Day 251 Tue 12/18/2012
Exciting Night Dive
“The night dive was epic. The GT’s (giant trevally) were racing around everywhere while hunting from our torch light. There were so many sharks as well. We also saw 2 turtles & an eel! I’ve got this dive site figured out over on Bait Reef, named Cluster of Four.”
This dive was one of those dives you never forget. I hope I have video of this dive somewhere, because this was an amazing experience. The boat is moored a decent swim from the large clusters of coral, creating multiple wall dives. On top of the bommie there may be one meter of water. On the sides of these bommies the reef drops straight down to 18 meters or so.
Our plan was to have one of the deckhands drive us over to the edge of the reef where we would roll into the water and drop down alongside the wall. Once we were at depth down on the wall we would traverse around each bommie until hopefully all four were explored.
The second we rolled into the water the trevally were everywhere. They were darting towards us and veering off to the left and right constantly. It took a moment to get used to them being so friendly. They were using our light from the torches (flashlights) to hunt. There were literally hundreds of them. It was hard to focus on the reef and navigate there were so many. As soon as I began to focus beyond the constant array of GT’s we started picking out sharks. A great trevally would dart by my torch, and suddenly I would be looking right at a reef shark. I felt like we saw 20 sharks cruising around on the hunt, but chances are there were only two or three. They were coming back to us very often as well for the party we were throwing with our dive lights.
As we traversed the coral around to the back side of the first bommie I was looking past the trevally and looking for other marine life. While jumping from the first bommie to the second we descended down to the ocean floor to look up under the coral for signs of life. We saw the biggest turtle I had seen in the water yet sleeping with his head buried into the reef here on the bottom.
I cannot recall seeing the eel. The only eel I can visualize is the one I saw with Bart back on Thetford reef. It was a white spotted eel. I think the one we saw tonight was a brown murray.
By the end of the dive we had seen a total of two turtles (may have been the same turtle again, but I thought differently). When it was time for our short safety stop in the water I decided to see how close I could get us to the boat. We shot off from the reef in the direction I had calculated as correct. The swim was short, for a few of the divers were low on air. I didn’t really expect to be heading exactly towards the boat anyways, so now was a great time to surface and check our progress. Sure enough as we surfaced I realized I had been leading the group almost perfectly back to the boat. We were still a long way off though. There was a lot of room for me to get off course. The boat looked so lonely out at sea with nothing around at night. After seeing all the marine life just below the surface I remember think how scary this would be to most people. I have to admit I was not going to lollygag on the way back to the boat. I felt like shark bait out here on Bait Reef.
(Note: This is the Beginning of Trip 3 on the Anaconda III)
Day 252 Wed 12/19/2012
Reef Crawl
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| Dayna & Me on the A3 |
My next journal entry is Friday. I do remember having another night dive that ended with some excitement. This was back on Bait Reef I think. We had a very successful night dive going when someone had a leak bad enough to end the dive fairly quickly. We were not deep, so I just had all of the divers pop to the surface to let them know it was time to end the dive based on some equipment issues. We had been in the water for over half an hour anyways, so nobody had an issue with calling the dive.
The current was very different tonight, and we had surfaced on the wrong side of the reef from the boat. I was not going to find the crossover point at night from the surface, and I didn’t want to go back down to find the swim through to the other side. While I was considering the options two of the divers found themselves on top of the coral reef. A wave had came through and taken them over the shallow reef structure. It was low tide and there was little to no room to swim across the top. It was so shallow over the top of the reef Stomper, the deckhand driving the tender boat, could not come pick us up. We were going to have to try and get across on our own. Everyone fully inflated their BCD’s and with the current shot across the coral.
No one was bleeding afterwards, so I had hoped nobody had made contact with the reef. Stomper was pissed we had surfaced on the other side where he couldn’t help us. I just figured that shit happens.
