Jocara Newsletter
Nov 2, 2004

It's been another busy week. We've been survey diving with Shoals 
Rodrigues a couple of times. One day we took Jocara to a survey site in 
the northeast which is normally hard for them to reach, because of the 
onshore wind and waves. John and Alex looked after Jocara whilst Caroline 
and Casper assisted with the survey. The reef looked very healthy, but 
there didn't seem to be many fish around and no large ones at all. The 
next day we took the Shoals Rodrigues boat across the vast lagoon to a 
survey site in the northwest. Nice looking coral, but again not so many 
fish. We're missing a few species, we haven't seen any anenomes and 
clownfish. Another day we went for a 'leisure' dive during which we 
practiced using the underwater video and still camera. We're going to need 
a lot more experience before we can get some great shots! We've attempted 
nearly every morning to go on an octopus survey. It seems, however, not a 
good week for octopus fishing and we're still hoping to learn how to sex 
an octopus before we leave Rodrigues. There hasn't been enough time for 
repairs, especially since the inverter (the new one we waited for in 
Merak) has suddenly decided to quit (quickly followed by the freezer 
compressor motor). We've sent it back to the US and are now waiting for a 
replacement. The outboard is giving us some headaches too, leaving us 
wondering whether the boys will be able to start it again after their 
morning bread shopping. Sunday was a lovely day of leisure when Tom & Tara 
took us to south of the island where we lazed about and watched the kite 
surfers. In between all these activities we're trying to cram in some 
school work, writing, repairs, maintenance, updating the website, making 
short movies, etc.

Over and out for now.
Jocara

P.S. Don't forget to check out our website at http://www.jocara.net for 
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