Life Aboard the Odyssey

My time aboard the Odyssey:

Pictures Here

            After thawing myself out after returning from Ohio, I found myself packing up for one last international journey.  This time I was on my way to spend a month in Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia working as a crewmember aboard the M/V Odyssey, a world-class live-aboard specialising in the wrecks of Truk Lagoon.  Chuuk is the smallest of the four island states that make up the Federated States of Micronesia (formerly known as the Caroline Islands).  Originally a German colony, control over the lagoon was turned over to the Japanese after world war one.  During the Second World War the Japanese turned the small group of islands into a seemingly impenetrable fortress, using it as a staging point for almost all of the Empire’s naval activity in the Pacific.

            On February 17-18, 1944 an American naval task force launched an attack on the lagoon, sinking over 50 ships and destroying 270 Japanese aircraft, turning Chuuk into the Mecca of wreck diving.  Divers flock to Chuuk to see the largest and one of the most well-preserved and accessible collections of world war two era shipwrecks in the world.  As one of the premier live-aboard vessels in the world, the Odyssey is one the most popular diving operations in Chuuk.

            I was fortunate enough to meet Cliff Horton and Lenny Kolczynski and Cara Leonard of the Odyssey at DEMA in October.  They invited me to spend some time with them to gain some practical experience working on a live-aboard.  Captain Lenny and Todd Emmons, the second captain and dive instructor picked me up from the airport and after running a few errands brought me on board the boat that was to be my home for the next 28 days.  Life on board the Odyssey could be tiring, difficult and hectic, but ultimately rewarding and exciting and extremely educational.  Lenny, Todd, Mike, Madison, Ken, Kent, Sam, Jesse, Mika, Nelson, Emeren, Kermi and everyone else I worked with onboard were incredibly enthusiastic and friendly when it came to teaching me about boats, diving, running a business and the history and culture of Chuuk.  Right off the plane I was learning about generators, water makers, marine diesels, compressors and boosters, moorings and almost every other aspect of owning, operating and maintaining a diving vessel.  I also began my education in the fascinating history and disposition of some of Chuuk’s most popular wrecks.

            The wrecks in Chuuk are beyond belief.  Diving them is probably the closest thing to time travel I will ever experience.  These ships were sunk in the heat of battle and it’s still obvious.  The decks and wheelhouses are littered with artefacts.  Deep within the holds and engine rooms, gauges, machinery and tools lie as if their previous owners had just stopped in the middle of a job and walked away.  It’s especially eerie to be working on the engines or compressors aboard the Odyssey, then go diving and see some of the exact same equipment down below the surface in the wrecks.

            My experience was immersive, intense and immensely enjoyable.  For the next three weeks I tagged along on guided dives, trying to memorize as much of the gargantuan wrecks’ layouts as possible, repaired moorings, became a compressor and blending pro and met some very fun and interesting guests.  However, My fourth week on the Odyssey would be my true test.  Todd would be taking a week off from most of his duties while friends and family came to visit, and it would be up to me to fill the gaps.  With only three weeks under my belt as a member of the crew, I was a little nervous about giving dive briefings and assuming responsibility for entire groups of divers, but with some friendly pointers from Todd and help from the rest of the crew I think I managed to get through my final week onboard without mishap.

            Although I’m very excited about being able to spend the next month of my scholarship in the land down under, it was hard to leave Chuuk behind.  The people I met, and the things I learned there will hopefully stay with me for a very long time!

A few Chuuk pics

     A few pictures from my time on the Odyssey, keep checking back for more entries about my experiences there!  Click here for the complete album.

East Coast Image Gallery

     Now that I'm back in a part of the world that has the internet, I've begun the process of catching up with my blogging.  Expect a rapid series of updates over the next few days.  To start out with I've created album with some pictures from my road trip up the east coast.  Click here to view all of the images full size.

East Coast Road Trip

            Before taking off for Chuuk, I decided to squeeze in a little jaunt up the east coast before I left the country again.  The trip wasn’t directly related to the scholarship.  It started off with my friend Alix’s wedding which I had been invited to months ago, but until recently hadn’t committed to attending.  Once I had decided that I didn’t want to miss the wedding, and would be driving up from Virginia for it, a whole weeklong adventure seemed to spontaneously coalesce around the trip.  Slowly but surely new pieces began to fall into place.  One of my best friends that’s been living in Beijing for almost year decided to come back for a visit to Philadelphia at the end of January.  Another friend who flies for Continental Airlines was transferred to Newark, NJ.  I also had a professor and several friends on Long Island who I couldn’t imagine not taking some time to see after having driven 5 hours up there.

            By the time I hit I-95 I had a pretty good plan drawn up in my mind as to how I was going to squeeze the absolute life out of the week, and I have to say that it went far better than I ever could have planned.  I watched Masters of the Universe and erged at Vesper with Delux in Philly.  I got really lost and drank amazing milkshakes of death with Andrew in New Jersey.  I went to B & H, the worst surf shop in the world (no wetsuits or boards, really?  I'll give you a hint, it was near times square and started with a 'Q') and some awesome bars with Matty in New York.  At the insistence of the father of the bride, my friends and I ate too much, had a little too much to drink and even cut a little rug at the wedding (congratulations Alix & Brad!!!).  I made some very tangible progress towards solid plans for my immediate future with Dr. P, caught some wicked waves and even managed to squeeze in a chill session in Hudz basement before heading south.  It was a week of weeks.

