Waiting seems to be a part of international travel. The time between check-out and leaving for e next phase of the trip do not seem to mesh. So here we sit, relaxing at the resort in anticipation of being picked up by the crew of the Odyssey for our next adventure here in Chuuk.
We have had some awesome technical scuba dives during our short stay here. Today we did one of my favorite dives here in the lagoon, the Aikoku Maru. Descending down the line the first thing you notice are the massive king posts, covered I coral growth and teaming with life. There is only half of e original ship the remainder having been blown off by a massive explosion ink the forward munition hold. But what remains is impressive. The stern gun still points to the sky as does the one remaining anti-aircraft gun on the top of the bridge structure.
The fly bridges and hallways are collapsing and some of the interior spaces are also sinking toward the bottom. There is a lot of growth all over the wreck but not so much as to obscure the features like the shallower wrecks.
Our visit to the wreck was short, 25 minutes on the bottom and 35 more minutes in the water column; and, no sharks today to entertain us.
We were also treated to a bar BQ by our dive master, Daniel, and the boat crew. A wonderful way to end our shore visit and to begin our live-aboard experience.
The diving continues…
Archives for April 2012
Travel Log – Scuba Diving in Truk Lagoon Finally
The weather system we avoided in Kosrae seems to have followed us to Chuuk. The basic schedule is It rain overnight, clearing slightly in the morning until just the point where we are loading the boats to go diving and then a small squall runs through kicking up the seas and making for a wet ride out to the dive site. The skies and seas remain a little disturbed while we are underwater and then just after we re-board the boat after our decompression stops, the seas lay down making the ride back to the resort a smooth affair.
We have had some great dives during the shore based portion of our trip. We started with the Fujikawa Maru, which is a spectacular wreck with lots of sea life and coral growth. The engine room and forward holds were a little murkey, probably as a result of divers who were there before us. While the zeros are still there, they show signs of deteriation. It really demostrates that things built for a terestrial environment are not as well suited to life iunderwater.
Because we were here earlier than we had origionally planned, the group decided to dive the deeper wrecks in Truk Lagoon, especially since we will not be visiting them next week. We also decided to do some of the dives using Helium. Using Helium out here is a mixed blessing. It makes for a clearer head and safer diving but there is a price to pay. First, Trimix diving generally requires longer decompression times when compared to air diving which means that we all have to get used to hanging around in shallow water and looking at one another,
Of course the biggest price to pay will come on Sunday when the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop presents us with our diving and gas bill. Helium is $4.50 per cubic foot! The rebreather divers are each using about 7 cubic feet per day while the open circuit divers are using about 38 cubic feet per day. Lest we forget, there are also the oxygen and the bottle rentals. Deep diving in the tropics can be expensive!
I have also come to realize that in order to successfully dive in remote locations, you not only have to be a compotent diver, but you also have to be part mechanic and part dreamer, with a good dose of MacGuiver tossed in. We have already had our share of equipment glitches and malfunctions. Some we have had the spare parts for and others we have not. Parts are not readily available in this remote part of the world but Pam is arriving on Sunday with some parts to make our repairs easier and more permanent. I am already compiling a list of things I need to add to my expedition kit.
So far we have dove the following wrecks:
The Fujikawa Maru,
The Hein Maru,
The Shotan Maru, twice,
The Nippo Maru, and
The Fujisan Maru.
And for all of those fish lovers we have seen a large school of Baracuda, Tuna hunting, Eagle Rays and lots of small reef fish. Alex was so popular with three little yellow stripped fish that they followed him all the way around the wreck and up to his 10 foot stop. It was like having a bunch of high school girls following him around; the only thing missing was the fish trying to flirt with him.
Great diving and good friends, what more can you want. Ok, it would be far better if Ann were here instead of manning the store at home but the world is not a perfect place.
The diving continues…
Travel Log – Kosrae — Almost
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We’ve crossed the date line and a day disappears! Not to worry, we’ll get it back later. As we near Kosrae, the ride gets a little rougher, and we start experiencing turbulance caused by rain showers and a building tropical something (wave, storm, depression). The pilot begins his descent, then the final approach a steady glide towards the runway and then… jet engines full throttle and a steep climb. It appears the visibility at the runway somewhere has dropped to zero; we have an aborted landing and are heading back up into the clouds. Our next stop Ponpei, capital of the Federated States of Micronesia and a short 45 minute hop from Kosrae.
We now have a decision to make, where do we go from here? On the ground the United staff tells us not to worry, on Friday they can get us back to Kosrae. In the mean time, they will cover accomodations for the Elite passangers for the few days we have to stay in Ponpei. Never mind that we are scheduled to depart, from Kosrae for Chuuk on Saturday. And if you are a non-elite flyer, well the delay was an act of nature and this is only a service offered to Elite passangers.
Ponpei has some nice diving and the Village hotel sits atop a mountain and has a really incredible view. There is lots to see here with Nan Madol and waterfalls getting my votes as truely spectacular sites. However, our group is all rebreather divers and trying to deal with getting gas and other services with no pre-arrangements is a difficult task. So, the group votes to continue on to Chuuk.
