Perlas Islands - August 2007

We wanted to get in one more trip to the Perlas Islands before we went back to the US for a couple of months with Michelle’s new fiancee visa. We know from experience that five day panga trips to the Perlas work best with three people, one in the boat and two diving, but it is hard to find a dive buddy with the time, and one that has experience with boats and the ocean. Also it seems strange, but some people just can’t get into the fun of sleeping on the floor of a tossing panga with the ocassional night time raging winds, lightning and torrential rains. I guess they just worry too much about the small stuff. But a phone call from the interior solved our dive buddy problem. Elsy had a few weeks and wanted to come stay with us again, and was excited when we told her she could come on a dive trip with us. Granted her experience with the ocean and boats was somewhat limited-limited to ZERO. In fact she had never been in a boat, and, never been in the ocean, and could not swim-So she looked like the perfect person to be our safety diver and boat driver. Can’t sweat the small stuff when she has other qualifications--- like being cute, enthusiastic and ready for anything. Besides I had given her a pool session on how to use a mask and fins. Also, she would not have to sleep in the rain as there is room for her under the tarp in the prow with us. So with a full day of preparation we were all ready for the 4:30 wake up call.

We made the trip out of the canal, and past the ships waiting to transit the locks and started on a heading south for 70 or 80 miles. Within minutes my Bonin drugged out girl crew was stretched out on the floor on two mats and did not move until we stopped to check out a log a couple of hours later. Michelle took over and then I bagged a few Z’s for an hour, so I would not feel wasted all day. The rainy season had just started and the water had unfortunately warmed up again, so we knew there may not be many fish around. We had hopes of meeting up with Paul and Marina on their sail boat in the evening, and we fortunately crossed paths on the first day as we went farther out to look for floatsam. We found a great log to tie up to, and Michelle and I shot six small dorado for dinner as no big fish showed up. Elsy, our non-swimmer, jumped in the ocean for her first time, in 200 feet of water, without a second of hesitation, and we held her hand as we swam around and showed her the small dorado. Floating around in the clear, warm open ocean, there were not many fish to see, but as I watched my topless female crew swim around, I realized that this was an unexpected pleasure, that might help offset the lack of big fish.

We only shot small dorado, but had a great feast with real cooked food that evening when we hooked up with Paul and Marina on their sail boat. We planned to use his boat for the mother ship and my panga for diving, which worked great. We anchored up in a bay protected from south swell and wind, where there is usually plenty of room. However, when the wind and rain and lightning start going off it is still hard to sleep, as you never know if, and which way you are going to move. But we stayed dry, and in place, and had a great fun night of pounding rain, thunder and wind, all with just a sheet for cover.

The next day Paul joined us and we tried the rock outcroppings one mile off the island, and though it was enjoyable diving, we found no big fish. Since Paul was with us and could be boat man, we then went into a beautiful shallow area, protected by rock outcroppings coming up out of the water. Michelle and I jumped in with Elsy for her first real taste of the Magical Kindgom. It was safe, warm, clear, with house size bolders rising to within inches of the surface and small, colorful fish by the hundreds everywhere. One minute we are touching the rock and then we would push off and soar out over a dropoff of 40 feet, full of schools of different colors and types of fish from half inch to four inches long. Around every rock and pinnacle there was another breathtaking display. It was like underwater fireworks but with constant variation. Even for Michelle and me it was fabulous, so for Elsy it was beyond her ability to absorb it all. It was an experience she will not forget, but one that she will find very difficult to convery fully to family or friends that have never been in the ocean.

I think the only sizable game we managed to land for the day was a turtle. When we checked a plastic bottle buoy floating on the surface we found a turtle underneath entangled in at least 100 lbs of long line, hooks and mono. We had to pull it in the boat and it still took us ten minutes to cut away all the line. We slid him back in the water and I hope that he was strong enough to recover, because the commercial fishing gear had about finished off one more turtle.

Paul was with us again the next day and we dove Galera Island and had a great time. Having a live boat gives you more freedom to dive the most likely spots. You can breath up as you approach the area, and then, when you drop, still in front of the place, you can just drift into the target area instead of fighting the current. I shot a nice forty pound pez gallo and a little later drifted across a rock that housed eight or ten big pargo over 40 lbs. By the time I was picked up I had traveled a quarter mile and I could never find that same rock again. All the pargo we saw on this trip were at that one rock, and we made a few passes but no luck locating it again. This is one of those times I wish I was diving with a marking buoy. Paul shot a couple of nice fish, and the first milk fish I had seen anyone shoot. They are big, usually surface feeders, and very elusive.

Michelle and I had pleasant and unexpected suprises as we each got a shot at a really big wahoo where I have never seen them before. My wahoo was huge, maybe 70-80 pounds but he started to turn away at my limit of range. I did a hail mary shot and connected—to my surprise. The buoy ran for about ten seconds and just as I was getting my hopes up ---it pulled out. Next time a flasher might bring him closer.

The wahoo that approached Michelle came closer with the slow, undulating body movements of a big fish. When I saw it near the surface, Michelle was down with the gun and had also seen the fish. From my view point, as she brought the gun up, I was thinking this is bitchin’--- It is a really big wahoo and it is close-- She can’t miss. --BAM--- The spear passed about a foot under the fish and I could not believe my eyes. She might not have another shot like that in her life, because to see a wahoo of 80 pounds at close range does not happen often. I think it was partially that she was not used to the gun we were using this trip, and partially wahoo fever, as she rushed the shot in her excitement, before she was looking down the barrel. She was really burned about blowing the shot so I thought we better take a little beach break.

