About
half way through the 13 hour cruise, we re-entered the storm.
Sigh....more rocking and rolling. We should have rotated 90 degrees
in the bed, but we just rolled back and forth for the second half of the night;
getting very little sleep.
We
were up early and practiced our navigation skills on the top deck first alone
and then with Anne.
We
motored to Koh Bon for the first dive.
We heard great things about this site. Of course we moored off a
rock in the ocean. Anne, Marianne, John and Cheri jumped in and descended
to the depths. It was time for the navigation dive. We got to 40
feet, swam a 100 foot line and counted how many kicks we each made. Then
it was time to do the square. We both did it and eureka the hardest part
of the advanced open water was done!
 |
| mantis shrimp |
 |
| Titan Triggerfish |
 |
| Trumpet fish |
 |
| Napoleon Wrasse |
We
started diving to see the scenery and all of the sudden Marianne was leaking
air big. Anne got our attention, told us to buddy up (swim close
together) and headed for the surface with Marianne. We were alone in the
sea at the edge of the island where the current was splitting as it flowed
around the point. It felt like it was pushing down on you which is pretty
scary. Cheri held John's hand and stayed very close as we looked for a
fish feeding frenzy. After a while we decided to go up. We got to 20 feet
and John filled his safety sausage (a balloon like thing that when filled with
air marks where divers are under water). Unfortunately, his line was only
15 feet long and it pulled him up. It's really important to go slow at
this stage to prevent decompression sickness. Cheri ascended to 15 feet and we
did a 3 minutes safety stop. That is where we hang between 15 and 18 feet
to help the nitrogen release from our systems before we head to the surface.
It helps to be sure that you don't get decompression sickness where
nitrogen bubbles through your joints and is very painful and can be life
threatening. We then came to the surface and were in rough seas.
John tried to signal the boat, but another boat was blocking us, so we
just bobbed in the sea waiting for that boat to clear. Ultimately it did
and our boat saw us and came to pick up. Yeah!!!
The
second, and final dive of the trip, was at Bonsung and was a wreck dive.
It was the final dive we needed to complete our advanced open water
course. The dive briefing showed some incredible fish that we might see, in
fact were almost guaranteed to see. One caveat, once in a whole the visibility
was near 0 feet. Anne, Marianne, John and Cheri jumped. The plan
was to take a mooring line down. As soon as we hit the water, it was
murky. We all hoped it would get better as we descended, but no luck it
just kept getting worse. We needed 20 minute for the dive to count....20
long damn minutes when you can barely see the person next to you! Cheri
and John held hands and Marianne was right nearby! We endured it and as
soon as 20 hit, Cheri signaled to Anne to go up. Everyone was thankful!!
Then
it was time to pack everything and get ready to disembark a few hours later.
There was no time for the gear to dry, so it got packed in plastic bags
and off we went.
Luckily we were in the same van as Marianne and Hans.
Even luckier, they were staying right across the street from us!!
We made a plan to go to dinner together. They came over around 5
and we went to the beach for beers and dinner. It was so nice!
Then
back to the room for the first full night’s sleep in a long while! The
only rocking was in our heads. There is a phenomenon when you come off a
boat that you've been on for days, your mind still thinks you are on the boat
and you continue to feel the rocking motion. Cheri actually loves the
feeling because it extends to good parts!
Enjoy!
Cheri & John
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