Anaconda III

Day 245 Wed 12/12/2012

Anaconda III

                  

On approach to Whitehaven Beach

“Today the girls (Astrid, Mie & Cecilie) will get to try SCUBA over on Whitehaven Beach.  This beach is supposed to be the whitest sand in the world being made of 99.9% silica.  One is able to take jewelry off & give it a professional cleaning with this sand.  However, it will tell on fake jewelry very quickly by stripping away any paint.  It is a true test to see if you have the real stuff or not.  Haha.

The Danish ladies looked PRO in their stinger suits.  They had fun posing for pictures & doing what they do best, acting goofy!

(Once on Whitehaven Beach) we walked up to the lookout for photo opps after the girls intro dive & skill test.  Cecilie & Luke, one of the dekkies (deck hands), were flirty today.  Exchanging from the tender boat Luke was driving Ceci fell into the water somehow.  To save her life she could not crawl back up into the tender, mostly due to the fact she wouldn’t stop laughing long enough to do anything.  “HELP me Luke!  Give me your hand!” she laughed from the water clinging to the dingy boat.  Luke completely ignored her.

Scott giving the girls some diving instruction

Finally he gave her an outstretched hand.  As she held his hand firmly he did not pull her up.  Instead he fired up the outboard motor & launched to go pick up more snorkelers while dragging her through the water alongside the boat.  Eventually felt like he had punished her enough, & he drug the exhausted Danish back into the boat.

Scottie's mask clearing demo

Astrid & I got 2 decent dives in today.  One in Luncheon Bay (the visibility was terrible) & the other in Maureen’s Cove.  That night after dinner & desert I broke out my water bottle full of wine (it was GOON).  It was against the boat rules to carry on alcohol.  I felt rebellious for doing so, but what a dumb rule.  They just wanted to sell you booze from the boat bar.  One of the hostees, Toronto Canadian Dayna, was pleased someone had some alcohol on the boat.  We polished off the wine with little help from the Danish girls.”

            Dayna was volunteering this trip as the hostee (cook) to see how she got along with the boat and crew.  If all went well she should have a job cooking on the boat.



"What, you have GOON?" -Dayna



            Whitehaven Beach was very nice.  Its beach did have some of the whitest sand I had ever seen.  The dive staff took anyone who did not have a diving certification for a quick skills and introductory dive here.  This took only a few minutes, so I waited on the girls to go through the proper techniques with Scottie, the Vancouver Canadian dive instructor.  Once the lesson and short dive was over we headed for the lookout point for some pictures.



Dayna & I



Ceci & Astrid in stinger suits (PRO!)

This boat slept at least 30 passengers plus crew.  Getting ready to dive was a massive cluster bomb.  Finding tanks that were full and gear that fit was very difficult.  James, the dive instructor from England/New Zealand, was skeptical of my gear.  I had spent some of the morning taking it apart and working on my power inflator.  At times it would slowly leak, and by doing so this meant it would slowly fill my BCD with air.  Honestly, this was OK because I had a slow leak in the BCD as well.  If only the rate of air seeping into the BCD through the power inflator matched the rate I was leaking from the BCD into the water I was golden.  The leaks were minuscule, and if you ever go to Mexico the gear I had on was top notch in comparison to some outfits rental gear down there.



Ceci liked my idea of sleeping out here on the deck.
All 3 of the Danish gals slept on the deck the final night.



            There were not very many certified divers on the trip.  Astrid and I geared up together as Scott helped the other two divers going with us into gear.  Our first dive site would be Luncheon Bay on the north side of Hook Island.  The visibility was pretty poor today.  We did manage to see some bat fish, a potato cod, a few napoleon wrasse, and a school of sweet lips.  I am without my dive housing for my camera at the moment.  Olympus has replaced my camera with a brand new one due to the leak it suffered back on board the Rum Runner, but the housing is still in Japan getting looked at.  I am not risking taking this camera too deep for dive pictures until I receive a new dive housing for it.

Ceci has fallen into the water and is going to go for a ride.

            Our next dive location is located west of Luncheon Bay over at Maureen’s Cove.  These are two very popular spots for snorkelers and divers alike, but it is not our lucky day.  The visibility is bad.  Astrid and I managed to find one nudibranch with awesome colors (orange, blue & white).  Near the end of the dive a white flat worm came tumbling down by Astrid.  We were always excited to find small marine life like this, even though this little flat worm found us.

