Last full day on Kosrae - Friday, May 13th

Woke up this morning to a ton of blue sky and sunshine!  The sunrise was beautiful.  I had previously arranged to rent a car to explore the island further and do a mangrove tour out of Utwe.  I first headed up to Tafunsak to the “biggest store on the island” in search of souvenirs of any kind.  None to be had.  I hit every store down back to Lelu and nothing.  Sorry for those that requested a Kosrae shirt, zero.  With the sun shining so bright and tons of time – I hit the resort for some pool time before I headed down to Utwe.  I stopped at many spots along the way snapping pictures of various beaches, etc.

I arrived at the Utwe harbor to meet up with Tadau Waguk who leads the mangrove tour in an authentic Kosraen outrigger canoe (albeit with an outboard motor).  Tadau has been doing this many years and came by recommendation of my sister as she had done the same tour many years ago.  He had his grandson with him and we headed out into the mangrove channels south of Utwe.  

The mangroves were beautiful.  

We wove through some very tight spaces – hardly wide enough for the canoe.

  

We went by an area nested by birds that apparently are very important for fisherman on the island as they track the tuna so the fisherman can follow them to an almost guaranteed catch.  There is certainly no shortage of food on this island with what the sea and land provides these people; fish, fruit¸ etc.  We then went to a small beach near Utwe Ma (as previously mentioned on my post about my cultural day) where we got out and stretched our legs and viewed some fruit bats.  These bats were HUGE!  At first I didn’t think I saw them as I was looking for bats hanging in the trees and was annoyed by the huge birds flying overhead.  Wait, those aren’t birds!  Those are bats!  You can just see one on the right hand size of the open space here.....

Wingspan I would guess to be 20 inches or so. Creepy as you could see right through their wings as they were so thin and obviously no feathers.  We looked for monitor lizards which were introduced by the Japanese many years ago but didn’t spot any.  We then wove back through the mangrove back to Utwe harbor to finish the tour.  An excellent tour.

I then drove back up to the Nautilus and stopped at Malem to try and find some Japanese caves while driving up the Malem “river”.  This river was no bigger than a stream back home.  I struck out on the caves and every local I asked didn’t speak English.  I did stop at some Japanese steps leading up to an old gun emplacement that was kind of cool.  So, at least I did connect with some actual World War II history.

Then back to the Nautilus where I’ve been packing and stalling to go to dinner as there is a strong storm blowing through.  Apparently the bad weather I’ve been experiencing is a severe low pressure cell that is likely to turn in to a tropical cyclone.  I was told today that many a cyclone have been formed right over Kosrae – only to gain power as they drift through the Pacific and doing damage to places like Guam, Saipan and the Phillipines.

It really does feel a bit sad to be leaving this beautiful place and the many great experiences I’ve had here; both on land and underwater.  Tomorrow I fly to Pohnpei and am looking forward to more adventure there.

Last dives on Kosrae - Thursday May 12th

Dive Fifteen 
Site: Eagle Ray Wall

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Rick Brooks

Duration: 62 minutes

Max Depth: 53 feet

Visibility: 70 feet

Outside temp: 78.6 degrees F

Water temp: range from 78.8 – 83.8 degrees F

We were on the north tip of the island for this dive on a sheer wall down…next stop – about 3000 feet below the surface. The viz was not good at 70 feet but was still a fantastic dive. Given the name, Eagle Ray Wall, I was hoping that at last I would see one or more of those magnificent creatures. It was not to be but I did spot a SHARK! A white tip reef shark cruising about 30 feet below through the coral. I haven’t seen once since Hawaii and look forward to more on Pohnpei where the sightings hopefully will be more frequent. There were reports from Chinese fisherman that three tiger sharks followed their boat into dry dock here on Kosrae but we weren’t lucky enough to see them. Probably a blown out of proportion story anyway. Also saw many clown fish, lion fish, lizard-fish, nudibranch, and puffer-fish.......the lighting is bad on this but this is me gliding towards a puffer.........

Saw two massive Napolean Wrasse that seemed as large as me and was actually probably bigger – no kidding. Those things can push 300-400 pounds. (And no, I’m nowhere near that!)

