Well, tomorrow I leave for Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.
I'll be spending two days in Quito, the capitol, and then seven days aboard the dive boat Galapagos Aggressor II. We'll return to Quito for one night then fly home.
I'm diving with some folks out of South Padre Island, Texas, who have reserved the entire boat. Not all of the 14 passengers are from Texas, but everyone knows Tim. He has been leading this trip once a year for a long time, and I feel a lot better being with experienced traveller/divers that I know and trust. Still, I'm feeling butterflies and I've packed and repacked a couple of times just to make sure I've done it right.
This is the biggie: Tim calls it the "Superbowl of Diving." The water's cold, the currents are strong, and it's no simple (cheap) matter to get there. But like the Superbowl, there's a big payoff just for playing: We'll see some fantastic wildlife, dive in challenging conditions, and will visit the spot where man first began to understand the big picture of the development of life on this planet. It will be a really nice set of dives to enter into my logbook!
Do a Google search for Galapagos and dive and you'll see the phenomenal array of sea life that inhabits the waters around the islands. Sea lions, penguins, and marine iguanas can be found in the shallows, while large schools of jacks and even hammerhead sharks are present a little farther out. In the far northwest, around Darwin and Wolf Islands (a 16-hr boat trip from the main islands), huge whale sharks are often seen with schools of Galapagos and hammerhead sharks. Due to popular demand, our boat will spend most of its time up in the northwest.
There will be dives in other areas where we'll be able to see red-lipped batfish, sea horses, and other small creatures. On our land excursions we'll see the sea lions, iguanas, giant tortoises, and a wide variety of the famous Galapagos birds.
On the downside, I won't have access to the Internet for much of the trip, so I won't be able to share my observations in real-time. As I did in Australia, I'll hand-write my posts and publish them when I get to a computer.
Well, I have to re-pack my camera bag again. I'm not convinced it's perfect. So I'll sign off for now and try to post when I can get to a computer again.
Showing posts with label SCUBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCUBA. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Another Dive Adventure
I'll talk about my frenetic preparations for next week's Galapagos trip in a later post, but I had to gush about a new opportunity that just came up!
I've been invited to be a safety diver during a video shoot for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department!
The week after I return from Ecuador, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be sinking the USTS Texas Clipper 17 miles off the S. Texas coast to form an artificial reef. The projected date is November 15. She will come to rest on the sandy floor, about 134 feet deep, after having undergone years of pre-sinking cleanup and other preparations. Click on the link above for more details.
The Clipper's keel was laid in Maryland in 1944, and although built as a merchant ship she served the U.S. Navy as the troop transport USS Queens during WWII in the Pacific theater. She was decommissioned as a military vessel in 1946. From 1948 to 1958, commissioned the S.S. Excambion, she was a combination freight/passenger liner serving Mediterranean ports of call.
In 1965, she was commissioned the U.S.T.S. Texas Clipper and served as a training ship for maritime students at Texas A&M - Galveston until 1996.
The man who is leading our trip to the Galapagos Islands operates a technical dive instruction center, dive shop, and dive boat in South Padre Island, TX. The day after the Clipper is reefed, he will be leading a team shooting a video to document the condition of the ship after it settles to the bottom. While I was chatting with him about Galapagos, we started talking about the reefing and he invited me to serve as a safety diver for this project. The videography teams will be making longer-than-normal dives, and safety divers provide support for them during decompression and to serve as rescue divers in the event of an accident.
If it pans out, this will be a fantastic opportunity for me. I will be one of the very first divers to see the Clipper on the bottom! Plus, I'll be helping document this project for future generations to learn about the Clipper and the artificial reef project.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Little Sara Gets Serious
Saturday, 28 July, I went on yet another dive trip to the gas rig "Little Sara." This weekend's dive gave me a couple of opportunities to practice a core diving skill: Avoiding panic.
The recent flooding throughout Texas has caused the rivers to pump massive quantities of fresh water into the Gulf. This stirs up silt, turns the water from blue to green, and affects the wildlife that live in salt water. Since Little Sara is so close to shore (around 10 mi), it was in the mixing zone of the flow from the Rio Grande river.
As you probably know, you are more buoyant in salt water than in fresh. As you descend, the increasing pressure compresses the air trapped in your wetsuit, your buoyancy compensating device (an inflatable bladder a diver wears on their back), and even your lungs. This makes you less buoyant and you sink faster.
As I entered the water and began my descent, all was normal. You could see distinct lines in the water where salt water and fresh water were mixing. You see a similar effect when you pour alcohol into water: kind of an uneven swirling in the liquid. When I hit the fresh water layer, I sank faster. What's worse, beneath me, at about 50 ft and getting rapidly closer, was an opaque silt layer where it got very dark and visibility dropped to less than a foot.
When I entered the cold, dark zone, I was trying desperately to keep my buddy in sight, I looked at my gauges to check my depth. My dive computer was off, indicating failure. This device reads the depth and time and tells me how long I can safely stay under water without suffering "the bends." I tried to restart it, but it was dead. The deeper I got the faster I descended, and I was distracted by the computer and couldn't compensate for buoyancy changes fast enough.
