Sorry about the lack of posting, but the internet on the rig was pretty terrrible even for the standard that I have been recently used to.
We are currently travelling back to Koh Tao through some dodgy weather and circumstances with the floods in Bangkok, and flash flooding warnings in Surat Thani and Chumphon... To top that off, 3 metre waves are predicted so we may not even be able to reach the island... but we shall see... I shall endeavour over the next few days to do a big recap of the last few days of diving. Lots of good, and sadly, lots of bad...... Very upsetting to see what is happening in such a beautiful place on the planet...
Coming soon folks...
xxx
SD
Sunday 30 October 2011
Tuesday 25 October 2011
25th October 2011 - Day 1 at Sipadan!!
Brrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggg...
That was the alarm going off at 5am.... Terrible nights sleep, either too hot or told cold.... and up super early for some dives at Sipadan...
Sipadan is a special reserve, needing permits from the navy to dive. You are allocated a dive permit if you are lucky enough! Today, it was our day to enjoy the wonders of the island.
Leaving at 6am, we jumped into the speedboat for a 20 minute journey to the island, where we landed and registered our names to the military. Then it was straight to the first dive spot.. Jumping in the water, the coral was a sight to behold.. beautiful, healthy, and almost total coverage of the whole reef... amazing...
We spent 50 odd minutes, diving the coral, and the wall of the reef which descends to over 600m... seeing turtles, sharks, lionfish, bumphead parrotfish, maori wrasse... you name it... we saw it... awesome..
Then, breakfast time, at the island, which has changed slightly.. In 2002, all resorts were forced to dismantle their buildings and get off the island as the government decided they were causing too much damage to the environment. We first came here in 2006, on our honeymoon... not much has changed... slightly more organised instead of ramshackle buildings left over from the evictions... very good.
After breakfast, it was out for another couple of dives.... more of the same cool stuff... great!! I put a quick vid together after the dives... I think, maybe we saw about 30 turtles today.... they are everywhere!!
Arriving back at the oil rig, we chilled for a couple of hours and then went for a dive underneath the oil rig.... yet more cool stuff.... bumpheads, great barracuda, scorpion fish.... great... We returned to find our names on the list for Sipadan the next day!! BONUS!! We get to do it all again.... hopefully, I can get a sight of the reclusive Hammerhead Shark....
Another early night....
Much Love...
That was the alarm going off at 5am.... Terrible nights sleep, either too hot or told cold.... and up super early for some dives at Sipadan...
Sipadan is a special reserve, needing permits from the navy to dive. You are allocated a dive permit if you are lucky enough! Today, it was our day to enjoy the wonders of the island.
Leaving at 6am, we jumped into the speedboat for a 20 minute journey to the island, where we landed and registered our names to the military. Then it was straight to the first dive spot.. Jumping in the water, the coral was a sight to behold.. beautiful, healthy, and almost total coverage of the whole reef... amazing...
We spent 50 odd minutes, diving the coral, and the wall of the reef which descends to over 600m... seeing turtles, sharks, lionfish, bumphead parrotfish, maori wrasse... you name it... we saw it... awesome..
Then, breakfast time, at the island, which has changed slightly.. In 2002, all resorts were forced to dismantle their buildings and get off the island as the government decided they were causing too much damage to the environment. We first came here in 2006, on our honeymoon... not much has changed... slightly more organised instead of ramshackle buildings left over from the evictions... very good.
After breakfast, it was out for another couple of dives.... more of the same cool stuff... great!! I put a quick vid together after the dives... I think, maybe we saw about 30 turtles today.... they are everywhere!!
Arriving back at the oil rig, we chilled for a couple of hours and then went for a dive underneath the oil rig.... yet more cool stuff.... bumpheads, great barracuda, scorpion fish.... great... We returned to find our names on the list for Sipadan the next day!! BONUS!! We get to do it all again.... hopefully, I can get a sight of the reclusive Hammerhead Shark....
Another early night....
Much Love...