The girls in the water at Whitehaven Beach

            I find out later this is Scott’s first trip on the boat as well.  He is having a trial for a job as the dive instructor on the boat.  James has hurt his eardrum and cannot get into the water.  We were lucky to have Scott here or there would be no diving I assume.  James was bummed about his ear, but what can you do?  He helped out by giving Scott private briefings about the dive sites to try and hide the fact that the lead diver on these sites has never been to them before.  Scott was seeing these dive sites for the very first time also.  We told Scott we were just glad to be in the water, and if every dive was just an explore we didn’t care. 

            Tonight I made friends with Dayna.  She was asking about my scuba tank looking water bottle.  She was excited when I told her it wasn’t filled with water, but was topped off with goon.  We sat and drank the cheap

wine with the Danish girls until it was their bedtime.  Dayna is a funny gal.  After we finished off my water bottle she made me go downstairs and hit James up for a refill.  He figured my bottle was 4.5 glasses of goon, so I think he charged me for 3.  Thanks James!

 

Day 246 Thur 12/13/2012

Shrimp vs Turtle

                  



Deck dance party



“An awesome guy from Vancouver, Scott, has been our DM for all of the dives so far.  He’s actually a dive instructor & they are trying him out for the boat.  James, from England/New Zealand, is the official instructor, & I’m not really sure why he hasn’t gotten in the water yet.  Maybe this is how they do their interviews for work.

The weather is rough out in the Coral Sea today according to the skipper, Bazz.  There is a chance we will not get to go to the reef today, or at all.  Bummer!  The visibility on these islands is not good at the moment.  I really hope things clear up or the weather breaks, allowing us the chance to get out to the bigger dive sites.

Sunset - Whitsunday Islands

I was proud today when Astrid pointed out a flat worm today during one of our dives.  I think we got some good video of it.  Damn I wish I had my camera housing back.  Beautiful sunset tonight as well.

The night dive team consisted of Scottie, Astrid, a girl named Kiki, & I.  Scott had never dived this site before here at Blue Pearl Bay, and he is doing it for the first time at night?  This is strange.  They just throw these guys in head first & say “Good Luck” I guess.  Immediately into the water I saw a white tip shark.  Then we saw a crown of thorns.  My favorite critter spotted on this night dive was a cleaner shrimp.  They are very beautiful, and can be easy to spot at night due to the green reflection in their eyes from the torches we were carrying.  I was trying to show the group these shrimp, & they were all just brushing me off.  Fine, I thought.  If they do not want to take a closer look at these cool little insect looking shrimp it is their loss.  I turn back around to face the group & realize there is a huge sea turtle practically on my back (now right in my face).  No wonder they didn’t care about the shrimp.  They feared if they approached me they would scare the turtle.  Too funny!  This was an awesome dive.  Thanks Scott.

I saw the head hostee sitting alone on the deck tonight, so I had to go bug her.  It turns out she is from South Africa as well.  Her name is Ali.”

Ali running the boat bar.  She claimed the kitchen got too hot
to wear clothes in, so she wore her bikini top while cooking
(making this a high traffic area for male guests before dinner).

I briefly met the South African hostee tonight, named Ali.  She was sitting by herself on the deck of the boat.  Other guests had attempted to talk with her, but she was very quick and to the point.  One could tell she was up here to catch some fresh air and didn’t want to be bothered by any cheap talking guys.  So I went and sat down right in her space.  We talked for a few minutes and I was off to bed.  I remember later getting some lip from the deckhands about talking to her.  Luke said Ali never talks with guys guests on the boat and is usually very combative with their advances.  He pretty much told me “she must like you because she never talks with guys.”

Day 247 Fri 12/14/2012

Working on A3

                  

James giving a short boat briefing

“One more dive at Blue Pearl Bay today & then we head back into Airlie Beach.  Come to find out the reason Scott lead every dive was due to James having a pinhole in his eardrum, a perforated ear.  He couldn’t dive, so guess what?  I have a job.  The owner of the dive company responsible for the diving on the boat said next trip can be my volunteer trip to see how I go.  My test run.  If only I would have known I could have vollied (volunteer) this trip I could have saved a ton of money.  Free trip plus free diving. I would have saved myself $500-$600.  Dang!

