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Travel Log – The Scuba Diving is Finished, the Journey Home Begins

May 6, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

Travel seems to contain large periods of waiting surrounded by periods of fun and adventure. We are once agin in a holding pattern here at the Blue Lagoon Resort in Chuuk Micronesia having left the boat early this morning in order to allow the crew to prepare the boat for the new group of passangers to embark later this evening.

During these waiting periods, one has time to reflect on the adventurers of the week and the fun everyone had diving here in Micronesia. There were chance encounters with sharks, swimming with turtles, and there were moments of awe watching eagle rays and marble rays swim past the submerged toe-rails.

I was fortunate to dive with the Chief Engineer, Mike, who the last time we visited, had never dove before Ann introduced him to the water. We spent hours laughing and sharing stories with old and new friends along with diving to create new memories and stories.

Diving is about moments, moments of exhileration, wonder, joy and discovery. On a trip here you can experience a wide range of emotions and thrills as you dive among the wrecks slowly being reclaimed by the sea. Once carrying instruments of war these giant steel hulls now provide entertainment and a home to millions of organisisms and animals.

Of course, I was especially touched when I boarded the Odyssey and almost every crew member asked where Ann was and wondered why she was not here diving with us. While some may feel a little jealous about the comments, I find it a wonderful tribute to her that even after two years, the crew remember her and have such warm feelings for her.

We were fortunate to have had good weather most days and a lot of time underwater. Alex Witschey and Jim Burton completed their Advanced Wreck classes and with the extra days here, Alex was able to complete the dives for his Normoxic Trimix certification. John Rydman was able to complete his SSI Wreck Diving Specialty and Chuck Gerlovich completed his 1,900th dive on the Nippo Maru
- a truly impressive feat.

Those of us who had been here before all noticed the deterioration that has occurred since our last trip.Some ships have faied better than others, a testament to the quality and care of her shipwrights. Some, built during the years just before the war are after the conquest of Imperial Japan began, were not so fortunate and they are showing a faster reclamation by the sea.

During our week on the Odyssey, we visited the following wreck sites:

Kiyosumi Maru,
Yamiguri Maru,
Fumizuki,
Shinkoku Maru,
Unkai Maru,
Goesai Maru,
Hoki Maru,
Fujikawa Maru,
Nippo Maru,
San Francisco Maru, and
Kenso Maru

Each site offered a mix of traditional wreck diving and reef diving Of course, depth played a hand in determining if one thing or another dominated the site. And of course, there are the engine rooms — tempting holes beckoning divers to explore. Be sure to ask Alex about them, I do not think he missed one of them!

Of course all of our rebreather divers wish to send a special thanks to the California Trial Lawyers Association and to the judiciary system in California. With the loss of the Teledyne cells due to frivolous lawsuits in the “great” state of California, we experienced more cell failures and issues than on any trip I have ever run. The new AP Diving cells were not very reliable with at least three failures of brand new cells requiring me to ask other divers to bring more cells with them from the states. The Max Tech R22D cells did not like moisture and the AI cells did not like doing more than 2 dives a day. Fortunately, the new Vandegraph cells performed well throughout the two weeks. The lesson learned is that until the cell manufacturers learn to make a reliable cell similar to the old teledyne cells, rebreather divers must invest in a lot of spare cells; especially when they are diving in remote locations.

Also, for the rebreather divers, I am also happy to announce that the Odyssey is now a complete rebreather friendly location with the addition of rebreather cylinders left by our divers. They now have both 2L and 3L bottles! Diving a rebreather in Chuuk is an ideal way to see and explore the wrecks. Thank you for letting us help complete the circle!

Today you will find our happy crew scouting out old Japanese military sites, catching up on email, connecting with friends or family or just trying to entertain themselves. Ann’s favorite four year old, Jess, is probably causing trouble somewhere, while others are trying to figure out how to get their luggage repacked to conform to the United Airlines baggage restrictions. Lest we forget those civilized pursuits some of the group have elected to have a massage or a pedicure and manicure. Both provided on site for a reasonable fee.

Drinking is also an option but with a 50% tax on liquor and beer it is an expensive one.

