OCR Text |
Show 10 Vernal Express VtectesdEy October 5, 1994 Vernal family if finds underwater paradise Mil W t W ) by Melanie Morrison Lifestyle Writer The Craig Stratton family of Vernal say they've found paradise par-adise Bonaire Island in the Caribbean. Bonaire may not be the most well known location in the Caribbean, but to divers seeking adventure, ad-venture, it's one of the best. The Strattons, Craig and Barbara, along with their four children, Raychel, 13; Elizabeth, 9; Matthew, 7; and Daniel, 4, recently returned from, what they refer to as, the vacation va-cation of a lifetime. The Strattons have taken up deep-sea deep-sea diving as one of their latest hobbies. hob-bies. And the sport has become a family affair. Even four-year-old Daniel snorkeled several times during dur-ing their month-long vacation. The newest member of the diving Stratton family to become certified is Raychel. It is believed she may be the youngest certified diver in the Vernal area. Raychel began taking tak-ing diving lessons last year and completed and passed her diving test in May just in time for the big trip. The written test requires knowledge of mathematic equations; equa-tions; many of which are difficult for even the most astute mathematician. mathemati-cian. "Raychel aced the test," said Barbara. "We were so proud of her. She really caught on quickly to the math tables needed for the test" The vacation this summer was actually ac-tually the second trip for the Strattons to Boniare Island. Lasi December they accompanied Dr. John and Linda Shimmin on a diving div-ing and underwater photography ex-t ex-t ursion for one week. Dr. Shimmin and Craig were students of one of the most well known underwater photographers, Marty Snidcrman. Snidcrman shoots suu-liie and videos; many of which are published pub-lished in magazines or shown on television. Recently on the Discovery Channel, Snidcrman was the photographer during a documentary docu-mentary on sharks. Matthew, who is "crazy" about sharks, struck a friendship with Snidcrman during the December trip. Before the documentary docu-mentary was released last spring and shown this past summer, Snidcrman sent Matthew an unedited unedit-ed version of the show; a treasure he constantly watches, said his father. fa-ther. The Str.mon were introduced to Ikmairc through Kaihy Caklcr, co-owner co-owner of Atlantis Divers and New I tarvocis Travel. It's the eastern most Wand in the Caribbean near the north up of Venezuela. Approximately I2JD00 people in habit the i Uand, which It owned by the Dutch. Bonaire hat a long colorful history. histo-ry. It was dmeovcrcd in 1499 by an cpr4ttkm under Amerigo Vespucci. Indian drawing can be ccn toby in wvtral placet, tome dating bk to Ccnturv before the StflaverjiEw by Metafile Morrtaort hrn ,Wie IfMin t the 4Mft at the Vernal MartJk Ccvntry Store a4 ftakrty the de tVd w 1(v nn ynfurt ate lot rraar. f ml h i 6) pmrttt gmM prr-frt, yTrt v44 har m tflt on bat Pfi prWn, s4 ncr44 .y h km4 yrt U f ing to tjrj tnartPgW twmaJ mi frtav the fw f rtirH tm. wr. tem 4rftrf4 i -f tort to M tlftl to ?l ynrwt I7. nil H nff M W-f r4 At tot h to Tem. im fwn hrt t4 p8 1ht VBTii ?amil w hf r ynrart Q-r4 Q-r4 mm to (hil ytm I r n r-. s- r ltm.. T Te Vrr m1 tfif 4r RAYCHEL AND Craig Stratton depths of the Caribbean. discovery of the island. In 1527 the Spaniards started their colonization which lasted for little more than a century. In 1634 the Dutch occupied Curacao as a maritime mar-itime base in their war against Spain. Once settled, they were forced to occupy the neighboring islands. is-lands. In 1636 Boinaire became a Dutch colony. The Dutch West India Company drew up an economic development project in 1639. Salt production, com planting and stock breeding were developed. Salt production gradually became Bonaire's most important source of revenue, A large number of slaves were brought to the island to work in the salt pans. Between 1800 and 1816 Bonaire suffered from the activities of French