Rum Runner Diving (AU 15)

Dive 1 – Mystery

Natalie (ENG) gearing up for our first dive

Richie gave us some information about the dive site, Mystery, and told us the “Pool is open.”  The snorkelers were in the water in no time.  Mike was yelling for divers.  He made it clear that when it was time to dive it is TIME TO DIVE.  He said he didn’t want to see people running downstairs to put on makeup or sunscreen when it was time to dive.  Weights and weight belts were handed out.  I was so excited I was shaking.  Frank and Roel had decided to hop in for a snorkel this first site, I believe.  I remember wishing we could have jumped in together but I would see the reef soon enough.

Alice was downstairs prepping lunch while Sarah and Mike helped everybody into their gear.  I had been paired with Natalie.  Hell yea.  I’d have been happy paired with anyone, but to get paired with one of the many hotties on the boat?  Well that my luck in Oz I guess.  Maybe she had put in a request for me.  Hahaha!



Best giant stride entry I ever photo'd



This first time having everyone gear up on the deck was a train wreck.  People were standing up in fins, air was not turned on, “Oh my mask is over there,” out of reach of course.  “Hang on my battery is dead on my camera.”  A diver would be fully geared ready to go, and at the last second when they tried to stand up the bungee cord on the back of his or her tank would sling them right back down into a sitting position.  It was madness.  I was one of them though.  Natalie most likely had to turn my air on as we were doing our buddy checks.

Mike was putting out fires with problems like “my tank is empty,” or “my mask doesn’t fit” all of a sudden.  He was very understanding, but you could tell he wanted us in the water 5 minutes ago.

“OK people buddy checks.  Beer!  Wine! Rum!  And!  Friends!  Lemme here you doing it,” Mike was watching to make sure we were all checking each other.  As a certified diver all of the people going in this group are suppose to have the training and knowledge to do these checks ourselves.

“OK, lean forward, grab the rail, pull yourself up, and make your way over here.”  We were ready to perform our giant stride out into the water from the deck one at a time.  Mike was first in, and we all followed.

The water was colder than I had expected.  The visibility was good though.  Mike made sure we were all properly weighted and had our buddy with us.  We were off to see Mystery.  We made our way through some very large coral bommies where we saw fish I could not identify.  Beautiful striped yellow and black dotted fish with huge lips were hiding below one coral outcropping. 

a feather  starfish

Earlier on the deck during our buddy checks, so I was using the boats gear.  Well it was leaking too.  No big deal I thought since it was just a minor leak.  You are supposed to constantly check your gauges anyways, so I made sure to do so.  I let Natalie and Mike know I was leaking.  Well in no time I was low on air.  I showed Mike my air gauge.  I had 50bar.  I had used 150bar.  Actually I had probably used 100bar and leaked another 50 into the Southern Pacific.  Mike grabbed me by the BCD, the jacket divers wear, pulled the regulator from his lips and mouthed “What the EFF?”

We had been under water for forty minutes now, so other people had to be approaching the 50bar mark on their air gauges.  We did a three minute safety stop to help eliminate any nitrogen buildup in our blood, and forty five minutes after descending below the surface we were at the back at the stern of the Rum Runner.

The water was very choppy getting back onto the boat.  It was crucial to secure our gear because the boat was rocking pretty hard.  My gear took a spill.  Like I said earlier, train wreck.  After everything was secured and every ones BUNGEE CORD was in place we were able to dry off prepare to move sites.

While most of the passengers were resting the crew pulled up the lines from Mystery and we were sitting somewhere completely different in minutes. 

Dive 2 – Lagoon

Our next dive site was right in the middle of a semi circle shaped area of reef.  Named lagoon because the waves were dampened in this area by the coral structure, and with the wind blowing the way it was Richie had decided we would be best to eat lunch here.  Alice had the entire lounge filled with food.  This bunch of starving backpackers tore into everything.  It was basic lunch items like a sandwich station, chips, snacks, and so on.  There were no complaints, because there was more than enough to go around and most of us were coming back for seconds and thirds.

