Day 117 Mon 08/06/2012
Day of Rest
The crew spent all day recovering today after our wild night out together for the first time. We restocked the boat today and rested up for our next trip out to sea. We go out again tomorrow with sixteen new passengers.
Day 118 Tue 08/07/2012
Jase & Jas
The only notes I have on these trips are from my dive logs and any pictures I may have had time to take on the deck of the boat. This trip is extra special today, because this is my first trip with Jason, Jase, as the skipper. Sarah and Alice have both told me “we will see how you do with Jason. THEN you will know if you can handle the boat.”
Jase was immediately on my ass about filling tanks. If you were too slow doing something he would say “Maybe you aren’t cut out to be a dive master, mate.” I wanted to stay clear of him. I had heard he was hard to get along with. He sounded like what a skipper on a pirate ship would be like. I liked this idea, until it was my turn to receive a tongue lashing or walk the plank.
Jasmina was coming on this trip as the instructor. There was also a family of four coming onto the boat. The crew was very careful about the language they used.
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| Jase & Mike at dinner time |
This MAY have been the trip we blew up the compressor. Actually we didn’t blow anything up. Instead we overfilled the air banks with the compressor causing the blow out disk or valve to rupture. So we had to fill SCUBA tanks directly from the compressor. It takes FOREVER to do this.
Here’s how I think it happened. First off, we were all to blame. Well maybe not Jase. Most likely it was the Mike’s fault. Mike was in the water with a group while I was on lookout. The lookout fills tanks if there is the need, so the compressor was running. The compressor, located up on the roof, fills two very large tanks up in the bow below deck. From these two huge tanks we can fill lots of SCUBA tanks. All I remember is the banks were not full yet. Sorry, the banks are what we call the two big tanks. When done filling all the SCUBA tanks it is best to go ahead and refill the banks, unless it is night time and you want to turn the generator off due to noise. I get put into the water with the next group and hand off my lookout duties to Mike. We both look at the bank gauges and they are nearly depleted from me filling tanks. The compressor needs to keep running to catch back up. Minutes later I am in the water with my group of divers at the bow line. Right as I am getting my final OK’s from everyone I hear the huge explosion of air. The hatch has blown open on the bow of the boat where one or both of the banks has ruptured the blow off disk. I am fortunate to be in the water with a group because I immediately tell my divers, “OK, let’s go diving,” like this had not just happened. By the time I resurface from the dive I am sure the skipper had chewed everyone’s ass so hard there was none left for me to hear. I think this was the first time I was allowed to even come close to the compressor and filling tanks.
I think in the end once Richie looked into the issue we determined the banks had not reached maximum safe pressure when the blow off valve decided to let go. Based on how long it taked the compressor to fill the larger air banks there was no way it had time to build up the pressure for this. I think this is why we were not cussed more or left on the reef to fend for ourselves. Does this sound right, Mike? Regardless, Jase was not happy.
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| Tell me I am wrong! Hahah that's Jazzie Jas the Terminator instructor |
It was always fun having Jasmina on the boat. She is a super cool gal from Finland. I call her the Terminator Instructor because of the Schwarzenegger style sunnies (shades-sunglasses) she wears. She will have students on the deck of the boat gearing up and she never takes them off. I have heard instructors need to wear very inviting gear, like a mask with a clear skirt instead of a black one. It makes your eyes more inviting or some crap. However, Jas is telling her Open Water students the dive plan with these badass sunnies on with her lip pierced. I mean she is hot as hell, but I’d be scared to death of screwing up with her in the water.
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| Jasmina getting towed by her student |
She had students in the water one trip (maybe this trip) and had told them to jump in and meet her at the front of the boat. She steps into the water first of course and swims to the mooring line. Her students are all from Asian, and their levels of English vary. Three of her four divers understand, or at least three of the four watched the direction she swam and just followed. Her last guy into the water was clueless. He acted like he had no idea where to go. We were all pointing and yelling to get his attention, but he was in outer space. Jas was calling his name over and over with no response. She did not want to swim the length of the boat to get him, but she had to. When she got to him he turned to her like nothing was wrong and she asked him with a laugh, “What are you doing?” He had no correct answer, so she made him rescue tow her back to the group. We all stood on deck as she got taxied towards her group at the bow. It was hilarious.
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Day 119 Wed 08/08/2012
Koala Diver
It was a fun trip out to the reef. My dive log states that I haven’t taken a shower on the boat yet, and it seems I am very proud of this. When we come into the marina there are very nice showers we have access to, so I am showering some.
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| French brother & sister, which would have been nice to know YESTERDAY |
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| Mike entertaining |
Day 120 Thur 08/09/2012
Mike Flips the Tender
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| I love ya Sarah, but this look explains it all |
It states plain as day here in my dive log that this was the trip bank number one failed. There were some more exciting moments other than the bank explosion though. Sarah was much further along with her training than I was to become a DM. Before you can reach this level of certification you must be a Rescue Diver. Sarah had some rescue training to do this trip. Richie had me get geared up to hop in with Sarah as her diver who needed to be rescued. This training session was the closest I ever came to drowning.
In this drill I had to float on the water like a diver who has just suffered a shallow water blackout. So I lie on my back motionless, but with my BCD fully inflated so I am floating. Sarah had to give me rescue breathes as she towed me back to the ship. In this process of towing and trying to give me fake rescue breathes she was dunking me under water. My mask has been removed and I have no regulator in my mouth while she is dunking me under over and over. I get water up my nose and lean forward.
