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Travel

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Thanksgiving Memories of Travels, Adventures, Scuba Diving and Divers

Eric and Steve in Antarctica
Toasting the Day with Uisce Beatha
Like New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving makes me think about things going on around me and what I have to be thankful for.  I also reflect on some of the special things that happened over the past year and in years past.
There are a lot of things that have happened this year but the things that stick most in my mind are the people and the adventures I have been on during the year.  It is hard to forget the stark beauty of Antarctica and the crystal clear waters lapping up against the ship or having a “wee drop of the water of life,” with Steve Brennan at each landfall.  There were penguins and seals that came right up to us and birds that flew down and landed in front of us.  Who can forget hearing Neal Peake and Giles Adam retell their encounter with a sea lion or the simple joy in Monica Alonso’s face as she showed her photographs of a mother penguin and her child?
In Indonesia, it was fun watching the group discover that a leaf underwater was not really a leaf or that there was really exciting things to be discovered on the sand and mud flats.  It was fun watching the kids discover things underwater on their own and to watch them interact with the local children while playing ball.  Perhaps the thing that sticks in my mind most was watching the school children standing in uniforms all along the cliff waiving goodbye to Moniquita Alonso.
During my two trips to Grand Cayman, I watched students blossom and find their way.  Yes even technical students can have epiphanies and discover how to dive again with all of their new equipment.  We even got to do a night boat dive on a wall, a rare occurrence in Grand Cayman and a dive time that is even rarer for me (Ann is the night diver).
But my memories are not limited to diving in exotic places.  It was a real treat to watch David Morris plan and complete his first 100 dives which were all done in his first year of diving.  His excitement was contagious and even included a party up at the lake to celebrate the achievement.
There are a lot of memories, experiences and things to be thankful for this year.  I am glad that I have been able to open the door to adventure for myself and for other people as well.
Thank you to all of the people who helped create the memories for me!  I only wonder what memories I have helped create for them…

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Old Home Week – Chuuk, FSM

Ships China Among the Wreckage
Ships China Among the Wreckage

Every trip seems like the last – I think I cannot find enough people who want to come to Truk, and yet I still return. Some people like to return for a second trip, feeling like they just did not get enough on their last visit and others are intrigued and want to find out more. Two years ago, most of the group felt they were missing something and wanted to return but only if we ran the trip as a Technical Charter.

So what is a Technical Charter in Chuuk? Well it is a trip that steps beyond the typical charter by offering access to the deeper wrecks not often visited by divers to the lagoon. There is more room on the boat, the number of divers is limited to twelve, and more decompression gas is available. There is even surface supplied oxygen on the decompression bar. The boat has to add extra crew because of the depths of the dive and their knowledge of the wrecks is not as extensive as it is for the other wrecks they visit on a regular basis.

These charters tend to attract more experienced divers because of the depths and the decompression times required. The minimum training level required is Advanced EANx (IANTD) or Decompression Procedures and Advanced EANx (TDI) but more training to handle the depths and planning is highly recommended. I really recommend that a participant is better served with Technical EANx (IANTD) or Advanced Decompression Procedures (TDI) and a wreck penetration course under their belts. With more training, the divers tend to enjoy themselves more and stay underwater longer.

The Technical Diver Group
The Technical Diver Group

This week we are joined by a group of very experienced technical divers and a few new ones. My diving companions for the week are Geoff Barker, Steve Brennan (second time to Truk), Mark Conrad (second time to Truk), Ron Hicks (fourth time to Truk), Ann Keibler (third time to Truk), Jerry Kesielwski, Kelly Plato (second time to Truk), Pam Radford (second time to Truk), Bob Sloan (second time to Truk), Jess Stark (second time to Truk), Geoff Streitel (second time to Truk), and Stephanie Watowich (second time to Truk).

I have often thought that a live-aboard dive trip is the most relaxing dive trip but also the most active way to dive. Your equipment is set-up at the beginning of the week and sits there, ready to be donned in an instant. Ok, so maybe it takes more than an instant but it is already together and ready to go. Of course there is still the gas testing, configuration adjustments and the process of getting everything together that accompanies a technical dive but you are only a few steps from the water and a few steps from the ladder on your return. In between dives there are naps to take, books to read, logbooks to complete, planning for the next dive and for the photographers, photographs to download and process.