Luckily, I carry a backup computer and I moved it around so I could read it, juggling the camera rig lashed to my right wrist. Remember, the whole time I'm concentrating on my gauges, I'm falling faster and faster to the bottom through dark, murky water. I finally hit a rig crossbar on the bottom at around 97 ft. I signaled to my buddy that I was having gauge problems and that we should ascend to where I could see my gauges.
I learned later that my buddy was looking for stonefish that often sit, camouflaged, on top of the crossbars and in the silt on the bottom. Stonefish have a poisonous spine on their back that can inflict very serious damage on an unsuspecting diver. Like one that drops suddenly onto their back. Fortunately, we didn't find any stonefish.
I wish that were all. During my second dive I was hovering at around 35 ft, just watching the fish and the other divers. I slowly rotated around and found myself face to face with one of the largest barracudas I've ever seen -- probably 8 ft long. Its jaws were open and it was looking intently at me. I now know the feeling of ones "blood running cold." For the first time, I was afraid of a marine creature. It's funny, because I have dived with barracuda many times, and have no real fear of them. Even sharks don't really scare me, but having a 'cuda this size focused on me was a VERY unsettling experience. I found out later that I had a shiny metal tag clipped to the shoulder of my gear. The lesson: Don't hang shiny things from your gear.
Oh, well, at least I learned a lot from these dives! I kept my cool and kept the dives safe, and I am now a little better diver than I was before this trip.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Underwater Cameras
I have been very frustrated at how slow my underwater camera, a Sea and Sea DX-860G, was. There is a huge lag between the time you pull the trigger and when the shot is taken.
I compared the camera to several others during my Underwater Digital Photography class, and it was clear that mine was especially slow.
New digital cameras fire a "preflash" to help the camera set exposure settings. Most of the time, this preflash fires mere milliseconds before the main flash, so it looks like there's only one flash. With the damn DX-860, the preflash is a full 1/2 to 1 second before the main flash (which fires off a large external strobe). Needless to say, this gives skittish marine life plenty of time to get out of your shot.
The consensus was that my camera was defective and I asked the shop to send it in for repairs. The word back from the warranty center was that my camera was behaving correctly. That floored me -- it's almost worthless if you're shooting something moving, because it's so horribly slow. I'm going to try and completely obstruct the internal flash (the pre-flash) with black tape to see if I can keep from scaring off sealife, but the camera is still so slow that moving targets are really hit-or-miss.
If you're in the market for an underwater camera, I strongly recommend that you compare a few models hands-on before you buy. The DX-860 was the latest-and-greatest point and shoot from Sea and Sea, so the shop had to order it for me. As a result, I didn't have much of an opportunity to try it out. If I were doing it over again, though, I would probably go with a name-brand point & shoot camera (Canon, Nikon, Olympus) with an underwater housing from either the manufacturer or a high-quality after-market supplier. Sealife also has a couple of good models in this price range.
Your mileage may vary, but if you're looking at the DX-860 think long and hard about how important speed is, and for God's sake try it out before you buy it.
I compared the camera to several others during my Underwater Digital Photography class, and it was clear that mine was especially slow.
New digital cameras fire a "preflash" to help the camera set exposure settings. Most of the time, this preflash fires mere milliseconds before the main flash, so it looks like there's only one flash. With the damn DX-860, the preflash is a full 1/2 to 1 second before the main flash (which fires off a large external strobe). Needless to say, this gives skittish marine life plenty of time to get out of your shot.
The consensus was that my camera was defective and I asked the shop to send it in for repairs. The word back from the warranty center was that my camera was behaving correctly. That floored me -- it's almost worthless if you're shooting something moving, because it's so horribly slow. I'm going to try and completely obstruct the internal flash (the pre-flash) with black tape to see if I can keep from scaring off sealife, but the camera is still so slow that moving targets are really hit-or-miss.
If you're in the market for an underwater camera, I strongly recommend that you compare a few models hands-on before you buy. The DX-860 was the latest-and-greatest point and shoot from Sea and Sea, so the shop had to order it for me. As a result, I didn't have much of an opportunity to try it out. If I were doing it over again, though, I would probably go with a name-brand point & shoot camera (Canon, Nikon, Olympus) with an underwater housing from either the manufacturer or a high-quality after-market supplier. Sealife also has a couple of good models in this price range.
Your mileage may vary, but if you're looking at the DX-860 think long and hard about how important speed is, and for God's sake try it out before you buy it.
OK, Now What?
DIVEMASTER!!!!
I'm not going to be studying anything else, and the major financial impact I was planning isn't going to happen. So I decided to go ahead and sign up for the training required to become a NAUI Divemaster.
I'll admit it -- I'm a SCUBA junkie. Duh - have you noticed the pic at the top of this blog, or the name of it, or have you ever met me? Anyway, if you want to see me light up, just get me started talking about diving (for other topics, see the end of this post). I also haven't gotten out to interact with people as much as I need to, and I've become socially retarded (no, what you've been calling me is a different kind of retarded).
As a Divemaster, I'll have the opportunity to assist instructors with SCUBA classes, so I'll be able to help people learn about a subject I love. I'll even be able to lead "discover scuba" sessions, where someone who thinks they might like diving gets to try it out in a swimming pool for free. I'll be working with the motley crew of instructors, divemasters, and ne'er-do-wells that haunt the dive shop I use (Deep Blue Adventures); people I've dived with, learned from, insulted, and annoyed.