Of course there is breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pam and I already spent the breakfast and lunch hours together – straight with no break, in the dining room. Of course Ann and were texting via Skype and Pam was doing her best to delete all of her work emails!

Our journey home begins when we gather in front of the hotel at 11:00 for our 2:30 am flight to Guam then it is on to Honolulu continuing to various points in the US. Where is Scotty when you need him? Beam me up Scotty!

Our Journey home begins…

Filed Under: Pacific, Rebreather, Rebreathers, Scuba Diving Activities, Scuba Diving Equipment, Travel, Wreck Diving Tagged With: divin, friends, Rebreather, Travel, Truk Lagoon, Wreck Diving

Travel Log – The Waiting Game

April 29, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

Waiting seems to be a part of international travel. The time between check-out and leaving for e next phase of the trip do not seem to mesh. So here we sit, relaxing at the resort in anticipation of being picked up by the crew of the Odyssey for our next adventure here in Chuuk.

We have had some awesome technical scuba dives during our short stay here. Today we did one of my favorite dives here in the lagoon, the Aikoku Maru. Descending down the line the first thing you notice are the massive king posts, covered I coral growth and teaming with life. There is only half of e original ship the remainder having been blown off by a massive explosion ink the forward munition hold. But what remains is impressive. The stern gun still points to the sky as does the one remaining anti-aircraft gun on the top of the bridge structure.

The fly bridges and hallways are collapsing and some of the interior spaces are also sinking toward the bottom. There is a lot of growth all over the wreck but not so much as to obscure the features like the shallower wrecks.

Our visit to the wreck was short, 25 minutes on the bottom and 35 more minutes in the water column; and, no sharks today to entertain us.

We were also treated to a bar BQ by our dive master, Daniel, and the boat crew. A wonderful way to end our shore visit and to begin our live-aboard experience.

The diving continues…

Filed Under: Pacific, Rebreathers, Travel Tagged With: pacific, Travel

Travel Log – Scuba Diving in Truk Lagoon Finally

April 27, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

The weather system we avoided in Kosrae seems to have followed us to Chuuk. The basic schedule is It rain overnight, clearing slightly in the morning until just the point where we are loading the boats to go diving and then a small squall runs through kicking up the seas and making for a wet ride out to the dive site. The skies and seas remain a little disturbed while we are underwater and then just after we re-board the boat after our decompression stops, the seas lay down making the ride back to the resort a smooth affair.

We have had some great dives during the shore based portion of our trip. We started with the Fujikawa Maru, which is a spectacular wreck with lots of sea life and coral growth. The engine room and forward holds were a little murkey, probably as a result of divers who were there before us. While the zeros are still there, they show signs of deteriation. It really demostrates that things built for a terestrial environment are not as well suited to life iunderwater.

Because we were here earlier than we had origionally planned, the group decided to dive the deeper wrecks in Truk Lagoon, especially since we will not be visiting them next week. We also decided to do some of the dives using Helium. Using Helium out here is a mixed blessing. It makes for a clearer head and safer diving but there is a price to pay. First, Trimix diving generally requires longer decompression times when compared to air diving which means that we all have to get used to hanging around in shallow water and looking at one another,

Of course the biggest price to pay will come on Sunday when the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop presents us with our diving and gas bill. Helium is $4.50 per cubic foot! The rebreather divers are each using about 7 cubic feet per day while the open circuit divers are using about 38 cubic feet per day. Lest we forget, there are also the oxygen and the bottle rentals. Deep diving in the tropics can be expensive!

I have also come to realize that in order to successfully dive in remote locations, you not only have to be a compotent diver, but you also have to be part mechanic and part dreamer, with a good dose of MacGuiver tossed in. We have already had our share of equipment glitches and malfunctions. Some we have had the spare parts for and others we have not. Parts are not readily available in this remote part of the world but Pam is arriving on Sunday with some parts to make our repairs easier and more permanent. I am already compiling a list of things I need to add to my expedition kit.

So far we have dove the following wrecks:

The Fujikawa Maru,
The Hein Maru,
The Shotan Maru, twice,
The Nippo Maru, and
The Fujisan Maru.

