Sail 'n Dive
Registered
I returned a couple of weeks ago from a dive trip to the Galapagos (Aug 14-24) organized by Leslie at divethegalapagos. It was one of her whole-boat charters, Estrella del Mar. The diving was excellent to spectacular, but I have to say that the service on board was uneven.
Leslie handpicked Peter Freire as the lead DM. Unfortunately, he hurt his back very badly after slipping and falling on board the boat on the first night in Itabaca channel. This meant that we went instead with Maccaron as lead, and Solon as # 2. The scene on board became much less National Geographic and much more like a Man Cave. The DMs took over the only heated salon, watched guy B-movies with a lot of bare breasted women, gross-out jokes (think The Hangover and Piranha) and gory gangs and guns sort of thing. yuk. There were several people on board whom I wanted to get to know, but since most of us found the scene in the salon a big turn off, we tended to scatter instead of socializing when meals were finished.
On accommodations, I lucked out. I was assigned to share a cabin on the top deck with a very nice lady. I happen to have done a bit of bluewater sailing on board sailboats, so I knew that I preferred the top bunk and, as luck would have it once more, she preferred the bottom. We kept things very neat and tidy and enjoyed our rooms extra privacy and abundant fresh air. The private head in our cabin was remarkable for an ocean-going vessel maybe this is because I am new to scuba-diving liveaboards ? it was spacious, boasted a real and fairly well functioning flush toilet, instead of the marine head I am used to from sailboats, and a really nice shower, with tons of hot water (cant imagine the size of their watermaker and holding tanks !). The staff kept the head and our room clean for the whole week. Having open air rails right next to my room where I could hang out two rinsed out bathing suits, having slipped into the third one for the next dive, was great. For me, when I am on board a boat, its often the little things like this that matter a lot. But with the exception of the other cabin on the top deck, all the other cabins were below the water line. They were rather stuffy, had stale furnishings, and smelled like damp fabric and a chemical cleaner.
The dining room was very nice and I thought the food was great I have a special diet and the cook and waiter were really very sweet about it. Others who ate the regular fare and who have more experience with liveaboards, however, found the food about average.
On dive support: our tanks were filled on time, even when we were really jamming to get to the next dive, and the nitrox mix was darn close to 32 with each test. The aft dive deck was spacious, but it was also a bit slippery, being made of worn wooden planks and lacking non-skid surfaces under foot.
The panga loading went really well, in spite of considerable chop, as I was always being steadied by four or more attentive and really strong guys, including the cook in his kitchen linens. (It was kinda cute being called la pequena when I do not think of myself like that !) Most panga rides were fine, and a few were damn scenic, but on a couple of occasions at Wolf, they were long and uncomfortable, especially since we were all kitted up, with weights on, hanging on and crashing about in really mixed seas, and there is really no way to get the damn air tank sitting against the side so that ones seated position is ergonomic. I would work on getting my back stronger if I did this trip over again. Entries and exits were perfect, even in rougher conditions.
The DMs below the surface were, I thought, great. At first, lets say I was rather attentive to the DM at every second. Others might say I was stuck to Maccaron like a burr in a saddle blanket, and that I was never more than 15 feet away from him on the first dives at Wolf, meaning that my more experienced buddy was obliged to stick close in as well. Fair enough ! Ok, diving with sharks is kinda new to me, I had seen a few from a reasonable distance in Saba and Belize, but never ones this big, so plentiful, and so damn close. On the first dive at Wolf, I had the big eyes at one point and Maccarron reached out and held my hand for a sec; it was very sweet and reassuring. The very cool thing was that Maccorron let me grow as a diver. Later, as I became much more accustomed to the conditions (wow, that silky is so close that I need to draw in my arms tight so as not to touch her, how cool is that hey, look at the scars on that female hammerhead, looks like she mated quite recently how do 12 hammerheads maintain perfect choreography in this current, they look like an airforce squadron doing a flyover at the state fair look at those little Moorish butterflyfish bravely darting out from the rocks to do their cleaning thing on the skin of that huge shark . Oops, that shark over there just got a wild hair and instead of continuing to cruise slowly by the rocks with her tail down to approach the cleaning station, she just exploded off like a mad thing out into the blue, wonder what made her do that, damn right shes 80% muscle its amazing how this sort of thing becomes everyday with only a couple of dives!) Maccaron saw that I was doing just fine and sticking with my buddy, and he adjusted accordingly.
