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Mountain Biking in Curacao Along the North Coast

barry — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:08:56 +0000

“Stijn Watches While Tico Takes A GIANT Leap Into The Sea”

“North Coast Cave Fed By The Ocean”

“Riding Thru Playa Canoa”

“The Giant Windmills Have Been Torn Down”

“Stijn Checking Out The Landhouse At Koral Tabak”

Good evening friends, Stijn and I just got home from a super fun three hour mountain-bike ride along our wild and windy rough North coast. We started our ride today near a little town called Montana and rode first to Saint Joris bay. The wind was pretty heavy today making our ride really fun in one direction and not so fun in the other! We followed the waters edge at Saint Joris until we ran out of waters edge and then headed up and over a little mountain sending us straight down into where the ocean feeds Saint Joris bay, we call it the North coast. We immediately ran into my work colleagues Tico and Michiel who were on there way for a dive/lobster hunt but to get there they had to jump off this insane rock wall into very rough water! My question was and still is, “how do you get back out”?? Stijn and I both looked at each other shaking our heads and said, “no thanks”, those guys are crazy! From there you can follow a very rough but beautiful and fun two track four-wheel drive road along the whole North coast. Our next stop was this cool cave that is fed underground by the ocean. Many folks come here on calm North coast days and dive here but so far I have never done it. They say you just enter the cave as you see here with all your scuba gear on and dive under a big section of rocky shore-line and “presto” your out in the ocean! As I have been told the hard part is finding the hole to get back, just not sure I’m up for that yet, maybe after a few thousand more dives! Our next stop was Playa Canoa and seconds after taking this photo we got soaked by a surprise tropical storm, there was no where to run! Canoa is a favorite spot for surfers here in Curacao as you can see and it’s also one of the only semi-protected bays for fisherman so they use it to park their boats and have a cool little rustic village set up here. Soaked to the bone we carried on and headed West but soon we got hit with another downpour and within seconds the ground was soaked and we were caked in mud! So you guessed it we turned around and started back, now heading directly into the wind and let me tell you, that was zero fun! After drafting Stijn for around 15 minutes we finally came to what is now left of the giant windmills. The blades are all gone, must have been hauled away and all that remain are these big posts that once held the spinning giants in place. Not sure what they are doing out there but it looks like they may be building new ones, stay tuned if I hear something I will pass it along. Our final adventure of the day was riding our bikes up to this beautiful old 1800′s Landhouse. Stijn said it’s called “Landhouse Coral Tabak” which makes sense to me. He rode around investigating the whole scene while I took photos, and I think it’s safe to say we had a great time here! It was now getting late and we were still quite a ways from home so off we went back into the wind, fun, fun, fun!! We did make one more stop and that was to watch the illegal races at the speedway we have here in Curacao. It happens every Sunday evening on a paved stretch of road about a half mile in length. They race everything they can find, we even say a kid doing a long wheelie on a moped! We managed to get back to Stijn’s house just before dark and I was thankful to be done, that wind is just enough to drive one crazy! It’s so much fun having a strong tailwind but turning around and riding into it for an hour and a half is just not a good time! Fun ride.

We did a whole lot of trail work on Saturday morning and on Sunday, it’s starting to look like a mountain bike park out there! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, see you again soon, Barry

Joboehlkia gladifer, NEW VERY RARE, Deep Water Fish

barry — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:37:01 +0000

Good morning friends, finally we are back! Our website host had a big problem on their end leaving us down and out for a few days but all is good again! So let’s see, I have around three days to get you caught up on but should be easy as it’s been fairly quiet around here. Scott, Tammi and Hannah left here at four in the afternoon on Wednesday. I got an e-mail yesterday saying they arrived back home yesterday safe and sound, we sure enjoyed having them and will miss our South Dakota family a lot!

I have been riding with Stijn quite a bit this week but am still not fully recovered from my last two severe colds that I picked up but I am feeling much better. Stijn will be traveling with me this year to South Dakota where I will enter him in some mountain bike races and take him fossil collecting. I also am going to do a photo shoot with some Lakota Indians so that should make for some real nice blog photos.