Geoff & Jerry Planning Their Dive
Geoff & Jerry Planning Their Dive

In general, our surface intervals are three hours between dives and there are three to four dives available each day. The planning portion becomes easier when you realize that the depths are mostly consistent for the dives with only a little variation in depth between the dives.

Our dives this week will be on a wide variety of wrecks, from passenger/cargo vessels to some light destroyers and even a submarine. The first dives of the day will be deeper with shallower wrecks in the later afternoon. Of course many of the “shallow” wrecks for a Technical Charter are the deep wrecks for a standard charter. Our schedule for the week is:

  • Sunday:                      Arrive, 9:30 pm
  • Monday:                     Nippo Maru, Hoki Maru, Rio de Janiero Maru
  • Tuesday:                     Amagisan Maru, Shotan Maru, Fujikawa Maru
  • Wednesday:               Aikoku Maru, Kensho Maru
  • Thursday:                  Oite, I-169, Shinkoku Maru
  • Friday:                        San Francisco Maru, Heian Maru
  • Saturday:                   Nagano Maru, Fujisan Maru
  • Sunday:                      Terra Firma Again
  • Monday:                    Depart at 2:30am

Only on a dive vacation would the day begin at 6:00 am. Breakfast on the Odyssey is a hot, made-to-order breakfast served to you in the dining salon. There are pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereals, juices and of course COFFEE!

Kelly Plato After a Dive
Kelly Plato After a Dive

At about 6:30 the engines start and the crew moves us to the fist dive site of the day. In Chuuk, most of the wrecks are fairly close together, scattered around Tonoas, Weno, and Uman so mneung between them is not a long steam. At about 7:30 the crew has the boat tied up, the lines rigged, the ladders down and are ready for divers to jump in. Of course there is a short dive briefing before each dive to aquaint us with the boats location on the wreck, the highlights of the wreck and any other things we should be aware of. The biggest one of these items is the planned departure time for the next wreck.

Diving these wrecks is always a new experience for me. While this is my sixth trip to Chuuk and I have had a number of dives on most of these vessels, I still find new things that I have not noticed before as well as the realization that nature is working to reclaim these massive ships.

One of the most notable is the fly bridges on the Aikoku Maru. In 1998, they were still in position, hanging majestically over the edge of the hull. Over the next few visits they began to sag and now they are merely rubble hanging down over the hull. They are just another pile of twisted metal, appearing to be a part of the damage caused by the explosion of the ammunition hold.

Catalogs of Time
Catalogs of Time

Some people will tell you that ghosts remain on some of these wrecks. There was a large loss of life on many of the wrecks we visited during this week and the remains of these fallen sailors and soldiers are still there. While there was an effort to remove them and give them a proper Shinto send-off in the late 80’s, there are still bones on most of the wrecks including some skulls. Diving the deeper wrecks increases your chances of coming across them exponentially. This experience makes you realize that these are more than diving attractions but also underwater graves, interments for sailors and soldiers who were not fortunate enough to escape the bombings, torpedos and fires. On the Oite, a destroyer, over 400 people perished in the attack.

Diving these wrecks is like swimming through a time capsule; time stopped in 1944 for these ships and the men they took with them. Their personal belongings as well as the cargo are from another place and time. They are reminders how temporary life can be on this earth.

Fine Wine
Fine Wine

What makes these trips special is the people. Most of the people on this trip have been diving together for three or more years. They have taken classes together, helped on another with courses and evaluations and practiced skills with one another. They have traveled together including a trip to Chuuk. Their interaction with one another made this trip especially fun and entertaining.

Who can forget Pam’s “Blink” taste test with wine and beer or Kelly’s agreement to let Jess apply some Krazy Glue to his abused, cut hands. And of course, there was wine served with every meal and several bottles of special wine, thanks to Pam, served with some.

It was a great week of diving and I look forward to the next week when our new diving family arrives but I will miss this group when they leave. There is nothing like diving with these fun lneung people.

 

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Next Stop – Chuuk FSM

20090902-IMG_0379This is my sixth visit to Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, with the first in February of 1998 and each time I visit I find that little has changed. The roads are still full of potholes, the streets still have old abandoned cars scattered about and air conditioning in the transfer bus still does not work. But the people are still smiling and welcoming. The air even around the airport is filled with the sweet scent of flowers growing on the hills.