Frank taking the leap into the sea

I was still eating when Mike started talking of another dive.  I admit I am one of the slowest eaters around so I shoved what was left on my plate into my mouth and took my cutlery to Alice below deck.  Sarah was downstairs helping her with dishes.  They refused any help.  They just wanted us to put our dirty dishes on the counter and get out.  Too many people downstairs made it very difficult to clean up, and the sooner lunch was cleaned up and put away the sooner we were all back in the water chasing turtles, hopefully.

In my dive log I titled this dive as “The Hunt for the Green Cobra.”  Somewhere in our adventures across the Northern Australian Outback I had asked Roel, “What kind of critters do you want to see in Australia?”

“I want to see a green cobra,” was his reply always followed by laughter.  (Right Roel?  Is this how the joke came about?)  Anyways, the Dutchies and I had said we were going to find the green cobra on this dive.  We received a few interesting looks from other passengers.  Did no one want to burst our bubble?  Regardless, Roel and Frank were taking advantage of the free diving Richie was offering for non-divers.  If they did find a green cobra they didn’t get a picture of it, so it doesn’t count.  Sorry mates!



Natalie & I after the dive



After the first dive I was ready to add some more layers to my kit.  My sleeveless 1980 something wetsuit may look cool (to me) but it offers little warmth.  Much body heat is lost out of your arm pits and head.  I had worn a hood on the first dive but still lost much warmth under my arms.  Since all the other divers had been temporarily gifted wetsuits and I was forced to scrounge through the leftovers.  I ended up with a pretty this wettie with short legs and t-shirt length arms.  I just added this suit over what I had on.  It was ripped some in the front on the zipper, but it would have to do.

I was paired with Natalie again for this dive.  For 50 minutes we followed Mike around the Lagoon as he pointed out enormous clams one after the other.  I need to find the ID guides on the boat, because my fish knowledge is poor.  Where was Daniel, my brother, when I needed him?  I wonder if he could remember the names of all these tropical fish.  When we were younger he knew all this stuff.

This giant clam is 3-4 feet wide



Frank ready for his first dive



            There would be time for one more dive before dinner time.  We had left the Lagoon and according to Richie we were going to find a spot to moor for the night.  This would need to be somewhere protected from the ocean by the reef, otherwise the boat would toss and turn all night.  Richie also informed us the need for a larger and stronger rope was greater for the over night spot when seas are this rough, because having a mooring line break at night is not fun.  During the day time under most conditions the reef is visible from the deck of the boat.  At night the reef, for obvious reasons, is near impossible to see.  Coming off of your mooring line at night is bad.

            “Have you ever hit the reef?”  I ask him.

            “Mate, there are two kinds of skippers out here.  Ones that have hit the reef and ones that haven’t hit the reef YET.”  He laughed and spoke of a trip out in the Coral Sea, 100 nautical miles off the coast.  He says as a skipper you are very alert to the rocking the boat does.  He was in his swag sleeping by the helm where he always sleeps when he noticed the pitch of the boat change.  They had come off the mooring line.  Jason, the other owner and skipper, was on this trip as well.  Jase jumped into the tender with a flashlight to try and find another spot to moor while Richie did his best to keep the boat off of the reef.  It may sound like an easy task, but think f the reef as being in patches all over the ocean.  There might be a 30 foot gap where you have to take the boat to navigate the reef.  It isn’t easy during the daytime, so at night it must be hell.  Eventually another mooring line was found and the boat was secure again with no damage.

Gathering the dive team together at the mooring line at the bow of the boat

Dive 3 – Hurricane Bay

We all saw where Richie was coming from when talking about difficulties navigating the reef.  He had Mike up at the bow of the boat on lookout for coral bommies.  These bommies are defined as a stand-alone coral structure sticking up higher than the reef itself in some cases.  They come in all shapes and sizes too.  Mike would point to these bommies so Richie knew there was something he needed to be aware of in front of the boat.  We wiggled our way through the reef into Hurricane Bay.  There were two mooring lines here and the crew would have to grab the front one first and secure the boat before having someone either swim or take the tender out to grab the second line.  Once this was accomplished our skipper let us know we were here for the night.