Ceci & Mie

The boat leaves again tonight at 7PM so I only had a few hours to get the info to the boss & pack my bags up.  I would have to put some bags in storage at Magnum’s.  Stressful, but I have a job!

I thanked the beautiful Danish girls for everything.  Astrid & Ceci came back down to the baot to tell Luke & I goodbye for the last time.  I bet we see them again though.  Maybe in Sydney.

The new crew I will be working with on the Anaconda III:  Deckhands Luke, Stomp, & Harry.  Paul is the skipper on this next trip.  Dayna was vollie hostee again.  Jemma is a New Zealand gal hosting the trip picking up with training Dayna where Ali left off.  Since James was off the boat now with the ear injury, & Scott was awaiting some paperwork to be faxed in to clear him as head instructor, Luke had to act as the DI on this trip.  He was pissed about this.  He hadn’t done the DI (dive instructor) duties in ages evidentially.  We had fun though.”





View from the lookout on Whitehaven Beach... AMAZING ! ! ! !



Luke caught some shark bait



Day 248 Sat 12/15/2012

Diving vs Sailing

                  



“Luke caught a red tuna today.  We cut it up for shark attractor & didn’t tell anyone.  Good diving.  We were able to go to the reef this trip so I saw what all of us missed last trip.  The visibility was GREAT & there were some big fish.  There were 5 certified divers for me to take out this trip.”



Here is one of two compressors we used to fill sometimes
30 plus tanks.  Pain in the ASS.

We didn’t bring in any shark if I remember correctly.  I lead two dives from Luncheon Bay today.  Two of the certified divers are Kiwi mates, Jack & Lance.  If I remember correctly they are commercial divers back home.  We saw a pair of lionfish.  The onboard air compressor has broken down according to Luke.  We are filling tanks from 2 very small portable compressors.  They are noisy as hell.  We have placed one over on the port side of the boat, and the other is on the starboard side.  The skipper hates these compressors.  There is much tension between the dive staff on the boat and the boat staff.  These are two completely separate companies.  The skipper doesn’t give a damn about the divers.  They have their money from the guests the second they walk onto the boat.  From that point on it is the skipper’s job to make sure the guests are comfortable and have a relaxed time.

Our hostee (cook) for this trip was Jemma, from NZ

The diving is conducted completely separate, and this causes problems.  The skipper might like the cove the boat is moored in, so he won’t move the boat all day.  Guests are snorkeling, swimming over to the beach, and the boat isn’t moving.  Well the diving here may be garbage.  You might get divers into the water here once, but unless it is good there is no way we can talk them back in again if the boat sits here all day.  Did I mention how much the skippers hate the portable compressors?  In one case we were told the turn those effing things off so people could enjoy the tranquility of the sea.  Well no tanks were filled, so there was no way to take people diving.  This really meant I was getting paid to do nothing.  Yea the dive company owner might wonder why we only sold 10 dives on a boat with 30 people on it, but to my knowledge I wasn’t getting paid commission.  The instructor would get some extra coin for taking non-certified divers out, so there was some incentive to get these guests in the water.  I didn’t like this constant struggle on the deck.

Day 249 Sun 12/16/2012

Scary Dive

                  

Alex, Katia (from Columbia) & I on the deck of A3

“Now for the scariest dive story I have so far.  There were 5 cert divers and I.  One is a brother & sister from Columbia, Katia & Alex.  Katia is in her early 20’s, & Alex is 15 years old.  He has just upgraded his certification from Junior Open Water Diver to OW Diver.  Jack & Lance are the two Kiwi divers, and they are great in the water.  No worries with them.  The same goes for Patrick, from Switzerland.

The current is ripping today.  We are experiencing extremely large high tides.  I get the group down over the reef & realize we have to find shelter from the current.  We are on the top of the reef in the worst bit of the current.  I figure if we go over to the edge of the reef and descend down the wall a few meters we can find protection.  I had no idea how deep the base of the reef may be.  As we are descending down along the wall I get to 18 meters (60 feet) and still cannot see the ocean floor.  The kiwi divers are certified to go deeper, but the rest of the group is not allowed to go further than 18 meters.  We had not planned our dive for more than 18 meters either.  I take a right with the current, and quickly grab onto a rock in order to stop myself and wait for the group.  Jack & Lance follow my lead and find a hard spot to hold on, both shooting me “OK” signals.  Patrick does the same.  Where is Alex & Katia?  I had seen them 10 seconds prior right with us.