And for all of those fish lovers we have seen a large school of Baracuda, Tuna hunting, Eagle Rays and lots of small reef fish. Alex was so popular with three little yellow stripped fish that they followed him all the way around the wreck and up to his 10 foot stop. It was like having a bunch of high school girls following him around; the only thing missing was the fish trying to flirt with him.

Great diving and good friends, what more can you want. Ok, it would be far better if Ann were here instead of manning the store at home but the world is not a perfect place.

The diving continues…

Filed Under: Pacific, Rebreather, Rebreathers, Scuba Diving Activities, Travel, Trimix, Wreck Diving Tagged With: pacific, Rebreather, Truk Lagoon, Wreck Diving

Travel Log – Kosrae — Almost

April 24, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

>We’ve crossed the date line and a day disappears! Not to worry, we’ll get it back later. As we near Kosrae, the ride gets a little rougher, and we start experiencing turbulance caused by rain showers and a building tropical something (wave, storm, depression). The pilot begins his descent, then the final approach a steady glide towards the runway and then… jet engines full throttle and a steep climb. It appears the visibility at the runway somewhere has dropped to zero; we have an aborted landing and are heading back up into the clouds. Our next stop Ponpei, capital of the Federated States of Micronesia and a short 45 minute hop from Kosrae.

We now have a decision to make, where do we go from here? On the ground the United staff tells us not to worry, on Friday they can get us back to Kosrae. In the mean time, they will cover accomodations for the Elite passangers for the few days we have to stay in Ponpei. Never mind that we are scheduled to depart, from Kosrae for Chuuk on Saturday. And if you are a non-elite flyer, well the delay was an act of nature and this is only a service offered to Elite passangers.

Ponpei has some nice diving and the Village hotel sits atop a mountain and has a really incredible view. There is lots to see here with Nan Madol and waterfalls getting my votes as truely spectacular sites. However, our group is all rebreather divers and trying to deal with getting gas and other services with no pre-arrangements is a difficult task. So, the group votes to continue on to Chuuk.

An hour and a half later, with our bags sorted and retagged we are once again airborn for the one hour flight to Chuuk The United ground personnel in Ponpei, called ahead to the ground staff in Chuuk and arranged for them to call the Blue Lagoon Resort to pick us up at the airport. A great service because there are no cabs in Chuuk.

Upon arriving in Chuuk, we were met by the ground staff who told us they had contacted the resort and they were out front waiting for us. He also said that United had reserved 4 rooms and would pay for the lodging through Friday, the day they could return us to Kosrae (we have elected not to return to Kosrae for the day).

After clearing Immigration, which was a little bit of a problem since we had cleared immigration in Ponpei and never showed leaving (we never left customs in Ponpei) we were met by Sam who took one look at all of our luggage and shook his head and started filling up the van. 6 divers, 20 pieced of luggage including 4 rebreathers, 2 kegs of sorb and enough air delivery systems to outfit a platoon made for a tight fit in the van. There was barely enough room for the people.

After checking in, which went smoothly despite our being here 4 days early we had time to start unpacking, have dinner and then get some sleep. Thank you Winifee for making the check-in so smooth. Glamorious travel at its best.

Sleep – it never felt so good.

Filed Under: Pacific, Travel Tagged With: Micronesia, Travel

Travel Log – The March to Micronesia Begins

April 23, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

src=”http://oceanicventures.com/ovi/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/20120424-1637461.jpg” alt=”20120424-163746.jpg” />Monday 23 April The March Begins

Ahh, 2:00 in the morning comes early! The airport is quiet with only a skeleton crew of staff present to help us out. Of couse the ticket counters don’t open until 3:00 but we had our luggage stacked and ready for them when they did.

After checking in, it took us several tries to find a TSA security area open. Itis ironic that the early morning flights are United flights but the security for the early morning flights is 3 terminals away…government planning at its best! Cleared we head towards the gates and what do we stumble upon? A Starbucks that is open! Miracles do happen. On my previous runs through this airport, the businesses did not open until 30 minutes after the flight departed!

Time for our march across the Pacific, first stop Marjuro 6 hours away, then Kwajuline, another 2 hours from there and the Kosrae another hour in the air.

