Christmas Crayfish

Hi All.
I trust you have all had a wonderful Christmas with lots of great food, and company. My family had a subdued day with presents being opened in the morning and a late lunch followed by a quiet afternoon in the pool. We then spent the evening at my parents house and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner.
I did manage to grab a few crayfish the other day and have since given all bar one away to family and friends. I am sure they will enjoy them as much if not more than I enjoy catching them. I have been playing with a few GoPro mounts lately and filmed the following clip using one of the mounts attached to my crayfish loop.

It is quite a simple technique to learn once you see how it is done and I hope this clip demonstrates the use of a loop clearly, of course you should check the regulations in your area first to see what permits are required and if it is legal to use one. If it is and you have the appropriate permits watch the clip, see how to use a loop, then get out and enjoy catching and eating you own crayfish. 

Have fun and Enjoy the Holiday season.

Merry Christmas 2014

	Merry Christmas 2014

 

Well another year has passed yet again, and what a year it has been..

I hope you are keeping well, and wish you all the very best wishes for the festive season, and a healthy and happy 2015.

My year started off with my son beginning his, Senior and Final Year at High School, so as you can imagine his days were quickly filled with homework, and essays etc.   

But now school is over and out to the real world he will go. Hehe.

My Wife & I went on a lifetime dream holiday to South Africa, staying in part in the Kruger National Park in a 6+ Star Safari Accommodation. We were also fortunate enough to enjoy the hospitality a close friend on a game farm and had a wonderful time, something we hope to do again soon.

The Safari was wonderful, and we saw all the BIG 5 animals whilst there, Rhino, Lions, Elephants, Leopards, and Hippo. as well as many many other wonderful animals The whole trip was out of this world, and I have to say, given the opportunity, we would certainly go again. We also did quite a bit of exploring and seeing the vast countryside, which was beautiful.  I also has the opportunity to do some tracking and hunting with locals which was amazing.

Following our trip, I  continued on to Madagascar for a further 10 day Diving Trip with my good friend Greg Pickering. There we stayed on a boat, and managed to do quite a bit of diving and spear fishing with all fish donated to the locals.  Madagascar is a much laid back, out of the way destination, with beautiful wildlife, animals and clear waters. (read all about it in my previous posts) We are planning another trip next year so stay tuned…

Until then I am off to grab some crayfish for Christmas....

Here’s wishing you and your families all the very best for the Holidays, and a Healthy & Safe 2015.

See you all again in the new Year,

Bluegroper.

The Mr Bud

Hi All.
Though I haven't had much in the way of diving adventurers of late, due to an illness in the family. I was fortunate enough though to be able to travel to Roatan Honduras to scatter the remaining ashes of a close friend. This was the last in a series of scatterings covering all his favorite dive spots and a few he never made it to.
While there I dived a sunken fishing boat that named Mr Bud, for some reason it reminder me of Forrest Gump's Shrimp boat. The wreck is a favorite of the local scuba divers and is easy to dive being in only 60ft of water.
I shot a short video of the boat hope you enjoy it.

My Rules for Travelling with Spearfishing gear.

This morning I saw a Facebook post about having problems when traveling on a spear fishing trip.  I have a few friends travelling to Lazarus Bank at the moment and it prompted me to think about the lessons I have learned with all the travel I have done over the years.

I currently travel overseas and back for work every month and have worked that kind of life for nearly 30 years and over that time I have come up with the following set of rules that will almost always see you travel stress free and arrive on time with all your luggage.

 

1.       NEVER, NEVER, NEVER fly a budget airline, I can’t stress this enough.

2.       Always arrive at least 3 days before the start of your intended trip, this allows for 3 things, lost luggage time to catch up with you, time to make alternate arrangements if needed,  time to recover from any jetlag.

3.       Weigh your bags and stay at least 2kg under the weight limit on each bag, this allows for dodgy airport scales and, or your gear not being fully dried out on your return trip.

4.       When asked what sporting gear you have when checking in Spearfishing gear it is “Fishing Gear” NOT “Spear Guns” this will save you a lot of hassles from check in staff and possibly some cash as some airlines (US airlines in particular) that only allow 1 checked bag don’t charge extra for fishing gear, it is classed as “Sporting gear, Fishing gear, long thin”.

5.       Have as little carry-on luggage as possible, just your Passport, tickets, wallet, camera , and essential toiletries/ medicine.

