You're STILL at the Office?

Sandy-bottomed Lac Bay is perfect for windsurfing due to its high wind and knee-to-crotch deep, bathtub warm, water. But the winds became too ferocious Tuesday and Wednesday, keeping novices like us off our boards until yesterday afternoon. We are humbled by the abilities of most of the sailors out there, but perhaps most of all by a toy-inventor we met, David, who outrides us with only one leg.

We've been getting in a couple dives each day, but so far I've been unable to provoke anything to bite me. The visibility is not quite as good as it was on our last visit, in October a few years back, but still pretty decent. We've seen schools of squid, enormous tarpon, a barracuda, several morays and the usual assortment of colorful reef fish, sponges, and coral. If you've watched the Blue Planet series, or any of several other recent ocean-based wildlife docs, you may be familiar with the bait-ball phenomenon, wherein a school of baitfish are corralled by several larger predatory fish; we were engulfed by one Tuesday.


In between dives we've watched kite-surfers and bought fresh food at the Venezuelan farmers' market.

One big buzz on the island is the presence of Paul Allen (Microsoft co-founder), whose "yacht" has been docked here all week.