SCUBA PUPS, RESCUE CLASS, FIRST OFFICIAL GUESTS, TRAGEDY, TOANA, TOANA TWO,MALE MALE, SPIRIT VISIT, HEAD START, AMY & JOE, PATRICK & DAVID, LONELY PLANET, BOOKINGS!

Hello, Everyone, It has been a busy, busy month- of fun, exploration, new guests and a tragedy. Our Rescue class is proceeding slowly, but extremely well. There is a lot of very difficult information to digest, equipment to round up, and extremely varied excercises. It was a rainy day at Vuana, and my shivering divers had no desire to get in the water, so we made up a list of all the equipment we needed ( throwing flotation, extension poles, dive flag to tow while beach diving, First Aid Kit, life jackets, etc.), and I gave them the keys to the storeroom and turned them loose! They had to give presentations on their particular piece of equipment, and I am so glad I grabbed the camera . The theatrics in the presentations were pretty funny.

My ladies class really needed a treat, so on a sunny Wed. we loaded Kicha and headed for Mbulo. Winds drove us out of our planned dive site, so we went around the corner to a tiny cove and discovered a new favorite dive site. TOANA features stunning, huge, prolific fan corals, giant undercuts crammed with fish and critters, including my first FLAMING SCALLOPS in this area; My ladies saw sharks, barracudas, jacks, tuna, plus countless butterflies, shrimpgobies, a lonely juvenile batfish, lion fish and a huge cuttlefish.

After 80 minutes underwater, my ladies were looking and acting like REAL divers. Our crew included Midget and MacTavish- who have both decided the boat can go nowhere without them. They are learning to jump into the water just to swim,swim to and from an island to play, and to climb the boat ladder. Midget, just today, climbed it all by himself for the first time. They both exhibit the same affinity for dolphins as our old Scruffy dog and Kendra's Little Bits- our boat dogs in Hawaii.

I wrote the following to family on the night of June 28.

I need to share this one- actually, it was a shimmering, gorgeous day today.

We picked up Stephen, Sally and daughter Kathryn Darling, our first official guests, & absolutely lovely people from the 4:30 flight at Sobiro airstrip.

I was doing their briefing at Ropiko Lodge, where they are staying, when we heard someone just yelling for help. My guys rushed out to this old man in a wooden canoe. His son was spearfishing, and never came up. We flew back to Vuana, got our gear together- lights, etc., as it was dusk already- and back we went. When we got there, Ronsy had already located the body, but couldn't get to it; So down we went- at 63 feet- and brought him up. He'd been under for 2 hours at that point, so we didn't even try CPR. Took him to the clinic at Kavolavata, where the nurse declared "him finish" after checking all signs.

Very, very hard. So glad we were able to do what we did; so glad my guys were well into rescue training- they operated like an extremely well oiled team- I am very, very, very proud of them; but so, so sad we were not able to do more. He was late 20's, early 30's; teacher at Beka Beka. There is much wailing going on in the villages tonight. So many people stopped us on our way home to thank us. It would have been agony for them to know he was down there all night and swept away by the currents. He was one of my students' brother -in -law. And he died for a fish.

With most of my crew involved in the funeral, Peter Vangala, Ronald Amos & I introduced the Darlings to the wonders of our underwater world- Kavolavata, Toana, Mbulo, Peava Passage and our Vuana Wall basket star night dive! We had such a wonderful time with them- we were all sorry to see them leave.

Toana Too and Male Male Magic graced a Sunday playday of discovery. Toana Too escalates the magnificent scenery of Toana, but is subject to some wild currents; when we surfaced I asked if we could take beginners here and was met with a resounding NO! Male Male Magic is a lovely combo of small, dropping ridges with mysterious undercuts ending in a lush hard coral garden. Cuttle and crocodile fish, spotfin angels shallow enough to photograph, a massive school of goats and snappers, and dancing schools of tiny damsels and anthias, and a variety of anemone fish kept us very busy.

A long awaited visit from Spirit with Dive Makai clients and workers aboard made for a very special evening, as I gave 2 guests a tour of Vuana while 4 of my divers showed off our mandarin fish. I was invited aboard for dinner and reunion with Henry Soloway, Amy Fine ( captain and divemaster with me for 9 years), her husband, Joe Gatti ( our webmaster). It was so wonderful to get to spend a few mintues with my beloved Spirit crew- they are family to me, and I miss them so much.

The next morning saw the opening of our "Head Start" program for 3-6 year olds- and it is an instant success story. They wandered in, some clutching Mom's hands fearfully, all dressed in their best, some sporting tiny book backpacks. They are absolutely priceless, and our teachers are doing a marvelous job. Our enrollment is up to 18 busy little ones learning ABC's., numbers, songs, building, dexterity skills. I am kept busy copying materials for them. To all of you who have donated money- my heartiest thank you. And to so many of you who sent materials last year, they are being put to excellent use. I saved much of them just for this eventuality.

Several days later came a frantic E mail from Amy saying she and Joe were stuck in Honiara for 5 days after their flight to here was scrapped due to a freak storm. I got on the phone and told them to catch the Solomon Express ferry next morning, and just after noon we picked them up at Mbunikalo. We spent a lovely weekend, diving and visiting. they were entranced with our evening bat show- Act I, the small insect darters followed by Act II at dusk when the flying foxes invade the palms in front of the deck- and with wandering our road at night - a fairyland of fireflies ( pinu pinu in language). It was also "Christmas In July" as they brought a big bag of goodies I had ordered, and 2 packages arrived from the mail!

Connie Holloway, an E mail acquaintance from Washington who has built a house up in Chea, about 90 min. away, arrived Sunday for a couple of days- and stayed for 5. The place is addictive.

Yesterday was a banner day; Solomon Island biologists Patrick Pikacha ( terrestrial) and David Boseta ( fresh water fish) were doing conservation presentations in the area and wanted to dive. Rescue class got a breather as we gave them a tour of our lovely wall; we went back to Wilderness to view the black and white proofs of an article I 've written for their conservation magazine, Melanesian Geo. They've done a stunning job in the presentation, along with a full page ad. I am itching to see it in full color. Will let you know when it's available online.

Jean-Bernard Carrillet of Lonely Planet guide Books was at the lodge getting info from Corey; on learning we had diving available, he twisted my arm for a tour, and a short time later a group of us were on our way to Toana, which remained glassy calm in spite of huge swells outside. Jean was so very happy he asked- he loved the pristineness of the area and the majestic scenery. Hopefully, our area will get a little boost in their next edition.

And suddenly the bookings are rolling in- we are now booked for 8 weeks almost straight from Oct. through Dec. If you are planning on coming out soon, DO NOT WAIT to make your bookings. If the past couple of weeks are any example, we are soon going to be very busy running charters- hooray!

And that's about it for this edition. I always so look forward to all the messages that come in after a NIUSLETTER- and often think how terribly lost and unconnected I'd feel without it. Sign of the times- on Tues. I asked Evah if she'd get market for us at Beka Beka while I did my online banking, etc. She asked me " Did you E mail Reuben that we're coming???" How quickly we adapt.

Also, if you have any photos to send me, please send to my new account, lisachoquette@gmail.com - supposed to be infinitely faster than Yahoo.

I hope so!!

Have fun, all.

Lots love and hugs, Leana via, Lisa