I just got back from Palau and Oahu. You can check out my web site for pics and all sites seen. Here's an excerpt. Sorry for the length.
www.Damirs.com
***FORWARD***
Before you read the following please note that after reviewing everything it is the conclusion of all those that were onboard that the following must be stated: The staff of the Big Blue were absolutely fantastic and the service was impeccable. Unfortunately mother nature tends to have her own plans...
We arrived in Palau after a 23 1/2 hour trip. Most of us flew from Kansas City to Houston to Hawaii to Guam to Palau. As one can imagine this was a very long trip but all 18 of us were very excited for the the possibilities that lay ahead. We arrived in Koror, the capital of Palau at 8p.m. and were picked up at the airport by a number of the crew and driven to the Big Blue that was docked at the pier. I had difficulty sleeping (probably from all the excitement) and awoke about 4:30 a.m.
We had a dive briefing and due to weather conditions it was decided that we were going to take the two chaseboats to Mandarin fish Lake until Lynne (the boat manager) could confirm the weather situation. After our dive, and the southwest-wind situation, it was confirmed...we were in typhoon weather. The wind was picking up to about 19 knots at this point and the rain was definitely intensifying. We stayed in port until the next day when it was decided that we would attempt to go to Blue Corner and do some diving there. The 5:30 a.m. weather conditions were checked so we set sail to continue our dive adventure thinking that once we passed Peleliu conditions would improve.
Things went from bad to worse. The waves began to get much bigger, much nastier.
Many of us on board were definitely feeling the effects of the strong seas. Some were hanging onto the side and making fish chum. I was fortunate, I just had a mild headache and decided to head down to the cabin to lay down. My roommate Lee, shows up sometime later and to be perfectly honest, I've never seen that type of a shade of green on someone. As the boat is rocking back and forth poor Lee bolts to pay homage to the porcelain god again and I'm just laying there listening to my mp3 player wondering "are we there yet?". Suddenly as we were approaching the Peleliu corner, we started to tilt, then keep tilting, but this did not seem right in my mind. For a brief moment I was wondering whether we were going to keep tilting and capsize. I felt like I was almost sitting in my bunkbed, all our stuff was flying from one side of the cabin to the other. I could hear the toilet water splashing out. Oh the humanity...there goes Lee again to pay homage.
We finally passed the Peleliu corner and the weather seemed to calm down quite a bit although it was still rough. I finally caught my breath.
I heard Lynne knocking on doors taking a role!!! O.K. this is not good. We were all accounted for and I decided to go topside to check on things. What a site...the upstairs bar was in total shambles. Chairs and tables knocked all over the place. Dishes and glasses were broken everywhere. Lynne's office had stuff all over the place, computer knocked over, paperwork strewn all over the place. The salon had all the books and shelves knocked over. Total chaos. But it even got worse...Andre, one of the dive masters was attempting to move everyone's dive gear from the deck dressing station to the camera room where it would be safer. As we were turning the Peleliu corner there were only a couple of bags left and one started to slide...towards the ocean!!! Andre makes a mad dash and jumps to try to recover the bag and realizes he's going overboard with the bag. He has to make a decision...grab ahold of something and let the bag go or follow the bag. He ended up grabbing ahold of the railing and a few people watched as one of the dive bags sunk to the bottom of the sea. I hope Shirley gets reimbursed for the gear.
We came to find out that the Big Blue can handle a "tilt" of 36 degrees. We tilted at 29 degrees. The hot tub water on the top deck was nearly empty, just to put this in perspective. After everyone caught their breath we decided to name our adventure "7 degrees from death". We had to have a little humor after this ordeal.
It was decided that we should head back to the port and wait out the weather. When we arrived, all the other Liveaboards had also entered port. We had decided that we would stay in port and that we would of course work around the weather either by taking the chaseboats out or taking Big Blue out if the bad weather subsided.
We took the Big Blue out for a couple of days but ended up traveling with the chaseboats for the most part. The trip was planned for 30 dives. Some of us did 18 dives, while others did even less.
DID I MENTION IT GETS WORSE...
On the second day it was decided that we dive the "Buoy #6 wreck" which is a WWII sub chaser that was sunk located in the Molarei channel.