Also:  I'm now in Chuuk, and will be here until the middle of March.  I only have internet on weekends and very limited bandwidth, so unfortunately this blog is now text only until further notice!

Chillin Out in Ohio!

     After taking a fun and relaxing winter break with family and friends I am back on the road for 2009!  My first stop in 2009 was Port Clinton, Ohio.  That's right... Ohio in the middle of January!  I spent a little over a week there with Patrix Heschel, completing my PADI Instructor Development Course and going Ice Diving.  Rod and Jenny Althaus from New Wave Snorkel & Scuba Center in Port Clinton were gracious enough to host Patrix and I for the IDC.  Patrix and I worked our butts off keeping warm and getting through all the classroom material so that we could go ice diving at the end of the week.

     After a week of sub-zero temperatures (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!) we had plenty of iced-over bodies of water to choose from.  Patrix, Dave Gwin (another New Wave instructor) and I headed over to Gibsonburg, Ohio to dive in the White Star Quarry.  Our chainsaw refused to start so we used heavy steel spud bars to break a large triangular opening in the 5 inch thick ice.  The water in the quarry was 35 degrees and crystal clear.  Visibility was easily in excess of 100 feet and the dim light that filtered down through the ice and snow gave the dive an incredibly beautiful and surrealist feel to it.  I want to thank Patrix, his family, Rod, Jenny and Dave for making my trip to Ohio so much fun.  It was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed the challenge of learning to safely dive under ice.

Sunset in Port Clinton

NorCal

            After spending a fun and delicious thanksgiving with the Bozanics, I began preparations to leave Southern California.  The holiday season isn’t the easiest time to go diving, let alone be a guest in someone else’s home, but I spent most of December further up the coast in San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Monterey.  My first stop was San Francisco, where I stayed with Sara Shoemaker-Lind.  Since being the North American scholar from 1997, Sara has been working above and below sea level as a highly successful photographer.  Although we didn’t make it underwater this time around, we had a terrific time exploring San Francisco through photography.  Photography has always been intriguing to me, but up till this year, I had never really seized upon an opportunity to explore it.  Sara and I really lucked out on the weather and made trips to the Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field, the brand new and fantastic California Academy of Sciences and her show, A Mermaid’s View at the San Mateo Public Library.  Sara and her husband Kevin also took me to several Christmas parties, including one being held by the Northern California chapter of The Explorer’s Club.  I had a great time learning all about photography and managing media from Sara, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with her, Kevin and Remy!

            Although I was leaving the Shoemaker-Linds in San Francisco, my next stop was with the Shoemakers in Aptos, CA!  Sara’s parents, Wells and Sandie had graciously invited me to stay in the guesthouse of their home and winery, Salamandre Wine Cellars, while I was visiting Monterey and Santa Cruz.  Venturing a little further south from Aptos I was lucky enough to spend two days with Gil, Justin and George at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  I had never been to Monterey before, but I had heard from a number of different people how great it was.  Gil Falcone, the diving safety officer, and Justin and George, two other divers from the aquarium were more than happy to show me around the aquarium and take me diving in the kelp forest tank.  Although the aquarium doesn’t currently have a white shark in its huge outer bay tank, there are still hammerhead and Galapagos sharks so the divers working in that tank have to wear chain mail and work in coordinated teams.  Maybe next time I’ll have a chance to dive in that tank.

            By this time I had booked tickets to head back to DC on the 17^th, so I didn’t have too much time left in California, but before I left I wanted to visit last year’s North American scholar, Brenna Mahoney.  Brenna is currently working towards her PhD at UC Santa Cruz and was nice enough to take a day to show me around Long Marine Station in Santa Cruz.  It was nice to see some of the work going on there, and interesting to see what Brenna’s been up to since finishing up her term last April.

            I spent my last few days in California with Sara, Kevin and Remy.  December might not have been the warmest or most exciting time to visit Northern California, but I still met a lot of really interesting people and had a fantastic time.  It was a really nice way to wrap up the 2008 portion of my scholarship.

November 2008

My official journal entry for the month of November, also shortly available at OWUSS:

            Fresh from the excitement of DEMA, Steve, Eline and I arrived at Jeff Bozanic’s house in Huntington Beach ready to begin our rebreather course.  Jeff and his family are a great bunch, and very hospitable, so we were not the only guests staying with them after DEMA.  Joining our class was a diver from Norway, Magne.  Two of Jeff’s friends, Barry and Celia from South Africa would also be with us for a few days.  Last year’s scholars had unanimously voted their rebreather with course as one of their top experiences, and by the first day I could see why.  Jeff is a fantastic teacher and his course was fascinating and incredibly challenging.  After working non-stop for three days we were ready to get in the water!

            Even though the water was just the shallow end of the pool in Jeff’s backyard, we were all extremely excited.  Magne and I drove up to Oxnard to pick up our Inspiration and Evolution rebreathers from Richard Graff, owner of Xtreme Scuba.  Returning to Huntington Beach we were joined by Ian Martin, Jeff’s assistant instructor, who would be helping Jeff keep an eye on us in the water.  We spent most of the next two days underwater in Jeff’s pool, struggling to master our buoyancy, minimum loop volume and a myriad of emergency drills.  I think that all four of us were doing well, but when the time came for our first open water dive, I know I was a little nervous.