As if that weren't enough, once in a while I'll be able to lead dive trips where my way is paid! I'll have to work my butt off, but the cost of one or two trips to dive the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary more than offsets the cost of the class.
Of course, this doesn't come without a cost. The physical and mental requirements for the rating are significant, so I'll be working hard for it. Most of the instructors already have it out for me, and the NAUI instructional program lets them abuse me shamelessly. Even after certification, assisting with classes will take up much of my "free" time, and I'll be doing grunt work, like hauling equipment. I might have to get liability insurance for some tasks.
OK, I'll keep you posted on my progress. As promised, here are
Other Conversations that Light me Up:
- Anything scatological
- Criticizing taxes
- American healthcare system
- Reproductive freedom (education, contraception, abortion)
- Who's the best Doctor in the Doctor Who TV show
- Excuse me, you appear to be on fire
- Appropriate uses for the epithet "douchebag"
- Australia
I'm not going to be studying anything else, and the major financial impact I was planning isn't going to happen. So I decided to go ahead and sign up for the training required to become a NAUI Divemaster.
I'll admit it -- I'm a SCUBA junkie. Duh - have you noticed the pic at the top of this blog, or the name of it, or have you ever met me? Anyway, if you want to see me light up, just get me started talking about diving (for other topics, see the end of this post). I also haven't gotten out to interact with people as much as I need to, and I've become socially retarded (no, what you've been calling me is a different kind of retarded).
As a Divemaster, I'll have the opportunity to assist instructors with SCUBA classes, so I'll be able to help people learn about a subject I love. I'll even be able to lead "discover scuba" sessions, where someone who thinks they might like diving gets to try it out in a swimming pool for free. I'll be working with the motley crew of instructors, divemasters, and ne'er-do-wells that haunt the dive shop I use (Deep Blue Adventures); people I've dived with, learned from, insulted, and annoyed.
As if that weren't enough, once in a while I'll be able to lead dive trips where my way is paid! I'll have to work my butt off, but the cost of one or two trips to dive the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary more than offsets the cost of the class.
Of course, this doesn't come without a cost. The physical and mental requirements for the rating are significant, so I'll be working hard for it. Most of the instructors already have it out for me, and the NAUI instructional program lets them abuse me shamelessly. Even after certification, assisting with classes will take up much of my "free" time, and I'll be doing grunt work, like hauling equipment. I might have to get liability insurance for some tasks.
OK, I'll keep you posted on my progress. As promised, here are
Other Conversations that Light me Up:
- Anything scatological
- Criticizing taxes
- American healthcare system
- Reproductive freedom (education, contraception, abortion)
- Who's the best Doctor in the Doctor Who TV show
- Excuse me, you appear to be on fire
- Appropriate uses for the epithet "douchebag"
- Australia
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
I CAN SO Take Underwater Pics!
Here are a few I'm proud of (click the pics for bigger versions):
This guy (girl?) is one of a pair of nurse sharks, about 9 ft long, that were resting deep in a coral cave in Cozumel, Mexico.
This beautifully colored monster is about 8" long and is called a "squirrelfish." Some of their family members have HUGE eyes. I've seen them in Cozumel and at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (where this was taken).
This little (1") bastard got me in trouble with my dive buddy. I was determined to get a good shot using my macro (close-up) lens. Unfortunately, his burrow was underneath a rope fastened to the bottom, and my strobe cast a shadow that hit him directly. The strobe scared off a hammerhead shark that had been circling above me that I totally missed.
I am just a beginner, so my pics aren't perfect, but at least I'm not a total tard when it comes to capturing wildlife. I will say, though, that it's a HELL of a lot easier to get good wildlife pictures above water. Underwater photography isn't for sissies.
This guy (girl?) is one of a pair of nurse sharks, about 9 ft long, that were resting deep in a coral cave in Cozumel, Mexico.
This beautifully colored monster is about 8" long and is called a "squirrelfish." Some of their family members have HUGE eyes. I've seen them in Cozumel and at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (where this was taken).
This little (1") bastard got me in trouble with my dive buddy. I was determined to get a good shot using my macro (close-up) lens. Unfortunately, his burrow was underneath a rope fastened to the bottom, and my strobe cast a shadow that hit him directly. The strobe scared off a hammerhead shark that had been circling above me that I totally missed.
I am just a beginner, so my pics aren't perfect, but at least I'm not a total tard when it comes to capturing wildlife. I will say, though, that it's a HELL of a lot easier to get good wildlife pictures above water. Underwater photography isn't for sissies.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Be Careful in Coral Reefs
Dear Friend(s):
At the request* of my only known reader, I used some of my sophisticated photographic equipment to provide a close-up image of the coral burn I received in Cozumel. Unfortunately, the really close-up pics were either focused on leg hairs or showed nothing but slightly red skin. In either case, they were not appropriately dramatic for a blog such as this. I believe the picture included here is the most dramatic in my collection.
This completely unretouched photo is noteworthy in that a) it's gross, b) it shows that even after ten days coral stings leave a mark, and c) it's gross. I've discovered that I can make the burn itch by scratching it, make it hurt by scratching it harder or poking it with a pin, or completely forget it's there by not touching it.