Water temperature 84°F/29°C Visibility 20ft/7m at best
Air temperature 84°F/29°C
Dive time: 19 minutes
We had our dive briefing before the dive as usual and had discussed the dive. I was paired up with Kristen who was with her parents Doug and Deb on our trip. What a fantastic family and a wonderful and beautiful girl that has perfect trim and buoyancy...but I digress. We took the chaseboats out to the site and began our descent together. As we descended lower and lower I noticed that those ahead of me were moving at an awfully quick pace. The visibility was poor anyway and it was difficult to discern the divers from one another. I tried to concentrate on Kristen since she was wearing a blue bandanna on this dive as was I. The current got quicker...I'm at 77 ft. Approaching the wreck...there's Kristen just behind me... oh no...the current is picking up, it's racing...I just passed the wreck in about 3 seconds...but it's supposedly 100 ft. long. TURN DAMIR TURN!!! I'm kicking, against the current, I can't see Kristen...damn. Everyone is scrambling. Trying to get control but the current is too strong. Couples are grabbing ahold of each other at various pieces of their gear trying to keep together. Some are just blown in different directions in a split second while others are holding onto each other to keep from getting seperated in the pea soup of Palau. I look to my left and Lee is kicking like a madman....then SLAM!!! I just took out a 3 ft. piece of a coral fan...I'm tumbling and I realize another BIG coral rock is approaching fast...I need to keep an eye out for what's coming at me since my finning against the current is not doing much. I look around, I'm alone, I see a patch of sand and I'm about 10 feet from the bottom. I kick as hard as I can and dig my knife into the sand. DIG DAMN IT DIG!!! The knife is cutting through the sand bottom like melted butter leaving a 10 ft. trail, I try again using my left hand aso to dig with my fingers in the sand...it's not catching, finally and after the 3rd attempt I finally stop and am holding on with both hands on my knife. I'm reflecting for what seems like a while trying to catch my breath and slow down my breathing. I'm thinking about Kristen, how her Mom and Dad are doing...(probably having the dive of their life and wanting to kill me for losing their daughter). I'm staring at the sand bewildered and trying to figure out where to look for Kristen, all the while looking around for any sign of my group. I realize I taste alot of water in my mouth...oh no my reg is getting flooded from the current. I look up and there's Andre (the dive master) with Kristen next to him...thank God, at least he's been watching her. I'm finally resting and catching my breath when he signals me to come up to them.
I release, store my knife, but the current has already whisked them away and I can't even see their shadows. I adjust my venturi...still sucking water on my Legend LX. Damn...I'm beat and I look at my watch to realize were only 15 minutes into the dive and it has just seemed like it's rushed by. I look around and there's nothing...it's pea soup and the visibility is getting even worse now. I'm still moving at an extremely quick pace and decide to abort the dive (about time). I'm at about 15 feet when I see Gat (the other Dive Master) kicking like a madman and approaching me from behind. He looks at me and crosses his hands in a "X" symbol telling me to abort the dive. I'm thinking..."Already there Gat, 1 minute left on the safety stop", sausage deployed, and give him the O.K. He then leaves and kicks across the current hoping to find someone else. I again am all alone. I finish my safety stop and as I'm surfacing think to myself...I hope no one got hurt or worse...
At the surface I look around and I see some heads bobbing about 200 meters at my 7 o'clock... another couple of heads about 100 meters at my 9 o'clock. "God, I hope Kristen is O.K." The chaseboat comes around and it's the other groups (we were split into 2 dive groups). I signal the operator that I'm O.K. and he drives off to look for anyone in trouble. My boat comes to get me and there's Pam and Dave (another couple)...Pam's shook up...really bad.
She begins to give her account of the events and says that at one point her computer showed 24 feet (if memory serves me) and the next second shot down to 56 ft. One word pops into my mind... undercurrent. It was so bad that the bubbles were whipping around them and she kept looking down thinking that someone was beneath them. After reviewing my dive computer...she was right. My entire dive profile was strewn with fast ascent warning's as we were getting shot up and down.
Andre (the divemaster) probably got it worst. It seems that he was approaching the back of the wreck and was trying to go above it when the current slammed him down causing multiple scrapes over his legs. He was hurting for a while. Thank God it wasn't fire coral.
After getting back on the Big Blue, we all reflected and we still had a night dive to go. A handful (I believe 5) including myself, Kristen and her Dad decided to go. We decided to do the "Helmet Wreck" which was right next to the Big Blue. I had to get the monkey off my back although I was still a little shaken.
I still feel guilty about losing my dive buddy Kristen. She and her parents as well as the others assured me there was nothing I could do and in retrospect they are probably right. However, I am the type of diver that likes to sit back in the pack and enjoy my dive as well as keep an eye out for everyone. It's just my nature.