The fun of returning to a place you have been before means that you know what to expect when you arrive and that you have the possibility of running into old friends at the most unlikely spots. While our group was being me by Captain Lenny Kolczynski and the current crew of the Odyssey, I was surprised to find Gardena Aisek at the airport. She and her family own the Blue Lagoon Resort. She was at the airport to meet a student she was sponsoring to Xavier High School, a Jesuit High School and boarding school for gifted students from all over Micronesia. In the few moments we had before we all needed to go our separate ways, I found that she is now teaching at the College of Micronesia, that her daughter Christinia has moved in with her brother in Guam and that her other son, Advin, is now running the hotel. Her family is doing well and she is really enjoying her new career as a Professor.

Bright September Moon Over Weno
Bright September Moon Over Weno

Chuuk itself is a country that in some ways has lost its way. The Chuukese people have had their own culture suppressed since the turn of the century. The Germans fist dominated this small enclave, which they called Truk, in the early 1900’s losing their limited possessions in the Pacific after WWI. The Japanese recognized the strategic positioning of Chuuk to an early 1900’s shipping system and offered to manage the islands when Germany was displaced. Over the years that followed, Chuuk was transformed into a thriving seaport and then a large military installation. Like many of the native peoples in Japanese dominated islands, the Chuukese people soon found it easier to conform to their new master’s will than to retain their own cultural identity. The Japanese transformed one island into a stationary “aircraft carrier” by mneung much of one mountain and filling in the reefs and marches with the dirt. Of course, they were only the engineers, it was the local peoples who prneuded the labor necessary to realize their protector’s dreams.

The island of Tonoas, renamed by the Japanese to Dublon, was to become the center of culture and civility in the islands, with mneue theaters, housing and restaurants. They built a system of water pipes to bring the fresh spring water from the top of the mountain down to the town and the loading pier (Dublon in Chuuk was the source of fresh water for many of the Pacific islands in the area). They electrifies the island by stringing electrical polls around the island and they allowed the locals to help with their day-to-day activities.

Today, little of this physical presence in Tonoas remains. The water system, still in use is crumbling and beginning to fail, the electrical poles still exist but the power generation plants have long since ceased to work and all that remains of the towns are a few buildings scattered around broken slabs and fire hydrants. A former sea plane base houses a school and the old hospital serves as a housing complex for about 10 families.

The main island in Chuuk is Weno, known as Moen to the Japanese. This is where the Americans established their presence after the Japanese surrender of the islands. Home to Anderson field, now the Chuukese International Airport, this island developed into the main power center for the island group. Like the other islands in Chuuk, little remains of the physical presence of the Japanese occupation. Xavier High School is located in the old Japanese communications bunker complete with its blast doors and reinforced walls. But while the physical presence of the Japanese occupation has faded from the landscape, you will still find influences in the culture and diets of the people. Rice is a feature of many meals as are “stir-frying” cooking techniques.

The Japanese and the Americans are responsible for our reason for visiting this far flung atoll. In 1944, Operation Hailstone prneuded the Chuukese with a tourist draw like no other place on earth. For several days, American fighter planes and bombers sunk a major portion of the Japanese merchant fleet and sent three small destroyers to their watery graves. The loss of life for the Japanese was incredible as was the loss of this strategic port.

Today the sounds of war are silenced but the ships remain…an ever present draw to divers from all over the world. It is these wrecks we have flown over twenty hours to see and after a little sleep in a comfortable berth aboard the M/V Odyssey, I will begin another visit to Truk’s famous Ghost Fleet.

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Dave &Eric’s Adventure to Florida

Here we are in the middle of the cold weather season, Dave’s favorite time to escape New York.  Dave tries to tell Martha that he has been bad and that she should banish him to Texas for a few months.  It never really works.  However, I was able to arrange for a few weeks off to spend some time in sunny Florida.  Of course, winter seems to have followed us as it was cold in Florida.

 

We had an ambitions schedule planned.  We contacted Tom Mount to help us accomplish a few goals for the year.  Dave needed to finish his Meg Instructor course so I volunteered to be his student and I needed to complete my OC/CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer Certification so Dave volunteered to be my candidate for the session.

