Day 06

The beach near on Aloita resort - not a bad view.

Try not enjoying yourself here

Bait fish under the dock

Aloita Resort from the water

Calm conditions on the Indian Ocean

The beak of the lizard fish

Our captain with his catch

Andrew and Nick enjoying a sunset and a Bintang on the Navi

Day, meet night. Night, this is day.

When Day 6 broke, we were still steaming down to a surf spot called Icelands. It's supposed to be a good wave, however there wasn't much swell out there so it wasn't really doing it's thing. It was still WAY better than the surf at home that day, but we were all kind of sunburnt and had a lot of really good surf the past few days most of us didn't surf that morning. Carrick needed to go to a nearby island resort that caters to divers to fill one of his scuba tanks. While we were steaming that night we hit a giant log that put a little scare into everyone. Luckily everything was okay after they removed that part that wedged itself into the bow of the boat. The island was about a half hour by speedboat and we set the fishing lines out to troll for fish on our way there, but didn't have any luck. As we neared the island it was easy to see why they picked this area for diving. The water was so clear you could see the bottom (which you could everywhere else we went, but it was ridicilous here). We tied up at their dock and watched the schools of baitfish being chased under the dock by black trevalle and skip jacks. The water was so damn clear you could see the fish hunting other fish.
When we finally went into the resort, it was breathtaking. Sand paths seperated beautiful wooden bungalows that were right on the water. Palm trees lined the paths, beach and provided much needed shade from the already hot sun. Randy, John and I walked around while the tanks were being filled and talked with some of the guests and took a few photos. John and Randy were having a little trouble adapting to being back on land, but it didn't really seem to bother me. John told us he thought the steps at the resort were going up and down like they do when the boat is rocking.
After we left the resort, we set the lines back out and trolled around a few small islands that looked like they came straight up from the bottom of the ocean. We were about half way around the island when we hooked up with what seemed like a big fish. As it got closer, it was evident that it wasn't that big or powerful but a lizard fish. By the time it was close to the boat, it wasn't even putting up a fight and let Carrick reel it in on it's back. They are an ugly looking fish - kind of like a barracuda but without the teeth. It has a real long beak that hooked both hooks on the lure. By the time Carrick got it free, it was almost gone. We dumped it back and it kinda sunk to the bottom and was probably eaten by something else before it got to the bottom. We didn't have much luck with catching any other fish on the trip back to the boat.
After lunch Brendan and I went snorkeling on a reef near the boat. Jeb took us over in the speedboat and dropped us in the channel and told us the current would take us back to the boat. The reef was mostly dead, but there was an occasional flowering of live reef and colorful fish. It was only 3 or 4 feet deep for a while, then it started to drop off - quickly. We were still a way from the boat and again I started to feel like shark bait. I wished Brendan luck and we double timed it back to the boat.
Later that afternoon we pulled anchor and headed down toward a spot called Lance's left. Back in the late 60's Lance came across this wave while sailing around the islands and liked it so much he decided to make a home for himself there. When other people starting coming there they thought they were the first ones to surf it, until this guy came out of the jungle. I couldn't even image. Anyway, we surfed a nearby left reef break wave called Monkey Jumps. ( I know another weird one - there was no explanation for that one) It picks up more swell and is near the calm anchorage. Frank and Randy surfed while the rest of us watched from the speedboat.
When we got back to the boat we had spectacular sunset and we couldn't even see the sun go under the horizon. The clouds near the horizon made patterns in the sky where night meets day. I guess it's supposed to be like that everywhere, but with light and air pollution it doesn't happen.