In retrospect, yes the trip could have been much better and there were some hairy moments, but we still got to see things we've never seen before. I think we are all much better divers for the experience and maybe even better people. I know I made some close friends.
www.Damirs.com
***FORWARD***
Before you read the following please note that after reviewing everything it is the conclusion of all those that were onboard that the following must be stated: The staff of the Big Blue were absolutely fantastic and the service was impeccable. Unfortunately mother nature tends to have her own plans...
We arrived in Palau after a 23 1/2 hour trip. Most of us flew from Kansas City to Houston to Hawaii to Guam to Palau. As one can imagine this was a very long trip but all 18 of us were very excited for the the possibilities that lay ahead. We arrived in Koror, the capital of Palau at 8p.m. and were picked up at the airport by a number of the crew and driven to the Big Blue that was docked at the pier. I had difficulty sleeping (probably from all the excitement) and awoke about 4:30 a.m.
We had a dive briefing and due to weather conditions it was decided that we were going to take the two chaseboats to Mandarin fish Lake until Lynne (the boat manager) could confirm the weather situation. After our dive, and the southwest-wind situation, it was confirmed...we were in typhoon weather. The wind was picking up to about 19 knots at this point and the rain was definitely intensifying. We stayed in port until the next day when it was decided that we would attempt to go to Blue Corner and do some diving there. The 5:30 a.m. weather conditions were checked so we set sail to continue our dive adventure thinking that once we passed Peleliu conditions would improve.
Things went from bad to worse. The waves began to get much bigger, much nastier.
Many of us on board were definitely feeling the effects of the strong seas. Some were hanging onto the side and making fish chum. I was fortunate, I just had a mild headache and decided to head down to the cabin to lay down. My roommate Lee, shows up sometime later and to be perfectly honest, I've never seen that type of a shade of green on someone. As the boat is rocking back and forth poor Lee bolts to pay homage to the porcelain god again and I'm just laying there listening to my mp3 player wondering "are we there yet?". Suddenly as we were approaching the Peleliu corner, we started to tilt, then keep tilting, but this did not seem right in my mind. For a brief moment I was wondering whether we were going to keep tilting and capsize. I felt like I was almost sitting in my bunkbed, all our stuff was flying from one side of the cabin to the other. I could hear the toilet water splashing out. Oh the humanity...there goes Lee again to pay homage.
We finally passed the Peleliu corner and the weather seemed to calm down quite a bit although it was still rough. I finally caught my breath.
I heard Lynne knocking on doors taking a role!!! O.K. this is not good. We were all accounted for and I decided to go topside to check on things. What a site...the upstairs bar was in total shambles. Chairs and tables knocked all over the place. Dishes and glasses were broken everywhere. Lynne's office had stuff all over the place, computer knocked over, paperwork strewn all over the place. The salon had all the books and shelves knocked over. Total chaos. But it even got worse...Andre, one of the dive masters was attempting to move everyone's dive gear from the deck dressing station to the camera room where it would be safer. As we were turning the Peleliu corner there were only a couple of bags left and one started to slide...towards the ocean!!! Andre makes a mad dash and jumps to try to recover the bag and realizes he's going overboard with the bag. He has to make a decision...grab ahold of something and let the bag go or follow the bag. He ended up grabbing ahold of the railing and a few people watched as one of the dive bags sunk to the bottom of the sea. I hope Shirley gets reimbursed for the gear.
We came to find out that the Big Blue can handle a "tilt" of 36 degrees. We tilted at 29 degrees. The hot tub water on the top deck was nearly empty, just to put this in perspective. After everyone caught their breath we decided to name our adventure "7 degrees from death". We had to have a little humor after this ordeal.
It was decided that we should head back to the port and wait out the weather. When we arrived, all the other Liveaboards had also entered port. We had decided that we would stay in port and that we would of course work around the weather either by taking the chaseboats out or taking Big Blue out if the bad weather subsided.
We took the Big Blue out for a couple of days but ended up traveling with the chaseboats for the most part. The trip was planned for 30 dives. Some of us did 18 dives, while others did even less.
DID I MENTION IT GETS WORSE...
On the second day it was decided that we dive the "Buoy #6 wreck" which is a WWII sub chaser that was sunk located in the Molarei channel.
