Over the past weekend we sailed up to Bigej (Bee-gee) and had a fantastic day of snorkeling and sailing! It was fairly overcast all day, with a few quick showers once we arrived at the island. What a pity... we got wet! :-)
We usually snorkel as soon as we arrive for 45 minutes or so, then board the boat, fix some lunch, eat and jump in the water again for some more snorkeling. We usually depart Kwaj around 9:30 arriving at Bigej close to noon. We anchor until 3:30 or so and then begin the trip back, arriving back in Kwaj around 6pm. However, yesterday's trip was extended a bit for two reasons:
1. There was NO wind! We motored the whole way and although we had the jib and mainsail up, they didn't do much work!
2. We met up with three power-boats which had 13 other folks at the island after they completed a dive on a wreck not far away. They were mainly from KPD (Kwaj Police Dept) as they were placing the ashes of one of their officers who just passed away.
Those two reasons meant we arrived back at Kwaj at 7pm... but we weren't complaining!
There's a country song that I kept singing (to myself!) yesterday. It goes something like this:
It's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?
Sometimes it's lonely
Sometimes it's only me
And the shadows that fill this room
Sometimes I'm fallin'
Desperately callin'
Howlin' at the moon...
Ahwoo!
Ahwoo!
That's how I feel about this adventure for us. Every day is a great day! Sometimes it's lonely, sometimes there's not-so-pleasant things to deal with, but overall, it's a great day to be alive!
This one looked like a flower, blooming out of the coral below.
Do you see the grouchy fish?
These little (say 10 feet or so across?) coral pods are all over at Bigej... beautiful!
I love these little guys! They're so photogenic. :-)
CLAMS!!! These were one of the highlights of this snorkel trip... we saw SO many!! Big ones, small ones, and they're all different colors!
The sea anemone's are beautiful here... can you spot the clown fish?
Hubby!
Ok, here's a question for anyone who knows anything about water creatures... Do you know what this is?? It was about three inches in diameter, and the "legs" were wiggly. How's that for a scientific description?
Puffer fish!
Another big clam - about 3 feet across.
Another highlight! We saw this HUGE (to me!) ray!! She didn't have her stinger... but was still probably 5 feet in diameter!
My favorite clam from this trip. Isn't it beautiful!?!
Loved this little coral tree~
Doesn't this make you want to visit??!
Another clam! This little guy (about 12") was inside one of the purple coral heads in the above photos.
...And another one, not far away! While Peter was photographing this guy, I saw something right next to him change color. Upon further inspection...
...it was an OCTOPUS! How cool!!!! Can you see his eyes? They're the little red spots in the center of the photo.
Here's a farther-away shot which shows the proximity of the clam to the octopus. SO COOL! We backed away hoping the octopus would come out of his hiding spot, but he only popped his head up far enough to keep an eye on us. :-)
Amazing
Another clam! They close up if you cover the sunlight above them, so the trick is to sneak up from the side. :-) Peter's gotten pretty good at it!
A beautiful sunset on our way home.
I love the clouds in this one ~
And finally... our gracious captain, Rick. He and Peter work together... we're so fortunate he enjoys sharing his boat with others!
On a completely un-related note - they delivered our pack-out on Friday! This means that I no longer have a rotation of only four tops and three bottoms (YAY!), we have a fairly complete kitchen set, OUR BED IS HERE, and the guest bedroom is furnished!! So, please come see us!
9 comments:
Thanks for sharing about your fantastic day!! You do such a great job with expressing it all! I love the song lyrics...so true :) I'm LOVING that you guys are doing so much snorkeling! YAY! Awesome photos, again! I LOVE the clams too and we don't have lots of clams here in Saipan (too many people enjoy eating them..ha!) but that was what I LOVED in Palau! TONS of clams and HUGE! Hmmmm...my guess on the little sea creature is a Brittle Star...Can't see it very clearly but, maybe?? Here's a link...did it look similar to this? http://www.google.com/search?q=brittle+star&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6i1KTqmeM7DPiALUsumUBw&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1679&bih=829
Oh my! Such fantastic pics. Definitely wishing we'd've been jumping off that boat into the water with you. So glad you are H.A.P.P.Y!!! (that song is so gonna be in my head all day now! ♫ it's a great day to alive..... ♫)
Once again....awesome to read your post and look at the pictures. Would love to come see you two. Maybe we can work it out.
OH MY GOSH!!! that is so amazing... i would love to see those clams in person :) i hope you guys are haveing the time of your life! Nan
Hey, it's Kevin.
Just curious, did you sail up the inside of the atoll? If so, I assume you walked over and snorkeled on the outside reef?
Thanks!
Thanks for all your comments, friends! Its nice to know the blog is being read. :) Kevin, we sail up inside the atoll, and we snorkel on the lagoon side as well. The ocean side is much too choppy for snorkeling. :) We've dove on the ocean side, but there can be a strong current so we have to be careful.
Hey P & M, these photos and your postings are delightful, and we are enjoying them. Richard can enlarge the pictures and see them as well, so that is really great! So, we are visiting by blog-proxy! At least until we can come in person! Btw, how accessible is Kwaj? Thanks and hgus, Rich & Melody
Love seeing your blog postings! I love that song, too. It's a great philosophy.
Fri. night...just now seeing this post...ALL the photos are fantastic but somehow Mr. P doesn't quite look like himself under water...My, what BIG feet he has !! :) :)
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