Day 254 Fri 12/21/2012
James & Family
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| James' Sister, Lydia |
“James (the first dive instructor on the boat who hurt his ear) came on this trip as a vollie (volunteer) because his sister, Lydia, & his mom were coming out for a trip. Nice! There was another good looking gal, Linda, on the boat. Crazy trip. I had to run and hide a multiple times. Help me! 17 year old hotties on the boat! I can only run & hide so many times. James was NO HELP at all! Ali kinda helped.”
First World Problems at its finest. While James was still lead diving instructor on the Anaconda III he had scheduled a trip out with his family. He was allowed to come on the trip by volunteering. This meant he was at the mercy of the boat crew and not the dive crew. Luke, Stomp & Harry were giving him hell. During the boat briefing tonight I am pretty sure they referred to him as the Boat Bitch. If the toilet breaks… call James. If the shower water is too cold… call James. All complaints go to James. I think in the end they all decided to just make him Ali’s slave.
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| Ida from Norway |
Ali took this seriously. She kicked his ASS in the kitchen. I am sure I walked by the galley to spy on Ali washing dishes in her bikini top when I hear her yelling at James telling him the tomatoes he has sliced look like rubbish. “James, I need SEVEN slices out of each tomato!” I heard her say. Oh man, do not mess with Ali. Maybe it was eight slices per tomato. I would definitely get yelled at. I remember thinking how patient James was with them all harping on him.
(Note: This is the beginning of Trip 4 on the Anaconda III)
Day 255 Sat 12/23/2012
Shania Twain & VB’s
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| Ali from RSA & Viola from Switzerland |
James was a huge help today (and the whole trip) by doing a lot of the tank filling. Over on Whitehaven Beach there were so many intro divers I didn’t think we would ever leave. James was constantly filling tanks as Luke would ferry full tanks over to the beach. My job was to have the next four divers geared up and ready to dive when Scottie was done with the previous four. This sounds super easy, but we were always short on tanks or had BCD’s that would not fit the next group. More than once I had to have the same gear on the next group. People were getting tanks half full, which is completely fine on an intro dive. It just seemed hectic. I swear there were 25 intro divers. It took almost two hours. Scottie was a champ with it though.
This crowd partied tonight. There were a couple of friends from Canada on the boat. One was a family consisting of Mon, dad & son. Their son had been doing the one year Travel Visa like I was on, and his parent had flown over to spend a few weeks with him. My notes are nonexistent from this trip other than the pictures and scribbles in my dive log from Lydia, Ali, & Linda. I forget all the Canadians names. They partied though. The one Canadian gal was requesting country music down by the boat bar all night long and murdering every song. If you thought Shania Twain sounded like crap before… Her travel mate was super laid back about everything though. He tried to cut her off early. She was hammered. She agreed and would simmer down. Ten minutes later she would forget and be back buying another VB tinny (beer). She would ask, “One more?” Nobody was going to tell her no. She was too nice when she asked, so James kept putting them on their tab. |
| Brother James & his Sister Lydia |
Day 256 Sun 12/23/2012
Rock or Ray
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| Ali in Bazz's Neon Wetty |
“Some free diving today with Lydia. There is a Mexican Family on the boat & they are a riot. They play a game called the Mexican Number Game. Lovely family! Also, the best dive on this portion of the east coast of Australia happened today. Shark on huge rock. Had to adjust my tank. Realized the rock was a huge Marble or Bull Ray! Beautiful! Lydia ran out of air too, so I got to buddy breath with her.”
The Mexican family on the boat is so adorable. There are a lot of them too. There is the mother, father, there two (maybe three) sons, and each son is married. Oh and their Grandma is here as well if I remember correctly. They are so loud, but in the best way. Loud with laughter, hugs, kisses, hi-5’s, and stories. They speak great English, but when the dad is telling a story it eventually fades to Spanish. They are a model family. The brothers have the sweetest wives too. Good looking family all together. They enjoyed the boat, but it was obvious they were here for each other.