6.       Have everything set before you join the line for security screening that means nothing in your pockets, jacket or jumper off and belt removed and all in your carry on bag, so you can just dump 1 bag on the belt and walk through, in the US this means wearing slip on shoes.  

7.       Lock your bags with TSA lock’s and pack your gear so it will survive being dropped from a height of 20ft, if you don’t I guarantee you some baggage monkey will do it.

8.       If you have connecting flights that require a change of airline or terminal during your journey never believe the check in staff that your luggage is checked through to your destination.

9.       Allow a minimum of 3 hours between domestic and international connections if possible this allows you to collect and recheck your bags between connecting flights( see rule 8 ).

10.   Remove all unnecessary luggage tags from your luggage and pay particular attention to the those little barcode ones.

 

If you follow these rules then I am pretty confident you will have a trouble free journey and have all your luggage arrive on time. In all my years of travel I have never had my luggage go missing and fingers crossed it never happens, but if it does I know there’s a pretty good chance it will catch up with me in time, and my trip will not be ruined.

Castor Bank

After sailing through the night we arrived on Castor bank mid-morning and having had breakfast we were eager to get suited up and in the water. We quickly got ready and were in the water in no time at all, drifting with the current relaxing and breathing up, diving and waiting mid water. Our strategy was to drop in the deeper water and have the current push us toward the reef edge and the fish. After a few drifts we ascertained the current was not running the way we needed it to and we were going to have to change our plan.
We had a quick conference and decided to drop right on the reef edge then we could see which way the water was moving and where we needed to be dropped in future. This proved to be just the right decision as we landed right on a sand gutter that ran off into the deep and we could see Doggies down near the reef edge. The fish were way down deep and we decided we needed to do something to get them to come up. I took the opportunity to take some species I had not shot before in the hope that the activity would get the Doggies to investigate. I shot a very large Unicorn Fish and a massive Coral Trout, definitely the biggest I had ever shot to date.

Unicorn Fish, very tasty but dont forget to watch out for the scutes on the tail they are sharp!!

The tactic worked and pretty soon Greg had a respectable Doggie in his hands, and I had also landed a reasonable sized fish. We continued to use the same tactics for the rest of the day as we drifted down the edge of the reef using the current to assist us in exploring the drop off. We found some very interesting rock features along the edge and right on sunset we found the most amazing bommie just teeming with a huge variety of species, it was here that I secured my first Green Jobfish and a Rubberlips.

Fish ready for cleaning at the end of the day, Trout, Green Jobfish, Rubberlips and Unicorn Fish.

We dived hard until we ran out of light and planned to dive just as hard the next day. We hungrily ate a wonderful meal of fresh fish and vegetables before heading to bed, eager to make the most of our last day on Castor Bank.
After a good nights sleep we once again woke early and ate a light breakfast of fruit and toast, before gearing up and jumping in on the same edge we started on the previous day. We drifted further down the reef this morning and it wasn't long before we discovered some more interesting structure. Diving over the rock formations proved fruitful and it wasn't long before Greg had a Doggie on and fighting hard.
It ran hard out into the deep water only to return seconds later pursued by a dozen sharks, it ran into some shallow water and holed up in a cave, something Greg later said he had never seen before. When the fish finally exited the cave the sharks wasted no time in devouring it in a frenzy. While watching the fish being vaporized it occurred to me that using a cable slip tip was definitely a better choice over a spectra rigged tip as one could easily loose the tip in this situation.

The shark situation did not get any better as the day went on and later with the change in tide the current changed and we drifted a different part of the reef edge. After numerous drifts we located another magical bommie teeming with fish life. It was surrounded by Coral Trout and Green Jobfish and was home to two resident Brindle Bass. It also had a very large Harry Hotlips in attendance loads of Parrots and a proliferation of smaller species. I managed to bag a very large Coral Trout and a large Green Jobfish then a small Doggie of around 10kg.

A large coral Trout and small Doggie.

Richard and I both made repeted dives to try and secure the Harry Hotlips but to no avail, as it was late in the day by this point we decided to give Greg a chance on the fish and called him over.  Greg also made repeted dives on the bommie but failed to even sight the Hotlips. At the end of his last dive a very large Green Jobfish strayed a little too close and Greg took what was without a doubt the longest shot I have ever seen him take. He was using a 1.3mt roller gun with a 7.5mm shaft and 20mm rubber, it was one of, if not the best shot I have seen him take and he nailed the fish with ease. With the light now fading and the fish landed we boarded the boat for the last time and began to stow out gear as we set course for Nosy Be and our flights home.