 

Tom set up two weeks worth of training and diving for us.  We planned to do a lot of wreck diving while we were in the area as part of our course.  Our plans called for dives on a variety of wrecks at various depths.

 

During the next few days the winds built and came from the wrong direction.  What this meant for us was more time at Tom’s house in lectures and in pools.  In fact it meant a lot of extra lecture time and discussions about new training materials.

 

During our dive on the Speigel Grove, my training dive on the Meg, I had two instructors, Dave and another instructor candidate along wit Tom.  Since I was the student, I was anticipating a lot of drills with my instructors.  What happened was not at all what I expected.  During the descent it became apparent that the other instructor candidate was having problems with buoyancy and we found that his jacket was having trouble holding air.  Of course while Dave was helping him sort it out, Tom, who had grown impatient with the lack of attention to me, the student quickly appeased himself by giving me a “boom scenario” to deal with.  Having successfully accomplished the procedure for dealing with the “problem” our other instructor candidate signaled he was ok and ready to continue.  Tom started on the dive. 

 

Dave soon realized  that this other person was not in the proper space for the dive and was having trouble maintaining buoyancy.  So rather than focus on me “the student” he decided that he needed to watch the other candidate.  As Tom approached a wide opening that traverses the wreck, everyone apparently signaled ok and in he went.  I have to admit I was really laughing at myself in the passageway.  I kept getting stuck.  This was not my normal configuration!  Imagine a Wreck Instructor getting stuck on a simple dive.  I soon realigned myself and pulled my way out into the opening, under Tom’s watchful eyes.  As I turned around there was no one behind me.  Tom and I waited and still there were no divers behind us.  I looked back down the passage and there was no one there.  I communicated this to Tom and then after a little more of a delay the other candidate entered the passage creating a cloud of silt for Dave to swim through.  Dave later told us that he had a difficult time getting the other person to follow.

 

It was at this point, we all noticed how poor his buoyancy was and that he appeared to be struggling to stay afloat in the water column.  Further, Dave was signaling Tom that the diver was low on dil.  Tom, immediately terminated the dive leading us to the mooring line.  After our safety stop, we exited the water to a surprised crew.  We were supposed to be go for 2 hours and we were surfacing before the other recreational divers.

 

Tom started to talk to Dave about the lack of drills for his “student” during the dive but quickly changed his focus when the entire situation became known.  Then his attention switched to the other diver/candidate. 

 

In the end, Dave and I did accomplish our goals.  Dave received his Meg Instructor and his CCR Normoxic Trimix Instructor credentials and I received my OC/CCR Trimix Instructor credentials.  We also decided that January was not the best time to travel to Florida for diving.  The winds are unpredictable and the diving is likely to get blown out.  Something Tom knew and tried to tell us but who said we ever listen.

 

Oh well, live and learn…

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Cool New Stuff


Platinium Pro Winners - Jess Stark, Eric Keibler, Gary Taylor
Platinium Pro Winners - Jess Stark, Eric Keibler, Gary Taylor

Several members of the Oceanic Ventures Staff have just returned from DEMA, the diving industry trade show.  The purpose of the show is for retailers to preview equipment, training products and travel locations so they can bring new things back to their clients at home.  The training agencies host parties and meetings to showcase their offerings and to thank members for their support in the previous year and in the upcoming year.

 

 

 

SSI is no different, hosting its annual dealer social at the Rivera hotel.  It was great to see friends from all over the country – many of whom we only see at these events.  Julie Footman was on hand to shake her head but to also offer her support to Ann for her 2009 Cold Water Diving Program to help her Antarctica divers gain some diving experience.  We will be joining Julie in Maine after the group completes their Ice Diving Course, at Lake Winipasakui, New Hampshire in February (there is still room for interested people).  Julie is the owner of Aqua Diving Academy in Portland Maine and has been a great source of information for a number of things including dry suits and repairs.  She is also a good friend. 

 

During the dealer social, I was awarded my Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor Award.  This means that I am old and have been teaching a long time.  The award is based on points made up of a number of things from Instructor Ratings to Number of years diving; but, primarily, it the points are the number of students I have taught over the eighteen years (see what I mean about being old).  [Find out more about Eric and this award by pressing here or going to www.oceanicventures.net].