Dive Sixteen

Site: Buoy 35a

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Rick Brooks

Duration: 67 minutes

Max Depth: 46 feet

Visibility: 90 feet

Outside temp: 83.1 degrees F

Water temp: range from 81.0 – 84.6 degrees F

I felt sad when hopping in the water as this was my last dive on Kosrae but God blessed us with wonderful viz at about 90+ feet. It was a wonderful dive – I kind of floated above the coral trying to take it all in not knowing if I’ll ever be able to dive this fantastic island again. Here is a shot to show  you the size of some of this stuff.  Doug's camera is not sophisticated enough to capture coral very good as you'd need about a $20K camera with wide angle lens and huge strobes..........

The usual suspects were down there swimming along with us as we cruised the reef. I took notice of some of the more common and smaller reef fish that we saw on a daily basis and took in their vibrant colors along with other trigger fish, clown fish, various wrasse, puffers, etc., etc. I didn’t want the dive to end and I think perhaps Doug sensed that as we approached the buoy – I didn’t want to look at him as I knew he’d give me the safety stop signal but finally I gave him the signal and we went up as I was getting near red on air. It really was tough.  I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to dive Walung but I guess that means I’ll just have to come back.

I then invited Rick to dinner at Bullys down the road and we had a nice dinner talking about the day’s diving and his travels, etc. He ordered mangrove crab. I think it took them an hour to prepare it (or maybe they went out and killed one) and Rick an hour to eat it! It was all good though – nothing to come back to anyway except blogging which was down the last two nights which is why I finally just got to this one.

I don't think the heavy stuff is gonna come down for quite a while

Tonight we headed out for a night dive.......

Dive Fourteen

Site: Cockle Sanctuary

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz and Salyk

Other divers: n/a

Duration: 64 minutes

Max Depth: 51 feet

Visibility: 80 feet

Outside temp: 77.4 degrees F

Water temp: range from 77.4 - 83.8 degrees F

This was my second and last night dive here on Kosrae and was just as excellent as the first. It's amazing how confident I feel with my buoyancy, etc. when it's pitch-black underwater - you'd think it'd be the other way around but it's not. For those that don't dive - when you night dive you have a primary and secondary light in addition to a tank light so have some redundancy when it comes to finding your way around but can switch them off to turn everything to black to see the other divers work underwater which looks like you're on another planet or play with the phosphorescent. Tonight I saw the most amazing hermit crab that appeared to have four small plume anemone growing on its shell - was wild. Saw two slipper lobsters - one baby, a baby moray eel, a teeny-tiny little flounder (1 inch), several flat worms, lion fish, lizard fish, big puffer fish, red crab, small vibrant starfish and several vibrantly colored sea urchins. Some of these urchins were huge at probably 12 inches in diameter and they'd just slowly move along the coral - visible movement though. Some colors I saw were black and yellow, purple, jet black, orange and gray. I also saw a really weird looking clam sort of thing that was quite mesmerizing to look into as it was fully open - probably fishing for food although I was a bit much for his little appetite.

When we got out of the water - RAIN! Major rain - no wind - just down-pouring rain. Was like that all the way back to the resort and just as we were pulling in - whoosh - power out. Then power on - power out - power on - power out. They served me dinner in my room.....power out, power on. It's still raining buckets out there but at least the power stayed on long enough for me to shower, etc. (water pumps on all plumbing).

Tomorrow morning are likely my last dives on Kosrae as will likely do an outrigger canoe tour through the mangrove channels on Friday morning before I fly off to Pohnpei on Saturday (Friday in America).

Fong wo

New dive sites this morning

I think I'm getting spoiled with the diving down here..........many anemone hosts with clown fish and their eggs, nudibranch, stingray, several puffer fish (big - like 20-24 inches long), and the typical fantastic hard coral with several other species of reef fish.............