An hour and a half later, with our bags sorted and retagged we are once again airborn for the one hour flight to Chuuk The United ground personnel in Ponpei, called ahead to the ground staff in Chuuk and arranged for them to call the Blue Lagoon Resort to pick us up at the airport. A great service because there are no cabs in Chuuk.
Upon arriving in Chuuk, we were met by the ground staff who told us they had contacted the resort and they were out front waiting for us. He also said that United had reserved 4 rooms and would pay for the lodging through Friday, the day they could return us to Kosrae (we have elected not to return to Kosrae for the day).
After clearing Immigration, which was a little bit of a problem since we had cleared immigration in Ponpei and never showed leaving (we never left customs in Ponpei) we were met by Sam who took one look at all of our luggage and shook his head and started filling up the van. 6 divers, 20 pieced of luggage including 4 rebreathers, 2 kegs of sorb and enough air delivery systems to outfit a platoon made for a tight fit in the van. There was barely enough room for the people.
After checking in, which went smoothly despite our being here 4 days early we had time to start unpacking, have dinner and then get some sleep. Thank you Winifee for making the check-in so smooth. Glamorious travel at its best.
Sleep – it never felt so good.
Success to Significance Honoree — Ann Keibler
In a place far, far away (i.e. Arizona) Ann was the youngest person to serve a a board member on the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scout Council Board. She was also the recipient of the Girl Scout’s “Thanks” badge, the highest recognition that the Girl Scouts USA and the local council at the time it was given.
If you know Ann, this would not be a big surprise. She was very active in scouting having started young as a Brownie and progressing through Senior Scouting and on into Leader training. She even served a Trainer Trainer. Not only was she involved in her local community, Ann was a counselor at several Girl Scout camps including Timbers in Michigan. She spent nine summers working in Girl Scout camps.
Ann is the first person to tell you that all of this previous experience prepared her for her current occupation, running a successful Adventure and Dream company, known as Oceanic Ventures. “Leading trips with adults and children is just like working with girls at camp, you want everyone to have some special memories and experience the adventure of a lifetime.”
Jean Janssen, one of our clients nominated Ann for as a San Jacinto Girl Scout Council’s Success to Significance Honoree. As the Girl Scouts celebrates 100 years in 2012 the Success to Significance luncheon … honors successful women leaders who have made significant contributions in their communities.
All proceeds from “Success to Significance” benefit the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Research conducted by the nationally-recognized Girl Scout Research Institute demonstrates that only one in five girls believes she can lead the way for others and that the greatest barrier to leadership in girls is lack of confidence in their own abilities. Girl Scouts is the only organization addressing the significant female leadership gap by facilitating girl-led programs, advocacy and service projects, girl representation on high-level committees and the Board of Directors, and ample opportunities for older Girl Scouts to lead programs for younger girls.
Dreaming big is what Girl Scouts does best! As the premier leadership organization for girls, Girl Scouts will usher tomorrow’s generation of women leaders while honoring those who have exemplified its mission and values today.
Jean, a member of the San Jacinto Girl Scout Council Board and her husband Steven Pate, an attorney with Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P, are sponsoring Ann for this honor. They even invited Ann’s Senior Scout Leaders, Joyce and Bill O’Morrow from Arizona to come in for the event.
Want to find out more about Ann’s Girl Scout Career? Here is a link to her Girl Scout Bio.
Here is another article about Ann.
Travel Log – The March to Micronesia Begins
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Monday 23 April The March Begins
Ahh, 2:00 in the morning comes early! The airport is quiet with only a skeleton crew of staff present to help us out. Of couse the ticket counters don’t open until 3:00 but we had our luggage stacked and ready for them when they did.
After checking in, it took us several tries to find a TSA security area open. Itis ironic that the early morning flights are United flights but the security for the early morning flights is 3 terminals away…government planning at its best! Cleared we head towards the gates and what do we stumble upon? A Starbucks that is open! Miracles do happen. On my previous runs through this airport, the businesses did not open until 30 minutes after the flight departed!
Time for our march across the Pacific, first stop Marjuro 6 hours away, then Kwajuline, another 2 hours from there and the Kosrae another hour in the air.
Travel log – The Journey to Micronesia Begins
Here we are in sunny Hawaii, except that somwone forgot to tell the weather gods that Hawaii was supposed to be sunny. The skys are gray and full of water which the mountain god drops on us occassionally. Oh well no matter, we are only here for a short stop on our journey to Micronesia. In fact it seems really short since our flight to Kosrae leaves at 5:25 in the morning which means we need to be at the airport at 3:00 am to check all of the luggage. The driver today told us we needed to arrive early because the Micronesians really knew how to pack it in so there would be a lot of luggage — heavy luggage. Having done this before, I am sure the luggage of choice is still Igloo.
We are currently waiting on Susan and Ian to arrive from Philidelphia so we can head out to dinner and then home for a power nap before we leave for the airport. Such is the glamourous life of international travel.
Soon after Ian and Susan arrive, we ventured out to dinner ata the Chart House on Waikiki Beach. Thank Goodness for Open Table, an iPhone App that leys you make reservations easily.