            Early on Friday we loaded up Jeff and Ian’s cars and headed down to San Pedro to board the Psalty V, captained by Gary Jackson and his trusty canine first mate, K.O.  We’d be spending the next three days on the Psalty, diving off of Catalina Island.  Switching to closed circuit diving was definitely the toughest challenge I’ve faced in diving, but having Jeff and Ian right there to offer assistance, criticism and support as needed was great.  Our rebreather course was an incredibly intense and whirlwind experience, but thanks to Jeff and Ian I feel very comfortable as a beginning rebreather diver.

photo: Elaine Jobin

            By the time our course ended and we said goodbye to Ian and Magne, Steve and Eline were getting ready to leave the U.S. as well.  Before they left we made one last trip together to visit DUI in San Diego.  We were only there for the day, but it was more than enough time to meet with owners Dick & Susan Long, and to receive an in-depth tour from Faith Ortins!  It was really fascinating to see how all of the different DUI suits are put together, and to see how much effort goes into making each one.  We were also treated to lunch at one of the most incredible Mexican restaurants I’d ever been to.

            After Steve and Eline left California I decided to stick around for a while.  I was having a great time with the Bozanics.  Jeff and I spent some time working on a new edition of his book on rebreather diving, and we took his son Evan on his first few open water dives in Shaw’s Cove, one of my favourite dive sites from when I lived in LA.  On the way home from one these dives Jeff asked me if I was interested in doing a little more rebreather diving.  I said that I’d love to get a little more experience under my belt, so he suggested I tag along on his next business trip to Hawai’i!

            Jeff was heading to Hawai’i to meet with his business partner Harry Donenfeld and evaluate a new piece of diving equipment being developed in Hawai’i.  Because of an NDA I can’t really explain what that product was, but it was definitely the kind of thing that James Bond packs up when he goes diving.  We spent almost a week exploring Maui with Harry and diving the windward side with the crew from North Shore Explorers.  It was my first time in Hawai’i and was blown away by the islands’ rugged beauty.  The diving was awesome and Jeff, Harry and I had a great time with all the guys and gals from North Shore Explorers.  After our week on Maui, Jeff headed home, while I travelled to O’ahu to meet up with Katie Laing, the 1993 North American scholar. 

            Katie’s originally from North Carolina but now lives on the North Shore of O’ahu.  She works for a marine environmental consulting firm that’s currently involved in evaluating plans for a beach nourishment project in Waikiki.  Katie was a great host and besides getting to tag along to a few meetings on the beach nourishment issue I got a weeklong immersion in life on the North Shore.  It’s not known as the seven-mile-miracle for nothing, and even though the waves weren’t really ‘on’ by local standards, I still managed to get out for some mind-blowing surf sessions.  After spending two weeks in Hawai’i with Harry and Katie I was pretty sure I’d found my new favourite place, but it was time to pack up my dive bag and head back to California for Thanksgiving with the Bozanics.

Aloha!!!

 

Visiting DUI

     Before Steven and Eline left the United States, we all took a little road trip down the coast to visit DUI in San Diego.  For those of you unfamiliar with the world of diving, this doesn't mean we're in any kind of trouble (Rolex Scholars are more responsible than that!).  DUI stands for Diving Unlimited International.  DUI started out as a wetsuit manufacturer and local dive store and is now one of the largest and most reputable drysuit manufacturers in the world.  The company specialises in drysuits for military, commercial and recreational diving and is an important supporter of the scholarship.

     After meeting with Susan Long, president of DUI, her father Dick and Faith Ortins took Steve, Eline and I on a tour of the DUI factory and then out for a delicious Mexican lunch.  Every suit is made by hand, and it was impressive to see how much work is put into making sure that every order is completely up to snuff.  We also got to see one of the special hot water suits DUI made for the US Navy divers involved in operation Ivy Bells in the 1970's.  This was a series of top secret missions where a number of nuclear submarines, including the USS Parche were modified to be used as saturation diving support vessels.  These submarines would 'land' on the floor of the Sea of Okhotsk and lock out Navy divers who planted wire taps on a secret Soviet communications cable.

     It was really fun to meet Dick and Susan Long and to see exactly what goes into every DUI suit, especially since I love mine so much!  The people who build these suits really believe that the effort and extra quality they put into them helps the divers that use their suits accomplish tremendous things, and they're right!

Aloha From Maui!

     Jeff and I have been in Hawai'i for the past four days working on a project that Jeff was hired as a consultant on.  When he asked me if I wanted to come with him last week I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but flights were dirt cheap and I couldn't say no.  At this point I can't really discuss the project in public due to an NDA but hopefully sometime in the future I'll be able to go into it further because it is incredibly cool.