Dive Twelve

Site: Shark Island - North Buoy

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Josh and Jess

Duration: 68 minutes

Max Depth: 64 feet

Visibility: 75 feet

Outside temp: 89.2 degrees F

Water temp: range from 82.4 - 88.2 degrees F

This was the farthest north buoy off shark island and it was very cool. Josh and Jess joined us this morning. The current took us nearly out to the point and then switched 180 degrees mid-dive and we came back - this time a bit shallower. Doug showed me two white spotted trigger-fish which apparently are quite rare and really cool looking. Trigger-fish can be a bit nasty as they protect their nest but these two were down deeper than we so no problem. We've had others circle us as we swim through their territory - Salyk doesn't like them as they'll come at you fast and head butt you. These aren't small fish - probably 30 inches or so. At the end of the dive Doug spotted a stingray sleeping in a sandy patch so we checked him out for a minute until he got spooked and swooped off - really cool to see those animals move underwater.

Dive Thirteen

Site: Split Rock

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Salyk

Duration: 66 minutes

Max Depth: 54 feet

Visibility: 80 feet

Outside temp: 80.2 degrees F

Water temp: range from 81.0 - 85.3 degrees F

This was the first time we've been able to dive the north side of the island as the wind was coming from the south. Split rock is a massive rock structure underwater that has split and you can swim right through at different heights. A really cool dive with tons of macro to look at including hermit crabs, several nudi's, small, colorful star fish, lizard-fish, flat worms, lion fish and then there were three huge snapper (30 inches+?) at the base of the rock in 54 feet of water. Doug apparently was on the other side and rustled them up while they shot for the opening near me only to stop and swim around as I blocked their exit. Was a very nice dive but had sections of barren coral as apparently that site took a pounding several months back with 15 foot waves. Tons and tons of hermit crabs, etc. sleeping for the day - would be a cool place for a night dive.

I was tired after this morning so took a nice nap after a video conversation with Hannah.

Very nice day in Utwe Village

Moses' brother picked me up shortly after 10:15 so not bad for island time. He then drove me to Utwe to meet Moses and Joselin and some of their family. Here is a picture of Moses, Joselin and their daughter Seline who is a sweetheart. She didn't want to smile because she had just eaten a blueberry jawbreaker or something and her mouth was all blue and she was embarrassed.

We first went for a little cruise out of Utwe on Moses' boat and around the harbor over where Bully Haye's pirate ship sank in the harbor in the late 1800's due to a typhoon. They wanted to take me to Utwe Ma (Old Utwe- where the people of Utwe used to live many years ago) but the tide was too low so we couldn't which was too bad because it sure looked nice over there. They have a hut or two over there and sometimes go over to sleep and they have a mangrove crab farm there too. We headed back to their place and they took me to Sipyen Waterfall which was stunning. The jungle so lush and beautiful.....

Seline jumped right in and it took a bit of coaxing but I thought - what the heck - I have to do it. Plus I was hot as heck! So, I went in and swam around and stood underneath the powerful waterfall due to all of the recent rain. Was quite exhilarating and I thought it knocked my contacts right out of my eyes but thankfully it didn't. I won't subject you to any photos of that event, lol.

I then treated Moses and Seline to lunch at Kosrae Village Resort which is the other dive resort on the island. It was a nice place with authentic Kosraen thatch huts for rooms and their restaurant was a much larger traditional Kosraen hut.

They then took me back to my room to get ready for dinner and then I was told they'd pick me up at 5:15. Island time kicked in and luckily enough Doug and Sally invited me for a glass or two of wine on their veranda while I waited, and waited.......until about 7:00 when I was picked up and driven back to Utwe.

I arrived and was immediately seated for dinner without any introductions to any of the other members of the family (I later found out that introductions are done after dinner). I was presented with a lei and given the only glass plate and told to serve myself. There was sashimi, green salad, taro, breadfruit, fried fish (whole, head, eyes and all), watermelon, rice and bottled water and a shasta cola (I passed since I don't drink much soda). Really, I was treated like royalty. After I sat down and told to start eating then the other men got their food, then the women. Also - they presented me with a whole mangrove crab to eat - just me. I took only a small amount as there was no way I could eat it all but they intended for me to be the only to eat the crab. I hope that I didn't offend them but I forced them to share it with me.

A little side note here - it appears that women definitely do not have equal rights here. For example, I would constantly practice my normal manners of letting the woman (or girl, in Selene's case) go in front of me through a door or whatever but they consistently let me go ahead. That has been something I've noticed since my arrival.