Here is the newest find by Substation Curacao, this is the MEGA RARE, Joboehlkia gladifer or as we are calling it here, “the Jonnyfish”. This is again another new species and will be named after Dutch’s son Jonny, you know him, Jonny the Lionfish Hunter!! This little inch and a half fish was found at around 600 feet in front of the Curacao Sea Aquarium. At 9:00 this morning I will be trying to photograph him again but this time with a little different background. It’s really amazing that there are so many new and colorful fish right out our front door just waiting to be discovered and you lucky folks are again the first to see them. We have plans to make a book at the end of 2012 of all the new and wonderful creatures that have been found to date and that will be found this year. We have many top scientists arriving again this year which I am sure will mean many more new finds.

Inca got bit again by a dog and has a bad wound on her side and is in a lot of pain! It happened on a walk Wednesday morning and oddly no one saw or heard a thing? Very strange!

That’s about it, have a wonderful day!!!!!! Barry

Sea-Glass Dolphin, Happy New Year, Beach Glass

barry — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:25:31 +0000

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!! Ok, I’m a day late but what’s new? I hope everyone out there had a great weekend and a safe but fun evening. On Saturday, New Years Eve day I did four dives with the sub! Yep, we had a family of 16 that all went in the sub, they were from a cruise-ship so we really had to hurry and get them back to the docks before 4:00. By 5:00 I was wiped out and not feeling well and ended up staying home with the dogs New Years Eve while, Aimee took the gang on a fantastic boat ride with Dutch and his family to ring in the new year! As hard as I tried to sleep thru the noise it was just impossible and in the end just tried to keep the dogs from barking and going crazy. I think the whole gang came back home from their boat-trip at around 1:30 in the morning and again we all tried to sleep but it was non-stop fireworks all around us till 5:00 am!! I ended up getting 20 minutes sleep the whole night and just gave up and took the dogs out for a long walk early Sunday morning joined by Stijn. We had a great New Years Day walk along the North coast and collected driftwood and other fun stuff while the dogs ran and ran and ran! At 10:00 I took the whole gang to Caracas Bay for a “New Years Dive” at tugboat and finally little Hannah did a 32 minute dive!!! This was officially her first real dive in the ocean and we were all glad to be part of it! I think today they are headed to Puerto Mari for another dive and to just spend the whole day relaxing on the beach.

That’s about it, we have all been very busy trying to get in as much fun time as we can with our guests before they leave.

Once again, Happy New year!! Talk more tomorrow, Barry

The Pelikaan, Dutch Navy Ship the Pelikaan, Curacao

barry — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:07:52 +0000

Good morning friends, we had quite the adventure yesterday and I am sure the whole Substation crew feels like I do today, wiped out! The adventure started at 8:30 in the morning yesterday with a big flat bed truck arriving with a big crane attached to it. The plan was to load the sub on the truck and drive it to the “Pelikaan” (Navy cargo ship) but moments after the truck arrived he told us the port authorities forbid any vehicle over a certain weight from driving onto the pier where the ship was docked because of the age of the pier. So plan “B”. We then had the crane just pick up the sub and drop it in the water and from there we towed the sub on top of the water with our Boston Whaler all the way to Caracas Bay, this took about an hour. Once there we unhooked our sub and the Dutch Navy took over and picked the sub up and out of the water with their giant onboard crane as you see here. Once the sub was on deck we all boarded the Navy ship called the Pelikaan and got treated to a real live Navy experience! There was so much activity happening onboard that it was hard to stay out of the way but with camera in hand I managed to squirrel myself into all kinds of positions and spent the next hour photographing the sub on deck. During this hour I ran into and met some of the nicest Navy guys who were just as excited as we were and could hardly wait to see the sub in action. As per expected the crew and the ship was in tip-top shape!! The guys I saw looked like they could have wrestled a lion and won, they were all in unbelievable shape and are the kind of people we all need fighting for our countries. At 12:15 the sub was again lowered into the water and the first Navy Seal operation was underway. The sub went down to 90 feet and parked in front of some airplane wreckage that had been placed there to simulate a real crash. The Navy then sent down it’s team and the sub and the seals worked side by side and I believe they even simulated finding the “black box” and picking it up with sub. I did jump into the water and watched the first exercise but was warned by a certain Dutch diving magazine to stay out of the way as this was their shoot, so sorry no photos from me underwater folks. I then surfaced and spent the rest of the time in our boat taking photos topside joined by Aimee at 12:30. I took this photo you see here at around 2:00 after the first set of exercises were over, they went in again at around 2:30 and did a whole new underwater recovery scenario.