Katia & I before the night dive

“Wait here,” I sign to the three divers with me.  I kick back against the current.  Your air doesn’t last long putting this much effort into kicking against strong current.  Where the hell did they go?  I spot them down below!  I am at 18 meters still.  They are too deep, especially Alex being a rookie diver.  They are still descending!  They didn’t see us pull out of the descent & take the right turn.  They went right by us & kept diving deeper.  I race down to try and get their attention.  They cannot hear me banging on my tank.  I have to chase them down to 25 meters (80+ feet) still looking for us down below.  The current is out of control.  It’s pulling us further down.  I grab Alex & assume Katia will follow as I take him directly over to the wall & grab onto hard coral.  I see Lance as I turn around with Alex.  I point to Katia, & he takes her hand.



Katia entering the tender (trying not to laugh
at me almost crashing into the water!)



Alex is freaking out.  I look at his gauge.  He is at 50 bar in his tank.  He has used ¾’s of his air in 5 minutes.  This is bad.  We hold onto the reef wall for another moment.  I didn’t see where Lance took Katia.  At this moment all I care about is finding the surface safely for Alex.  Pat & Jack were waiting back where I left them.  Alex’s mask was so fogged up he could barely see.  I cleared my mask trying to show him he needed to do the same.  He wasn’t going to let go of the reef.  I held him so he could get both hands on his mask for a clear.  He did it perfectly, & now he could see again.  He gave me an OK sign and the 4 of us shot up & over the wall to 5 meters to do a safety stop.  Alex looked to me again as I hold onto him.  He is now at 20 bar (less than 300 psi).  I showed him where my alternate air source was if he needed it.  I hope Katie & Lance are OK.

Jack showing off some pole dancing skills

We hit the surface right at 20 minutes on the dive computer.  Katia & Lance were in the tender with Luke waiting for us.  Everyone was OK.  I was so glad Lance decided to follow me back.  He had grabbed Katia and they just shot to the surface.  They were gone so fast I never saw them leave.  Scary.  Alex would not do another dive the rest of the trip this one scared him so bad.  I let Katia know that I would never take divers deeper than 18 meters unless that was part of the dive plan and they are Advanced Open Water certified.  I was glad it all worked out though.

Tonight Jack impressed us all with his pole dancing abilities.  Hahaha, the starfish.  Then his carrot trick.  Meanwhile, Lance tried catching a trevally off the back of the boat after 10 vodka tonics.  According to these guys trevally are huge game fish back in NZ, & he had never caught one.  There were at least a dozen at the back of the boat attracted to the light.  They weren’t biting though.  Lance even tried to snag one.  They were way too smart for him though.  I took some good videos of this messy fishing show.”



Lance looking to catch/snag a trevally



            Katia & Pat were game for a night dive tonight, too.  I wasn’t able to talk Katia’s brother into joining us.  The New Zealanders had already polished off half a dozen drinks each, so they were out for the night dive.  Harry, one of the deckies, didn’t seem very happy when he heard there were night divers.  I was happy to get to go diving again, and these two were great dive buddies.  We loaded up into the tender.  If I remember correctly, I busted my butt getting into the tender.  When Harry asked me where I wanted to go I wanted to say, “Are you serious, man?  I’ve been here once before, & I was lead by a guy who had never been here.”  Once again, I can feel the hostility between the dive staff and the boat staff.  I asked him to take us over to the reef.  Yea, this was pretty vague, but it was an answer.

Day 250 Mon 12/17/2012

Night Off

                  

“Tonight is our evening off per week.  We go back out again tomorrow.  Tonight the crew take the passengers to Club Phoenix, where we all get major discounts as crew.”

            Remember the bar that the Danish girls & I spent maybe 10 minutes in before we decided it was crap?  This is the crew’s bar.  I have to admit that it was much better when we were given 10 free drinks for being crew.  Dayna or Ali might remember better than I about how the deal worked.  I guess I had to check back in to Magnum’s Backpackers for the night.  Tomorrow we will have 33 fresh guests to take out for a good time.

Two more trips before Christmas Break.  Learn how I blow out my own ear, rendering myself useless in the water as a dive master.  I lose my job & find out how bad Airlie Beach can be when all your friends go out to sea and you are left in the hostel working as the garbage man.  Hahaha, no joke.  Garbage guy aka gardener aka late night entertainer.