     At any rate we arrived in Honolulu on the 15th and met one of our gracious hosts and Jeff's business partner, Harry Donenfeld.  Harry is an awesome guy and we had a blast hanging out with him during our stay in Hawai'i.  Not only did he put us up in his home on Maui and go to great lengths to share his favourite parts of Hawai'i with us but he's just a fantastic, high energy personality and a lot of fun to dive and hang out with.  We spent our first night on the North Shore of O'ahu with one of Jeff's former students, Nick.  Nick is a really nice guy and interesting character and I could probably write an entire bog entry or two on him alone.  He's definitely got a taste for adventure and is an avid helicopter pilot, kite boarder, big wave surfer, rebreather diver and amateur film maker among other things.  It would be an understatement to say that our accommodations were 'plush' and we had a very nice dinner that night at the Turtle Bay Resort with Harry and Katie Laing, the 1993 Rolex Scholar.

     The next morning Harry Jeff and I set off for Maui where we would be meeting up with Jeff's client and working with a local dive operation, North Shore Explorers.  Todd, Liz, Chris and the rest of the gang at North Shore Explorers have a sweet operation running, and took care of all of our diving needs during our stay.  The jewel in the crown of NSE is the Pailolo, a converted US Navy rigid hull inflatable powered by two 300 horsepower diesel jet drives. Although one of the engines was having maintenance issues during our visit the Pailolo is apparently a beast when she's up and running and this allows NSE to run trips to spots and under conditions that would usually be impossible for run-of-the-mill cattle boat operators to handle.

     The four days we spent in Maui were absolutely jam packed with amazing diving, people, food and exploration.  Harry, Todd, Chris, Liz, John and everyone else made sure that we kept busy and had an awesome time.  It was also a privilege (and a lot of fun) to get to help Jeff out with his work (we did do a little...).  After a quick last minute dive with some turtles on the leeward side of the island Jeff and I set off for O'ahu, where Jeff will be catching a flight back to California but I'll have a few more days to hang out and explore with Katie Laing.

The Bozanics

     Since the end of our rebreather course I've been staying with Jeff, Rebekah, Evan, John Aaron and Taleah Bozanic in Huntington Beach, CA.  They've been incredible hosts, and I've an amazing time diving, playing and generally acting like a member of the family.  They even took me out to dinner for my birthday and got me an awesome cake with a little scuba diver on it.  Jeff and I are leaving for Hawai'i tomorrow to work on a project with one of Jeff's partner's Harry Donenfeld.

     Harry and Jeff have been working on a few interesting projects of late that I might be able to write about in more detail a little bit later on, but I wanted to post a video they have on youtube that I think is pretty cool.  It starts Jeff's seven year old son, John Aaron.

 

Rebreathers!

     The most exciting opportunity to arise at DEMA was an invitation for all three scholars to join a rebreather class being taught by Jeff Bozanic.  Jeff has an incredibly varied and interesting background in science and in diving, and a talk he gave at the LA County Natural History Museum that I attended while a junior at USC was a major factor in inspiring me to take up diving.  Jeff has been a strong supporter of the scholarship for a very long time, and quite a few former scholars have said that this course was the highlight of their scholarship year.

Jeff

     Jeff's courses are also known for their intensity and thoroughness.  With less than a day to recover from DEMA madness, Magne (one of Jeff's students from Norway), Steve, Eline and I arrived at Jeff's house excited and a little nervous to begin what would be the most challenging week of diving any of us had ever gone through.  After picking up the units we would be using from the course from Richard Graff of Xtreme Scuba, the first few days were focused completely on lectures regarding the history, physics, physiology, design and practice of diving rebreathers.

The three scholars hard at work

     All of us would be learning to use an Evolution, Inspiration Classic and an Inspiration Vision, all three of which are electronically controlled close circuit rebreathers (eCCRs).  This means that they have a fully closed breathing loop, complete with a suite of sensors that monitor the oxygen levels inside the loop.  If the controller detects low levels of oxygen within the loop, a solenoid will fire, injecting oxygen into the loop.  This type of rebreather is usually flown 'fully automatic' meaning that the diver allows the computer to control the partial pressure of oxygen.  However, we would be learning to fly the rebreathers completely manually, using the electronics purely as a backup.  If any of that is unclear, and you want a little help understanding it, read this.  If you really want to know how a rebreather works, you should read Jeff's book, Mastering Rebreathers.  If you are at all interested in diving technology or rebreathers it's a must-read.  If you can't be bothered to read either, know that a rebreather differs from SCUBA in that it recycles the air the diver breathes by removing CO2 via a chemical 'scrubber' and periodically replacing the oxygen that the diver metabolizes.  When used properly it can offer vast benefits in decompression obligation and gas consumption.  In technical diving rebreathers can sometimes be used to complete dives that would be impossible on open circuit due to gas consumption.

Cookie-check, Rolex-check, problem sets-check

     After completing the first few days of our training, we were really excited to be getting in the water and trying out our units.  On Thursday we met our assistant instructor, Ian Martin, and spent most of the day in Jeff's pool, working on emergency drills, managing our PO2 and our buoyancy.  On  Friday we headed down to San Pedro and boarded the Psalty V, captained by Gary Jackson and his dog, KO.  We were also joined by Jeff's friend and partner, Elaine Jobin, who was there to photograph the trip and join in on the fun.  Jeff, Ian, Magne, Eline, Steve, Gary, Elaine and I would spend the next three days on the Psalty V completing the class and diving all over Catalina.