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| Lydia getting geared up for the dive |
I geared up a small group of divers to hit the Coral Sea portion of the trip (Bait Reef). Ali was able to go (I think Dayna had assured her she could handle to galley on her own for a few hours). Skipper Bazz had told Ali he had a wettie for her to wear. By the time I turn around and see her slipping into this wetsuit she is dying with laughter. It is neon green. It is traffic police bib green. I try and convince her she has it on inside out. I was dead serious. I really thought she had to have it on wrong side out. It is hideous, and I love it.
So I’ve got this hottie in a neon green suit, James’ babe of a sister and one of Germany’s finest ladies in my dive team. The dive is already top notch and up there with some of my most memorable dives, and we haven’t even touched the water yet.
Ali writes:
“Got to wear Bazza’s neon wetsuit, Michael, myself, & Lydia buddied up together. Supa awesome coral, I mean JUST INSANE! Beautiful field of staghorn coral, went on forever, a few caverns too. At the end of the staghorn coral there was a field of sand. Michael told us to check out the shark, but we were by this perfectly round rock. Turned out to be a torpedo ray which after a while swam into the blue. MONEY CAN’T BUY MOMENTS LIKE THIS!”
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| Lydia Free Diving |
Agreed! The fields of staghorn were almost endless. This is one of those dives where you cannot believe there were no cameras, but at the same time no one on Earth can join us for this moment. Not even though a photograph or video. When we left the coral garden I noticed a shark sitting on the ocean floor resting. My tank had fallen out of its holding strap on my BCD, so I needed to stop the group for a moment to fix this issue. Viewing the shark was a perfect spot to work on this. As we approached the shark it became shy and began to slowly swim off. I kneeled on the bottom, only feet from where the reef shark had been resting, and pulled my BCD off to work on it. Right as I got my gear in front of me I noticed gills on this large dark rock the shark had been resting on. The gills opened and closed a few times before I realized this was not a rock. This was a huge ray! The girls hadn’t noticed yet. Before I could even point the ray out to the group it began to flutter from the sand. This beast of a ray slowly lifted and began its swim into the blue. We all just kneeled there in awe. I hadn’t seen anything like this yet.
Initially we thought of a torpedo ray, which might have been something we made up out of excitement. Later I believe we confirmed the species to be a marbled ray. Regardless, none of us will ever forget that moment.
Tonight we partied hard on the boat. It took Ali ages the next day to add up everyone’s beer tabs. I slept under the dining room table tonight, which sounds like a fall where you are situation, but it turns out this was a great place to sleep. You have great air movement as if you were on the deck, but you don’t have hard deck to sleep on. The company was better down here than on deck anyways. |
| Casutt, from Switzerland, put on a show for us all with his free diving abilities. He was getting down to 30-40 feet I swear. Very impressive, Casutt. |
Day 257 Mon 12/24/2012
Christmas Eve
“After the 4 day trip we took the passengers out for Christmas Eve.”
It did not feel anything like Christmas though.
Day 258 Tue 12/25/2012
Crew Christmas Party
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| Ali on the KTM |
“Mark, the owner of the Anaconda III, has invited the entire boat crew & family over to his house for a big party. Dayna was so hung over today from last night. This Australian Christmas party was all about drinking too. She had to take a nap in the house. I took Ali as my date. We had tons of seafood to eat and lots of alcohol. Mark was so kind to have all of us rowdies over to his home. Thanks again, Mark.
We went to an after party at Luke’s old house. Everyone was sitting outside in the parking area mingling. It was a tailgate party with no tailgates. I met a few motoX dudes that were fun to talk to.
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| Scottie (CAN) & Segolene (FRA) aka ScountChocula & Segolicious!!!! |
I’ve been staying at Magnum’s Backpackers. Tonight is the night I rolled out of bed & hit my ear on my bags at the base of my bed. OUCH!”
The boat party was so much fun. We ate like kings and queens. When Dayna went for a nap we let her get about 45 minutes in before we stormed the room and flipped the mattress. In my defense, Dayna, there was no stopping Luke from doing this, so we may as well join and enjoy.