I presume you're thinking, "Jeebus, doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time, or have something meaningful to say?" To that offensive opinion I offer you a virtual smack in the face with a linen glove. I will, nonetheless, answer your questions:
No.
* OK, by "request" I should clarify that the topic of the leg came up tangentially in an email discussion and I threatened to (and actually did) post a close-up photo. Technically, it wasn't a request, per se.
At the request* of my only known reader, I used some of my sophisticated photographic equipment to provide a close-up image of the coral burn I received in Cozumel. Unfortunately, the really close-up pics were either focused on leg hairs or showed nothing but slightly red skin. In either case, they were not appropriately dramatic for a blog such as this. I believe the picture included here is the most dramatic in my collection.
This completely unretouched photo is noteworthy in that a) it's gross, b) it shows that even after ten days coral stings leave a mark, and c) it's gross. I've discovered that I can make the burn itch by scratching it, make it hurt by scratching it harder or poking it with a pin, or completely forget it's there by not touching it.
I presume you're thinking, "Jeebus, doesn't this guy have anything better to do with his time, or have something meaningful to say?" To that offensive opinion I offer you a virtual smack in the face with a linen glove. I will, nonetheless, answer your questions:
No.
* OK, by "request" I should clarify that the topic of the leg came up tangentially in an email discussion and I threatened to (and actually did) post a close-up photo. Technically, it wasn't a request, per se.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Keepin' it Alive
Just wanted to post something new so you didn't lose interest.
I think I forgot to mention that our last day diving in Cozumel I got a little too close to some coral and got a nasty sting on my hand and leg. It wasn't too painful when I got it, but believe it or not I've still got a big red welt on my leg. I know you guys are curious, so I've taken the liberty of posting a pic. It itches a bit, but no real damage. This is why divers (smart ones, anyway) wear wetsuits even when the water's warm. If it had been a portugese man-of-war or some other free-floating jellyfish, it would have been much worse.
I think I forgot to mention that our last day diving in Cozumel I got a little too close to some coral and got a nasty sting on my hand and leg. It wasn't too painful when I got it, but believe it or not I've still got a big red welt on my leg. I know you guys are curious, so I've taken the liberty of posting a pic. It itches a bit, but no real damage. This is why divers (smart ones, anyway) wear wetsuits even when the water's warm. If it had been a portugese man-of-war or some other free-floating jellyfish, it would have been much worse.
My other knee STILL hurts. I looked back through my posts, and saw that it first started hurting on May 27, after our four-hour walk. I'm worried about it, because every day I can't hit the gym or the treadmill or the pool at full capacity I'm losing an opportunity to build stamina for October. I couldn't finish my treadmill program this morning.
This afternoon I decided to say "bugger it all" and went down the hill to our community pool. I tried snorkeling, but there were too many kids that kept getting in the way so I strapped on my SCUBA gear. Keeping to the bottom let me avoid swimming into the sprogs and my tank was like a turtle's shell, ensuring they injured themselves if they dove down on top of me. Even with 1500# of air I got a good 1/2 hr of strong swimming in. I think I'll try to do this a few times a week after work: good for the legs and low-impact on the knees. I'm using my old Oceanic Vector blade fins. They're harder to kick with than my ScubaPro Twin Jets, but the additional resistance will help me out in the long run.
At the pool, my only worry was that the other adults would think that I was there to catch illicit views of their precious semi-aquatic disease vectors. I'm glad that second-stage regulators are designed to be puked through, because I did my very best to stay as far away from any living creature as possible.
I've scheduled some modifications to my SCUBA gear: I'm having the low-pressure inflator hose shortened 3" to accomodate my emergency air horn which will remove this big loop that develops over my left ear. I'm also having my computer/gauge console mounted to a quick-disconnect so I can separate it from my regulator and pack it safely in my carry-on.
This afternoon I decided to say "bugger it all" and went down the hill to our community pool. I tried snorkeling, but there were too many kids that kept getting in the way so I strapped on my SCUBA gear. Keeping to the bottom let me avoid swimming into the sprogs and my tank was like a turtle's shell, ensuring they injured themselves if they dove down on top of me. Even with 1500# of air I got a good 1/2 hr of strong swimming in. I think I'll try to do this a few times a week after work: good for the legs and low-impact on the knees. I'm using my old Oceanic Vector blade fins. They're harder to kick with than my ScubaPro Twin Jets, but the additional resistance will help me out in the long run.
At the pool, my only worry was that the other adults would think that I was there to catch illicit views of their precious semi-aquatic disease vectors. I'm glad that second-stage regulators are designed to be puked through, because I did my very best to stay as far away from any living creature as possible.
I've scheduled some modifications to my SCUBA gear: I'm having the low-pressure inflator hose shortened 3" to accomodate my emergency air horn which will remove this big loop that develops over my left ear. I'm also having my computer/gauge console mounted to a quick-disconnect so I can separate it from my regulator and pack it safely in my carry-on.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Home Again
Sorry about that last post -- I fell asleep several times while I was writing it, and there are parts I don't even remember! I don't know what I was trying to say about the do-rag, but I did buy one and it does protect my scalp from sunburn.