The food was good. After dinner the whole family (all of Moses' descendants) sang me a song. I recorded it but it is too huge to post on here at the rate I pay per meg. It was very nice - they are truly gifted with their voices here. I was then introduced to Moses' family - but only the men. None of the women were introduced by Moses even though all of his sisters were present. I then introduced myself to the family sharing my relation to Shary (Shrue). This was not something that I had a choice in - once my introduction was complete - then normal conversation could commence as instructed by Moses.

Shary - you are truly LOVED here on the island and can't thank you enough for showing them your love and compassion so many years ago as it has allowed me a connection here that I couldn't have dreamed of having without you.

I then passed out candy to all of the kids and then I was really treated like royalty. All of them smiling and smiling at me. It was soooooo cute! We mostly laughed at the kids with all the candy I gave them cause they were in heaven (and all hopped up on sugar, lol). Here I am with some of them........

I then gave Joselin, Moses and Seline their gifts from Shary and they were very thankful. Kulo ma lulap Shrue (Thank you very much Shary)! Rex wasn't around but did give Jos the shirt you sent.

Then it was time for me to leave as it was getting late and I'm planning on diving in the morning but wanted to post this blog before bed.

Fong wo (Good night)

P.S. - many have asked how my dad is doing so I apologize for the lack of updates on him. He is still in the hospital and is stable - out of ICU. He is disoriented but I did talk to him yesterday and he seemed normal to me so maybe he goes in and out but he did seem very tired. Hang in there Dad!!!

Cultural day today

Finally..........the sun! Oh, how I've missed you!

I'm so glad it's nice today because I am going on an island tour and then dinner at Shary's Kosraen friends (Josila her bff) while she lived here more than 20 years ago. Moses will be picking me up at 10:00 (or noon or later if he's running on island time) and then he will show me around a bit which I'm really looking forward to. Then he and his wife Josila and family are hosting me for dinner in Utwe village. Should make for a memorable experience I'm sure. I will report all about it tonight.

Monday morning and rain again? Ok - let's go diving

When it rains like it does here - there really isn't much else to do but head under water (for me at least). We have a new diver at the resort this week - Richard. He was doing a nursing contract on Guam and is slowly making his way home by way of diving Palau, Pohnpei and now Kosrae. Nice, calm morning once we got out there and stayed close to the marina again.....

Dive Ten

Site: Buoy 35b

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Richard

Duration: 63 minutes

Max Depth: 53 feet

Visibility: 80 feet

Outside temp: 77.4 degrees F

A pretty ordinary dive now that I've been here for a while. The clown fish have laid their eggs in their host anemone and are guarding them fiercely while the anemone seems to curl up where the eggs are hatched - truly a symbiotic relationship of some sort. Saw yet another lion fish, several black flat worms, lizard-fish, etc.

Dive Eleven

Site: Shark Island

Dive Buddy: Doug Beitz

Other divers: Richard

Duration: 76 minutes

Max Depth: 48 feet

Visibility: 75 feet

Outside temp: 84.6 degrees F

Water temp: range from 81.7 - 86 degrees F

The dive started out with some pretty bad viz but it turned out to be a killer dive. I took up the rear this dive and Doug/Richard stirred up a turtle that shot out right in front of me and slowly waded its way down and out into the blue. I desperately tried to get Doug/Richard's attention with no luck. Then I happened upon a very playful, but quite small, flatworm that I played with for a minute or two.....

I then spotted an octopus hiding in a coral head and called Richard and Doug over. Richard was low on air so he headed up to his safety stop but Doug and I got in real nice and close as he was quite tolerant of us. I checked my downloaded dive log from my computer and figured we spent 26 minutes with him. I got so close that he was literally only 8 or so inches in front of my mask. It was killer!!!!!! He kept a close eye on us and I was hoping he'd shoot out of his hiding spot so I could see him swim but I can't be too picky as I was humbled to be in such close proximity to such a fantastic creature. I reached out to touch him at one point and he turned black instantly and pulled back so I kept my distance. Doug snapped several shots as I looked on. Easily the best animal/fish experience I've had since here........

This was the longest I've ever spent under water at 76 minutes and didn't want to leave but had to as was getting towards 500 lbs. left of air so was sorry to leave but I sure loved it!!!! Hovered over him at our 15 foot safety stop and he turned black as if to say goodbye.