and British piratccrs. The British occupied the island for some time as well, and not knowing what to do with it, they leased it, including includ-ing its 300 slave to a New York merchant for about $2,400 a year. In 1816 the Dutch took over again and set up a system of government plantations, brasilwood, aloe, cochenille and the salt pant After the abolition of slavery in 1863, the government operations turned out to be unprofitable and the Utand was parcelled out and fold. Faced with an economic recession until about 1926, Bonatean began to migrate to Cunacoa and Aruba where they found work in the oil foduttry. (living left their wives behind, the men mailed their earnings home, This period if called the era of "money order exwwmy" Automation of the cut industry in the late SO rcmcd disaarou and many ufrmptoyed tkmaircaft re tamed to the native land stioire poafts emmal odh yocprjH: saOesinniap gun mavhine on t tog c m t opm IrtJtin My tKn mty mund hauc, but the hid 1mia an othnr tarik mm and tmi their oft r4w far M tm out The mm" toM h m to t um(4 toeirft " (5) "A)t)i h tw t asital-le to ttoiBrv" Ivt&'m w tv &C filH fS wf tvftj tm tt Mapn the pwt in a fcmwt tup, br tm pit m tevgr day. tv y4i-4 ? fim tof.lv tor a (?) Min pFM ym jfjrt fW-m fW-m T'VBf(!il Mr mm 4frr h7 nf iV m m iwMm vm ff?4 t) AI-m wffer ariHEf ft fWt ra.n to:l (! jf fJ ff Wt : to IrM ynnrt W. 9r tne fUt tiA cWt trt r ff gflft t5. t4 ?t StMtt a fM. iNf tft tityBf to lf frt nrtt to crttsi'W 1. (5) TH t1Tj tH?f fat cf wf j'a t wrt, i?y prepare to dive into the unknown Happily during these last few years, tourism discovered the Caribbean and eventually the scenic beauties of Bonaire. The first hotel opened in 19S1 and tourism has remained re-mained the most favored industry. The Bonaireans however, would prefer to keep tourism on their paradise par-adise island low-key and tranquil rather than swinging and frantic. With the Netherlands Antilles autonomy au-tonomy in 1954, Bonaire was allocated allo-cated some outside resources to improve im-prove economic prospects. The salt pans were modernized and became one of the most environment-conscious plants in the world employing employ-ing solar energy. A small clothes factory made a modest beginning. Using shark bone, coral, wood and leather products prod-ucts native to the Island, "Funda&hon Arte Industrial Bonairiano," a non profit foundation founda-tion to promote handicrafts, set out to train young people in (his field. An enlarged power plant and airport were built to accommodate budding contracts with the outside world. With the advent of Bonaire Petroleum Corporation (BOPLC) in 1975, Bonaire acquired a terminal receiving od for transfer from giant to smaller tanker. This protect in no way affect the clean air, cryml clear water or marine Uf& Bonaire was the fn of the Antilles to enact itnngent environ mental WgiUatktn on land and va to prewrve a national park and aS e guard flamingo m a wildlife fcanc luary. Craig ctptainrd (hat over I 70 year pan, dim t destroy ing (he prtftimri and ddkate area o4 off the Khortiine, Therefore, the marine pk at wt up and ti f Kpnnubie for the vfircp and main trr!" ktAm mU. 1 Wt tVt rrfl iwewiin to wO' ! ytt" The iA liww at ftMr v4 dry alto "fai f" to fwpksi hfiJ3. (ft) "Ti r9rsM to fWm" Mm r4 tr a,1 fK9fi Uww tisrim to tfH them M fln &ry mcM to t4-tonl t4-tonl to ef (pt ttl tVf, il 3 e fr4 tori svn to ri M try f f Manrart yirJrt -kwwi to! tie tVf m f 1np twti criflts-fW criflts-fW to a msm&, CKw fkv. H4 to nV 44r?JMl fWt fTrt ?rnry fW vff fEM ttowr ml fey"! ty aff. ft-n tf fftst- tt. m1e ft V lim f tf tA ft it . t&ii t r r4 hff il "!,-4.ia3&. iMlVn1 Z- .' m'tit' - "mjU kfJf.uiMMiiMMmKlJCtti :ilKlrHttiiiii ii '. i THE STRATTON family, (back Craig, Daniel, Barbara, (front), tcnance of more than 70 moorings used by dive operators. Markers have been set up to locate easy access ac-cess points for shore diving and several brochures and books have been written identifying the various popular diving