Anyway, we made it home safe. Our last dive was finished at around 4:30 yesterday (Sunday), and you have to wait 18-24 hours before you can safely fly. An airplane at 40,000 ft. is NOT a good place to develop DCS (the "bends").
I made this trip primarily for the purpose of training for a mega-dive trip that I have planned for October. It will involve strong currents, advanced buoyancy control skills, and the ability to get off and on small boats in rough seas. I practiced all of these this trip, except that the seas weren't rough at all. I had a de-brief with my instructor this morning and we went over lessons learned. As you could tell from my previous posts, one of my big lessons was to be more diligent in keeping up with my buddy and the rest of the group -- it's easy to get separated when the current is whipping along at 1-2 knots. If you stop, in no time at all you're pulled far away from your group and your chances of being recovered begin to fade, especially if you aren't in a country that has a good Coast Guard. I was diving into caves and holes in the coral formations and the current there is much lower than the rest of the water column. As a result, the rest of the group moved with the current while I stayed stationary. That was very annoying to the group leaders.
My biggest disappointment was the photography. Very few of my pictures came out well. I forgot to use the fiber-optic cable that connects the camera to the strobe, but I can't say that's totally to blame. The camera I have is simply not the best underwater camera -- it doesn't give you enough control over the detailed settings, and VERY slow, and you can't turn off the pre-flash, so it scares fish off before it takes the actual picture. It's a Sea and Sea DX-860G camera/housing/strobe package. The land pictures it takes are great -- I've just had fits getting it to take good underwater pictures. In all fairness, drift dives in strong currents aren't the easiest place to get good pictures. You have to contend with tweaking the camera, tracking your subject, maintaining excellent buoyancy, and contending with the current at the same time. I'll post a few of my better ones here soon.
On the whole, this was a good trip. The service at the Cozumel Palace was outstanding -- very luxurious and convenient to downtown. There is a cruise ship dock nearby, so there's a Carlos 'n Charlies, Senor Frogs, Hard Rock, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right there, in addition to a bunch of craft, jewelry, and souvenir dealers. There's plenty to do, even if you don't dive. Here's a tip: Most of the shops sell exactly the same stuff, so the farther you get from the main drag and the cruise ship dock, the cheaper everything is. You can even haggle some in the shops deeper in town.
Cozumel is a very safe place. The community survives on tourism, and the locals simply don't tolerate crime -- I understand that criminals are booted off the island. We never felt nervous (except when crossing streets: ALTO seems to mean "slow down if you want to").
If you want a nice long weekend getaway, I would recommend this trip. Just check into the best time of year to go since it can get really crowded. You DON'T have to be a diver to enjoy it, though Cozumel is definitely known for diving. FunJet vacations will arrange air transport and lodging for a fixed price. The Palace is all-inclusive for its entire network, so if you want to go across the channel to the mainland, there's a HUGE Palace hotel there, and you can use their facilities, eat their food, etc., as if you were staying there. There are cheaper places to stay in Cozumel, without a doubt, but the Palace offers some pampering and service that we all deserve once in a while. You will, however, need to be aware that some times the planes get delayed a couple of hours, so you need to stay in contact with FunJet to avoid wasting time or missing a flight. They track the schedules of the Aero Mexico charter flights.
If you want to give diving a try, the hotel offers a SCUBA "resort course" which will let you dive once a day without getting certified (you spend a few hours in training and are supervised through your dive). Snorkling isn't limited and can be a lot of fun. The pools are magnificent, well-maintained, and interesting (one has a swim-up bar, of course). There's even a little channel so you can swim from the main pool around to where the live entertainment is. If you are into sun-worshipping, there are ample opportunities for that, as well.
Physical fitness: I never swam so hard in my life. I'm going to start tagging along with some of Deep Blue's open water classes in the pool so I can practice swimming and build up those muscles and my stamina.
That's all for this trip -- I'll put some photos up somewhere and let you know where to look.
Thanks for reading!
Anyway, we made it home safe. Our last dive was finished at around 4:30 yesterday (Sunday), and you have to wait 18-24 hours before you can safely fly. An airplane at 40,000 ft. is NOT a good place to develop DCS (the "bends").
I made this trip primarily for the purpose of training for a mega-dive trip that I have planned for October. It will involve strong currents, advanced buoyancy control skills, and the ability to get off and on small boats in rough seas. I practiced all of these this trip, except that the seas weren't rough at all. I had a de-brief with my instructor this morning and we went over lessons learned. As you could tell from my previous posts, one of my big lessons was to be more diligent in keeping up with my buddy and the rest of the group -- it's easy to get separated when the current is whipping along at 1-2 knots. If you stop, in no time at all you're pulled far away from your group and your chances of being recovered begin to fade, especially if you aren't in a country that has a good Coast Guard. I was diving into caves and holes in the coral formations and the current there is much lower than the rest of the water column. As a result, the rest of the group moved with the current while I stayed stationary. That was very annoying to the group leaders.