Karl checking up on us

     Learning to dive rebreathers can be difficult and dangerous at best, especially when your students are a trio of young divers who have just enough experience under their belts that they're beginning to think they know what they're doing underwater, so Ian and Jeff approached every open water dive with extreme caution and careful planning.  Rebreather diving is very different than open circuit; it requires extreme focus and concentration at all times.  The dives were really exciting and fun, but very challenging.  Ian and Jeff didn't hesitate to throw every emergency or problem imaginable at us at any time, often several simultaneously.  On top of all of this we were expected to constantly monitor and maintain our set points without any assistance from our electronics.  It was frustrating at times, but Jeff and Ian are fantastic teachers, and by the last few dives of the course we were beginning to feel like real divers again.

Bailing out

     After the week was over, I definitely understood why so many scholars had spoken so glowingly about Jeff and his courses.  Jeff and his family were wonderful to us during our stay at his house.  They truly made us feel like members of the family.  Gary and KO were also terrific hosts, the food, diving and accommodations on the Psalty V were absolutely top-notch. One of the coolest parts of the week was going to spots I'd dove on dozens of times before and seeing them in a completely new light thanks to the lack of noisy bubbles from our rebreathers.  We also had a chance to see some old friends on the island including T-bird and Karl and check out the Two Harbors' haunted house!  Best of all, each of us encountered and overcame some significant obstacles during our training, and I know that we all really improved as divers.  If anyone is feeling extra generous around Christmas-time, a rebreather is now definitely holding down the top spot on my list.

DEMA

     It's difficult to describe what DEMA is like for people who have never been there or who aren't intimately involved with the diving industry.  It's a frighteningly massive mix between a trade show, family reunion, high pressure sales pitch and non-stop party.  It's a place to meet up with old friends, meet new ones, make plans for the future and experience Las Vegas (kind of creepy actually).  

     Besides Robin getting run over by a crazy lady in a golf cart (get well soon!!!) everything else was fantastic.  I met a lot of new people and have some awesome new plans in the works for the rest of my year, I got to see my man Wes Skiles win a NOGI, OWUSS had a reception that I thought went terrifically and the other scholars and I had a great time at all the different parties and receptions, usually the guests of the ever-gracious Dan and Betty Orr!  All of the OWUSS gang had plenty of chances to hang out and have fun as well.

More from Catalina

     Catalina has continued to be awesome.  We've been to Avalon for some diving and mini-golf, done plenty of chamber ops, helped build a haunted house and much more.  We had a chance to visit middle ranch and Catalina Conservancy and found some time to play in waves over in Shark Harbor too.

     Karl has been a fantastic host and we've gotten a lot of great kelp forest diving under our belts as well.  My friends Jen, Anna and Ali even came back to the island and hung out for a few days.  The past two weeks have been a terrific reminder of why this is one of my favorite places in the world, and I'm glad I had a chance to share it with Steve and Eline.

Baywatch!

     Steve, Eline and I got to spend the afternoon with Baywatch yesterday!  After spending the morning diving with Karl we met up for lunch with Kevin and Joel, two members of the Two Harbors Baywatch team.  Baywatch is a part of LA County's lifeguard corps, which was recently incorporated into the Fire Department.  Catalina has one Baywatch team in Two Harbors and another in Avalon.  Not only are they responsible for looking after anyone who gets in trouble on or in the water, but as the only paramedics on the Island they get called in on anything that happens on land as well.  Needless to say these guys stay busy.

     After a quick lunch Kevin and Joel invited us to come check out the infamous Baywatch boat.  The boat itself is deceptively small.  Although its probably not much more than 25 feet long, it's packed to the gills with communication equipment, fire-fighting and rescue gear and medical supplies, not to mention two massive supercharged diesels that can easily push the boat to over 30 knots.  Kevin and Joel took us out on a great tour of the West End and even let us try out the fire pump mounted on the front of the boat.  We were a little disappointed at first that The Hoff wasn't around, but Kevin and Joel were much cooler anyways.  Thanks guys!

Homecoming

     Egypt was hard to leave behind, literally.  After seven hours on a bus, 18 on planes and a few lengthy lay-overs I was finally able to collapse into my own bed.  I had a few days to catch up on sleep, capture some video, do some laundry and pack up for my trip to the west coast.  On October 2nd I caught a flight into Long Beach.  After spending a three days with some relatives in Southern California I met up with Karl Huggins and Eline at the Long Beach Aquarium.  Eric, the assistant DSO took us diving in several of the larger tanks and gave us a quick look at some the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.  I'd been to the aquarium before, but they've added some really impressive leafy and weedy sea dragons to their collection since the last time I was there.

Steve's New Hoopty

     After our visit to the aquarium Karl and I had the pleasure of introducing Eline to the magic that is Trader Joe's while shopping for supplies for our time on Catalina.  The next morning we met up in San Pedro and caught a boat out to the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.  I spent a semester here in 2007, studying marine science, learning to dive and volunteering at the hyperbaric chamber and was really excited to be returning to the island.  Karl, who's the director of the hyperbaric chamber, was the one who originally introduced me to the scholarship and suggested that I apply, so I really have him to thank for all of this.  I was also able to reunite with plenty of old friends from the island.

