We Chickened Out!

Well we were supposed to leave today.  But the storm we hoped to ride out behind, stalled and strengthened.  So instead of leaving just behind it we were going to be placing ourselves right in front.  It was only going to cost us a $100 dollars to delay so common sense kicked in and we delayed.  Oh Hum, another weekend in paradise!  Though the weather will be rather bleak for the next couple of days.

Last Dives in Palau

As we get ready to leave Palau we did our last dives, other than the one to clean the prop and hull which is to be done today or tomorrow.  We did Chandelier Cave and the area around Sam’s Tours.  The cave was really quite nice and the marine life was pretty good even in this small nook of the island away from everything.  We saw lots of colourful fish and some rather dull but unique ones as well such as pipefish, razor fish and a small scorpion fish.  One of the other crazy things is there are still several unexploded World War II ordinances.  These are right amongst all the yachts.  There is even one next to our anchor chain however this one has corroded away and is no longer dangerous.  Throughout the Pacific Islands this is a real issue.  So many explosives were dumped or lost during the war that many which did not explode are still laying around and being unearthed by farmers or discovered by divers.  While here we met a couple whose job it is to help with the clean up of these devices.  They are clearing trails through the jungles etc. and collecting ones that they can for disposal.  Every now and then they go out and set off a big bang.  Kind of a cool job but I am not sure how you would train for it!  Certainly couldn’t get away with too many mistakes!  Anyway there will probably be a bit of a delay until our next post as we hope to be leaving for Guam shortly.  We do hope our position updates work but though the Pactor system is better it is still not so right.  Keep following the position button to the right but do not panic if we do not seem to move, as it is probably just not getting through via Sailmail.  I will update it for sure when we get email access in Guam.

Some photos taken during the dive in Chandelier Cave.

the exit from the cave underwater

Kayak Trip

On 4th of July, we went on a kayak trip to the rock islands.  The boat took us, together with our kayaks, lunch and refreshments to the rock islands.  There, we followed our guide and paddled all over around the rock islands.  We visited the sharks nursery, where we saw little baby black tip sharks.  We also visited some caves and war remains, some lovely bays and lakes, one of which is the Disney Lake, where we snorkeled among lovely and colorful corals.

Once again, the pictures do not do justice to what we experienced.

underwater shot of another baby

baby blacktip sharks in the nursery

one swam up to the kayak

lovely bay

another nice bay

view from the top

colorful corals

fan worm

more corals

from inside cathedral cave