Monday 24 October 2011
24th October 2011 - A long day
We'd checked out of our hotel around 4.30am and then took a taxi to the airport. Our flight was at 7.10, so had to check in 2hrs before. Thankfully the roads were quiet and we made good time.
Pushing our cases through the doors, we checked the board for our flight details and then looked at each other ...DOH! ..we'd gone to the wrong airport. So grabbed another taxi and took a 15min ride down the road. Finally at the correct airport and luggage checked in, we boarded our AirAsia flight to Tawau only to notice that our seat no's were on the opposite sides of the plane. No big drama as I think we both slept most of the flight.
Once at Tawau, we were greated by a 'Seaventures' rep and then boarded a minibus for a further 2hr drive across seas of palm oil plantations to Semporna. We had the whole minibus to ourselves so space to spread out and snooze. I just wish the roads would have been a bit smoother, I felt like a tossed salad by the end of the journey ;-D
Once in Semporna, we clambered out of the minibus and then walked down the pier onto a little speedboat where we were given lovely orange life jackets to wear and jetted off across the water towards our final destination. SeaVentures Oil rig, the only diving rig in the world.
You might think taking a mini break from diving to go diving is weird but it brings back wonderful memories and just wait for some of our footage to be posted.
Our first dives were just on Mabul and on the rig house reef but the amount of sea life we've seen so far is just amazing and to end the day, we took the boat to Mabul, Borneo Divers (where we honeymooned) to see how things had changed.
A few more water villages have sprung us and more little touristy shops selling coral, shells, shark jaws which was shocking to see but not surprising.... they still have a lot to learn conservation wise...
But don't blame the locals, blame the tourists that buy this stuff.... supply and demand.... 5am start tomorrow ..Sipadan here we come!!!!!!!!
Pushing our cases through the doors, we checked the board for our flight details and then looked at each other ...DOH! ..we'd gone to the wrong airport. So grabbed another taxi and took a 15min ride down the road. Finally at the correct airport and luggage checked in, we boarded our AirAsia flight to Tawau only to notice that our seat no's were on the opposite sides of the plane. No big drama as I think we both slept most of the flight.
Once at Tawau, we were greated by a 'Seaventures' rep and then boarded a minibus for a further 2hr drive across seas of palm oil plantations to Semporna. We had the whole minibus to ourselves so space to spread out and snooze. I just wish the roads would have been a bit smoother, I felt like a tossed salad by the end of the journey ;-D
Once in Semporna, we clambered out of the minibus and then walked down the pier onto a little speedboat where we were given lovely orange life jackets to wear and jetted off across the water towards our final destination. SeaVentures Oil rig, the only diving rig in the world.
You might think taking a mini break from diving to go diving is weird but it brings back wonderful memories and just wait for some of our footage to be posted.
Our first dives were just on Mabul and on the rig house reef but the amount of sea life we've seen so far is just amazing and to end the day, we took the boat to Mabul, Borneo Divers (where we honeymooned) to see how things had changed.
A few more water villages have sprung us and more little touristy shops selling coral, shells, shark jaws which was shocking to see but not surprising.... they still have a lot to learn conservation wise...
But don't blame the locals, blame the tourists that buy this stuff.... supply and demand.... 5am start tomorrow ..Sipadan here we come!!!!!!!!
Sunday 23 October 2011
23rd October 2011 - MotoGP RaceDay
This post was supposed to be filled with excitement, and comments about our day being amazing.... Unfortunately, I type this post with sorrow in my heart....
We arrived in time for all of the races, but as ever, the main event was the MotoGP race.
The start of the race was clean (we watched on the video screen) and then the riders came around to our area of the track, where Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike and fell off.... Sadly, Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi were unable to avoid a collision with the fallen bike and rider.... the impact of the bikes were so violent that it was impossible to imagine that Marco had survived.
From our position, I could see immediately that it was very serious... while other people laughed and joked, I saw the ambulance crew lift the broken body of Marco Simoncelli away from the track, only to fall over as they attempted to get him to the ambulance (bringing more laughter from the crowd).