Two Harbors, CA

     Steve came down from British Columbia and joined us on Friday and since then we've been hiking, kayaking, diving and learning about the hyperbaric chamber.  Every year the chamber hosts a 'wash-down party' where a group of volunteers get together for a weekend of serious cleaning and maintenance.  Steve, Eline and I joined a few other volunteers inside the chamber where we were compressed to 165 fsw and tested the chamber's fire suppression system.  Obviously it's important to make sure the fire sprinklers and hoses are working properly, but at 165 feet the narcosis turns the whole operation into a bit more of a drunken water fight.  It's great to be back in California!

Ras Mohamed

     After leaving Dahab, Steve and I returned to Sharm to spend a few more days with Debbie at Blue Eye.  With the help of Debbie and some of her employees (Paul, Rachel and Sam) we spent our last few days in Egypt cramming as much underwater video knowledge into our little heads as we possibly could.  Not only did we work on our filming, but we did it at some of the best dive sites on the planet.  We had been diving from the Straights of Tiran to Sharm and up to Dahab, but we still hadn't made it to Ras Mohamed.

     Ras Mohamed is one of Egypt's first national parks.  About 20 minutes south of Sharm El Sheikh, its sits on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.  To the west lies the Gulf of Suez; to the east, the Gulf of Aqaba.  The junction of these two portions of the Red Sea and the extreme depth of the water immediately off of the shore means that the life, especially the amount of large, pelagic fish is extraordinary.  Most people board large day boats in Sharm and get to do two or three dives.  In my opinion, that's one of the worst ways to dive Ras Mohamed.  Rent a jeep, throw some tanks in the back and if you can avoid the land-mines left in the park from the Six-Day War with Israel (stick to the roads), you'll have the best spots all to yourself, for a quarter of the price.

     Everyday Steve, Debbie, Sam and myself sat down, scripted out what we wanted to shoot that day, drove out to Ras Mohamed, picked a spot, dove, shot, came home, edited our short films, reviewed them, and got ready to do it all over again the next day.  The improvement in our underwater video skills was incredible, and the diving was fantastic.  Shark Reef was holding steady as my favourite dive site in the park until our last day of diving.  Sam and his friend Mark Doherty surprised us by taking us to a spot that no dive boat leaving from Sharm will ever take you to.  It was a little deeper and further from shore than most divers go, but it was absolutely worth it.  Mark took some excellent pictures for Steve and I that I've included here as a slideshow (please respect his ownership of the images).

     I think it's always best to end on a high note, and the dive was a great way to wind up our time in Egypt.  I have to thank Debbie for being such an awesome host.  Besides putting a roof over our head and food in our mouths she always made sure that Steve and I were having a great time and learning as much as we could about video.  I also want to thank Paul, Rachel, Sam and everyone else at Blue Eye for taking us under their wing and letting us tag along.  Everyone was super friendly and so eager to share all their best tips and tricks.  Thanks Guys!

The Golden Emperor

The Golden Emperor

     I've been in Egypt for almost 10 days now, and so far it's been incredible.  I spent my first few days with Debbie Metcalfe, owner of Blue Eye FX in Sharm El Sheikh.  The world freediving championships were just ending as I arrived in Egypt, and Debbie had been contracted to provide all the television coverage of the event, so I was able to tag along for some of that.  After a few days, Steve travelled up from Hurghada to join me in Dahab where we were set to join a live-aboard for a week.  Our friends Lars and Dave from Red Sea Safaris had arranged for us to live on the Golden Emperor for a week, diving up and down the Gulf of Aqaba and assist one of Debbie's cameramen, Paul, with filming some promotional material.

Steve filming a bait ball on a night dive

     We drove up to Dahab from Sharm, boarded the boat, and were pleasantly surprised to find that our friend from the One Ocean Dive Center, Tronde Jarle was a passenger on the boat as well.  The next week was filled with new friends, plenty of filming, and absolutely stunning diving.  Not only were we able to visit the Blue Hole and The Canyon in Dahab, but we were able to get to a lot of sites that can only be accessed by boat.  The reefs were incredibly healthy, and the fish life was amazing.  Steve and I had a great time diving with Paul and helping film the trip and we really learned a lot about shooting and editing underwater video from him.  Steve and I got on really well with the crew and our fellow divers, and we're sad to leave Dahab, but we know we've still got some great diving ahead of us before we leave Egypt.

Shark Bait

     While staying with our friend in Denmark, Steve, Eline and I had a unique opportunity to visit and dive at an aquarium, shark center and dive resort, the Kattegatcentret.  The Kattegatcentret is unique in that it's probably the only dive center in the world that offers confined water dives in an aquarium.  Not only did we have an opportunity to check out Denmark's natural marine fauna exhibited in the aquarium, but we were able to jump into a tank filled to the brim with huge sharks.

     The shark tank is huge, over 550,000 liters, and contains Zebra, Wobbegong, Nurse, Sand Tiger, Sand Bar, Lemon, Reef Sharks, huge rays and all sorts of fish, eels, and smaller sharks.  Once a year, divers are permitted to dive into the tank with a cage, but we had special permission to dive without a cage.  It wasn't the first time I had been in the water with sharks, but I had never been in the water with so many, or with any nearly as large as this.  The largest sharks at the Kattegatcentret are definitely over 2  meters in length.  The aquarium was really well done, and the sharks were incredibly beautiful.  I have to give Lars and Teddy a huge thank you for arranging the experience for us, it was fantastic!

