how to sink a plane, part 2

We were told to assemble at Aqualife Divers Academy on 1 March 2012 at 830AM.

The briefing.

All aboard.

We were the last team to arrive at the site, but technically we weren't late. The others were just early. In any case, our president was calm and relaxed. "They won't start without me," he said.

The Boracay diving community waits for Gov.

Our plane!

how to sink a plane, part 1

Once upon a time, I was president of the Boracay Association of Scuba-diving Schools (BASS). For four years, in fact. I was personally trained, mentored and groomed into leadership by Dirty Harry who was president before me. In La Famiglia, which is how I fondly think of the BASS, I was Michael Corleone.

I initiated quite a few projects during my term, but I was constantly hounded by the entire Boracay diving community's desire to create another wreck dive. (The first one was the Camia, a fishing/cargo vessel that we sank in 2001.) No matter how good I was at my job, all I ever heard was, "When are we gonna have a new wreck? Huh? When?"

The Camia is one of Boracay's best dive sites, and IMO one of the Philippines' best wreck dives.

So. In 2009, the universe gave us one.

15 December 2009, the first time I saw her. What a beauty.

Her radio call sign is Tri-bird because of the three jet engines.

But in my heart, she's always be "YAK"!

But it was not the right time.

hide and seek

Don't get too excited. I did NOT buy an underwater housing for my Lumix LX3. These pictures were taken with my trusty (and cheap) Canon Powershot SD750.

Juvenile frogfish: The gummy bear of the sea.

Don't step on the stingray!

This shrimp is only about 2cm long.

The SD750 is so great. Should I start bringing it with me everywhere, like my Lumix and Vivitar Ultra Wide? It's ridiculous-- having three cameras in my handbag all the time... or is it?

once on this island

Once upon a time, on an island with the best beach in the world, there was a little beach resort. It was one of the first on this island, and had a die-hard following of returning guests, friends and relatives.


Even when all the other newer resorts were building with concrete, this place maintained the native cottage look...


With lots of space to run around.


The rooms were all homey and some say, haunted.


The whole place felt like our private oasis/ playground. Lorenzo Main Resort, Boracay Island. Closed forever in the year 2005.


But New Wave Divers lives on.

stopover

Our last stop before we came back home was the sleepy little barangay of Patria in Pandan, Antique. We visited our friend and mentor, Dirty Harry. Retired from the navy, he is a scuba diving instructor, dive shop owner, former president of the Boracay Association of Scuba-diving Schools (BASS), boat builder, entrepreneur and all-around good guy. His shipyard is in Patria.


He builds speedboats from scratch. He's extremely good at it.


Patria is a lovely place. The last time I was here was 1999, I think. We went diving in this bay because there were whalesharks!


The water's so clean and clear. Too bad the weather just wouldn't cooperate for the entire trip.


Never mind. We'll be back.

Note: "Antique", when referring to the province, is pronounced an-TEE-keh.

diving with the nerds

We had three diving days during the Great Visayan Tour. The first was Panglao Island in Bohol. Unfortunately, the weather was bad. We couldn't get to the really good dive sites around Balicasag. We went to Doljo Point instead. It was OK.

And then, after our friends from Bacolod arrived in Dumaguete, we went diving around Siquijor Island. It was also OK.

Everyone was looking forward to Apo Island. I was worried about the weather, but on the day, the sea was as flat as a pancake.

Bunny Rabbit relaxing in the sun. The Mayor and BenG in the background.

Hot Tuna, Attorney Gold and the Architect getting ready to dive.

The first thing we saw:

My favorite underwater subject is Bunny Rabbit.

Isn't he photogenic?

Our dive guide was the Architect. Here he is surrounded by jacks.

NERDS: Negros Recreational Divers. Our friends from Bacolod are members of this org.

The receptionist at Dumaguete Royal Suite Inn, to Hot Tuna, as we were checking in: "Sir, are you a NERD?"

diver fashion

Photo by Bunny Rabbit.

Wearing: sunglasses by i2i, Boracay Sun Paddlers rash guard by Fluid Surf, board shorts from D'Talipapa, Suunto Vyper dive computer and Underwater Kinetics dive knife.

Location: Maniguin Island, Antique. Can be reached by boat from Boracay.

boracay's recompression chamber

I have been the president of the Boracay Association of Scuba-diving Schools (BASS) for four years now. Elections are held every December and the officers' term is one year, so yes, I have won four times. It's a thankless job that nobody else wants. There's no salary, no benefits, and everyone dumps all their problems on me. So why do I do it?

The reason arrived yesterday. Finally.

From Wikipedia: "A recompression chamber is a pressure vessel used to treat divers suffering from certain diving disorders such as decompression sickness."

My gad. It feels like I had been working on this project forever. But now we have our very own recompression chamber-- something that even the most popular scuba diving destinations in this country don't have.

I hope we never have to use it.

Mr. T is in charge of maintenance.