“Lay still Mike,” Richie yells out to me. We start over. I thought it would never end. If I remember correctly Sarah ended up having to try this part of the drill again another day.
Rescue drills
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| Seconds before he flipped the tender |
We had some down time this evening, and Mike wanted to get a few pictures of him out in the tender running past the Rummy. I had the 300mm lens on my camera and was ready to get some action shots of him cruising by. This didn’t end well. Mike ends the photo shoot by catching the wind plus a wave and flips the tender. He is climbing up onto the hull of the dingy when we see his head bleeding. It is cut. It turned out to be just a small cut from hitting the gas tank or something, but it still meant he couldn’t go diving for bit. We were just glad he was OK.
Day 121 Fri 08/10/2012
Research Vessel
Over at Nolan’s today we saw a blue-spotted stingray. Our last dive site was over at the Blue Lagoon today. Since Mike was not going to be diving for a few days Sarah would be leading these dives while Alice was cooking. I would be going with to try and learn the site. We swam across the lagoon to the backside of the coral reef and ended up getting pretty lost. We were very far from the boat when I popped up to the surface to sneak a peek and get my bearings. I remember signaling to Sarah where the group couldn’t see, “The boat is that way, and it is far.”
This really wasn’t that big of a deal. There were no currents out here, but there was another boat sharing this portion of the reef with us today. It was a research vessel of some kind, and they were taking samples from the reef. On our way back to the Rum Runner we ended up getting so lost we wound up over by these divers. We just pretended like this was part of the plan and cruised right on through waving at the research divers we passed.
My journal picks back up with tonight:
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| from left Tommy, Mike & Alice |
“After our last trip we went out as crew again. Tonight I met Tom [Tommy2T] from London. Crazy ass guy this one is. He works on the Vegabond dive/sail boat here in Cairns at the Marlin Marina as well. Epic dude. He is the guy that cannot take a serious picture. Eyes crossed, shake & take, eyes rolled back in his head… all Tom. Great guy.
We were out to celebrate Mike’s last trip on the Rum Runner. So we partied our butts off to send Houser (Mike) off to Thailand where he would get his Instructor Certification.”
Mike had Tommy come by the boat soon after we had all showered after our trip today. Tommy was the instructor for the Vegabond. According to Tommy they were a more expensive version of the Rum Runner. Our boat was the backpacker boat, and his boat was the wealthy family boat.
I remember having to go buy more XXXX Gold to restock the boats supply of beers after our party tonight. It was worth it though because Mike was a good buddy who was leaving us. Mike and Tommy had become very tight over the past few months here in Cairns. I was the odd man out tonight. These two were firing back shots. They got a few rounds and handed me many, but I had told them I was pretty much broke. I stuck with Sarah and Alice as Mike and Tom ran wild through the city. The three of us had to work in the morning so we took it easy.
Mike thanks for talking with Richie about having me onto the boat buddy. I wish we could have spent more time together. I did end up wearing some of the clothes you left for me on the boat as well. Oh and I never wear cologne, but the stuff you gave me was magic. Hahaha, I still use it when I think about it. Thanks for showing me everything you did about the boat.
Day 122 Sat 08/11/2012
Eppaulite Sharq?
There were some very good divers on this trip which made our job easy. Alex and Colette are two French gals who wanted to come see the Great Barrier Reef on board the Rum Runner, Another couple named Johnny (CAN) and Larosa (NETH) completed our four person dive team that had no issues whatsoever. Colette was super stoked when we saw an epaulette shark on the night dive at Hurricane Bay. I had no idea how to spell epaulette either, and she assured me she was correct in her spelling because it was a French word. She was right.
Colette had really wanted to see some fire coral while out here, but at the time I had no idea where to find any. Other than that everyone had a great trip. Weeks later Colette sends me info on where to find the fire coral at our dive site, Canyons. I went to take a picture of it for her.
Fire Coral pic for Colette
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| Alex's Dutch Shoes |
Alice also had a mate coming on this trip who was another deckie on a boat here in Cairns, named Alex. He’s another Dutchie. Him and Jase are very good friends, and they rode Alice the whole trip.
Day 123 Sun 08/12/2012
Back to the Boat!
“Got to see Jasper & Tommy after the trip. All of our passengers came out with us tonight. Woolshed is the official after trip party spot. As crew we get good cheap drinks & free food. Score!” 
Many of our guests joined us tonight for the Sunday Session in Cairns. We started over at the Pier Bar and wound up at Woolshed. Jase has told us we can get VIP cards for the Woolshed, but we don’t really know what that means. Free entry when there is a cover? Free drinks? Sarah and Alice have been reminding him to put the word in for them to get their VIP cards. I am still too new on the boat according to the girls to be eligible. Sounds like bullshit to me. I don’t see cards in anyone’s wallet, so I didn’t worry about it.
We clubbed it up tonight together. We closed down the Woolshed after hitting every other hot spot in town. The French girls hung in there with us as well. Colette’s little sister is keen on one of the other guests. The Woolshed closed down and it was “BACK TO THE BOAT!”
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| The French gals at the Woolshed |
There are gates that keep people out of the marina at night. They lock these gates at 7PM. We have one key between the three of us living on the boat. With Mike gone it is just Sarah, Alice and I now. I let the girls have the key usually. We are all capable of climbing the gate to get in though. So I had to do this number to get us back in tonight.
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