Greg and I with our Green Jobfish from the Bommie.

Once we had finished taking photographs, stowing our gear and were showered and dry we sat back and enjoyed a relaxing cold beer as we watched the sun set on our last night at sea.  What a magical sunset it was too, one of the best I have ever seen. 

Sunset on Castor Bank.

Greg and myself, two very tired but happily worn out divers relaxing after an epic trip.

We arrived back at Nosy Be in the early hours of the morning and lay at anchor until sunrise when we unloaded all our gear and hung it all out to dry back at the Villa. We were flying back to Johannesburg the next day and we took the day out to dry and repack our gear prior to our departure. Once that task was completed we spent the rest of the day relaxing and reliving out adventure, even starting to loosely plan our next trip. We dinned early and being utterly exhausted we all fell asleep as soon as we lay down.
We rose early the next morning and made our way to the airport where we said goodbye to Woody and boarded our plane to Antananarivo. We had a short stop over and somehow Chris managed to reed the departure time wrong and when we went to check in we discovered our plane was already boarded and ready to depart.
We freaked and threw our bags at the baggage guys while the check in staff printed our boarding passes, then we ran out to the plane, the immigration guy just stamped our passports as we ran past. We even had to push the stairs back up to the plan and knock on the door, it was close but amazingly we made our flight to Johannesburg. It really was a crazy way to end such a crazy adventure and we laughed about it the whole way back.
We have all since returned to our normal lives and jobs but in the background we are planning another epic adventure together soon, it should be a blast!!

Spot X, A Marlin, Doggies and Sharks.

In the early hours of the morning we weighed anchor and headed out from behind the shelter of the islands towards our destination "Spot X". The wind was still quite strong and the sea state a bit too rough to dive but it was forecast to moderate, so we used the wind and sailed to our dive site.  When we arrived we decided against diving until the conditions calmed down and used the time to double check our gear. Finally in the afternoon the wind dropped and the sea calmed down enough to dive and we eagerly threw our gear on.
On entering the water we were treated to 30mt visibility, outstanding visibility considering the conditions and a water temp of around 29c. We saw little in the way of fish life to get excited about though conditions were still quite bad, we did however expect things to improve over the next few days as the weather got steadily better. We dived hard until it was too dark to dive and then, having had no luck we boarded the yacht and stowed our gear for the night. Once again we ate splendidly and having filled our stomachs we all crashed into our bunks  tired but eager to see what the morning delivered.
 

Our gear all ready to go just waiting for the weather to moderate.

 I woke early and ate a light fruit breakfast as did the others as one by one they appeared on deck, we gathered our thoughts and formed a plan for the day. We would dive Spot X until early afternoon and if we still had no luck we would move South to Castor Bank. We then geared up and entered the water, similar conditions to the previous day prevailed however the sea state was much more comfortable. We hadnt been in the water more than 10 minutes when I spotted a Black Marlin of around 150kg swiming in from my left. I didnt have time to breathe up I just took a deep breath, spat out my snorkel and dived almost on top of the fish. It continued swimming on the same course and sped up a little when it noticed me. I kicked a bit harder and gained some distance, I lined my gun up on the fish and when I thought everything was right I fired, only to see the fish dance a little and the shaft skip harmlessly across its back. Richard was extremely quick and managed to capture the whole event on video and a later review of the footage in slow motion revealed the reason for me missing, the Marlin was descending as it swam and I had not noticed this.

I was extremely dissapointed to have blown such an opportunity, but there was no way I was going to dwell on it and we kept diving. A short time later as we drifted across a drop off, Greg dived and dropped down on top of a reasonable sized Dogtooth Tuna and after a long dive fired a shot and secured a fine first fish for the trip. I dived as Greg was retrieving his fish and was also rewarded with a pair of 25kg Doggies swimming up to see what was going on. As I reached about 25mts one fish turned and swam away while the other circled under me, I lined up on the fish under me and as it started to swim directly away I fired. The shaft landed exactly where I had aimed and stunned the fish for a split second as great clouds of blood poured from its gills it shook it's head and took off. .
The fish ran for about 30mts before it stopped and once again shook it's head emitting another cloud of blood. At that point I was almost certain I would land the fish and started to retrieve my float line. A short 10 minute fight enshued before I got a good gill hold on my first Dogtooth a solid 25kg fish. Once again Richard was right behind me with the camera and captured the moment on video. In the interim Greg had also landed his fish and we both boarded the yacht grinning happily.