My biggest disappointment was the photography. Very few of my pictures came out well. I forgot to use the fiber-optic cable that connects the camera to the strobe, but I can't say that's totally to blame. The camera I have is simply not the best underwater camera -- it doesn't give you enough control over the detailed settings, and VERY slow, and you can't turn off the pre-flash, so it scares fish off before it takes the actual picture. It's a Sea and Sea DX-860G camera/housing/strobe package. The land pictures it takes are great -- I've just had fits getting it to take good underwater pictures. In all fairness, drift dives in strong currents aren't the easiest place to get good pictures. You have to contend with tweaking the camera, tracking your subject, maintaining excellent buoyancy, and contending with the current at the same time. I'll post a few of my better ones here soon.
On the whole, this was a good trip. The service at the Cozumel Palace was outstanding -- very luxurious and convenient to downtown. There is a cruise ship dock nearby, so there's a Carlos 'n Charlies, Senor Frogs, Hard Rock, and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right there, in addition to a bunch of craft, jewelry, and souvenir dealers. There's plenty to do, even if you don't dive. Here's a tip: Most of the shops sell exactly the same stuff, so the farther you get from the main drag and the cruise ship dock, the cheaper everything is. You can even haggle some in the shops deeper in town.
Cozumel is a very safe place. The community survives on tourism, and the locals simply don't tolerate crime -- I understand that criminals are booted off the island. We never felt nervous (except when crossing streets: ALTO seems to mean "slow down if you want to").
If you want a nice long weekend getaway, I would recommend this trip. Just check into the best time of year to go since it can get really crowded. You DON'T have to be a diver to enjoy it, though Cozumel is definitely known for diving. FunJet vacations will arrange air transport and lodging for a fixed price. The Palace is all-inclusive for its entire network, so if you want to go across the channel to the mainland, there's a HUGE Palace hotel there, and you can use their facilities, eat their food, etc., as if you were staying there. There are cheaper places to stay in Cozumel, without a doubt, but the Palace offers some pampering and service that we all deserve once in a while. You will, however, need to be aware that some times the planes get delayed a couple of hours, so you need to stay in contact with FunJet to avoid wasting time or missing a flight. They track the schedules of the Aero Mexico charter flights.
If you want to give diving a try, the hotel offers a SCUBA "resort course" which will let you dive once a day without getting certified (you spend a few hours in training and are supervised through your dive). Snorkling isn't limited and can be a lot of fun. The pools are magnificent, well-maintained, and interesting (one has a swim-up bar, of course). There's even a little channel so you can swim from the main pool around to where the live entertainment is. If you are into sun-worshipping, there are ample opportunities for that, as well.
Physical fitness: I never swam so hard in my life. I'm going to start tagging along with some of Deep Blue's open water classes in the pool so I can practice swimming and build up those muscles and my stamina.
That's all for this trip -- I'll put some photos up somewhere and let you know where to look.
Thanks for reading!
Oops, Sunny Skies!
Sorry, you'll just have to be jealous. When our boat (the Nuria) came to pick us up at 12:30, the rain had pretty much subsided.
It took us over an hour to get to our first dive site, Palancar Gardens. The dive was interesting, but I got in trouble again for getting so engrossed in exploring caves in the coral formations that I fell behind the group and my buddy had to come back and search for me. Poor form. In fact, he pointed into one cave, and what I saw was the biggest scrawled filefish I'd ever seen. I completely missed the huge stone crab (its body was a foot in diameter, at least) clinging to the wall by my head, which is what he wanted me to see.
I bought a very sexy bandana/do-rag that I saw in the hotel's dive shop, and of course my buddy had to get one too. Later, I bought another that said "Cozumel." They're great for keeping my bald spot from getting sunburned.
I saw a beautiful hawksbill sea turtle, a spotted drum, a green moray eel (most of the eels I've seen have been spotted morays), and some people even saw another nurse shark on the bottom.
My camera battery died right before I saw the turtle (it's always something).
I got my first professional massage today. I was late, but they did what they could with her tight schedule. I'm falling asleep and need to get up early
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sunday Morning -- RAIN!
Well, you folks who were envying me for being in the sunshine while San Antonio was flooding can rest easy -- it's raining here. We're diving at noon anyway, but it's still a disappointment.
Yesterday we made two day boat dives and one night dive. The current was very strong on our second dive, and I surfaced a good distance from the boat and had to wait to be picked up. Might have been scary if I hadn't been between two other dive boats.
Most of my pictures this trip have been crap. My first dive I left my camera on the boat to keep from getting distracted, and I saw many things I wanted to take pictures of. Every other dive has been hard to find anything worth photographing. Also, the pics I take aren't looking good. The clear water is screwing with my settings (I know, poor baby!)-- either the flash won't go off because there's too much light or the flash overexposes the shot. I've gotten a little too close to a few animals (like a scorpionfish), but I didn't have the right lens on the camera and he ended up a little fuzzy.
We found a den where two 8' nurse sharks were resting and I got a few good pictures, but since I had to reach the camera down into the hole, I aimed too high and didn't get them centered. At least I saw them! They were beautiful, but they were the only sharks I've seen.
Last night we did a little dive off the shore of the hotel and saw a few little critters that were amusing (eels, pilot crabs, cleaner shrimp, and juvenile queen angelfish.) There was also a large cannon.
My knee was absolutely killing me -- We walked for about four and a half hours yesterday afternoon exploring downtown, after two boat dives and before the shore dive and I though I was going to lose the leg.
Well, gotta run. See you all!
