One Year of Australia: Last Trip on the Rum Runner

Day 227 Sat 11/24/2012

Cairns Nautilus SCUBA Club

Bart, Julz & I on our last FUN DIVE together as crew

“Richie’s B-Day is today. One of our passengers, Phil, told us aome crazy stories about the Rum Runner when he used to work on the boat years ago. One about the skipper on the boat going for a snorkel during the shark feed & was never seen again.”

Another story Phil told us, even more tragic, started with a group of mates on this same trip out to the Coral Sea. One of the divers began a quick decent at the deepest dive site into the abyss below. There was no sign of trouble. His dive buddy surfaced and told the rest of the group what had just happened, and said it looked like their friend had dove to the deadly depths deliberately. Soon after his suicide note was found below deck, in the bunk bed, on his pillow.

“This is my last trip on the Rummy, so I’ll be extra careful to make sure one day I can come back for a reunion dive.

I saw a shark on EVERY dive. The group that chartered the boat is the Cairns Nautilus SCUBA Club. They are mostly hardcore divers. IDC (Instructor Development Course) Board Members, PADI Program Directors, divers with 5,000+ dives that need no PADI Dive Master showing them anything at all.

As everyone geared up for this first dive I asked Richie who needed an escort, a leader, or a look-after (if any at all). “You’re with Team America,” Richie said.

“OK, cool,” I reply. I have no idea who our America passengers are. I didn’t think we had any. “Who is Team America, Richie?”

“You Mike!” he said with a TAKE A HINT and GO WITH IT look on his face. Ahhh, I get it. That was permission to jump in the water and do whatever I wanted. I get to go solo. Awesome! What a great was to start my last trip. 43 minutes of no worries.”

We joked & said this camera rig should be able to propel a
diver through the water along with taking awesome photos.

The visibility was so good yet again here on the site called Amazing. Even though I was without a group or even a buddy I could see divers for the entire dive. When you are able to see 60 meters every direction it is impossible not to see divers and many sharks. The divers we have on this trip are semi-crazy. I remember being at the 40 meters, which is the max depth for recreational diving on air, and seeing divers also on air so far below me I thought they were goners. Then again, these guys knew what they were doing. One of the divers had a camera setup that cost more than most used vehicles. My Olympus point and shoot still took some badass pictures though. A strobe would be nice for it though.

“On the dive site The Twins – Danny & Devito, Julz, Bart & I were able to go on a fun dive together. This may be our last chance to do this.” A Fun Dive just means the crew can hop in and not worry about leading a dive or baby-sitting less experienced divers. “We totally goofed off & took funny photos. One last goofy group CREW photo. I’ll miss these clowns.

I met Adam & Sharlene on this trip. Super awesome cousins staying in Brinsmead, QLD. This is just north of Cairns. They offered me a place to stay anytime.”

Bart hooked something, but never landed it

I hope they don’t regret making this offer, because I take offers like this. They were the youngest divers on the boat. All the IDC Pro’s had been around a while. These two were more on my level. I did get to buddy up with them a few times on the trip. We may have even shot-gunned a few beers on the bow of the boat. Some GOLDIES!

Sharlene, thanks for staying up all night with me on my watch. On our way out she wasn’t feeling so good below deck, so she came up and was sleeping in the cockpit. This is not a bad place to be when the boat is crashing through heavier seas. Sometime after midnight we hit a wave which threw gear all over the deck. I had to wake her up and tell her to watch me go out on the deck. If I fell overboard with no one watching I was a goner for sure. The boat would leave me and have no clue when or where the accident had happened. She sat up and watched me climb out onto the deck and gather up all the crates of fins that had come loose. I am sure we lost some overboard, but I managed to salvage the rest.

Day 228 Sun 11/25/2012

Nokky Point

“I was allowed to climb up the mast today & into the crow’s nest. I had been asking about this for a while & finally knew it was now or never. The boat can be rocking ever so slightly & up there it will make the most sea worthy feel seasick. I really had to hang on tight while snapping a few photos.”

Nokky Bommie is a dive site consisting of one huge pinnacle. The current can rip around the right side of this huge coral structure and cause the fish to congregate on the far side. Masa drew us some great dive site pictures on the dry-erase board to help show how this site worked on our last Coral Sea trip. Richie had me do the dive briefing this time on the spot. With this kind of group most of these divers had actually been on this site more than me. This is the site where every time we came here someone had to jump into the water on SCUBA, take the reef pick over to the pinnacle and anchor the boat. I really enjoyed doing this.

I couldn't stay up here long. My stomach began to ache.

Bart either came with me to hook it up, or the wild Dutchie came with to unhook it. Swimming out to the huge pinnacle with an anchor tied to a BCD was pretty exciting for me. First you had to find a spot where you didn’t think the anchor would rub or rip out, damaging the coral. Then when you thought you had it securely jammed into a spot you had to tie it so it would hold the weight of the boat with current and wind, but the knot had to come out easily in 2 hours. I was showing Bart how to tie a bowline. This knot is super strong and will not come out until you take the slack off the weighted end. I think we tied some super sketchy not this time though, because I really struggled to get my knot undone.