So what did we see ? Wow, lots and lots of sharks: white tips, Galapagos, silkies, and hammerheads : especially at Darwin: unending schools, rivers and rivers of sharks. At one point, we were way way way out into the blue we later surfaced from that dive about half way between the Arch and our anchorage -- and even as we glided along, we would see dozens and dozens of hammerhead sharks at a time, in all directions. We had two all-too-brief encounters with whale sharks, a big one (35 feet ?) and what the others called a baby (I thought it looked as big as a city bus, but thats just my inexperience talking) of about 18 feet or so. Gorgeous rays, eagle spotted and marbled, often in groups of four or six, turtles, moray eels, a seahorse, lobsters, tuna, baitballs of jacks, dolphins, and, at the surface, a majestic orca. Favorite dives: first place, Darwins Arch; second: Landslide at Wolf.
Towards the end of the trip, I actually relished the challenge of the current and drifts. I have also done a bit of high current diving in British Columbia, and I adjusted to the current and rock gripping techniques fairly well, in my humble opinion. I came away from the diving really delighted; here I was, with 130 dives, 55, and 134 lbs soaking wet, more or less keeping up with the group and enjoying simply outstanding encounters with the sharks and rays. It was a real treat.
But other more experienced divers (i.e. 500 to 1,000+ dives) complained that the DMs were not as helpful as they should have been. It is true that Maccaron got a bit distracted by his own camera on the last 3 dives I did with him, which was sort of odd as I have never seen a DM on duty taking pictures before. Some told me on the first days that Solon was rather aloof underwater, and prone to letting the group get rather scattered by not being all that clear in the pre-dive briefing and in giving underwater directions. The water was often rather milky and nutrient spotted, -- some estimated viz at about 30 feet, I guess it depends upon what you call acceptable visibility, as we could see shadows and outlines of critters far off in the blue, 50 feet below us in the sand, and 30 feet between us and the surface, all in outline fairly well defined. It is true that often you could only see the details of a given shark if it was, say 15 or 20 feet away, and this is with new mask and new corrective lens. Plus the current was at times kinda strong even though the DMs said that compared to the seasonal norms, it was usually around average, sometimes weaker than usual. Anyway, with these conditions, and my relative lack of experience, I was determined not to lose my DM. So we had Solon with our group a few times. Now maybe I was making an extra effort to look at what he was doing or maybe he changed his style or maybe I was lucky yet again, but I found it easy to stick to him and thought it was exciting how he would lead us out to the blue on the hunt for things. So I had a blast with the diving, but others who have much more diving experience than I were somewhat less enthusiastic.
The cold water was no big thing as I train in New York state and have dived California and British Columbia. I used to dive in a dry suit but did not like lugging all that weight around. Having a 7 mm, booties, and a 2 mm hood was like a holiday for me. I tried something new, a 19 cf pony bottle, with its own reg. As predicted by some of my dive buddies, I did not need it. On the panga rides, it made my kit heavier and more awkward, which was a pain. I wore it the whole week, and then when a crew member offered to buy it, I sold it in a heartbeat.
A nice plus: once at Wolf, and on another occasion at Darwin, Maccarron treated us to tours of the islands in the pangas, in the late afternoon after our last dive of the day. We piled into the zodiacs in dry shorts and sweatshirts, and motored around the shorelines there, we followed pods of dolphins, got up close to the nesting birds on the spectacular cliffs, explored a small cave, and puttered right up to the arch where a small sea lion colony was perched on the rocks, with a tiny pup peeking out from behind its mother very cool.
At present, I am having the usual post dive trip cravings, and want to start thinking about next summer's trip. So what is the bottom line for me? I would take a trip on the Estrella again, but only if I could get a top deck cabin, and thats probably not an option they support, so there it is. I would definitely dive with Leslies organizational support again; not only is she great with all the details, she happens to be a really generous person and an interesting character. The DMs ? sure, I would dive with Maccarron and Solon again, but I would want them to guarantee that they would nix the man cave thing in the salon for the long passages to the outer islands. What the heck, when there is downtime, lets have optional get-togethers gently but effectively moderated by a discussion leader in the salon to talk about diving, the critters, swap stories about sailing, boats, and global travel, watch videos about the same, learn about shark behaviour, etc. etc. etc. If a DM wants to take a break, fine, but perhaps that could be done elsewhere? Having said that, I did have a riot dancing salsa with Maccarron in the salon on the night after the weeks diving was all done and we were steaming back to Itabaca. I could blame all mis-steps on the rough seas and the one or two lady drinks that I was sipping with great reserve and delicacy
Wish list: a trip with 10 days at Wolf and Darwin only. (dream on, I know )
(Sorry, I was not one of the photogs for the group, so no images for scubaboard ! apologies one of our guys, Pedro Paulo Capelossi, from Trip Noronha, is posting video on youtube, on Trip Noronhas own channel )
Leslie handpicked Peter Freire as the lead DM. Unfortunately, he hurt his back very badly after slipping and falling on board the boat on the first night in Itabaca channel. This meant that we went instead with Maccaron as lead, and Solon as # 2. The scene on board became much less National Geographic and much more like a Man Cave. The DMs took over the only heated salon, watched guy B-movies with a lot of bare breasted women, gross-out jokes (think The Hangover and Piranha) and gory gangs and guns sort of thing. yuk. There were several people on board whom I wanted to get to know, but since most of us found the scene in the salon a big turn off, we tended to scatter instead of socializing when meals were finished.