Yesterday we made two day boat dives and one night dive. The current was very strong on our second dive, and I surfaced a good distance from the boat and had to wait to be picked up. Might have been scary if I hadn't been between two other dive boats.
Most of my pictures this trip have been crap. My first dive I left my camera on the boat to keep from getting distracted, and I saw many things I wanted to take pictures of. Every other dive has been hard to find anything worth photographing. Also, the pics I take aren't looking good. The clear water is screwing with my settings (I know, poor baby!)-- either the flash won't go off because there's too much light or the flash overexposes the shot. I've gotten a little too close to a few animals (like a scorpionfish), but I didn't have the right lens on the camera and he ended up a little fuzzy.
We found a den where two 8' nurse sharks were resting and I got a few good pictures, but since I had to reach the camera down into the hole, I aimed too high and didn't get them centered. At least I saw them! They were beautiful, but they were the only sharks I've seen.
Last night we did a little dive off the shore of the hotel and saw a few little critters that were amusing (eels, pilot crabs, cleaner shrimp, and juvenile queen angelfish.) There was also a large cannon.
My knee was absolutely killing me -- We walked for about four and a half hours yesterday afternoon exploring downtown, after two boat dives and before the shore dive and I though I was going to lose the leg.
Well, gotta run. See you all!
Diving Cozumel
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post anything. As predicted, it's not been simple to connect to the net for anything but email.
The trip they set up is run by FunJet vacations, who chartered the AeroMexico flight and set us up in the all-inclusive Cozumel Palace hotel. If you're into unlimited food, drink, and enterainment, it's a good deal. It seems like many tourists are divers, but the pools have been full of people (mostly 20-somethings), a few families, very few kids. It's not the cheapest place to stay, so the clientele is a little better.
Friday's first dive was great. I saw all kinds of fish, and they didn't bolt as I approached, so I was looking forward to bringing my camera on the second dive. Of course, when I did have my camera I didn't see much and the fish were not as cooperative. Visibility was good (75ft or so, water temp was around 82), but it was better than the Gulf of Mexico.
There were no more dives on Friday.
I'll post a summary of Saurday's activities tomorrow.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Eve of departure
Tomorrow I'm leaving for my first trip to dive Cozumel, Mexico. It seems like everyone else I know has dived there many times, but this is my first. There are strong currents, so it's a drift dive (they drop you in the water, you float with the current, then they pick you up when you surface).
My friend, Andy, the SOB who strapped on my first BC and got me totally hooked on diving, said I needed to be very careful. Apparently, the water's so clear you can't determine how deep you are without your gauges and you can easily go below safe depths.
I understand our hotel has wireless internet access, so I'll try and make a few posts while I'm there (and maybe even a pic or two), but if you remember Australia, I had nothing but trouble with blogging from the road via email. We'll see how it goes.
Up at four, liftoff at seven, under water after lunch! Buen fin de semana!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Great Barrier Reef -- Mon. 15 May
This is it - the second most important part of our trip. Diving the Great Barrier Reef National Marine Park. We awoke early, checked out of our hotel, and met the representatives of Mike Ball's Dive Expeditions in the hotel's restaurant. The 10 of us then hopped in their bus with our dive gear and headed to the airport. We boarded one of two Cessna 404 turboprops and headed north to Lizard Island, an exclusive resort with its own airstrip. We transferred to the M/V Spoil Sport by inflatable tender boats and got introduced to the crew. We were to head out to the Cod Hole and be diving within two hours, so we all got started setting up our gear. Between my photos and videos and the DVDs we had made of the trip, it's pretty well documented, so I'll have some great show-and-tell stuff when I get back.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Safe Return from Sea!
I'm pleased to report that we've survived our dive trip. I did 10 dives over the three days, including two night dives and one drift dive. As expected, the wildlife was fantastic and the colors were truly indescribable. I've honestly never seen such colors on land, anywhere.
We didn't have any seasickness, even though we were buffetted by 30 knot winds for most of the trip.
We met some great people from Sydney, California, and Brasil, and there was a large contingent of Russian tourists on board that didn't speak English. The Mike Ball staff are outstanding -- I recommend them if you're diving the Great Barrier Reef or Papua New Guinea.
I got DVDs of the general trip plus one of my own dives, so there will be some great stuff to see when we get back.
Right now, I'm back in the Internet cafe at the Cairns Colonial Club about to board a shuttle to pick up a rental car. We're driving up north to Cape Tribulation, deep in the Daintree rainforest.
More soon.
Kevin
We didn't have any seasickness, even though we were buffetted by 30 knot winds for most of the trip.
We met some great people from Sydney, California, and Brasil, and there was a large contingent of Russian tourists on board that didn't speak English. The Mike Ball staff are outstanding -- I recommend them if you're diving the Great Barrier Reef or Papua New Guinea.
I got DVDs of the general trip plus one of my own dives, so there will be some great stuff to see when we get back.
Right now, I'm back in the Internet cafe at the Cairns Colonial Club about to board a shuttle to pick up a rental car. We're driving up north to Cape Tribulation, deep in the Daintree rainforest.
More soon.