The Pelikaan was built and designed especially for the Caribbean seas, it functions as a support ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the area. The ship is permanently moored off the Rima-pier at the naval base Parera at Curacao. She came in service June 12, 2006. The vessel has a Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Classification 1A1 E0 NAUT-OC ICS CRANE. The basic tasks of the ship are assistance during calamities (hurricane), command center (landing operations of marines) and transport of troops and equipment. For these tasks the ship is equipped with;

Deck crane SWL 25t/11m or 7t/14m
2 Cargo spaces with hatch cover suitable for dangerous goods
6m Fast RIB with outboard engine
Ammunition store, small arms store, deck store & boatswain store
Engine room workshop & electronic workshop

On 18 January 2010, the ship arrived at Port-au-Prince with relief supplies for the 2010 Haiti earthquake relief. She was the first ship to use the Port international de Port-au-Prince after the quake.

I better get moving, I am doing a walk with Aimee and the dogs this morning, have a great day!! Barry

Coelopleurus (Keraiophorus) maillardi, Sea Urchins

barry — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:31:17 +0000

Good morning friends, here is another beautiful little sea urchin skeleton from the Philippines called Coelopleurus (Keraiophorus) maillardi. If you look at the one I sent you a few days ago and compare it with this one you will see they are very different, one of the many reasons I am so fascinated by them. Sea urchins are sea creatures that live in oceans all over the world. Similar to sea stars, sea urchins have a water vascular system. Their spherical shape is typically small, ranging from about 3 cm to 10 cm in diameter, and their bodies are covered with a spiny shell. The skeleton of a sea urchin is also known as the test. The shells within the test of these creatures are made up of packed, fitted plates which protect them from being damaged. As for the spines outlining their shell, these are movable and help the sea urchin to camouflage or protect itself from predators. Sea urchins can vary greatly in color. Some of the most frequently seen colors are black, red, brown, purple and light pink. On the bottom side of a sea urchin there are five teeth that these organisms use to ingest algae and break down other foods they consume to survive. These five teeth continually grow throughout the sea urchin’s life. On the outside of their body, they also have hundreds of transparent tubes that emerge which allow them to stick to the bottom of the ocean or to move at a very slow pace. These unusual tubes are called “tube feet.” Their tube feet are much longer than the spines outlining their shells and they are also used by the sea urchin to trap food and in respiration.

We have a fun day ahead planned for the sub. At around 8:00 it will be picked up by a big truck and taken to the pier at Caracas Bay where it will then be lifted by a giant crane and put onboard the Dutch Navy Ship the Pelikan. The plan is for the Navy Seals to practice with it out in the water all day and yes I will be there as well to hopefully get some cool photos underwater of the Seals and the sub together. I believe any locals are welcome to drive on out and watch from shore, we will be there all day. I am going to try and get photos from high above where the ship is docked this morning but not sure yet if I will have time to shoot land and underwater at the same time.

I did a fast hour and a half sprint again last night with Stijn who continues to get faster every day. He has been doing many long 50 mile rides this year that are helping him to become one of the islands fastest riders, I can see if I want to continue to race with him next year I will have to step my training up as well. The World famous Amstel Race is fast approaching, it’s less than two weeks away and I will be there with camera in hand.