The accident is one of the most horrendous moments I have had the displeasure of watching in motorsports history. I told Jen that the race would be cancelled because I had no doubt that he had died. It was cancelled, and Jen was very upset at witnessing such a tragic occurence. It also reminded me, that these guys push the limits every time they are on the track, and that this is a very dangerous sport... they earn every damm penny.
Marco Simoncelli was an amazing talent. A wild boy with Sideshow Bob style hair.... he was a champion in the 250cc class before he hit the MotoGP class.. Touted to be the next "Rossi" he had a crazy start to his season with some wild moves, but during the latter parts of the season, he came into his own, getting great times, and podium finishes and you could see the future in him.
He will be greatly missed..
RIP Marco Simoncelli (1984-2011)
We arrived in time for all of the races, but as ever, the main event was the MotoGP race.
The start of the race was clean (we watched on the video screen) and then the riders came around to our area of the track, where Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike and fell off.... Sadly, Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi were unable to avoid a collision with the fallen bike and rider.... the impact of the bikes were so violent that it was impossible to imagine that Marco had survived.
From our position, I could see immediately that it was very serious... while other people laughed and joked, I saw the ambulance crew lift the broken body of Marco Simoncelli away from the track, only to fall over as they attempted to get him to the ambulance (bringing more laughter from the crowd).
The accident is one of the most horrendous moments I have had the displeasure of watching in motorsports history. I told Jen that the race would be cancelled because I had no doubt that he had died. It was cancelled, and Jen was very upset at witnessing such a tragic occurence. It also reminded me, that these guys push the limits every time they are on the track, and that this is a very dangerous sport... they earn every damm penny.
Marco Simoncelli was an amazing talent. A wild boy with Sideshow Bob style hair.... he was a champion in the 250cc class before he hit the MotoGP class.. Touted to be the next "Rossi" he had a crazy start to his season with some wild moves, but during the latter parts of the season, he came into his own, getting great times, and podium finishes and you could see the future in him.
He will be greatly missed..
RIP Marco Simoncelli (1984-2011)
Saturday 22 October 2011
22nd October 2011 - MotoGP Malaysia Qualifying!
Today, we woke early, and caught the monorail to the KL Sentral (the main station), where after searching for ages... we caught the "official" bus.
An hour later we were at the track, and we walked around checking the usual bike stuff out, trying to find where to get our caps and t-shirts that were in our ticket deals... It wasn't easy... they wanted my passport AND credit card as proof of who I was... Lucky I had it!
Anyway, on to the qualifying. An exciting day, we popped from view to view, checking out the best bits of the track, and figuring out where we want to see on raceday.
The noise of a MotoGP bike is something astounding... it hurts! I cannot believe the sound that those bikes make... stunning... the video below does not do it justice....
We settled for the back straight, as besides seeing bikes do 300km per hour, you can also see about another 1/3 of the track... so a good vantage point... At one point I was watching Rossi come into a very tight corner, and bless him... he crashed... He was fine, but it has put him quite far down in position.
I was experimenting with HDR, a technique that involves taking the same photo with several different shutter speed settings and then merging them into photoshop... Such as, this photo below.. which is actually made up of 8 separate photos merged together... I would like to know what you think..?
After qualifying, we headed out of the circuit to catch the bus home... we had to wait 90 mins before one appeared, and then 90 mins to get back to the city centre....JOY!!
Then we decided to take a walk to a market... After miles of walking and being sent in the wrong direction by some "helpful" person, we found it.... TAT!! They sold the cheesiest crap... we left, and went home to bed, ready for raceday!
x
SD
An hour later we were at the track, and we walked around checking the usual bike stuff out, trying to find where to get our caps and t-shirts that were in our ticket deals... It wasn't easy... they wanted my passport AND credit card as proof of who I was... Lucky I had it!
Anyway, on to the qualifying. An exciting day, we popped from view to view, checking out the best bits of the track, and figuring out where we want to see on raceday.
The noise of a MotoGP bike is something astounding... it hurts! I cannot believe the sound that those bikes make... stunning... the video below does not do it justice....
