Catching Up

Well readers, you must be wondering what ever happened to me. I'm thinking that, unless I get a second wind, this blog will get a lot more interesting after I'm done my diver training. My basic day is as follows. I get up around 5:00, prepare a cup of tea, a bowl of ramen noodles and a bit of yogurt and after I've eaten go for a 2 1/2 km run (it's already in the high 20s when I run). After I shower and make the room, I walk to the dive shop for around 8:00. I help to organize gear for all the divers that will join us for the day (the last two days there have been 38 divers on the boat, excluding paid staff, dive masters in training and boat staff). The boat trip to the various dive sites takes between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on the site. We have 2-3 dives per day, groups of 3-5 divers go out with a dive master/instructor and those taking a course work one on one with an instructor. Two or three dives with lunch in between and it's back to land, arriving to the shop around 5:00. All the gear used that day has to be washed and returned to storage which is done by about 6:30. Back to my rooms for another shower, out for a bit of dinner, and surprisingly, by 8:00 I feel I'm ready for bed.

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Today I started my dive master training with a three day course called Rescue Diver. Trains you to make rescues from the surface as well as from the sea floor. Today was the theory day so no dives and I was finished by 3:30 so.... I've time for the blog!

I've got to cast back here but there are a couple of events since my last entry worth reporting.

Last Saturday we had 3 dives, two in the day and the last at night. The night dive was at Hin Luk Bat, a rock in the ocean surrounded by really quite lovely corral beds, a 40 minute boat trip east of Koh Chang. We left the pier just as the sun was setting, so by the time we reached the site it was quite dark. As soon as we left the protection of Bang Bao Bay it was clear this was less than a bucolic tropical evening. We traveled in the rain, lightning flashing and thunder rolling all the way.  By the time we got to the site the wind waves were 2 1/2 to 3 feet and a spirited wind was blowing. It was a bit of an adventure getting into the water given the conditions - you jump in, use a pre-installed line to pull yourself to the moorage line off the bow, and use the moorage line to descend, which takes real effort in three foot chop. Once you dip under the water, though, the transformation is dramatic. All the chaos at the surface disappears at even 5' of depth. We had a great dive, using only flashlights, saw a ton of sea life, and were on the bottom for 45 minutes. On the surface, things had deteriorated. The wind had picked up and the wind waves were about 4'. The boats we use are wooden, built here on Koh Chang using traditional designs and methods. The main dive boat is about 20 meters powered by a big, old, stinking diesel and is geared to hold 50 divers in total (customers and staff). The smaller dive boat boasts an even stinkier diesel, holds about 20 total divers and is about 10 meters. We were on the small boat. The place on the side of the boat where divers exit and enter is only about 2' above the water so getting in the boat was easy - line yourself up with the ladder and let the next wave toss you aboard. On the trip back the waves rolled right over the side of the boat washing the decks. Neither boat have any electronics, no VHF, no GPS or radar, no radio. Our return was marked by storm conditions, strong winds, no visibility and we relied entirely on our captain's experience in navigating us safely back using only a compass. I sat right behind the captain and was a bit nervous, but everyone else aboard appeared unconcerned.

The next day we had two dives at the national park 90 minutes south east of the island. While we were diving we enjoyed light airs and sunshine, but on our return trip we motored into a squall. We were in the big boat so didn't have waves across the deck, but again had zero visibility, no electronics, only the captain's good judgement.

The diving has been great, most days 30 metre visibility and the sunny days make the corrals and sea life simply pop. I've been up close and personal with some amazing sea creatures that seem almost completely indifferent to our presence. The dive shop is great with friendly, knowledgable and welcoming staff. Two Canadians, don't you know. There are two other dive shops on island and we see their boats everyday at the dive sites. These last two days when we have had 38 divers aboard, the other two have had six or eight. The woman who owns the dive shop started it 20 years ago, built it with great service and great staff and now has three boats (2 dive boats and a touring speed boat), five offices on island - one includes a training pool - and she owns it all. 

I don't have a lot of down time, but when I do, I feel quite lonely. I'm missing all those I love. Remember that this blog comes with a comment function. I'd welcome any, if only for the contact that I am without.

Here, as promised are some photos of Bang Bao, as well as some shots from the dive sites. I'm thinking of renting an underwater camera so I can share a bit of what I'm seeing under the sea. I'll keep you posted.