 

Jess Stark and Gary Taylor (a member of our adjunct faculty) were both honoured during DEMA this year.  Both of these men have been diving a long time and have accumulated in excess of 5000 dives (Gary has in excess of 10,000 dives).  They were among this year’s recipients of the Platinum Pro 500 divers award, given by SSI.  They join a very exclusive club of divers representing the who’s who of divng.  We were fortunate to have been able to nominate both of these people as well as two other designees – Lamar Hires, CEO of Dive Rite and Ron Carlo, manufacturer’s representative for a number of lines including Dive Rite.  Congratulations to all of you!

 

Another party we attended was hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.  They always throw great parties!  Of course it is even more fun since the Houston office is full of our students!  It was quite an evening full of free drinks, horśderves and good company.  Carl Griffing joined us at the party as did Robert Hew and Ian McKnight.  Of course, Carl and Ashton seemed to have a better time than most of us – at least their evening lasted longer.  I guess I’m getting too old!

 

Of course we did much more than party.  The group attended Risk Management seminars hosted by IANTD and another by SSI.  There were seminars on selling & teaching technical diving, recruiting, marketing, new camera systems, imprneung your client’s photographs, dealer product updates and new course offerings.  We all had meetings with manufacturers and manufacturers representatives, destination representatives and a host of other meetings.  Through it all, we also had some goals of things we needed to accomplish and some new products we needed to find.

 

And we did come back with some really cool things.  Here are a few of the things we brought back to Oceanic Ventures:

 

  • Komodo, Indonesia live aboard – The crew of the Archipelago Explorer II are excited about the potential of rebreather diving and with the help of Oceanic Ventures and Silent Diving Systems they are hosting the first live-aboard, all rebreather dive adventure in Indonesia!  This trip promises to be and extra special experience and a real treat for rebreather divers!  The trip will be 22 July 2009 to 2 August 2009, give or take a few days (Dive Mom is finalizing the air schedule)
  • Cool New Lights – We found some really cool new LED lights that are more affordable than anything we have had in the past.  These new lights, which come in a flood versin and a spot version use Lithium batteries and are rated to 400 ft.
  • Inexpensive back-up Light – When you need an inexpensive back-up light that fits in your pocket or on your BCD, we have a suggestion.  A 5 LED light for $9.95.  Pretty cool find!
  • Camera Spotting Light – This light is different from anything we have seen before.  It is a spotting light with an sensor that shuts-off the light when your electronic strobe fires, keeping the different temperature lights out of your photograph.
  • 8 megapixel Camera & Housing for $199.95 – What a find!  As Dave said when he was telling us abut this at one of our morning staff meetings during the show, this makes photography affordable for everyone.  New divers and experienced divers can start taking underwater photographs almost from the start.  And, you can always add an external strobe later to improve your photography even more.  We are so excited about this new starter camera that we have put one in the pool for our students to try during dive class!
  • New Training Options – The new buzzword in dive training is on-line training.  Ann, Dave and I have been watching this for several years and we believe that now there is a good product that will meet the needs of some divers.  Beginning in 2009, Oceanic Ventures will begin offering On-line education as a part of its training program.  Keep an eye out for more details on this program.

 

We believe that DEMA was very successful for us this season.  We appreciate all of the staff’s help during the show (Ashton, Dave, Barney & Barbara at the show and Zaide in the office).  I hope you will come by and let me show you these way cool things!  If you can’t make it by, send me an message and I’ll tell you more about them.

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DIVAS, Diving, Rum and Wine

 

Dive Divas in Grand Cayman, photo courtsey of Dora Valdez
Dive Divas in Grand Cayman, photo courtsey of Dora Valdez

As the hurricane becomes more of a past event, a group of ladies joined Ann in Grand Cayman.  Affectionately known as the Dive Diva group, these ladies left Houston in recovery and escaped the usual Houstonian question “so did you have any damage?”  The plan was 5 days of diving with other activities including massages, reflexology, a rum tasting featuring Grand Cayman’s own Seven Fathoms Rum and of course one of Arie’s  famous wine and cheese parties.  Word from Grand Cayman is that the island will never be the same again!