The new November/December Sport Diver magazine should be out, I have at least 10 photos in there so please go find it and help show your support. Have a great day, I have a lot to do this morning, Barry

Fudeka, Carnival in Curacao, Curacao Events

barry — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:14:14 +0000

Good morning, I keep getting requests for more Carnival photos so here is another. Like I said before, I took so many photos of this event that I could easily send one a day for the next two years! Most groups as you see here are sponsored by one big company or country that provides the necessary funds needed to make these elaborate costumes and or fly them all to Curacao, as you can imagine this can be very expensive! The group will start off in one part of town and dance and sing to loud music for the next six to eight hours in the blazing sun and do this for many days in a row in hopes of winning the grand prize. For me to even be able to get the photos I did, I had to go register with ”Fudeka” http://www.curacaocarnival.info/eng/index.php parade committee at a cost of around $100. They take your photo and give you a press card to wear which in turn gives you access to the restricted areas like right in the middle of the parade! My method was to just weave right thru the middle of this mess and it worked great! A camera stops everything here, they all love to be photographed and only a few times was I stopped by security and asked for my pass, again the things we do for a photo.

Stijn and I did go to Saint Joris last night with the dogs and got in two hours of trail maintenance. I had found a new trail weeks ago that was un-rideable because of all the thorn bushes growing into the trail so last night we started cutting but only got a short ways, it’s going to take awhile. Also I am starting a savings fund for our friend DJ at Saint Joris who has been the person responsible for many years keeping that place as clean as possible. He recently started a foundation for kids that will have mountain bikes, kite surfing and sailing so we really want to that succeed and will be asking for donations over the next month.

I better get to work, hope all is well out there, Barry

Underwater Treasure, Old Bottles, Antique Gin Bottles

barry — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:55:16 +0000

Bon Dia Amigos, here is something cool again, this is an old 1820′s gin bottle with a cool hermit crab walking around the top of it looking for food. This heavy, handmade bottle is a good solid 12 inches in length and could be even bigger. This was found with the sub at around 400 to 600 feet and was brought back in perfect shape. As old as this island is I have been wondering why we haven’t found more of these, they should be everywhere in the water and they are worth quite a bit of money. On the glass beach we go to we find shards of these bottles by the bag full and when walking along the coast I always find broken ones but to date never a complete one. I have this one in my office right now, will get it cleaned up today and then re-photograph it in a studio setting maybe with a flower inside or something?

Yesterday was one busy day! We left the house at 7:30 with four people and two dogs, all crammed into one little car and headed for the North coast. We parked and walked for around two hours searching for driftwood and beach treasures. We carried this big dive bag/backpack and on the way back had it filled with wood, in fact it was so heavy Ron and I had to take turns wearing it. We raced back home at 9:30 and met our friend Carol from the Smithsonian and off we went to one of the many glass beaches in Curacao. Once there we all just picked a spot and sat down and started to dig, it was a major good time! I had told Carol, we are having a contest, find the best piece of red and you win! No sooner did I get that line out of my mouth and she bends over and picks up this insane beautiful piece of round, red, glowing piece of glass and say’s “like this one”?? I said, “you win”!! And she did! After that we all carried our 20lbs of glass in containers back to the car and went back to the house. Ron and I then took off to the Substation for a dive while the girls chilled at home. On our dive we ended up finding a live Deer Cowrie which was hiding in the dark under the lip of an underwater rubber tub. It was so cool that we carried it out to the reef for a little photo shoot. We set it on top of a big rock at around 25 feet and just watched as this cool mollusk did his thing and I shot away. Moments into the shoot Ron starts yelling and trying to get my attention. To my disbelief a young octopus had been watching us the whole time and finally decided if we were just going to play with our food he would take it and eat it!! He swam straight towards us thru the water and landed right next to the cowrie and was going to attack it. I quickly said, no way and put my hand out and he swam back over to his hole in the wall so I began to shoot again but he was still watching us. Well to make a long story short, he just kept coming back time after time trying to take our beautiful prize as these cowries are one of their most favorite foods on the planet! I just couldn’t let him have it and ended up taking the cowrie back to where we found it, they are just one of my all time favorite creatures in the sea, I will send a photo. As you can see we had a busy fun day followed by another great dinner cooked my our guests.