Here is the dive site where we would swim in to anchor the
reef pick to hold the boat. Very exciting!

Day 229 Mon 11/26/2012

Last Dive on the Rummy

Julia in the distance on my last dive on the Rum Runner

“My last dive on the Rum Runner (for now) will be today. Cathedral was one of the better sites, which was why Richie saved it for last on these Coral Sea trips. Julia was all about going with me on the last dive while Bart took the certified divers on a guided tour. I was pleased to have someone excited to go with me on my last dive on the boat. I videoed the dive from beginning to end.
Tonight will be my last night sleeping on the Rum Runner. We shotgunned a couple of beers at the front of the boat with the crew, Sharlene & Adam”

How can I possibly write about how appreciative I am for the times on this boat? I came on the boat as a passenger. I became a crew member. In the end I found more mates that I’ll have the rest of my life. Thanks to every passenger that came on the boat and enjoyed it every bit as much as I did. Thanks for the incredible crew that made working on the boat anything but a job. Thank you, Richie, for taking me in and asking Jase to at least try and deal with another American Mike. Both of us know you love us! You two are great skippers, and I hope to see you and the boat again! Thanks to the first crew for showing me the “ropes”, the boat, the dive sites, how to deal with the skippers, how to deal with the passengers, how to party in Cairns, and so much more! Mike, you showed me on the first trip how to do a lot of this. You gave me confidence with your briefings and attitude you carried on the boat. Thanks bro.

Richie smiling for the camera and not flipping me a bird

Gearing up to go hook up or pull out a reef pick

Alice & Sarah, thanks for pulling for me! Holy smoke, things could have been so different! How much HELL did we raise? God, Richie was literally scared to come back onto the boat on Monday mornings in fear of who and what we had going on below deck. Richie, we never stole the tender for late night shenanigans. We talked about it lots, but never did. Never once did we almost sink the boat either, which if you asked any of my friends back here in the US they would say it is a miracle the boat didn’t fall apart under me (as many things have done before). I love you girls so much. I am glad we never fought, even though you two tried to make me drown myself when treating me like a younger brother constantly. For every time you scared a potential lady friend away from me though, you brought one to me asking her, “Have you met Mike? He is a diving instructor. Would you like to see his boat?”

Masa, it was a pleasure working under your guidance. You are such a great teacher. The boat would not be the same without you. I did finally learn to eat faster too. Thanks Masa Splinter!

OK, I can’t possibly do justice to everyone I worked with! However, I don’t see any of them writing these stories down and telling me how great I am, so that takes the pressure off. Hahaha. Maybe I should just have a picture of every crew member I worked with and one sentence.

Bart, Julia & I

Jasmina, you are the Terminator DI. If I were a 22 year old student, I wouldn’t know whether to picture you naked under your wetsuit or run like hell in fear. We had some super good times both on the boat & in town with you. Tommy (Tommy2T, DogFox, Remy…) dude, Mike told me before he left that you were one of his best mates in Cairns. He told me you guys got into all kinds of trouble together. Trips with you on them were a different class for sure. Great job on going from serious diving instructor to madman in the time it takes to fill a tank (both compressors running with full banks).

Bart & Julz! I was so nervous about Sarah & Alice leaving. However, the fun factor and ability to run a dive boat successfully and safely didn’t slack. The torch kept ablaze! Those were some unreal Coral Sea trips. Bart, I’m so glad we had enough beers in the Woolshed that night to talk diving and not enough to fight each other. Good job on calling Richie the next day for the job. Hahaha! Julz, thanks for the amazing meals and the lady presence on the boat. We had some awesome dives together!

It was good to see you guys passing that torch on to Amos and Tamara. Good times!

Jasmina - The Terminator DI

Jase! I can’t tell you how I feel exactly using the words I want to use, because my mom most likely will read this. So minus all of the cuss words, it was a trip working under you on the boat mate. I seriously thought you would throw me in the ocean if I screwed something up. Sarah & Alice had me scared to death before going out on my first trip with you at the helm. No shit. I think they said, “If you eff up Jase will make you ride in the tender the whole rest of the trip.” Bahahaha! Thanks god I didn’t get blamed for blowing up the air banks. Counting Crows – Round Here & Tracy Chapman – Fast Car will always remind me of the mornings on the Rummy during breakfast time. I would smother my toast with Vegemite! Thanks for the lessons and good times on the boat mate.

Alice looking so sweet & non aggressive

Richie, Poison – I Won’t Forget You Babe will forever remind me of the Rum Runner and your special coffees. I love it when I can play my music and receive praise rather than criticism. Thank you so much for the opportunity to come onboard and work with you. I hope one day I can call you up and offer you a trip on my dive boat, and it better be a tank like the Rummy or we will sink that shit to some Stone Temple Pilots. Thanks for everything! There is no way to thank you enough, but hopefully my friendship and the pictures we took can suffice. You guys truly are L-I-V-I-N The Dream, Mate. Keep in touch.