The winds dropped overnight and the lagoon settled down and calmed as we slept. The sun began its journey colouring the clouds on the horizon vivid shades of orange and red while the sliver of the moon and Venus were still visible in the sky like they just didn’t want to end their dominance of the sky. As the light continued to grow so did the colours now yellow and magenta streaked across the morning sky.
Today is a treat for the technical divers, the Aikoka Maru. This is my favourite wreck in the lagoon. It started its life as a luxury cruise liner but as soon as it was completed it was transformed into a merchant raider and troop carrier. She had a distinguished career having captured a number of vessels including the Hoki Maru, our dive site from yesterday.
Our dive is off the skiff with the Odyssey remaining on the Unkai Maru and the moving to the Gosei Maru. We loaded the skiff at about 7:00 AM and departed at about 7:30 AM. Whisking across the still water anticipation grew. It took Kent and BoBo about six minutes to located the sub-surface mooring buoy a feat in of itself since they use line of site to find the wreck location.
Descending down the mooring line the ship, or really the collapsed portion of the midship that remained after the explosion that obliterated the front half of the vessel came into site. Rusted metal covered with green and brown growth. The once impressive fly bridges have collapsed and are curling forward as the superstructure continues its journey to the bottom. Some of the hallways are still intact with soft corals hanging down and swaying as the bubbles roll past (we have some open circuit divers with us). The internal walls are gone from the interior so the rooms are large open spaces with occasional sinks, toilets and urinals mounted in space.
The holds once loaded with cargo are empty and the marine barracks found in the holds once held the remains of troops who perished with the ship are virtually free of remains (they were removed in the early 90’s and set free in a Shinto burial ceremony). The stern gun still points toward the sky still trying to protect the ship as schools of small fish swim past.
This is a peaceful dive but there are still ghosts remaining continuing to serve in the underwater world. As we move through their world we are reminded of the peace that followed the violent end of this impressive vessel.
Our dive ended with a lot of time on the mooring line slowly moving toward the surface. The seas have become a little rougher during our stay and the rain squall that we ran from as it approached the Odyssey apparently washed the salt off the boat. As we re boarded our craft, Suzanne said it best
that was awesome!
.
While we were exploring the deeper depths, the remainder of the group dove the Unkai Maru and the Gosei Maru. They all really enjoyed themselves and found bombs, bullets, glass and fish in abundance.
Our journey now takes us back to the other side on Tonawas to the Kensho Maru.
This 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.
