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Here is the Captain's Log from our trip. Sep 1-8, 2007
This week on board the North Sulawesi Aggressor we had
our friends from "The Dive Shop" Fairfax, Virginia. This
was the 6th week The Dive Shop had been on this very
boat in the last few years, several of the group had
been with us way back when we had Solomon Islands
written on the bow and then again in our former life as
the Truk Aggressor and were along to join us now in our
new life as the North Sulawesi Aggressor. The group
arrived to Tasik Ria Resort on the west side of
Sulawesi, when we arrived in at the resort to pick them
up we found half the group enjoying a cold drink at the
swim up pool bar and the other half enjoying traditional
massages at the spa, these folks were already well and
truly on mode vacation !!
 Our
week started with an early morning run to Bunaken
National Park. A bright blue sky and a milk pond ocean
would set the stage for a great week of diving. Our
first day was spent sheer wall diving with gentle
currents. We had huge sea turtles at Lekuan reef and
giant clams at Fokui point. Schooling tropicals in the
shallows and free swimming sea snakes added to the
flavor of the day.
 Next
day our eager group woke up on the opposite side of
Sulawesi anchored in the black sand of Lembeh strait.
Here we would go off on a true underwater treasure hunt
and we did find some real treasures! Photos and memories
of hairy frogfish, ornate ghost pipefish, giant
frogfish, blue spotted stingrays, lacy rhinopias,
flamboyant cuttlefish, mandarin fish, crocodile fish,
blue ribbon eels, snake eels, golden spotted moray eels
and much more captured and store under the heading of
"Divers Must See".
 Day
4 saw us head north to Bangka Island for a morning of
lush reef diving with a diver friendly current. We had
pygmy seahorses, octopus, dozens of nemo clownfish and
at the end of the dive 2 large broad club cuttlefish
appeared seemingly intent on having their photo taken.
The afternoon was spent at Batu Mandi and the weather
was still holding true. The seas were flat like ice and
the current was a gentle guiding drift. One of the gang
made the bold but honest statement saying " that was the
most beautiful dive I have ever done " !
Day 5 saw us cruise down the west coast of Sulawesi
making stops at Lehaga island for a fun dive with dozens
and dozens of anemones with hundreds and hundreds of
clownfish. Next stop was Tarabitan for an eye squinting
encounter with some pygmy seahorses and again free
swimming sea snakes. Next stop was Bunaken Island for
yet another encounter with huge turtles on a coral
encrusted wall and our final stop was Tasik Ria reef for
a twilight/night dive.
Day 6 Saw us head to Poopoo dive site on the south
end of Manado bay for an encounters with large gold
thorny sea horses, lionfish, huge carpet anemones and
downright viscous clownfish. We had a beautiful sunset
for our Capts cocktail party and then we adjourned
ashore for a beach BBQ with local school kids doing
traditional
dance.
A huge thanks goes to all at The Dive Shop for their
continue patronage to Aggressor Fleet and we look
forward to seeing them back again at the very soonest.
Special thanks to Al for leading such a fun group and
super special thanks to Rich for hand delivering my new
HD video system all the way from Virginia.
Sampai Minggu Depan, Capt Niall, North Sulawesi
Aggressor |