Eline, Steve, Jamie, Teddy & Lars

The Greatest Beer in the World

     Before I depart Europe for Egypt, I've been staying with Steve and Eline at a friend's house in Denmark.  While visiting a friend in Copenhagen I had a remarkable beer experience I thought I'd share with everyone.

     A few years ago, my friend Alan and I read about a type of beer called Westvleteren.  Westvleteren is an ale from Belgium, brewed by Trappist monks inside the Abbey of Saint Sixtus near Ypres, Belgium.  Besides being extremely rare, Westvleteren ales have long been considered by beer connoisseurs to be some of the, if not the finest beer in the world.  At the time, Alan's sister was studying in Paris, and we nearly convinced her to drive to the Westvleteren Abbey in Belgium and purchase a case for us (Westvleteren can only be purchased one case a month per person, at the Abbey and only with a reservation!).  Alas, our plan never came to fruition and I thought that neither of us would have a chance to try Westvleteren ever again.  Luckily I was wrong.

     Some friends and I were in a bar in Copenhagen that supposedly has been ranked very highly  internationally as a beer bar.  I was talking about Trappist ales with the proprietor when he mentioned that he happened to have a very hard to find bottle of Westvleteren 8 ale.  Although it was obviously a little more expensive than a pint of PBR, I couldn't say no.  It was definitely one of the best beers I've ever tasted, full of body and flavor.  The only thing that would have improved the experience would have been to have Alan there to share it with.  We'll just have to go on a road-trip to Westvleteren!

August Journal Entry

A quick look back at the month of August:

     August 1^st was a date I had been looking forward to ever since the beginning of my scholarship.  On July 31^st I left my parent’s house in Washington DC and boarded a flight to Copenhagen.  I arrived the next morning, met last year’s European scholar Igor Valente at the airport, and traveled together to 2Dive in Copenhagen.  Igor, Eline, 2005 European scholar Vibe and myself were guests of Flemming Thyge, the owner of 2Dive and a pro trainer for the International Association for Handicapped Divers (IAHD) in Scandinavia.  All of this year’s scholars, as well as any previous scholars who wanted to come had been invited to participate in an IAHD Pro training course at 2Dive.  Flemming, his assistant instructor Sole Victor, and another instructor, Daniel Zuidema from the Netherlands would be teaching us how to provide safe diving experiences for handicapped divers.  Steve, who was traveling to Europe from Indonesia, would be unable to meet up with us for the IAHD course but would be joining us for the remainder of our time together in Scandinavia.  The course took three days and went very smoothly.  We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and had an opportunity to give some handicapped people a chance to try diving for the first time, which was quite exciting.  Flemming, Sole and Daniel were great hosts and I’m very glad I had a chance to meet and spend time with them.

     On August 4^th Igor and Vibe departed for home and Eline and I met Steve at the airport and traveled north by train to the town of Helsingør.  After spending a little time getting lost in the rain, we met up with Christian Rasmussen of Fotodyk.dk for a PADI underwater photo course.  Christian not only went through the basics of underwater photography with us but also took a little time to show us around his hometown and introduce us to some traditional Danish food.  While in Helsingør we had planned on doing a little wreck diving with Christian and Kjell Evensen from Master Dive, but unfortunately the weather was not cooperating, so we had to settle for a short pool dive and some beer and Thai food.

     With our time in Denmark drawing to a close (for now) Eline, Steve and I prepared to travel north into Norway.  We would be spending a week at the One Ocean Dive Center with Carlo Golfetto in Kristiansand, diving on some of its famous wrecks and working on an article about our experiences with Christian Skauge, the Editor of the Norwegian magazine Dykking.  Carlo went so far as to pick us up from our overnight train at 4 am and put us up in his own apartment.  The diving was fantastic and we had a great time with Carlo, Christian and Carlo’s divemaster, Trond Jarle Repvik.  We even got to spend an evening wakeboarding in a nearby Fjord.  Carlo was an excellent host, and it was the first time I had been on a dive boat where all the guests were served endless amounts of delicious pasta, fish soup and espresso!

     We were sad to leave the great friends we had made in Kristiansand, but not even that could keep us from being excited about our next stop: Reykjavík!  Diving in Iceland was something all three of us had expressed a strong interest in doing during our first meeting in New York in April, and now we were actually doing it.  We went into our week in Iceland with very high expectations, and we were not disappointed one bit.  Without even considering the hospitality and enthusiasm of our hosts, Tobias Klose and Louis Kotze from Dive.is, the trendiness and excitement of Reykjavík and the rugged beauty of the Icelandic landscape, diving in Iceland was an experience that affected me in an almost spiritual way.  Traveling to ϸingvellir and diving into the crevices at Silfra was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  Silfra’s beauty, above and below the water, is compounded by the purity of its freezing water and its geologic and historical significance.  I’m fairly certain I’ll never find another place that compares to Silfra as long as I am diving, so I really feel privileged to have been invited there by Tobias.