It was time to dive.  People were getting tired.  Diving, just like swimming, really drains ones energy.  Mike’s goal right now was to get people in the water.  He absolutely loves yelling, “GET……  IN YOU GEAR!”  We needed him to motivate us though, because a few divers had gone below deck and were sleeping.  He would peak his head in on people and whisper, “get…. in your gear.”  The dives are all pre-paid, so missing a dive is throwing money into the ocean.  Rarely did Mike have to pull peoples arms.

a baby lionfish!

For this dive I was paired with another one of the good looking lady divers on the boat.  All of a sudden I was kind of glad Frank and Roel were buddied up on the snorkeling and diving.  This third wheel business is paying off for once.  Game blouses!  Eva was an Austrian diver touring Australia the same as I.

We geared up and hit the water together to join our group.  We saw two lionfish in a spot where Sarah, our dive leader, knew they liked to play.  Visibility was decent, but the high winds and rough seas were causing some cloudiness in the water.  We were still able to get a forty five minute dive in.  Only pictures can describe the beauty under the surface, and without the correct filters on the camera my photos didn’t represent the breath taking coral and marine life.  Some of these divers looked pretty good in wetsuit too.



She said YES!




One of the couples from Holland got engaged on the trip as well.  What a great place to pop the question Andries.  We were all so glad Charlotte said YES.  Good work buddy.

Dive 4 – Night Dive at Hurricane Bay

Alice had slaved in the kitchen during our third dive to have food ready for us when we came out of the water.  There were pastas, salads, toasted bread, and that’s all I can remember.  I ate too much though.  Shortly after dinner Mike summoned the people who were willing to jump into the ocean for a night dive.

The briefing was something like this:

“Guys everything still applies the same as our day dives.  Lost buddy procedures are the same.  On the surface at 50bar is the same.  And so on.  Everyone is going to get a torch (flashlight).”  He holds up a yellow dive torch.  “We will hand this to you right before you step into the water.  We will hand it to you ON.  Do not ever turn this torch off.  If it is turned off while under water it may not turn back on.  I count torch lights to make sure we are all together.  So please keep your light on.  I will have an extra torch if someone needs it.  Also I have this glow stick on my tank so you can see me.

Some of our signals are hard to see at night, so you can shine your torch on your hand while making signals.  Got it?  Do not shine your light in anyone’s eyes if you can help it.  Also be respectful to the marine life we may encounter.  Don’t blind any

turtles.  If we find a sleeping turtle don’t wake it up.  It takes them hours to slow their heart rate down in order to take one last breath before bedtime.  If we wake them up they might not be able to go back to sleep all night.  Also,, the parrot fish create their little mucus bubble to sleep in.  This prevents predators from detecting them in the water.  They only have enough spit to make one of these sacs per night, so please don’t wake them.

At some point in the dive we will all take a knee on the bottom and try and stir up the bioluminescence.”  He showed us how to wave our hand to create this bioluminescent effect. 

Most of you guys have 3 dives in already today, so we have to stay shallow in order to stay with our dive limits.  Our max depth is going to be 10m.  We are shooting for a dive no longer than thirty minutes.  Got it?  10m and 30 minutes.”

Mike showed us how to perform all of the night time hand signals and when he was satisfied we knew what we were doing we were ready to get in our gear.  After our buddy checks were completed we were all into the water.  We were just seven torches dancing around in the darkness.  I remember thinking how awful it was until we reached the bottom and we could actually see.  I was so surprised, but we could see much further than expected.  We had just been down on this dive site a few hours earlier, but it was completely different now.  There were a different variety of critters down here now.

My dive torch I had purchased back in Fremantle, WA was about twice a bright as the torches the boat had.  Mike had a nice torch as well so many divers were using our torches to see marine life and their own torch to keep from running into things.  Just minutes into the dive we caught a reflection off of a fairly large fish.  It was a Chevron Barracuda.  He was stalking prey, so we followed him for a few minutes.  He looked mean, but no one seemed scared of him.

epaulette shark - I wasn't able to get a photo of the
shark on this first night dive.  This photo was from
another dive. 