On accommodations, I lucked out. I was assigned to share a cabin on the top deck with a very nice lady. I happen to have done a bit of bluewater sailing on board sailboats, so I knew that I preferred the top bunk and, as luck would have it once more, she preferred the bottom. We kept things very neat and tidy and enjoyed our rooms extra privacy and abundant fresh air. The private head in our cabin was remarkable for an ocean-going vessel maybe this is because I am new to scuba-diving liveaboards ? it was spacious, boasted a real and fairly well functioning flush toilet, instead of the marine head I am used to from sailboats, and a really nice shower, with tons of hot water (cant imagine the size of their watermaker and holding tanks !). The staff kept the head and our room clean for the whole week. Having open air rails right next to my room where I could hang out two rinsed out bathing suits, having slipped into the third one for the next dive, was great. For me, when I am on board a boat, its often the little things like this that matter a lot. But with the exception of the other cabin on the top deck, all the other cabins were below the water line. They were rather stuffy, had stale furnishings, and smelled like damp fabric and a chemical cleaner.
The dining room was very nice and I thought the food was great I have a special diet and the cook and waiter were really very sweet about it. Others who ate the regular fare and who have more experience with liveaboards, however, found the food about average.
On dive support: our tanks were filled on time, even when we were really jamming to get to the next dive, and the nitrox mix was darn close to 32 with each test. The aft dive deck was spacious, but it was also a bit slippery, being made of worn wooden planks and lacking non-skid surfaces under foot.
The panga loading went really well, in spite of considerable chop, as I was always being steadied by four or more attentive and really strong guys, including the cook in his kitchen linens. (It was kinda cute being called la pequena when I do not think of myself like that !) Most panga rides were fine, and a few were damn scenic, but on a couple of occasions at Wolf, they were long and uncomfortable, especially since we were all kitted up, with weights on, hanging on and crashing about in really mixed seas, and there is really no way to get the damn air tank sitting against the side so that ones seated position is ergonomic. I would work on getting my back stronger if I did this trip over again. Entries and exits were perfect, even in rougher conditions.
The DMs below the surface were, I thought, great. At first, lets say I was rather attentive to the DM at every second. Others might say I was stuck to Maccaron like a burr in a saddle blanket, and that I was never more than 15 feet away from him on the first dives at Wolf, meaning that my more experienced buddy was obliged to stick close in as well. Fair enough ! Ok, diving with sharks is kinda new to me, I had seen a few from a reasonable distance in Saba and Belize, but never ones this big, so plentiful, and so damn close. On the first dive at Wolf, I had the big eyes at one point and Maccarron reached out and held my hand for a sec; it was very sweet and reassuring. The very cool thing was that Maccorron let me grow as a diver. Later, as I became much more accustomed to the conditions (wow, that silky is so close that I need to draw in my arms tight so as not to touch her, how cool is that hey, look at the scars on that female hammerhead, looks like she mated quite recently how do 12 hammerheads maintain perfect choreography in this current, they look like an airforce squadron doing a flyover at the state fair look at those little Moorish butterflyfish bravely darting out from the rocks to do their cleaning thing on the skin of that huge shark . Oops, that shark over there just got a wild hair and instead of continuing to cruise slowly by the rocks with her tail down to approach the cleaning station, she just exploded off like a mad thing out into the blue, wonder what made her do that, damn right shes 80% muscle its amazing how this sort of thing becomes everyday with only a couple of dives!) Maccaron saw that I was doing just fine and sticking with my buddy, and he adjusted accordingly.