 

      After having a chance to dive in Silfra, we had another unique opportunity to visit the founder of Dive.is, Tommy Knutsson.  Tommy has moved on from running Dive.is to work full time with an environmental group he started, the Blue Army.  It began as a project to pull dumped batteries out of his local dive site and has grown into a widespread campaign to promote recycling, energy efficiency and environmentalism across Iceland.  Although the people of Iceland have been blessed with an incredibly pristine and unique environment, it is not one immune to abuse and it was good to visit with Tommy and the Blue Army and see some of the great projects they are working on.

      Just as Eline, Steve and I were falling totally in love with Iceland, and were convinced that there was no way it could get any better than this, Tobias played his ace in-the-hole.  Louis, Eline, Steve and I drove 6 hours from Reykjavík to the north coast of Iceland to see the Strytans.  These are a series of geothermal chimneys discovered on the bottom of a fjord in 1996.  The largest rises over 55 meters from the seabed, spewing hot mineral rich water into the freezing arctic water of the fjord.  The chimneys are not only fantastic and unique in a geological sense, but the life they draw is equally incredible.  Huge schools of Cod and Coalfish black out the sun, making a torch a necessary piece of equipment while diving the Strytans.  Not only were we staying in a farmhouse beside an incredibly beautiful fjord on the edge of the Arctic Circle, diving on one of the most unique geologic formations on Earth, but we also got to do it with the man who discovered the chimneys, Erlendur.  Erlendur and his friend Siggi were fantastic guys and great divers, and you could tell they were very excited to share the Strytans with us.  Siggi even invited us to come diving off of his boat later that evening.  Knowing that it would be our last chance to dive in Iceland, we drove North to Olafsfjorður and headed out to dive one of his favorite spots, a kelp forest that lay below the tallest cliffs in Iceland (over 600 meters high).  The dive was just incredible and it was an excellent way to conclude our diving in Iceland.

     After promising ourselves that one week was not nearly enough time to spend in Iceland, and that we would all be coming back next year, Steve, Eline and I set off for Göteborg, Sweden.  We were met at the airport by Johan Enqvist a partner and co-founder of Oxygène Diving.  After going to lunch and taking a quick tour of Oxygène Göteborg, Johan drove us up the coast to Lysekil, where we would be spending a few days diving with Daniel and Susanne Dahlströhm, managers of Oxygène Lysekil.  Johan had said that what exactly we would be doing there was going to be a surprise and something that could only be done almost exclusively at Oxygène Lysekil.  None of us were able to unravel the mystery, but when we finally arrived we were excited to learn that we were going to be trained to pilot ‘dragons’.  Originally used to search large areas of the sea floor for mines, unexploded ordinance, etc. dragons are basically a diver driven sled towed behind a boat, complete with a canopy, stabilizing tail fins and two wings used by to pilot to turn, ascend, descend or spin the dragon.  Over the next few days we had a great time with Daniel and the rest of the Lysekil staff learning to fly the dragons and exploring Lysekil.  Not only was dragon diving a blast but the people working at Oxygène Lysekil are a fun and close knit group, and we spent our ‘down-time’ exploring the rocks and caves that surround Lysekil, going boating, on cookouts and having a great time with the people we met there.

     After leaving Lysekil, the three of us had a chance to visit Poseidon Diving Systems in Göteborg.  We got a personalized tour of the facility from Jörgen Nilsson and by pure chance got an opportunity to test out a prototype of the new Cis-Lunar MK. 6 Discovery rebreather.  Jörgen had thought that there wouldn’t be a unit available for our visit, but the design manager happened to be demonstrating a unit for a distributor so Eline, Steve and I became the first non-Poseidon divers to test the new unit.  Although we were a little disappointed we didn’t get to take a MK. 6 home with us, we had a great time at Poseidon.

     At this point our threesome split up for a few days.  Steve headed north to Oslo, while Eline and I traveled to the Baltic coast of Sweden to visit Fred Hocker at the Vasamuseum in Stockholm.  Although Stockholm and the Vasamuseum were great fun and incredibly interesting, it was the kind of place that I would have liked to spent a longer and more in-depth time visiting.  The Vasa was a warship commissioned by the king of Sweden in 1624 and eventually sunk in Stockholm Harbor.  Its story spans hundreds of years, and although I’m a total amateur when it comes to archaeology, the work performed by Fred and others that’s on display at the Vasamuseum is fascinating.  I know that Delia spent a long time working with Fred at the Vasamuseum and I can certainly understand why.

     After chilling out for a few days with Flemming again in Copenhagen for a few days, Eline and I were happily reunited with Steve and headed south to meet up with our Scandinavian coordinator Lars Kirkegaard and Jesper Østergaard from the Stevns Dykker Skole.  Were there to take an IANTD wreck diving course.  The course was a first for me in that there were five students and six instructors!  Besides having a chance to learn about wreck and technical diving from a variety of different viewpoints, Eline, Steve and I got to go wreck diving in the Baltic with a group of safe, fun and totally awesome Danish wreck divers.  We were able to make several reconnaissance and penetration dives on the wrecks of the Vapper and the Minos as well as try out some scooters.

     Although it sometimes seems like August has flown by, when I stop to think about all the incredible experiences we’ve had in Scandinavia, I realize that we did A LOT this month, and we’re not finished yet!  The best part is that whenever we were short on sleep or dreading getting onto another train or bus, we were still more stoked than ever to put a tank on our backs and jump into the water.