Removing a slip tip from a Doggie

Greg with a nice sized Doggie.

Once we had taken photos and rerigged our gear we were back in the water and on the hunt once again. Before long Greg had another Doggie close to 40kg fighting on the end of his float line only to have it vapourized by a pack of hungry sharks before he could land it. After this we found it exceedingly difficult to get fish past the sharks, with me losing most of a coral trout of around 20kg to them and Greg losing half a reasonable Doggie. Eventually it got impossible with sharks buzzing all around us, I had one attempt to take a fish from my hands and remove my fingers in the process, luckily it failed! Greg also had a close call so we decided to move on and hunt greener pastures before anything bad happened.

Of course at some point we had to pay the taxman.

Having an increasing shark problem and not seeing a lot in the way of fish we made the desciscion to move South to Castor Bank, we stowed out gear, hoisted the sails and headed South. We ate a wonderful meal of Dogtooth Tuna skewers cooked on the barbque and watched an amazing sunset. We relived every moment of the day numerous times and planned our days ahead before flopping into bed. In the morning when we woke we would be on Castor Bank, and with 2 days left on the yacht anything could happen.

Sailing South To Castor Bank.

Sailing North to the 16th century Pirate Haven the fabled Mitsio Islands.

Early the following morning we sailed with the high tide, things were nice and comfortable as we threaded our way through the passages between the many small Islands, we had the sails up and were making good speed. This would not be the way things stayed as once we rounded the last headland we were immediately buffeted by the full force of the wind and waves generated by the cyclone still churning away in the Mozambique Channel. However we were in luck and the cyclone maintained it's predicted course and was not increasing in strength.

Before we reached open sea Richard explained how to operate the topside camera

Our skipper Woody showing the strain of having to act as interpreter as well, yes the language barrier was an issue at times but it all worked out ok in the end.

The wind was not too bad as it was from the right quarter to ensure we made good speed up the coast, however the waves were another story, they were just the right height and distance apart to make things very uncomfortable for us. As I suffer from seasickness I took the opportunity quickly down a sizable dose of my favorite drug of choice and spent the next couple of hours in a drug induced haze of semi-consciousness in my bunk. Some considerable time passed before my bladder inconveniently chased me out of my bunk. Having dealt with that minor inconvenience, I decided a cup of tea and something to eat may be the way to go, and we ate a light lunch as we sailed North toward the 16th Century pirate haven of the Mitsio Islands.

The Mitsio's are located on the far Northwestern coast of Madagascar and we planned to use them as a sheltered anchorage for the night. Just as centuries before us Pirates preying on returning Dutch East India men used those very same islands. The rugged shapes of the islands and their tall volcanic peaks hid the masts of the ships from patrolling naval vessels sent to rid the Indian ocean of the pirate scourge. The stretch of water between the Horn of Africa and the Northern tip of Madagascar were once a favorite haunt of pirates in the days of sail. Days of wooden ships and iron men, months spent at sea living on bully beef and hard tack biscuits, washed down with a daily tot of Rum. Years spent away from home in the hope of making some money, but usually ending in death from any number of mishaps, a fall from the rigging, scurvy, fever or falling overboard and drowning as the ship sailed on, or worst of all at the end of the hangman's rope after torture and trial then for ones body to hang in the gibbet.

Dull leaden skies but at least the wind has dropped and we are in the lee of the islands now.

After a full days sailing we dropper anchor shortly after dark in the shelter of the Mitsio islands, it was a welcome relief to be able to eat and move without being thrown around. I for one was not feeling the best and it takes me a good day or two to get my sea legs at the best of times. I was definitely hoping for calmer weather over the coming days. Once we had anchored up and eaten we all set to bed for a welcome rest.

A jungle waterfall and a Cyclone.