Galera is a very tiny uninhabited island many miles from the nearest land and has a small but beautiful white sand beach. A few minutes playing in the waves and walking on the beach would help Michelle forget her missed shot, and for Elsy it would be a “first time” experience to play on a beach. We enjoyed the freedom of the deserted beach and then we had fun running and playing in the clear, warm water and small waves. After a half hour we had to swim out to the boat and go look for Paul, who was doing a drift dive along the shore. He reported no big Bohala which I usually see in that area. We had not seen many big fish yet, but that was about to change the next day and unfortunately for Paul, he had to leave. Back in the protected anchorage we had time for a quick clean up before we met Paul and Marina for another awesome meal. For clean up I have a small fresh water pump in the panga, and since there was no one around, I could help the girls with their swim step showers. It is another dirty job but somebody has got to do it.


The next day the three of us went back to Galera and it was quiet except for one nice fish I shot. I think it was the biggest pez gallo I have ever landed so I was excited to get some pictures. Michelle and I were in the water and we removed the spear to hand the fish up to Elsy, our “experienced deck hand and Captain” I gave her the tail of the fish, which she could barely put both hands around, and ask her to hold it while I climbed in the boat. I must have been dreaming to think that the first fish she would be ask to hold in her life, would be this monster pez gallo. Just as I got on the swim step the fish came to life and made about two powerful thrashes to the accompaniment of Elsy’s screams --- And was Gone! We could only laugh about how crazy it all was. Less fish to clean.

We left Galera for another high spot and it was not until late in the day that we found what we were looking for ---- Bait. The sun was going down and the birds were going off, and the bait was jumping but the conditions were too rough to trust Elsy with the boat. I dropped Michelle in first to check it out and she came up and said the Bohala were cruising through the bait. It would be dark soon and we had to find a new anchorage for the night, but who can be reasonable when the fish are there. I told Michelle to shoot, but take time to line up the gun, knowing that if she shot a nice fish she would forget the wahoo fiasco. I said, two dives and it was my turn. It only took one, and I saw the float take off and knew she had connected. It was great to finally find fish but too bad it was getting dark. She handled the whole thing perfectly and when I pulled her beautiful fish in the boat, she said, “Hurry, there are lots of big fish chasing the bait.” I loaded the slightly bent shaft and dropped in and felt a little uneasy as I dove toward the darkness. At 25 feet several big fish materialized around me in feeding mode, and I lined up on the closest Bohala ---BAM--- Great shot. I was thinking “ It is about time we got into some fish.” I called Michelle and when we boated the fish I could see mine looked pretty small next to hers. Can’t have that. We really needed to leave to find safe anchorage---but, “Just One More Dive.” I reloaded, dropped in again and it was spooky dark. I leveled off and a squadron of four nice Pez Gallo were coming straight at me. The big boy was outside, but time’s up and we’ve got to go, so I had to take the closest one which was smaller. ----BAM--Another great battle with a marvelous and powerful pez gallo. Three nice fish in the last fifteen minutes of the day.

So, as has happened before, you dive and dive and dive and just when you think you will never see another big fish, or the conditions are wrong, or you came at the wrong time----in a instant everything changes--- and you find the bait—and the big fish are there. This trip would have been fun, even with no fish, just diving with Paul and Marina and enjoying my “Double Trouble” female crew, but, it IS a lot more fun when you experience that Magical Moment when there are big fish around you. Another enjoyable aspect of this trip for both Michelle and me was to watch Elsy, with Zero ocean experience, as she discovered the beauty, the thrill, the challenge, and the constant suprises that we all enjoy when we enter the water world. When Elsy went back home, to the interior, the neighbors, kids, and family from all around, gathered to hear the tales of adventure from the young traveler. She was like Marco Polo returning home. The house, lit with kerosene lanterns, was totally full until late into the night, as she told the stories and showed the pictures of another fantasy world where none of them have ever been. With her new respect and stature in the village, I suspect Elsy will be ready for another night-sea journey and more ocean adventures when Michelle and I return to Panama soon as married dive buddies.

We managed to get a fiancee visa for Michelle to accompany me to the US and a couple of weeks ago we got married at a family reunion in Oregon. Michelle vowed to cock my gun, point out the big fish and not shoot before me, and she’s fine with a concubine. I vowed to provide her with toys and with time to play, travel, work out and learn English, a passport, and constant dive adventures. It was a traditional, conservative ceremony, as with all the things we do. First the minister arrived. Then my Mer-maiden arrived borne on the shoulders of four stalwart young men. Then a mini- mushroom cloud of smoke to wecome her and ----POOF-- We are married. Another MAGICAL event occurs --- All of this because I have followed my calling to hunt beneath the sea. WOW!

As this new adventure begins I feel that in order for me to release old states of being and be open to Michelle’s youthful ideas it will be important for me to practice prayerful breathing. Moment to moment, just as we relax before the next dive, taking full deep breaths, may we all enjoy prayerful breathing, and breathe in rejuvination, strength and gratitude for the next suprising adventure just awaiting our welcome to materialize.

Dix and Michelle
    August 12, 2007
    dixroper@earthlink.net