as around Klein Bonaire so we agreed to head off to the north side of Klein Bonaire to the dive site Helen and I first went to. To get there we stuck out the head sail only and plodded along at 2½ knots deliberately killing time to allow the nitrogen to leave us.

Even though we’d dived “Mi Dushi” before, a different depth profile makes the dive quite different. I wanted to test the depth of the bottom as we’d limited ourselves to 70ft previously. 10ft from the bottom I decided enough was enough as we’d reached 125ft and I didn’t want to use up all our air. So we headed back to the 50-70ft range in search of the (totally) elusive sea-horses. We did sea a young turtle feeding on the reef and a number of eels among the countless other fish.

Back at the moorings we dropped of Dave to collect his dinghy and moored back on the spot that Inspiration Lady had left. We’ve given up on the local open internet connections. Our system seems too sensitive and is overwhelmed with all the coastal wireless networks. Further out we get good signals but up close its very temperamental. We’ve resorted to a pay by use service which is strong enough to counter the numerous other sites we see.

Our parts (wind gen and genset parts for Jackster) didn’t arrive yesterday although I know from the Fedex site they arrive in Puerto Rico on Monday. There is a flight in today so hopefully we’ll see them this afternoon. If we can, I want to devote a day before we leave to getting it going. We’re now looking at Friday for our departure, weather permitting of course.

This evening we’re planning a night dive. As our boats are adjacent we can all hit the water from our own boats and join up in the water. Not sure about the rest of the day.