We settled for the back straight, as besides seeing bikes do 300km per hour, you can also see about another 1/3 of the track... so a good vantage point... At one point I was watching Rossi come into a very tight corner, and bless him... he crashed... He was fine, but it has put him quite far down in position.
I was experimenting with HDR, a technique that involves taking the same photo with several different shutter speed settings and then merging them into photoshop... Such as, this photo below.. which is actually made up of 8 separate photos merged together... I would like to know what you think..?
After qualifying, we headed out of the circuit to catch the bus home... we had to wait 90 mins before one appeared, and then 90 mins to get back to the city centre....JOY!!
Then we decided to take a walk to a market... After miles of walking and being sent in the wrong direction by some "helpful" person, we found it.... TAT!! They sold the cheesiest crap... we left, and went home to bed, ready for raceday!
x
SD
Friday 21 October 2011
20th - 21st October 2011 - MOTOGP Travels!!
We left Koh Tao at 3pm on the high speed catamaran. This boat usually takes 2 hours to get to the mainland, but 10 minutes after we left..... it was dead in the water.
After a while, the boat engineers managed to get the thing running on half power, and the ferry took 5 hours to get to Chumphon..
Luckily, we had a 4 hour window in between the ferry and train we needed to catch... so we arrived at the train station with 30 mins to spare.
Once the train had pulled up, we searched for our seats / beds for the 10 hour journey to Bangkok. Our seats were in the 2nd class carriage (but at least we had air con!)...
As you can see below... it was a bit tight, and click on the last picture to see what I was saying at the time...
I slept barely an hour of the journey...Sadly, almost none of our 70kg of luggage, is clothes... Dive equipment and filming equipment make up the bulk of it.... A pain, but once we hit Sipadan, it'll be worth it...
Arriving at 6am at Bangkok Station, we caught a taxi to the airport, and with 6 hours to wait.... got bored! When check-in finally opened, we had a little debate over the luggage ( I had ordered extra baggage, but they were denying it...) and finally checked in... a quick munch and it was on to the plane for our 2 hour flight to KL....
Arriving in KL, another 1 hour taxi ride to the hotel.... and relax... maybe... after doing work, planning what we do tonight, planning how we get to the stadium tomorrow... etc etc etc...
xxx
SD
Tuesday 18 October 2011
17th October 2011
Where the time goes ..I just dont know....
We've been busy diving and finishing off the last of the transplants at Junkyard which are now looking fantastic. All of the trays have been filled and we've only got a couple of the rope nursaries to move. So only a few more visits should be needed in order to transplant everything.
The really good news is that 'Buoyancy World 2.0' has finally been deployed. We were beginning to think it would never happen due to the multiple cancellations and monsoon season looming.
Here is a video of the ship going down...
And here are some pics of it underwater with some of our nursery transplants...
We've been busy diving and finishing off the last of the transplants at Junkyard which are now looking fantastic. All of the trays have been filled and we've only got a couple of the rope nursaries to move. So only a few more visits should be needed in order to transplant everything.
The really good news is that 'Buoyancy World 2.0' has finally been deployed. We were beginning to think it would never happen due to the multiple cancellations and monsoon season looming.
Here is a video of the ship going down...
And here are some pics of it underwater with some of our nursery transplants...
Wednesday 12 October 2011
13th October 2011
What a productive day!
Simon and I spent the last few days at Junkyard, transplanting corals to and from the coral nursery whilst Nathan, collected broken coral fragments and met us back at the boat. After many dives over the days dive carefully cutting the coral fragments down to size and placing them in plastic tubing, ready to refill the empty nursery trays
Now, we have refilled the trays, and have a new batch of babies to grow!! Wish them luck!!
Simon and I spent the last few days at Junkyard, transplanting corals to and from the coral nursery whilst Nathan, collected broken coral fragments and met us back at the boat. After many dives over the days dive carefully cutting the coral fragments down to size and placing them in plastic tubing, ready to refill the empty nursery trays
Now, we have refilled the trays, and have a new batch of babies to grow!! Wish them luck!!
Sunday 9 October 2011
10th October 2011
A dive at Chumphon Pinnacle a few days ago... this is my favourite dive site..