So what did we see ? Wow, lots and lots of sharks: white tips, Galapagos, silkies, and hammerheads : especially at Darwin: unending schools, rivers and rivers of sharks. At one point, we were way way way out into the blue we later surfaced from that dive about half way between the Arch and our anchorage -- and even as we glided along, we would see dozens and dozens of hammerhead sharks at a time, in all directions. We had two all-too-brief encounters with whale sharks, a big one (35 feet ?) and what the others called a baby (I thought it looked as big as a city bus, but thats just my inexperience talking) of about 18 feet or so. Gorgeous rays, eagle spotted and marbled, often in groups of four or six, turtles, moray eels, a seahorse, lobsters, tuna, baitballs of jacks, dolphins, and, at the surface, a majestic orca. Favorite dives: first place, Darwins Arch; second: Landslide at Wolf.
Towards the end of the trip, I actually relished the challenge of the current and drifts. I have also done a bit of high current diving in British Columbia, and I adjusted to the current and rock gripping techniques fairly well, in my humble opinion. I came away from the diving really delighted; here I was, with 130 dives, 55, and 134 lbs soaking wet, more or less keeping up with the group and enjoying simply outstanding encounters with the sharks and rays. It was a real treat.
But other more experienced divers (i.e. 500 to 1,000+ dives) complained that the DMs were not as helpful as they should have been. It is true that Maccaron got a bit distracted by his own camera on the last 3 dives I did with him, which was sort of odd as I have never seen a DM on duty taking pictures before. Some told me on the first days that Solon was rather aloof underwater, and prone to letting the group get rather scattered by not being all that clear in the pre-dive briefing and in giving underwater directions. The water was often rather milky and nutrient spotted, -- some estimated viz at about 30 feet, I guess it depends upon what you call acceptable visibility, as we could see shadows and outlines of critters far off in the blue, 50 feet below us in the sand, and 30 feet between us and the surface, all in outline fairly well defined. It is true that often you could only see the details of a given shark if it was, say 15 or 20 feet away, and this is with new mask and new corrective lens. Plus the current was at times kinda strong even though the DMs said that compared to the seasonal norms, it was usually around average, sometimes weaker than usual. Anyway, with these conditions, and my relative lack of experience, I was determined not to lose my DM. So we had Solon with our group a few times. Now maybe I was making an extra effort to look at what he was doing or maybe he changed his style or maybe I was lucky yet again, but I found it easy to stick to him and thought it was exciting how he would lead us out to the blue on the hunt for things. So I had a blast with the diving, but others who have much more diving experience than I were somewhat less enthusiastic.
The cold water was no big thing as I train in New York state and have dived California and British Columbia. I used to dive in a dry suit but did not like lugging all that weight around. Having a 7 mm, booties, and a 2 mm hood was like a holiday for me. I tried something new, a 19 cf pony bottle, with its own reg. As predicted by some of my dive buddies, I did not need it. On the panga rides, it made my kit heavier and more awkward, which was a pain. I wore it the whole week, and then when a crew member offered to buy it, I sold it in a heartbeat.
A nice plus: once at Wolf, and on another occasion at Darwin, Maccarron treated us to tours of the islands in the pangas, in the late afternoon after our last dive of the day. We piled into the zodiacs in dry shorts and sweatshirts, and motored around the shorelines there, we followed pods of dolphins, got up close to the nesting birds on the spectacular cliffs, explored a small cave, and puttered right up to the arch where a small sea lion colony was perched on the rocks, with a tiny pup peeking out from behind its mother very cool.
At present, I am having the usual post dive trip cravings, and want to start thinking about next summer's trip. So what is the bottom line for me? I would take a trip on the Estrella again, but only if I could get a top deck cabin, and thats probably not an option they support, so there it is. I would definitely dive with Leslies organizational support again; not only is she great with all the details, she happens to be a really generous person and an interesting character. The DMs ? sure, I would dive with Maccarron and Solon again, but I would want them to guarantee that they would nix the man cave thing in the salon for the long passages to the outer islands. What the heck, when there is downtime, lets have optional get-togethers gently but effectively moderated by a discussion leader in the salon to talk about diving, the critters, swap stories about sailing, boats, and global travel, watch videos about the same, learn about shark behaviour, etc. etc. etc. If a DM wants to take a break, fine, but perhaps that could be done elsewhere? Having said that, I did have a riot dancing salsa with Maccarron in the salon on the night after the weeks diving was all done and we were steaming back to Itabaca. I could blame all mis-steps on the rough seas and the one or two lady drinks that I was sipping with great reserve and delicacy
Wish list: a trip with 10 days at Wolf and Darwin only. (dream on, I know )
(Sorry, I was not one of the photogs for the group, so no images for scubaboard ! apologies one of our guys, Pedro Paulo Capelossi, from Trip Noronha, is posting video on youtube, on Trip Noronhas own channel )
