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Captain:
Martin Daly (Aust)
Frank Albert Westgate (Panama)
Location:
Caribbean
Passengers: Kelly Slater
Tom Curren
Mar Ohno
Norimasa Ohno
1 Febuary 2004
A discovery through the
mangroves… Kelly Slater, Tom
Curren, Nori Ohno, and Mar Ohno
went today on an exploration of
reefs and virgin mangrove forest.
Found was a fishing village where
locals were befriended.
The anchor was heaved and off the
Indies Trader went. The swell had
evaporated as the anchor was
secured so the day would be spent
fishing and exploring. The lines
were cast to catch fish and the
music blared as the miles went by.
Several breaks were explored. The
charts of the area showed good
water as we motored along the
coast. This was not the case for
an uncharted reef almost got the
better of us. Quick action and a
cool hand were used as the engine
was brought to neutral and a way
out of an uncharted reef chain was
found. This would have a bad day
at the office to run aground with
two of the best surfers in the
world. At this near disaster
Pittzy remarked “Nah that would
have sucked with me onboard. Get
your priorities right.” Knock on
wood cause look at the characters
onboard.
At this an anchorage with something to offer was found. There were these cliff
embankments with something to offer from the underwater point of view.
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Tom exploring the
mangrove
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Local Sailfisherman.
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The cave ridden
cliffface.
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Diving
was the order of the day. Ricko, Horny, Capt. Frank and myself grabbed some
tanks and went for a look off the cliff that were near where we had dropped
anchor. The visibility was at least 100 feet. As we dropped to the bottom we
saw that the cliff had several opens and caves that needed to be explored.
Frank found where a river flowed into the ocean and decided to swim as far as
he could. Upon getting into the cave, he was startled by a school of silver
dollars that were lurking in the darkness. It is one thing to be scared of a
great white but to be scared of little fish that are the size of coins… Upon
returning to the Trader our surfers were ready to explore the mangroves and
reefs that were within earshot.
Kelly jumped into the tinny followed by Tom, Horny, Frank, Pittzy and the Ohno
brothers. I heard that there were vultures near. I have never seen one. Upon
getting through the reef channel and into the mangroves we were rewarded by
lots of herons and a few vultures that were sunning. It turned out that this
mangrove channel had its own dangers. There were so many birds that bird crap
was falling from the sky everywhere. The damn birds were laughing at us as we
proceeded upstream through the rainfall of dung. |
Our reward was a quaint
village that any kid would be lucky to grow up in. We befriend a couple of
local kids who were shoe shine boys. Pittzy had his flip-flops shined to keep
the boys around. Beautiful coral reefs offshore, great wilderness near by, and
a great white beach to play in… what else do you need.We walked through the village in our bare feet since this was an unexpected
surprise to check out. Upon getting to shore Kelly found a dog and made instant
friends by scratching him behind the ear. If it were that easy with everyone
you meet.
As the day turn to night we made our way out of the mangroves back to the
Indies Trader. The rest of the night was spent listening to tunes, talking
about past experiences and relaxing. Tomorrow the plan is to explore more of
this coast line for new breaks as the adventure continues.
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The Ohno Bros.
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Kelly and Mar in town.
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Tom and Kelly jammin'.
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