Water temperature 84°F/29°C Visibility 20ft/7m at best
Air temperature 84°F/29°C
Dive time: 19 minutes
We had our dive briefing before the dive as usual and had discussed the dive. I was paired up with Kristen who was with her parents Doug and Deb on our trip. What a fantastic family and a wonderful and beautiful girl that has perfect trim and buoyancy...but I digress. We took the chaseboats out to the site and began our descent together. As we descended lower and lower I noticed that those ahead of me were moving at an awfully quick pace. The visibility was poor anyway and it was difficult to discern the divers from one another. I tried to concentrate on Kristen since she was wearing a blue bandanna on this dive as was I. The current got quicker...I'm at 77 ft. Approaching the wreck...there's Kristen just behind me... oh no...the current is picking up, it's racing...I just passed the wreck in about 3 seconds...but it's supposedly 100 ft. long. TURN DAMIR TURN!!! I'm kicking, against the current, I can't see Kristen...damn. Everyone is scrambling. Trying to get control but the current is too strong. Couples are grabbing ahold of each other at various pieces of their gear trying to keep together. Some are just blown in different directions in a split second while others are holding onto each other to keep from getting seperated in the pea soup of Palau. I look to my left and Lee is kicking like a madman....then SLAM!!! I just took out a 3 ft. piece of a coral fan...I'm tumbling and I realize another BIG coral rock is approaching fast...I need to keep an eye out for what's coming at me since my finning against the current is not doing much. I look around, I'm alone, I see a patch of sand and I'm about 10 feet from the bottom. I kick as hard as I can and dig my knife into the sand. DIG DAMN IT DIG!!! The knife is cutting through the sand bottom like melted butter leaving a 10 ft. trail, I try again using my left hand aso to dig with my fingers in the sand...it's not catching, finally and after the 3rd attempt I finally stop and am holding on with both hands on my knife. I'm reflecting for what seems like a while trying to catch my breath and slow down my breathing. I'm thinking about Kristen, how her Mom and Dad are doing...(probably having the dive of their life and wanting to kill me for losing their daughter). I'm staring at the sand bewildered and trying to figure out where to look for Kristen, all the while looking around for any sign of my group. I realize I taste alot of water in my mouth...oh no my reg is getting flooded from the current. I look up and there's Andre (the dive master) with Kristen next to him...thank God, at least he's been watching her. I'm finally resting and catching my breath when he signals me to come up to them.
I release, store my knife, but the current has already whisked them away and I can't even see their shadows. I adjust my venturi...still sucking water on my Legend LX. Damn...I'm beat and I look at my watch to realize were only 15 minutes into the dive and it has just seemed like it's rushed by. I look around and there's nothing...it's pea soup and the visibility is getting even worse now. I'm still moving at an extremely quick pace and decide to abort the dive (about time). I'm at about 15 feet when I see Gat (the other Dive Master) kicking like a madman and approaching me from behind. He looks at me and crosses his hands in a "X" symbol telling me to abort the dive. I'm thinking..."Already there Gat, 1 minute left on the safety stop", sausage deployed, and give him the O.K. He then leaves and kicks across the current hoping to find someone else. I again am all alone. I finish my safety stop and as I'm surfacing think to myself...I hope no one got hurt or worse...
At the surface I look around and I see some heads bobbing about 200 meters at my 7 o'clock... another couple of heads about 100 meters at my 9 o'clock. "God, I hope Kristen is O.K." The chaseboat comes around and it's the other groups (we were split into 2 dive groups). I signal the operator that I'm O.K. and he drives off to look for anyone in trouble. My boat comes to get me and there's Pam and Dave (another couple)...Pam's shook up...really bad.
She begins to give her account of the events and says that at one point her computer showed 24 feet (if memory serves me) and the next second shot down to 56 ft. One word pops into my mind... undercurrent. It was so bad that the bubbles were whipping around them and she kept looking down thinking that someone was beneath them. After reviewing my dive computer...she was right. My entire dive profile was strewn with fast ascent warning's as we were getting shot up and down.
Andre (the divemaster) probably got it worst. It seems that he was approaching the back of the wreck and was trying to go above it when the current slammed him down causing multiple scrapes over his legs. He was hurting for a while. Thank God it wasn't fire coral.
After getting back on the Big Blue, we all reflected and we still had a night dive to go. A handful (I believe 5) including myself, Kristen and her Dad decided to go. We decided to do the "Helmet Wreck" which was right next to the Big Blue. I had to get the monkey off my back although I was still a little shaken.
I still feel guilty about losing my dive buddy Kristen. She and her parents as well as the others assured me there was nothing I could do and in retrospect they are probably right. However, I am the type of diver that likes to sit back in the pack and enjoy my dive as well as keep an eye out for everyone. It's just my nature.
In retrospect, yes the trip could have been much better and there were some hairy moments, but we still got to see things we've never seen before. I think we are all much better divers for the experience and maybe even better people. I know I made some close friends.