Then Mike waves his light across all of us to grab our attention.  He has found something urgent.  Maybe it’s a squid or an octopus.  Maybe he has found a shark!  We all fin over towards him and focus our attention on the area of coral he has lit up with his dive torch.  It IS a SHARK, but it is the cutest of all shark species I would have to say.  It was an epaulette shark, a small spotted shark completely harmless to humans.  These sharks are so funny to see because they scurry across the coral like a salamander would, using their pectoral fins as hands. This one was searching the coral for something to eat.  Eventually he was tired of being watched and he scurried away, but this was fine because our time was up.

As we did our safety stop I remember seeing a fairly large fish under the boat.  He swam right up to us and checked us out.  I have to admit at first I was uneasy with his approach.  Afterwards Mike informed us this is a giant trevally.  This same fish follows the boat around all over the reef usually.  How awesome is this?  This resident GT is completely harmless and very curious.

This is the GT, giant trevally, who follows the boat around

On the surface at the back of the boat I finally felt the fear of being in the ocean at night knowing there are shark in these waters.  I could tell other divers felt the same.  I did not want to be the last to get out, but it looked like that’s how the cards were dealt.  I could have jumped up into line in front of some of the ladies, but instead I put my mask back on and my regulator in my mouth.  Looking down into the darkness was something I wanted to get used to.  I told myself I have my knife my brother gave me strapped onto my leg, and if jaws came up after me maybe I had a chance.  By the time I realized how absurd this thought was it was my time to exit the water.  I think the DM should be last out of the water, Mike.

It turns out the dive master needs to be out of the water quickly so he can start filling the tanks again.  The generator is running while the cooking and cleaning is being done below deck.  The generator must also be running during the night dive to power the large deck lights that give the divers something to look for at the end of the dive, so once everyone is back on the boat and signed in the gens can be turned off after the tanks are filled.  Otherwise people have empty tanks come morning.  Mike may have been one of the first out of the water but he was the last to have a beer because he and Sarah were busy filling all the tanks we had just used.  Frank and Roel however had already gotten into the beers.

“Did you see a shark?” everyone not on the night dive team asked.

I laughed and said, “You aren’t going to believe me.  We DID!”  We waited a few minutes to tell them what species of shark we saw.  After a quick two minute shower we met back in the cockpit area near the helm to have a few drinks and have story time.  Most of the passengers had already gone to bed.  We thought we were in for a rowdy night, but in just a few minutes everyone’s desire to stay up was gone. We were all dead tired.  It was time for bed.

Day 109 Sun 07/29/2012

Day 2 on the Rum Runner

I slept like a rock in my bunk bed.  I can’t remember who my bunk buddy was to be honest, so it must have been one of the dudes.  Now that I think of it I may have had a room to myself.  I slept well but woke up completely congested.  My nose was completely blocked.  This was bad for diving.  If the air passages in your head are clogged up then the cavities compress as you descend, and vice versa as you ascend.  It can be very painful and people have had sinuses rupture due to diving while being sick.  The best one can do is try and equalize.  If it doesn’t work then call your dive off.  I got geared up and in the water first to try and clear my sinuses.  It wasn’t going to work for me.  I had to tell Mike I was not able to dive.

I climbed back on the boat and ditched my SCUBA gear and went for a snorkel with Frank & Roel.  Richie could tell I was die-hard about making the dives.  He could tell I was in some pain with congestion and he asked me if I wanted to do the last dive.  I told him I hoped to clear up as the day progressed.  I hadn’t been sick or anything.  I figured I had gotten congested overnight being out on the water in the wind or something.  Richie scooped me up some salt water and told me to snort it.  He said it might burn like hell but it should clear me up.

Breakfast on the boat was outstanding.  After the divers returned from the early morning dive brekkie was ready.  This spread consisted of eggs, sausage, silver dollar pancakes, fruit, yoghurt, granola, toast, and VEGEMITE.  (What else did we eat for brekkie guys???)  Breakfast on the Rum Runner was by far my favorite meal.  I wish I had pictures of the food Alice and Sarah had prepared for us, but when the food was ready you had to get your ass in gear and start eating.

Where's the Vegemite?????

I am not really sure when I started really liking Vegemite.  When Leah had made me try it for the first time back in Perth I literally thought she was pulling a fast one on me with some motor oil and salt.  I wish I knew when and where exactly I started eating this stuff like it was candy.  I had a few pieces of toast on my plate that I had spread some Vegemite on.  When Richie saw my place he said “Jeez Mike, easy on the Vegemite.  You aren’t supposed to put that much on there, mate.”