I need to get to work, Ron and Aubrey are taking bikes and the car back to the North coast this morning for a fun morning adventure and then maybe dive later in the day.

Have a great day, Barry

Secretary Blenny, Acanthemblemaria maria, Blennies

barry — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:06:53 +0000

Good morning friends, yesterday was so busy for me, I did three dives with the sub and then raced to get to a bike ride at 5:30. Weeks ago a professional mountain biker from Holland contacted me and was interested in doing some extreme riding on all our fun technical single-track and last night we finally got together. So at 5:30 Stiyn and I took our new friend on a 90 minute thrill a second ride thru the beautiful wilds of Curacao, it was great! Our new rider was everything we hoped he would be and at the end of the ride we returned him safe and sound to his hotel with a smile on his face. I was so tired after the ride and diving that I went straight home to bed, it was game over for me!!

Here is a new little cutie face I found the other day living in a beautiful grooved brain coral home. This is a tiny 3/4th of an inch Secretary Blenny, Acanthemblemaria maria with a room with a view like no other! His little hole faces straight out onto the whole reef almost like a penthouse suite at the top of a skyscraper and he seems as happy as can be. These blennies are among the easiest macro creatures to photograph on the reef and I always show these to my newbie photographers. These fish spend all day with their heads sticking out of little abandoned worm holes waiting for food to come to them. They constantly dart out of their holes to grab suspended particles of food and then re-enter their tiny holes tail first and it all happens in a blink of an eye, they are so fast!!

I hope all is well out there, have a wonderful day, I have to get back to the water!! Barry

Spotted Moray Eel Out Hunting, Gymnothorax moringa

barry — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:13:39 +0000

Good evening friends, I hope you all made it thru your Monday safe and sound! I did one dive with the mini-sub at 11:00 and while photographing the passengers from the outside a giant Manta Ray swam over my head! And yes, by the time I realized what was going on it was too late! I dropped everything and took off in hot pursuit but this massive ray just kept on gliding thru the water, I never got one shot! It’s incidents like this that keep an underwater photographer up at night wondering how I could have done better and when will this opportunity arise again?? I got out of the water filled with excitement and told everyone I ran into about my encounter but everyone wanted to see a photo and you know how that made me feel?

Curacao was mostly overcast all day which was nice, we all thought for sure there was to be some rain but in the end we didn’t see a drop. After work I did a quick hour and a half bike ride and at 8:00 the new owner of “Lucky” or “JOY” as she is now called stopped by and dropped Joy off for us to watch for the next 4 days! As I speak Indi and Joy are in locked in puppy combat on the floor having the greatest reunion ever! These two love each other so much and in another hour will be so tired either will be able to walk, I will take a photo and send it out in the next few days.

I had a request for an eel out hunting or a photo of the whole eel’s body and found this one for you tonight. This is a Spotted Moray eel, Gymnothorax moringa and was taken at night. These eel’s typically live at depth’s of 6-40 feet and can grow up to four feet in length! A common myth is that if you find a moray eel on the reef and he has his mouth open, he may attack, NOT!! Only if you put your hands in front of his face! Morays constantly open and close their mouths, which is often perceived as a threat, but in reality is a behavior necessary to move water thru their gills for respiration. Shots like these are difficult to get as you either never see an eel out hunting or it’s impossible to get in front of him to get a photo because they tend to go away from a diver, not towards.

Off to bed, real tired from the bike ride, it was HOT!! Barry

Happy Mother’s Day Wish from Curacao!!!!

barry — Sun, 08 May 2011 19:32:20 +0000

Aimee and I want to wish all our MOM’S out there a great Mothers Day!! I called mine like a good boy a few hours ago and it was great to hear her voice, I sure wish we lived closer to each other! Have a wonderful day ladies, Love, Barry and Aimee