Filed Under: Pacific, Travel Tagged With: Micronesia, Travel

Travel log – The Journey to Micronesia Begins

April 22, 2012 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

Here we are in sunny Hawaii, except that somwone forgot to tell the weather gods that Hawaii was supposed to be sunny. The skys are gray and full of water which the mountain god drops on us occassionally. Oh well no matter, we are only here for a short stop on our journey to Micronesia. In fact it seems really short since our flight to Kosrae leaves at 5:25 in the morning which means we need to be at the airport at 3:00 am to check all of the luggage. The driver today told us we needed to arrive early because the Micronesians really knew how to pack it in so there would be a lot of luggage — heavy luggage. Having done this before, I am sure the luggage of choice is still Igloo.

We are currently waiting on Susan and Ian to arrive from Philidelphia so we can head out to dinner and then home for a power nap before we leave for the airport. Such is the glamourous life of international travel.

Soon after Ian and Susan arrive, we ventured out to dinner ata the Chart House on Waikiki Beach. Thank Goodness for Open Table, an iPhone App that leys you make reservations easily.

Filed Under: Pacific, Travel Tagged With: Micronesia, Travel

New Truk Lagoon Dive Video Debut at Club Aquarius Meeting

March 25, 2011 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

Inside Wreck Looking Out

Drew Trent, our scheduled speaker for our monthly Club Aquarius meeting was sick. But, don’t worry, he has agreed to reschedule his presentation later in the year.

But as they say in show business, the show must go on. I debuted a new video compilation of his photographs from past trips to Truk Lagoon. The video featured photographs of the ships before the blast and then ones from the bottom. It also had photographs of a number of the people that have joined me on previous trips.

It was a fun video to put together and was well received by the audience. If you missed the video, I posted it so you can see it.

Filed Under: Digital, Pacific, Photography, Presentations, Rebreather, Scuba Diving Activities, Travel, Underwater, Wreck Diving Tagged With: Chuuk, Rebreather Diving. Photography, Truk Lagoon, Wreck Diving

Preplanning a Scuba Diving Silhouette Photograph

February 14, 2011 By Eric Keibler Leave a Comment

Penetration

Here is a natural light photograph taken in a cargo hold in Truk Lagoon. While the shot may look completely natural, it was set-up prior to getting in the water. Todd Emons and I decided to go in the water together to take some photographs of one another in various locations on the ship.

Todd works on the Odyssey so he is very familiar with the wrecks and had some ideas of what shots might look good in this wreck. This type of local knowledge helps you to capture photographs that you might otherwise miss. Of course, you still have to do everything to take the image but setting up the shot can make things easier. You need to discuss the general sight and then make a plan with your dive buddy. It is easier to discuss what you want to do on the surface rather than underwater. Working with a model can be quite challenging underwater and having a plan before you go in makes it much simplier.

To take this shot, I swam to the lower portion of the cargo hold. While getting in position, it was important not to kick up the bottom or dislodge too much debris from the ceiling because the debris would ruin the shot. I set the camera on manual and set the camera to properly capture the blue light throwing everything else into shadows. After everything was set, I signaled Todd who was perched at the lip of the hold and he began to swim toward the camera being careful not to shine his light in the direction of the camera. You can see just a small beam coming from the light but because the hold was so large, and the backlight so strong, his light had little effect in the final image.

Also notice that while Todd is the subject of the shot, he is not in the center of the image but rather is in the top third of the picture. In general, it is more pleasing to the eye if the subject is not centered but rather offset into another quadrant. We call this division the rule of thirds which is a compositional tool. Look for a better discussion of this “Rule” in another post on composition.

Remember, when taking silhouette shots, it is important to make sure that you keep the meter reading set for the backlight and not let the camera adjust to the target swimming towards you.

