Off to the races

Did you know that October 12th is Dia de la Raza (Day of the Races) in several South American countries? Hmm. Well were off to our day of diving this afternoon. Jo and I had 4 open water students each. We also had a couple of certified guests, Cary from Denver and Willy, er, I never did find out where he came from. Anyway, we took off for Turtle Canyons. Liz, our lovely DMC from South Africa dove for the mooring. The extra long Beuchat fins were probably overkill for the 15 foot dive, but rumor has it she will dive to the Corsair, 107 feet, Friday morning. Bring you video cameras boys and girls! I took my class on dive #1, including David. Boy what a difference a day makes. David’s ears couldn’t clear at all yesterday, but today he descended like a pro. Awesome job! Emilie (David’s wife and IDH student) must be relieved :-) We had a few buoyancy challenges, but hey, that’s what OW #1 is all about -- figuring out this diving thing for the first time. Once we got going, we found a turtle hanging about in the rocks -- always nice on your first dive out -- before we had to return to the boat for surface skills. Everyone, Erik, Chris, Ryan, David and Nick did a great job, especially with the wind chop that made the tired diver tow all that more challenging!

Our surface interval was marred by the loss of our beloved red vines. The storage container was apparently not waterproof enough to withstand the melting ice in the cooler. Oh the humanity! Nothing but red mushy goo at the bottom of the mask box.

For the second dive of the day we went to Koko Craters. My guys nailed all their skills, including the C.E.S.A. which some consider the most challenging part of the course. We went on to make a 55 minute dive! That some great bottom time for first timers. Jo’s students, Lucy, Adam and David were on the last dive for certification and finished the dive by making a rock solid horizontal ascent to the surface. The dreadi-master quote of the day, “They were awesome!” Cary, Willy and Liz found an octopus squiggling in the rocks and we all found the mondo honu (turtle) underneath the Buddah. Even Captain Joe got into the act with a brief dive, Hawaiian style (tank under the arm).

Gee, another day in Hawaii. Thanks for taking us diving with you.

Liz, Jo & Ken