HD Version here: http://vimeo.com/30270483
xxx
SD
Saturday 8 October 2011
8th October 2011
The last couple of days, I have been back into the water testing my ears, which are slowly improving. While doing this, we have been working quite a bit on Junkyard.
Recyling our fragments from last year, we have repopulated the nursery with some very nice healthy coral, and after the first couple of weeks, we shall see if they survive..
x
SD
Recyling our fragments from last year, we have repopulated the nursery with some very nice healthy coral, and after the first couple of weeks, we shall see if they survive..
x
SD
Monday 3 October 2011
3rd October 2011
Jen was called in for a 1 person Discover Scuba Dive this morning... nice and simple. She went in the pool with her student for the morning session, while I went and worked on my laptop.
At about 11:30am, I got a called requesting me to come in and do 4 x people Discover Scuba Dive.. I hate 4 x people DSD's as its their first time ever in scuba gear, and is a real challenge for me. When I arrived at the dive school, things turned out to be even worse....
Jen (looking rather sheepish) told me that the group were Chinese (who are rarely comfortable) in the water.... and to top that... 3 of them could not swim. In my mind I think its absolute nuts to be able to jump on a boat and go into the ocean with a load of scuba gear when you are incapable of swimming, but the requirements for a DSD do not stipulate that you need to swim.. very odd.
After trying to convince them to have a pool session and then go from the beach for a dive, they refused, certain that they wanted to go on the afternoon boat. I knew it was going to be a hard day!
Once at the dive site, I kitted them all up, and jumped in, dragging 4 x students to the shoreline where they could stand, keeping them as calm as possible...
To be able to do a DSD, you need to be able to do a couple of skills... these usually take from 5 to 10 minutes... It took an hour of panicking etc... In that time, Jen had completed her dive, and came over to help... It was welcome!
Anyway, the dive was manageable with 2 each, unfortunately my ear was blocked, so I suffered 25 minutes of pain (I couldn't abort the dive and leave Jen with 4 people)... Eventually, I had enough and got everyone to the surface.. I then endured 2 hours of agony, due to massive pressure in one of my ears which could not escape... believe me... I was not very pleased with my day. The pressure finally subsided, and now I remain deaf in one ear (temporary)... so no diving for me for a few days :-(
On a lighter note.... we had a request for a personal message to Mr & Mrs Mandry... so here it is!! (Click on the picture to make it larger!!!)
xxx
SD
At about 11:30am, I got a called requesting me to come in and do 4 x people Discover Scuba Dive.. I hate 4 x people DSD's as its their first time ever in scuba gear, and is a real challenge for me. When I arrived at the dive school, things turned out to be even worse....
Jen (looking rather sheepish) told me that the group were Chinese (who are rarely comfortable) in the water.... and to top that... 3 of them could not swim. In my mind I think its absolute nuts to be able to jump on a boat and go into the ocean with a load of scuba gear when you are incapable of swimming, but the requirements for a DSD do not stipulate that you need to swim.. very odd.
After trying to convince them to have a pool session and then go from the beach for a dive, they refused, certain that they wanted to go on the afternoon boat. I knew it was going to be a hard day!
Once at the dive site, I kitted them all up, and jumped in, dragging 4 x students to the shoreline where they could stand, keeping them as calm as possible...
To be able to do a DSD, you need to be able to do a couple of skills... these usually take from 5 to 10 minutes... It took an hour of panicking etc... In that time, Jen had completed her dive, and came over to help... It was welcome!
Anyway, the dive was manageable with 2 each, unfortunately my ear was blocked, so I suffered 25 minutes of pain (I couldn't abort the dive and leave Jen with 4 people)... Eventually, I had enough and got everyone to the surface.. I then endured 2 hours of agony, due to massive pressure in one of my ears which could not escape... believe me... I was not very pleased with my day. The pressure finally subsided, and now I remain deaf in one ear (temporary)... so no diving for me for a few days :-(
On a lighter note.... we had a request for a personal message to Mr & Mrs Mandry... so here it is!! (Click on the picture to make it larger!!!)
xxx
SD
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