We spent most of the day packing our gear, double checking we had everything and that all the camera batteries were fully charged. We took things slowly and made sure we hadn't forgotten anything. While we were eating lunch the owner of the Villa asked if we would like to accompany him to a waterfall and swimming hole that afternoon?  How could we refuse an offer like that, so after lunch we all piled into the back of his pickup and headed off.
We traveled through what looked like an old abandoned sugar cane plantation, the locals were now living in what remained of the old buildings and huts. We crossed a small river with women washing clothes and kids running around everywhere before parking up in a clearing. We then walked a couple of hundred meters down a trail with trees and vines growing overhead. The sound of falling water got louder and louder until we rounded a bend and the trail opened up to reveal a beautiful waterfall. There was even a small cave behind the cascade and a rock ledge to climb up and jump into the pool from.

Walking through the jungle to the Waterfall.

The Waterfall and cave.

Local scenery.

We were only too eager to swim and the water was refreshingly cool after the walk in, Greg and I swam across the pool and climbed the rock ledge before jumping into the pool. We then swam under the waterfall and had a look in the cave, it went a fair way back into the rock certainly further than it looked at first glance.
Richard and Chris both had a swim and Chris took some amazing footage of the waterfall with a GoPro mounted on a Quad copter, flying in between the trees to film the cascade from above.

After a relaxing couple of hours we had to head back to the beach and meet the yacht, we only had a couple of hours when the tide was high enough to bring the yacht into the bay and load our gear. A small zodiac was launched from the yacht and with this we ferried everything out to the yacht and stowed it securely.

Our home for the next leg of our voyage.

The next high tide would be in the early hours of the following morning and we were making use of that to board the yacht depart on our voyage North. For the last few days a cyclone had been hovering over the Northern waters of the Mozambique channel, this was a major problem for us. If it continued to move South West things would be ok and we could use the wind to hasten our voyage, however if it turned and headed due South or South East we would be in trouble. Unfortunately we would not know which direction the Cyclone would take until we set out the following morning.

Lemur Land!!!

After a good nights sleep and another wonderful breakfast we organized a driver for the day and headed off to a place called Lemur Land.

Almost as soon as we arrived and got out of the car we saw our first Chameleon, a huge brightly colored one in a tree.

I never cease to be amazed by them, the way they move, change color and the way their eyes move independently, that is incredible!.  We were met by a guide and he explained we would first tour the Ylang Ylang distillery and then visit Lemur Land. Ylang Ylang oil is distilled from small flowers picked from the trees and then loaded into a giant still, steam is then introduced to the still and the oil is carried with the steam into the condenser. The resulting oil and water then separate and the oil is skimmed off and bottled for sale.

Inside the Distillery.

There was also a display of old machinery from the Distilleries past, that gave us an insight into days gone bye before electricity.

Old Steam engines that were once used to run the distillery.

Once we had finished in the Distillery we moved on to the gift shop for a welcome drink of Guava juice before proceeding over a small wooden bridge into Lemur Land. Once in Lemur Land we were greeted by a massive 300kg Tortoise that roams the grounds with a slightly smaller companion. There were small displays of the native reptiles and Chameleons on every second tree. We saw many different species of Lemur as we moved through the different habitats set up specifically for each different type of lemur. We were fortunate to be able to interact with them all and it struck me how gentle they were, I had expected behavior somewhat similar to monkeys but they were totally different.

Greg feeding a Lemur.

After spending hours in the jungle of Lemur Land we made our way back to the gift shop to buy some souvenirs before leaving and driving through the old port side area of Hell-Ville, old wrecks stuck in the mud littered the port and still sailing wrecks floated among the hulks. We found it hard to believe that these vessels still floated let alone took on cargo and sailed between the mainland and the islands.

We then wound our way through the crowded streets before joining the road back to the Villa on the opposite side of the island. We spent the remainder of the day relaxed in the shade with a couple of drinks, taking the occasional swim to keep cool.

Our first day in Nosy Be and we wind up adrift at sea.

We woke early and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of tropical fruit and toast, fresh fruit juice and coffee. There was not a better way to start the day than eating breakfast while watching the the waves lap the sandy beach, thinking of what the day may hold. We enjoyed watching the morning procession of activity on the beach, women wandering the length of the beach with huge bowls of fruit balanced on their heads selling the fresh produce along the way, children picking up bits of drift wood and anything that may be of use and men launching their small fishing Dhows and proceeding to sea for a days work. The daily rituals of life that we in a modern society don't see anymore.

Early morning view of the bay.

One of the many women selling fresh fruit on the beach every morning.

