Side of the Hilma
Another angle
Love my wide-angle!
Tube Sponge
Side of the Hilma |
Another angle |
Love my wide-angle! |
Tube Sponge |
Another great dive! The Hilma Hooker is lying on its side in 100 feet of water, with the top in about 60 feet. A huge, majestic creature, it is so large it has three marker buoys... and although it had a half dozen trucks parked on the shore, there was plenty of room for all the divers! Tarpons, Angelfish, lots of wildlife "stopping by" to see what's up.
The Hilma came into Bonaire Town Pier in the 80s with significant damage, and a Bonaire Inspector toured the ship, discovering a hold full of marijuana. The country seized the boat, destroyed the contraband, and sank the boat for the divers in a spot between two large reef lines! But since they did not remove the anti-fouling from the hull, it's been a tough haul for the coral to gain a foothold.
I really love my 24mm wide-angle! It began to shine on this dive, and even though I'm not expert yet, the possibilities are really unfolding! We saw plenty of fish nibbling at algae growing along the boat's hull, and my only regret was that we missed seeing the engine screws. (We didn't get all the way aft.) Still, this was a great dive, and is one not to be missed!
It was another difficult entry and exit via the shore; as with most
of our trip, we had 3-4 foot waves, strong surge and rocks at the exit
point. Ouch!