Camera Specifications: Canon 5D, fitted with a 17mm-40mm lens at 20mm, f4.0 at 1/25 sec, ISO 640

Filed Under: Digital, Pacific, Photography, Scuba Diving Activities, Travel, Underwater, Wreck Diving Tagged With: photography, silhouette, underwater photography, Wreck Diving

Striped Marlin, Scuba Diving – an Underwater Photography Expedition

February 9, 2011 By amosnachoum 1 Comment

Half a Dozen Marlins Chasing a Bait Ball

In the Company of Striped Marlin – an Underwater Expedition

The first year I led my Striped Marlin Expedition to Todos Santos in Mexico, it was splendid. Last year was almost a bust because we hardly saw any Striped Marlin. The reason for that was the water temperature rose to over 81 degrees, and that meant there were not many plankton and the sardines had nothing to feed on. The marlin somehow figured that out and almost totally avoided the normal pattern.

This year with support and reports from the University in La Paz and the local fisherman, I have understood that the marlin will show up, but later than last year. What you see below are images from the first two days here. The sea is placid, the wind very calm and water temperature is between 76 – 78 – just right for the plankton bloom, the sardine are feeding and … the marlin are here. Take a look:

Giant Bait Ball

Light Marlins Bait Ball

Malin Feeding

My Team of Guests

Chris and Jerry were with me last year – they understood very well what was happening with the water temperature and feeding patterns. We did all that was humanly possible to show them a good time and we succeeded to a limited level. Both were so impressed by the effort they have joined me again and they are here with us and they are so happy that they counted on my research. I am so proud to be able to deliver to such loyal guests, pictured above.

Every day we leave at 6:30 am along the western cost of Baja (on the Pacific side) and stay out till 5pm – watching the Frigate birds feeding action and formation. It’s the birds who actually give us information about the marlin. When a formation of two dozen or more Frigates is tight and close over the water I know the birds are feeding on sardines below – and the marlin are in pursuit.

All day we jump in and out of the water. The encounters last from just one minute up to sometimes 20 minutes. It’s a dance among the birds and fish. The “bait ball” of sardines, the Striped Marlin below, and the birds above all work in opposite directions from each other. The sardines run for their life but they are not much of a match for the quantity and skills of the birds up above and the marlin under the water. Both the flying and swimming predators are relentless and work the bait ball till it is consumed. It’s dramatic and exciting, especially when visibility ranges from 80 to 150 feet plus … next year we will come back in December. There will be room for only four people to join in the adventure, to be in the company of the ocean giants like the Striped Marlin.

Eric Keibler is putting together one of these trips with me. Remember, there are only 4 spaces so you need to call him quickly!

Filed Under: Pacific, Photography, Scuba Diving Activities, Travel, Underwater Tagged With: Adventure Diving, Big Animals, Marlin, underwater photography

Scuba Diving from the Dumaguete Pier in the Philippines

February 2, 2011 By swatowich Leave a Comment

Topside, this was the most unimpressive dive site I’d ever seen, with docked cargo ships and unpleasant noises and smells of industrial activity. Descending to the sand at about 20 feet did not provide much inspiration as we were greeted by some rusted cans and a baby’s diaper (used, apparently). I was left wondering why the boatload of experienced divers and divemasters was so keen on this site.

Dumaguete is on the Bohol Sea in Negros Oriental, Philippines, approximately 30 hours from Houston via Honolulu, Guam and an overnight in Manila. It is an absolutely fabulous dive location, at the northern portion of the “Coral Triangle”, the region of the greatest coral reef biodiversity in the world, and therefore well worth the arduous trip from Texas.

The pier at Dumagute was no exception; it turned out to be the richest site of photo opportunities and encounters with weird and wonderful creatures in Negros Oriental. In this photo I was lucky to capture some very interesting behavior between 2 similar looking fish species, and equally fortunate to have Marco Inocencio from Atlantis Dive Resort interpret the activities. According to Marco, the larger fish in the hole is a false cleanerfish (Aspidontus taeniatus), while the two smaller fishes that are shown in full view are cleaner wrasses (Labroides dimidiatus). The larger fish is a mimic; it’s actually a member the blenny family who is posing as a cleanerfish in order to take bites of skin and flesh from other fishes looking for a cleaning. The false cleanerfish is distinguished from the cleaner wrasses by its head, which ends in a “nose” with its mouth slightly under and behind it while the heads of the cleaner wrasses terminate with their mouths. If you look closely enough you’ll see the characteristic pouty lips of the false cleanerfish, presumably because she isn’t much appreciated for her clever disguise and food-gathering methods!