Crossroads
We take a long stop in the island nation of Palau and find some amazing wonders
Discovery heads North
This past fall, Joaquin asked if I would be interested in joining him on the Best Odyssey.
Shark Attack, more kiting, more adventure
sharks attack in the tuamotus takes the amperage up a bit
SHARKS
This trip goes down as one, if not the finest expedition of my life. To qualify as an “expedition” it should have the following attributes: remote, rarely or never attempted, difficult, and requiring great planning and usually heroic effort. Having two amazing chefs and a luxury yacht probably removes ‘difficult’ from our list, but we topped the scales on remote and never attempted on this one, and if you add what our chefs went through to get food on this boat we definitely have heroic. Although swimming with dozens of sharks cannot be described as easy…
First Time Flight
This log is a bit of mixed bag. I’ve elected to let the truth be told- a bit of the downside of my job, and bit of the glory. Usually logs are filled with the positive nature of the expedition, but it’s not always a walk in the park. Then again, it always has its little rewards that come just when they are needed. This is a story of the dark and light side that make up our days at sea.
Crossing the Equator, Galapagos Arrival
We take a quick pause for a swim in open ocean across the equator en route to the Galapagos
Ever heard of this Place?
Our first trip to Los Aves proved worthy of a return, which has completely altered our planned itinerary, but all for the good. This time the crew of Discovery only had 4 days to prep both the boat and ourselves for our next guests, Thomas and Adriena Scheuring and their daughter Clara from Germany, and Martin Stockl and Keith Cockrum who would join us from the States. Martin and Keith were on our “try before you buy” gig and I’m happy to say now ten days later that they are our most recent owners! I’m not sure if it was the boat, the food, the locations, or what was the deciding element because unfortunately this trip it probably was not the wind. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Wicked
Bonaire is hardly remote. It’s been on the scuba diving map for 3 decades and sports a healthy tourism industry, due to the sound management of its ecological treasures. But it feels way off the map, and we’re finding much to love. With Los Aves so nearby, exploring the two on one trip makes for one hell of a journey. And #11 was wicked in the best of ways.
Discovery at its best
We finished up the last 4 days of the Best trip in Los Roques with just two guests onboard, Ian Huschle, the CEO of Best, out for his second trip on The Best Odyssey, and Michael Bigger, one of Best’s investors. We’d had nearly perfect conditions for the first 10 days, but somehow the winds got even better and really cranked for the final go. Jody still wanted to nail some shots on the outer reef with two of the wrecks, so we headed east out to the barrier reef one last time.