After breakfast we sorted out our gear and organized for some weights to be delivered to the villa, we also organized a boat for the afternoon. We needed to get out and dive so we could sort out any problems with our gear and get our weights correct for the coming days.
I also took a trip into Hell-Ville to get some cash as we were unable to get any from the money changer at the airports in Johannesburg or Antananarivo. We then found none of the money changers would exchange South African Rand or Australian dollars both of which I had plenty, this would turn out to be a problem that plagued us for the rest of the trip. After numerous attempts we found an ATM that worked and I was able to  use a prepaid Mastercard to withdraw $800,000 mga yes that's right the exchange rate was in the vicinity of 2500/1. If you plan to travel to Madagascar try to bring either Euro or US$ as they are about the only currencies they will exchange.

The result of the trip to the ATM, a huge wad of cash and a headache!

We had managed to arrange a boat for the afternoon, and planned on visiting a reef some 20km offshore that held small Dogtooth tuna and a wide variety of reef fish. This would serve as a warm up dive to sort out any problems that our gear may have developed in transit. Luckily we encountered no problems with our gear and everything worked perfectly, unfortunately the same can't be said for the boat!!.

We ate a leisurely lunch before loading our gear on to the boat and setting out, the first sign of impending trouble came about half way to the dive spot when the motor unexpectedly stopped. We had a quick look over the motor and discovered a loose electrical connector which was quickly and easily repaired with some duct tape. Having overcome that minor inconvenience we set off again and quickly reached the reef. On entering the water we were greeted with amazing visibility and a wonderful variety of fish. We both made use of the time and tested our gear to the fullest, I spent some time pursuing a school of Black Snapper and was rewarded with a large fish after some long dives laying on the bottom throwing up sand, Greg also had success landing an exceptionally large Coral Trout.

The Boat prior to the trip to the reef.

Greg with a large Coral Trout.

Having checked our gear and both landing good fish we headed for the beach and this is when things took a turn for the worst. About half way back to Nosy Be the motor started making some pretty expensive sounding noises, the boat driver decided that the best course of action was to go faster therefore ensuring that any failure on the motors behalf would be catastrophic. Well that is exactly what happened, soon enough something inside let go and it clunked and spluttered to a stop. We were still about 10kms from land at this point however the tide and wind were in our favor for the time being.
We conveyed our displeasure to the boat driver however not understanding a word of English he just smiled at us. It was at this point we discovered that even though the boat had a nice flash looking marine radio it didn't work!!! Luckily we had come armed with a phone number to call in the event something like this happened, and even more astounding we actually had phone reception.

It never ceases to amaze me that even in the worlds poorest countries, everyone seems to have a mobile phone and mobile reception is everywhere, hey we may not have running water but we got a mobile phone aren't we flash!! who gives a damn that I live in a washing machine box I got a phone!! something is wrong with peoples priorities somewhere that's for sure.

Well after a dozen calls and trying to learn French on the spot, the sun had set, it was pitch black and 4 hours had passed. we had fashioned a sail from the boats canopy and were making a steady 2 knots towards Nosy Be. Some 5 hours after the motor died we were finally picked up and towed back to the beach.
The following morning we discovered the numerous reasons behind the delay in towing us ashore, the boat tasked with towing us back had originally set out with no fuel and had to return to fuel up. By the time they had fueled up it was dark and they could not see us so they went home, another round of phone calls ensued and we were able to tell them we had a torch and would signal them with it, only then did they find us and tow us back to shore.

Finally back on dry land we walked the 100 yards to the villa where thankfully dinner was waiting for us and we hungrily ate another wonderful meal of local produce followed by the local brew "Three Horse Beer" and some Malagasy Rum before showering and falling into bed exhausted after the days events.

Off to Madagascar, at last!!!!

I had been in constant contact with Chris Coates over the months of planning and kept him up to date with all developments so he could make the required arrangements. He was able to tailor the trip to suit just the two of us and managed to pull off a splendid trip despite all the challenges thrown  his way. We had started our trip in Nelspruit staying with Friends prior to traveling to Madagascar, and whilst there we visited Kruger national park and saw the big 5, we helped out for a day at a game farm darting and relocating Impalla. We bottle fed baby Rhino and played with a baby Hippo named Emma, Greg tubed down the river and played on a rope swing in a deeper pool, we went epic right from the start.