Kevin
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Cairns, QLD, Australia
OK, I know that many people will consider this heresy, but here goes: I'm not all that impressed with Cairns. I know that I'm over 40 and that my experience here was on a Sunday evening when most everything was closed, but I just didn't get it, and I didn't see where I could even go to get it. The city reminds me of one of the old beach towns on the Bolivar peninsula south of Galveston, Texas, only all grown up with a thriving tourism industry.
Tonight we successfully completed our laundry duties and have packed (mostly) for the boat. I've been trying to clear space on my largest digital camera card so that I don't have to miss a photo up in the rain forest where buying a new card simply isn't an option. Mark burned me a DVD of the photos on the card, but the paranoiac in me wanted to SEE the pics on the disc before I deleted them from the card. I know what it's like burning things to disc late at night. Excrement Occurs, as they say. But, I know that the contents were successfully copied onto their hard disk, so I'm going to leave it up to the gods to ensure that I get the photos home intact. I'm actually confident there won't be any problems. I'm sure that in either Mooloolaba or Sydney I'll be able to wrap up all of my digital issues.
Preparing for this trip, I bought several pieces of damn expensive specialty travel clothing -- clothes that can be hand-washed and dry quickly. Also, they wick moisture away from the body and are very well ventilated. Now these clothes were something less than an advantage in the chilly south, but up here I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I changed into shorts just as quickly as modesty would allow me and I'm cursing the cotton clothes that required another $3 dryer cycle to dry. Note that for your future reference.
I also bought a tank banger, since I've been having trouble getting peoples' attention underwater lately. That reminds me -- Cairns is a huge diving mecca -- it's one of the big launching points for expeditions to the reef. However, walking around the Esplanade area (the touristy area where all the shops are), I saw maybe two dive shops that had gear, and their selection wasn't as good as any of the dive shops in San Antonio. Now, again, I'm sure there are fantastic dive shops here, but they weren't located where it's easy for the tourists to find them.
Tonight we successfully completed our laundry duties and have packed (mostly) for the boat. I've been trying to clear space on my largest digital camera card so that I don't have to miss a photo up in the rain forest where buying a new card simply isn't an option. Mark burned me a DVD of the photos on the card, but the paranoiac in me wanted to SEE the pics on the disc before I deleted them from the card. I know what it's like burning things to disc late at night. Excrement Occurs, as they say. But, I know that the contents were successfully copied onto their hard disk, so I'm going to leave it up to the gods to ensure that I get the photos home intact. I'm actually confident there won't be any problems. I'm sure that in either Mooloolaba or Sydney I'll be able to wrap up all of my digital issues.
Preparing for this trip, I bought several pieces of damn expensive specialty travel clothing -- clothes that can be hand-washed and dry quickly. Also, they wick moisture away from the body and are very well ventilated. Now these clothes were something less than an advantage in the chilly south, but up here I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I changed into shorts just as quickly as modesty would allow me and I'm cursing the cotton clothes that required another $3 dryer cycle to dry. Note that for your future reference.
I also bought a tank banger, since I've been having trouble getting peoples' attention underwater lately. That reminds me -- Cairns is a huge diving mecca -- it's one of the big launching points for expeditions to the reef. However, walking around the Esplanade area (the touristy area where all the shops are), I saw maybe two dive shops that had gear, and their selection wasn't as good as any of the dive shops in San Antonio. Now, again, I'm sure there are fantastic dive shops here, but they weren't located where it's easy for the tourists to find them.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Entering the Tropics
Wow. What a difference a 3-hr flight makes. We left a drizzly, foggy, chilly Phillip Island and landed in a balmy, sunny, 82F Cairns. We checked into the hotel and right now we are waiting for the hourly shuttle to town to pick us up to run some errands and visit the city. Tomorrow bright & early the reps from Mike Ball dive expeditions will be picking us up to take us to our little plane for our dive trip, so it's going to be an early night. We've got loads of laundry to catch up on and we need to pack our boat bags with only the absolute essentials: weight and space will be at a premium.
As much as I've been looking forward to this dive trip, I always hate leaving. Anywhere. So it was tough for me to put Victoria behind us. We received such a warm welcome and had an absolutely first-rate tour of the island that it will definitely be an experience I'll carry with me for a lifetime.
Unless I come back to blog tonight, I'll be offline for a few days. I know I'll be out of touch on the boat, and I have no idea whether the rainforest is equipped with high-speed Internet access (want to take bets?). At the very least I'll write some things out long-hand and post when I get to Mooloolaba. Note: The stresses in Mooloolaba are on the second and fourth syllable. So stress the toilet and the sheep. Just like the Aggies. :)
Peace & harmony to all you guys.
Kevin
As much as I've been looking forward to this dive trip, I always hate leaving. Anywhere. So it was tough for me to put Victoria behind us. We received such a warm welcome and had an absolutely first-rate tour of the island that it will definitely be an experience I'll carry with me for a lifetime.
Unless I come back to blog tonight, I'll be offline for a few days. I know I'll be out of touch on the boat, and I have no idea whether the rainforest is equipped with high-speed Internet access (want to take bets?). At the very least I'll write some things out long-hand and post when I get to Mooloolaba. Note: The stresses in Mooloolaba are on the second and fourth syllable. So stress the toilet and the sheep. Just like the Aggies. :)
Peace & harmony to all you guys.
Kevin
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