Bill’s Update #21 – What’s New at the Manta Ray Bay!
It has been another blessed post-covid year, with an increase in the number of visitors to Yap and signs of development happening around the island which include infrastructure improvements being done by the state government in conjunction with the US government. These infrastructure projects include a massive expansion of the airport as well as improvements to the roads and there are expectations of new restaurants opening in Yap’s capital, Colonia.
We’ve had our own improvements with the addition of a new chef, who hails from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, who Patricia and I met during our safari this year. We enjoyed his cuisine during our visit and asked to meet him personally to thank him for taking care of us, and one thing led to another, and Yap has been able to welcome its first Zimbabwean. Not only did we gain Chef Kuda, but his lovely wife, Vannessa has also joined our family as one of our ladies that will greet you at our reception. We are all excited to have both Chef and Vannessa with us, and we cannot wait to have you meet them yourself and to experience their warm hospitality, not to mention Chef’s famous pumpkin soup.
Throughout these past few years we’ve seen many changes, some good and some bad. One change that we’ve had is the loss of Roman Vozhzhov, our outboard engine mechanic, who got the opportunity to work in Canada and decided to move there; and we wish him all the best. Unfortunately, this change left us without a mechanic to help maintain our fleet of dive boats, but luckily my oldest grandson, Jeremy (Numie and Francis’ oldest child) has always had a knack for mechanics which he excelled in during high school. With online tutorials with our previous mechanic, Jeremy and our Yap Divers team have been able to both keep our boat fleet operational and successfully put the Popou, our flagship dive boat and the largest boat in our fleet, back into operation. I am so very proud of Jeremy, and it is exciting for Patricia and I to have 3rd generation working with us at the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers.
is YOU on our boats!
What’s on the Calendar?
I’m happy to share that after the past few years, I’ve either been stuck in places due to uncontrollable circumstances or at dive shows or exploring some of the world’s wonders…. now I’ll be at home until January of 2025. I am hoping to be here to help and offer advice to Numie and Francis on the operation of our family business, but more so to have the opportunity to welcome new and old friends to our island home. The diving has been fantastic these past several weeks since Patricia and I returned in early July.
MantaFest 2024
Another exciting news event will happen in a couple of weeks when we commence the 17th annual MantaFest (August 24 – September 7, 2024). As years go by, we age with it and sometimes this is more rapid for old seadogs such as me, and you come to realize that change is inevitable. So at this year’s MantaFest event, we will be welcoming back Andy Schumacher and David Fleetham as our host presenters, and we are pleased to welcome our guest presenter, Logan Wood representing Ikelite to this year’s annual event. Logan is a cinematographer whose journey has led him from capturing adventures in the American west to exploring the world beneath the waves. We are very honored to have our long-standing presenters back as well as the opportunity of welcoming Logan for his first trip to Yap.
Please visit mantafest.com to see what’s happening for this year’s event.
This year’s sponsors of MantaFest are:
However, my family and I would like to send out a hearty “Howdy!” to Ray Bullion, Tim Rock and Frank Schneider, who are all unfortunately unable to attend this year’s MantaFest. They will all be missed immensely, but we will keep the beer chilled and flowing in their honor.
BlackwaterFest 2024
Our BlackWaterFest (September 8 – September 14, 2024) will help enhance your camera skills through daily photo seminars during the day before applying them on evening dives. David Fleetham will be our host presenter for the event and has spent months mapping out the best sites along the Yap Trench to showcase the marine life within its abyss. This exceptional experience will change your outlook of the ocean’s wonders and gives you an up-close insight into her dark secrets.
You can enjoy the best of our two events by combining a week of each event to get the most of what Yap has to offer. Please visit blackwaterfest.com to see what we have to offer for our newest event.
Learn more about BlackwaterFest
PARTING SHOT
Mule Trading
Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville, MS Daily and bought a mule for $100.
The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.
The next morning the farmer drove up and said, “Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night.”
Curtis & Leroy replied, “Well, then just give us our money back.”
The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.”
They said, “OK then, just bring us the dead mule.”
The farmer asked, “What in the world ya’ll gonna do with a dead mule?”
Curtis said, “We gonna raffle him off.”
The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead mule!”
Leroy said, “We sure can! Heck, we don’t hafta tell nobody he’s dead!”
A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and asked.
“What’d you fellers ever do with that dead mule?”
They said, “We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do.”
Leroy said, “Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998.”
The farmer said, “My Lord, didn’t anyone complain?”
Curtis said, “Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back.”
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.