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| Luke & Ali |
Mark had a beautiful house up on the side of the ridge there in Airlie Beach overlooking the ocean. After the sunset we walked a few blocks away to Luke’s old place where they were throwing a party. We tried to go inside, but there were too many people to all fit inside. We ended up sitting around on in the gravel parking lot like bums. One of the housemates had some motocross bikes off to the side, and as Ali and I went over to check them out he took notice and came to chat us up. Soon Ali & I were talking over a beer with some MX rowdies. These guys were straight up Aussie MotoX flat-billers with tats and DC’s to match. I felt like we were in the pits at the X-Games MotoX Freestyle Competition. Funny blokes these guys were.
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| The girls (Sego, Ali & Dayna) with Anaconda III Owner, Mark |
As with every story told in Airlie, the night gets fuzzy from here. Ali & I went and played on the slides at the playground, where I took one of the funnier videos from Oz. Ali couldn’t go down the slide head first because… well she just wouldn’t fit on this kids slide. I boast that I can do much better than her. She grabs the camera and wants me to prove it. I decided the right side of the slide was “quicker” than the side she chose. I honestly thought it was slightly wider at first glance. It was not, and I put on a worse performance than she.
The pictures start to tell the rest of the story. Scott, Sego, Adam, Gemma, Dayna, Ali & I end up walking back into town. When confronted with a fence, the girls all manage to squeeze through and make a shortcut through the construction zone.
Ali with beer on grass
We ended the night with some fish n chips from the shop right out in front of Magnum’s Backpackers.
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| I wish I had better pictures of the food Mark was serving. It was a great crew party. Thanks, Mark! |
Day 259 Wed 12/26/2012
Hurt the Ear
“This morning my ear was swollen & hurting. When I got into the lagoon I could hear it seeping water. We are off for a few days so let’s just see how we go. I’ve checked out of Magnum’s Backpackers & have set my tent up at Nomad’s next door. It was very cheap, so what the hell I’ll give it a go.”
I woke up on the floor next to my top bunk bed after hitting my head falling out of the bunk. I rolled out of bed somehow in my sleep. I might have had some help rolling out of the top bunk! Accidental help of course. Regardless, I had hit right on my ear on my own bags. It hurt like hell, and I was suffering from some dizziness. Great! Blowing an eardrum means no diving. I am hoping I haven’t damaged the inner ear. Stupid!
Sure enough, as I entered the water later that morning with the group from last night I can hear water bubbling into my head and it hurt like no other. I was mortified. I would lose my job for sure. I have only been on two paid trips at this point. The first trip out was the one I paid for. The next trip out was my volunteer “see how ya go” trip. Then my two paid ones. I just start making money doing what I love and I screw it up.
I decide to get out of Magnum’s Backpackers, which was if I remember correctly $35/night, and go over to the hostel next door, called Nomad’s. They have a nice big lot out back with a pool and bar where they let people camp. For $12-$15 I can put my tent up here. Super sketchy!!! Yea I would have to leave my dive gear, cameras, laptop, and everything I own in the tent while I was away. Oh well.
Day 260 Thur 12/27/2012
Wet Season Beginning
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| My tent eventually looked like this. |
“The rains have started coming in. I went for a bike ride today until it rained so hard I had to seek shelter. I just knew everything I owned was getting soaked inside my tent back at Nomad’s. I was wrong, because everything seemed dry when I got back.”
All the Ladies
“More rain. It’s starting to get damp in my tent. I’m hanging out with Ali, Dayna, Gemma, Georgie, all chicks… everyday. Not too bad!”
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| Ali & I at Magnum's |
Ali & I met a funny Canadian guy today while having lunch at Magnum’s. I am trying my best to stay positive about my situation. It isn’t so bad just yet since all the crew is staying in town together and we are having tons of free time together. Without Ali right now I would be the grumpiest guy in Airlie still. I am very worried what will happen these next few days. If I cannot get back into the water with a decent ear I will most definitely lose my gig on the Anaconda III.
Soon I will no longer be CREW on any boat. I end up being the garbage man at the hostel instead. From Hero to Zero. Well you can decide. I kinda thought I was a kick ass garbage man/gardener/maintenance guy. :)
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