“What?  This is how I like it,” I replied.  Of course I had no idea how much was the correct amount.  At some point I had started eating this stuff like it was peanut butter or jam though.  Richie said he loves the stuff and I make him sick. 

Dive 6 –Nolan’s Wall

Our final dive location of the trip would be at Nolan’s Wall.  Well I had told myself the salt water snorting worked.  I buddied up with Casper.  We entered the water for the last time and went down the mooring line to 5m.  Mike turned around to check on us and to see how I was equalizing.  I barely got my sinuses to clear, but they did.  We saw trumpetfish and a blowfish.  The swim thrus here were wicked, and Mike knew exactly where to go to find them.  I was so turned around during this dive.  I was constantly blowing congestion out of my nose and really using a lot of air doing so.  My head was hurting as well.  This was a pretty painful dive for me.  Mike had to escort Casper and I back to the boat once we were down to 50bar.  He quickly returned to check on the rest of the group who still had air left to play with.

Frankie

Overall the dive was great.  The amount of coral we saw on this dive topped the others, but I was not feeling great with this sinus deal.  When all the divers were back on the boat the crew took up all the gear and began cleaning.  Alice served us some more lunch, some pasta, and we were heading back to Cairns.  I had talked with Mike about how I could get a job like this here in Australia.  He told me he was leaving the boat in a few weeks and they would need a replacement for him.  He was going to talk to Richie about me coming on board to work.

Richie pulled me over to the side as we motored back into the Marlin Marina and asked me if I was serious about coming to work for him.  He told me he would call me about maybe coming on for a test run on a trip.  This sounded good to me.  I felt like if I were in Mike’s position on this boat the world is in a heap of trouble.  I had no idea about the dive sites.  Could I save someone if they screwed up?  There were so many thoughts going through my head.  Could I give that dive briefing?  As many of you know there is some stupid road block in my brain where I can make a fool of myself in front of many people, but if I have to have to give a presentation or speech I’d rather fight a grizzly bear for its trout than get up behind a podium.

We took a group photo one last time and the crew invited us to the Pier Bar for a after trip celebration. 



Roel & I



Our final dive location of the trip would be at Nolan’s Wall.  Well I had told myself the salt water snorting worked.  I buddied up with Casper.  We entered the water for the last time and went down the mooring line to 5m.  Mike turned around to check on us and to see how I was equalizing.  I barely got my sinuses to clear, but they did.  We saw trumpetfish and a blowfish.  The swim thrus here were wicked, and Mike knew exactly where to go to find them.  I was so turned around during this dive.  I was constantly blowing congestion out of my nose and really using a lot of air doing so.  My head was hurting as well.  This was a pretty painful dive for me.  Mike had to escort Casper and I back to the boat once we were down to 50bar.  He quickly returned to check on the rest of the group who still had air left to play with.

Overall the dive was great.  The amount of coral we saw on this dive topped the others, but I was not feeling great with this sinus deal.  When all the divers were back on the boat the crew took up all the gear and began cleaning.  Alice served us some more lunch, some pasta, and we were heading back to Cairns.  I had talked with Mike about how I could get a job like this here in Australia.  He told me he was leaving the boat in a few weeks and they would need a replacement for him.  He was going to talk to Richie about me coming on board to work.

Richie pulled me over to the side as we motored back into the Marlin Marina and asked me if I was serious about coming to work for him.  He told me he would call me about maybe coming on for a test run on a trip.  This sounded good to me.  I felt like if I were in Mike’s position on this boat the world is in a heap of trouble.  I had no idea about the dive sites.  Could I save someone if they screwed up?  There were so many thoughts going through my head.  Could I give that dive briefing?  As many of you know there is some stupid road block in my brain where I can make a fool of myself in front of many people, but if I have to have to give a presentation or speech I’d rather fight a grizzly bear for its trout than get up behind a podium.

We took a group photo one last time and the crew invited us to the Pier Bar for an after trip celebration. 

 

What an amazing trip on the Rummy