Live from Bonaire

[Clay Coleman]

Hi everybody. The Black Durgon Inn on Bonaire now has Internet service! The diving at Small Wall (house reef) has been outstanding with 2 resident frogfish and a seahorse at our doorstep, plus the more usual suspects. Here's one right off the camera. Do you think it's red enough?

I'll have a full report when I return next week. -Clay

[sorvju-f]

Hi everybody. The Black Durgon Inn on Bonaire now has Internet service! The diving at Small Wall (house reef) has been outstanding with 2 resident frogfish and a seahorse at our doorstep, plus the more usual suspects. Here's one right off the camera. Do you think it's red enough?

I'll have a full report when I return next week. -Clay

Hi Clay, I hope you have enjoyed your time there!

Great colours of this frogfish, just wait to get your report.

Jukka

[Jonathan Bird]

Hey Clay,
Imagine....you can post pictures right to this site after each dive!! :D Have a great trip!

Jonathan

[Neptune7]

Hi Clay,

Cool picts. I have always wanted to go to Bonaire but the safety issues (burglars and theives) made me back off. How do you feel about it while you are there? What does the lodge has to say about it?


Pierre
Montreal, Canada

[Clay Coleman]

Hi Clay,

Cool picts. I have always wanted to go to Bonaire but the safety issues (burglars and theives) made me back off. How do you feel about it while you are there? What does the lodge has to say about it?


Pierre
Montreal, Canada

Hi Pierre. I've been coming to Bonaire for over 10 years, and crime is not a big problem. Your car might be pilfered if you park it for a shore dive, but nothing serious. It is certainly safer than most cities in the US. Here's another shot of a rather mundane subject, but I like it--a sharptail eel shot right in front of our pier. -Clay

[Clay Coleman]

Well, the world keeps turning. I decided to try my 105mm last night to get some little crabs that stay tucked deep within fire coral, and it sipped a teaspoon of water into the housing through my old 105mm port. Camera's fine, but the housing electronics appear to be fried. So, I'm out of business until I get home and get the housing back to Ike. At least I got the crab. I'll post it later. -Clay

[Jonathan Bird]

Oh dude! That blows! Sorry to hear it. What happened that let the water in?

Jonathan

[Clay Coleman]

I think it was a combination of big port, small dip tank. I took a photo right at the ladder, and everything was good. I noticed the water when I got back to my room. Lens and camera are fine. I'm drying the back (no visible water) of the housing, but even if it sort of comes back I won't be able to use it. We fly out Sat. morning, so I'll make an early dive tomorrow and pack up. I'm putting up the crab shot that I wanted to use the 105 for. Very tough to get--1/2 inch crab deep inside of curtain fire coral (yeah, I got it on the knuckles a few times). Looks like some sort of porcelain crab. Anybody have an ID? -Clay

[Clay Coleman]

I'm back home. Housing goes back to Ikelite tomorrow. I put 10 pics on my web site. Here are links:

Sharptail eel: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id129.htm
Frogfish swimming: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id132.htm
Reef squid: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id345.htm
Reef squid: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id384.htm
Frogfish and lure: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id224.htm
Seahorse: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id238.htm
Seahorse: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id240.htm
Slipper lobster: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id235.htm
Mantis shrimp: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id87.htm
Hermit crab: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id385.htm

Clay

[Daniel]

Great shots Clay. What lens do you use for your macro photo's?

Cheers!
Daniel :)

[Clay Coleman]

Daniel: All of the posted shots were taken with a Nikon 60mm. I got some nice shots with a Nikon 105mm as well, but the 60 is far more versatile with the Nikon chip. Plus, I flooded when I used the 105 with my old film housing 105 port. Coincidence? -Clay

[sorvju-f]

Well, the world keeps turning. I decided to try my 105mm last night to get some little crabs that stay tucked deep within fire coral, and it sipped a teaspoon of water into the housing through my old 105mm port. Camera's fine, but the housing electronics appear to be fried. So, I'm out of business until I get home and get the housing back to Ike. At least I got the crab. I'll post it later. -Clay

Clay, I think you mean electronics inside the housing for strobes use?

If so, do yo know if you can connect wires coming trough the housing straight to flash shoe ? This would be nice to know if it happens beginning of divetrip?

Jukka

[sorvju-f]

I'm back home. Housing goes back to Ikelite tomorrow. I put 10 pics on my web site. Here are links:

Sharptail eel: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id129.htm
Frogfish swimming: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id132.htm
Reef squid: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id345.htm
Reef squid: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id384.htm
Frogfish and lure: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id224.htm
Seahorse: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id238.htm
Seahorse: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id240.htm
Slipper lobster: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id235.htm
Mantis shrimp: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id87.htm
Hermit crab: http://claycoleman.tripod.com/id385.htm

Clay

Great work again, I loved most seahorse luring behind the coral, eel face and swimming frogfish ( got the feeling that they always are standing somewhere ).

Jukka

[Clay Coleman]

Thanks, Jukka. The swimming frogfish is my favorite, I think. The housing has a wire that connects from the camera shoe to the strobe bulkhead. However, on the Ikelite housing, the wire goes through a special board to fine-tune the strobe. It's a pretty large cable, and I don't know how many wires are inside. The housing starting working again once it was fully dried (after I got home). However, the electronics are being replaced. The repair specialist at Ikelite (Bob) found that half of the circuit board is corrupted and eroding and wouldn't last long. I'm going out again in 10 days, so I'll hopefully be able to try again. -Clay

[sorvju-f]

Thanks, Jukka. The swimming frogfish is my favorite, I think. The housing has a wire that connects from the camera shoe to the strobe bulkhead. However, on the Ikelite housing, the wire goes through a special board to fine-tune the strobe. It's a pretty large cable, and I don't know how many wires are inside. The housing starting working again once it was fully dried (after I got home). However, the electronics are being replaced. The repair specialist at Ikelite (Bob) found that half of the circuit board is corrupted and eroding and wouldn't last long. I'm going out again in 10 days, so I'll hopefully be able to try again. -Clay

Is there some contact info to this Bob, I can ask him?

Jukka