We then traveled to Johannesburg where we joined Chris Coates and Richard Leonard for our trip to Madagascar’s Spot X and Castor bank, Richard was along to help capture all the action on video. 
The fun started as soon as we tried to check in for our flights courtesy of Air Madagascar.  We had flight delay after flight delay just getting to Madagascar. Then once we arrived some 18 hours late we were taken to an old hotel for a few hours rest until our flight to Nosy Be. We all boarded the plane ok but then had an unscheduled stop at an unknown airport once on the way to Nosy Be, apparently there were people there that wanted to go to Nosy Be, so we stopped for them?. 

Transport to the mystery hotel.

Checking in for the flight to Nosy Be. 

Air Madagascar plane.

The airport was that out of the way I think it had been forgotten, there were even 2 old WWII biplanes rotting away at the edge of the apron complete with rotted canvas hanging through wooden wing skeletons. I tried to take a photo of them but the local police got a little upset at the sight of my camera so I thought better of it.

When we finally landed at Nosy Be our Skipper was waiting for us and we quickly loaded all our gear into the vehicle for the trip to the lodge. We traveled through the town of Hell-Ville yes that is what it is called, and over rough roads and a wooden bridge until we reached a quiet bay on the Southeast side of the island. Here we were introduced to the owner of the lodge and were given a welcome drink, before being shown to our rooms. 

The streets of Hell-Ville.

Crossing a wooden bridge on the way to the Lodge.

The beach at the Lodge.

Day Gecko

We were staying at the lodge for a few days prior to boarding the yacht, this would give us a chance to check our gear and pick the best weather to spend our time out at sea. Almost immediately Greg spotted a Day Gecko and was pleasantly surprised to find they were very common. We relaxed for a couple of hours before we ate a late dinner and retired to our rooms for a good nights sleep beneath mosquito nets and whirring ceiling fans, the sound of waves gently lapping the shore sending us off to sleep.
 

South Africa and Madagascar here we come!!! 3 weeks until lift off.

Well I haven't written in a while, with Christmas, New Year, work and organizing my next big trip taking up just about all my time so here's run down of what's been happening.
Greg and I have been busy planning a trip to Castor Bank off the Northwest tip of Madagascar for the last few months. The planning has not been without it's ups and downs, we originally had a 3rd and 4th diver coming along but one had to pull out due to family commitments and the other due to business commitments, so now it's just the two of us. We have been pool training every chance we get and preparing and fixing gear so we are well and truly prepared. We will be targeting big pelagics like Dog tooth Tuna, Marlin, Sailfish and Wahoo.The biggest problem we faced was how to fit in all the gear we would need and stay within our baggage limits, the solution we came up with was to run just 2 rigs. One for Dog tooth and the other for the other Pelagics.

We figure as only one of us will be down at any one time we just swap rigs after each dive. Our Dogtooth rig will comprise of 25mts of float rope and a 2mt bungee attached to 2 x 20lt solid floats and a riffe 2atm inflatable float with short 2mt bungees between the floats. Our Pelagic rig will consist of a 20mt bungee and 2 x standard riffe inflatable floats with a short 2mt bungee between the floats. As we will both be using guns rigged with breakaways it will be a simple matter of just unclipping and swapping rigs after each dive. This has the added safety of forcing us to ensure the other is safely on the surface after each dive so we can swap rigs. In the event that one of us needs a second shot on a fish we can simply hand over the rig, or clip on an unloaded gun for a potential record fish.
Keeping within weight limits while still having enough spare parts proved to be a problem, but as we are both using the same gear we only need to carry one set. We have also done away with the need to carry mono, crimps and crimping gear and will be using 2.5mm dymeema to replace any damaged shooting line, another saving on space and weight. The shafts for our Tuna guns presented a problem as the 1.8mt x 10mm shafts weigh in at 1kg per shaft so we decided on only bringing 4 spare shafts each, and using much lighter Rail guns and 7.5mm shafts as a back up guns.

We will be flying into South Africa and spending just over a week touring the North East including Kruger National Park, the Drakensburg Mountains and hopefully Swaziland. We then fly to Madagascar and travel to the far Northwest coast and board a boat for our trip out to Castor Bank and other secret spots. We also plan to spend a few days exploring Madagascar and hopefully see a few of the exotic animals such as Day Gecko's, Lemurs and Chameleon's before returning home.
Internet access may be pretty sketchy while we are away but I will try and post some pictures along the way, and will of course post a full report once we have returned.