The Vessel Puffs Her Sails
Two dives this morning. First was a deep dive to 100 feet then concluded with some crazily narrow passages.
Second dive was Search and Recovery training using a lift bag to recover something off the ocean bottom. Pretty basic stuff. However, the highlight was a line of about 10 reef squid just hanging out. They are about 7-8 inches long.
For clarity none of these pictures were taken by me unless specifically noted but were taken from the inter-webs. I’ve tried to choose pictures that accurately show the conditions I witnessed.
The picture below shows Moon Hole. It’s the light blue circle at the very bottom of the page in the very middle, just off the barrier reef.
By the way, island internet was down for a good couple hours earlier.
People were totally jonesing and on the verge of panic. Me too actually. But I dropped the machine in the locker and went out on the boat.
Did my first mock dive lead today. Lots of details to remember. It’s funny that the muscle memory that we have in our lives and careers are so powerful. Creating new routines is difficult.
As I may have said before, this is a more physically taxing job than I thought. I’m sleeping great. Not really sore at all. Although toting tanks is hard on the hands and shoulders.
The dive site was called Moon Hole, essentially a 30meter diameter round sand patch with max depth about 30 feet. Visibility was best I’ve seen anywhere in a long time.
Highlights were half dozen starfish, a YUGE barracuda, and a massive crab. Oh, and a tiny seahorse on a lonely piece of small coral in the middle of the sand hole.
Heading to the new apartment now.
Got a 58/60=96.7%. Yay! But not too challenging.
Well, I’m not sure if I planned it this way or not, but I’m out of e-cig juice. I only brought a small amount either accidentally or sub-consciously.
I’ve been conserving and not using during the day. There is no place to buy it on the island, there may be one on Roatan.
Tons of smoking here, but that’s a no-go for me so…..I guess I’m done with Nicotine for a while.
Oh….and bourbon is a rare commodity in local watering holes.
Ok, this was actually pretty challenging.
I’ve been diving for a while…over the past 15 years or so. And there are a lot of skills involved. Some are very routine and are a matter of muscle memory.
Today I spent time learning how to demonstrate those skills without talking and using exaggerated physical movements. Like how flight attendants demonstrate on airplane videos. So a viewer picks up on all the little details and movements.
The advice was basically 1. Go Super Slow 2. Do it so you think you look like a clown.
Here is a video of the skills and how we are supposed to look. The exaggerated style is harder than it looks.
Exam 1 later tonight.
Also incidentally, there are 5 of us in my Divemaster class. At this point, one is laid up with an ear infection, one cut his head in a non-dive related accident and required 3 stitches. So only 3 divers today…but one has severe diarrhea, so we will see tomorrow.
Made inquiries about fresh fish for cooking. It’s harder than it sounds. This is a Marine Park and some of the people eat and local businesses offer the reef fish which is a no-no. I’m looking for a source of deep sea fish to cook myself.
I checked out the place I will move to on Sunday. It’s 2000 steps to dive center.
Will probably walk that daily and back at least. Thought about a bike. We will see. New place is in the east in more expensive expat zone. Very secluded. Hardly any traffic. That’s unlike current place which is very busy in a local neighborhood.
I’m spending a bit more than I have budgeted for. But that’s mostly because I can’t really buy groceries. I see a lot more fresh fruit in my future, especially for breakfast.
Oh, and I’m easily hitting 10,000 steps daily. Much more active here.
I was in the water for 4 straight hours doing swims, treads and drills. Pickled.
Nothing too bad.
Grid searches. Fitness swim.
Finished class at 7pm and just had my first staff meeting. Yes, I’m already considered staff since I’m training for so much. Then we had BBQ for $5.
Take aways were:
Then it was full intros to the mix of expat millennials, with about 10% older folks (>30).
Returned to Mango Inn for a couple beers before dozing off.
6am boat clinic on Divemaster preparations for boat dive: tying up boat, bumpers. Etc. Loaded 50 tanks.
Then unloaded 75! There were 6 of us lugging, but my shoulders and forearms will get a workout here.
Also two dives covering setting a sand anchor and a CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent) float. Sounds impressive but it’s basic.
Also some breath control, buoyancy and underwater maneuvering drills. Actually good stuff. Two dives as part of that. Huge Eagle Ray.
PM was practice dives. Accompanied a smaller class and tagged along. Huge green Morey Eel.
Then evening class for 2 hours. I’m exhausted.