spots. One of the most enjoyable diving spots for the Strattons was the Hilma Hooker. The Hilma Hooker, as the story is told, is a shipwreck which has been linked to drug activity. activ-ity. When the owners found out that local police were aware of the drug operation! they took the ship out off the coast of Bonaire, and purposely let it sink. The Hilma Hooker has become a haven to schools of barracuda. bar-racuda. Craig and Barbara said that even though the barracuda U a vicious vi-cious looking fbii, ihey were more curious than anything. During one night dive, Craig made Barbara l arc of one curious barracuda hich she says, "scared me. And I didn't go out for several night dives following (hat incident." The Stratton estimate they made around 30 dive dunng their month king stay. Raytbd made between 25 and 30 die heme If. Mat of the dive were under 10Q foci and lad ed 45 maw to an hour. A k of the dive at night," Craig ai4, "Night dts pre lent a botc new underw ater world and thai Ire rc id underwatef pho Tme tnHt Co-y se it tH trt rt ? to ht? i ftwar-N ftwar-N f to ea e mid rf tsnf f TV w?r-r w?r-r teisr ?rf It ifAl. fit- ! iLy 'l. . jLd. Lu;. .j row) Raychel, Matthew, have fond memories of a vacation only Elizabeth and few have the opportunity to know. tographers. The lighting and everything every-thing is different," he continued. Some of the photos will be entered in amateur photographers' contests. Craig was joined by daughter, Raychel on most of the night dives. In addition, she and her father also went off shore to dive from a boat tied to one of many of the buoys off the coast Barbara didn't join Craig and Raychel on their boat dives but instead stayed back to snorkel with the younger children. Raychel said that at first the night dives were frightening, but she soon got use to the darkness. She agrees with her father that they saw things at night that weren't there in the day. Among them were fish cleaning clean-ing reefs where large predator-type fish would stay, while the smaller fish picked off growth. Craig says that it's unusual to witness such things unless one Is scuba diving. Elizabeth, Kta&hcw and Daniel spent time snorkeling while (he others oth-ers wtre diving. Matthew, becaute of hi Bttraction to shafts, accompanied accompa-nied hi mother on one snorlcting c iprdikxi and it was there he came fxe to face with barracuda, the ikMctt thing to hi beloved iharU He wavnl frightened by (he bar racudat but laid he Hayed his di lance, The three younger Strata) children chil-dren My they enjoyed Marketing &t!T fciMf M t.f? jr -v ii ff? Trf n4 to nrt ni tor tV sHI CVrtt sr ertay irt V frrwi Ke srl tVy fsit tt!hsfr-jhg efftrt to ts and identifying the numerous species of fish and also playing with their new-found friends from the Netherlands that were staying in die condo next door. Even though the children had a language barrier, they enjoyed exploring and their adventures ad-ventures together. They have kept in contact with the Dutch children and have invited (hem to visit (he Vernal area. The Strattons say they enjoyed the slow-pace of Bonaire island. In fact, Barbara said, when young Daniel gets frustrated by the hectic lifestyle the family has led since being home, be will say. 1 want to go back to Boynaire," adding a "y" to the name when he says it Yes the Strattons found paradise, if only to enjoy it for a month. The family makes it a habit to take month-long vacations because they say, "Two weeks just isn't long enough to enjoy." Next year they hope to travel to the eastern iKaboard to experience hiioorval tites. Craig has returned to hi buwnc, Production Logging Services: Barbara has resumed her service with Gold Croti Ambulance; and the children are ncttkd to school. They take with them inemorte of I small Caribbean bland fumed, fioniare and a Utile piece of par adue. rrinn 3 fn?Jl rf9 tnlt M ttM tfeft- tVft swl (. Awf rmrt frt f s at f Vernal i',rr t swt pr!i. tsnf. fm, CdXtostti l''1'!! Ifflfft, St fpjvl gyf ft ;i 1 ' |