20 replies to this topic

[little mermaid]

We are all here, and hawk is hurting!!! Sad thing is, we haven´t even given him a spanking yet! But it´s only a matter of time. The last diver is here, and the bus is about to take us to La Paz. We won´t be able to give you any updates until we land again, I´m sure the suspense will be killing you ' it´s killing us!!!
See you.

[finGrabber]

I'm pretty sure most of us didn't realize this existed until today...it seems that the Captain on our latest trip has been uploading his logs! Enjoy:

Diving with sealions in the Sea of Cortez 2006-11-23
Position: 24o26'N 110o06'W


Location: Lareyna and Los Islotes, Sea of Cortez


Weather: Beautiful and sunny.


Water: Flat calm and great visibility.


Comments: We had a great morning dive. A 7 meter whaleshark came to visit for a few minutes and the friendly sealions had a party with the divers. Thousands of bait fish and some predator fish made for two fascinating dives. The evening dive last night at Los Islotes was an incredible time for interaction with sealion pups who played with the divers and put on a show teasing a pufferfish making it blow up and then harassing it when it deflated again. Our divemaster caught some great video shots of the sealions twirling in and out of the divers. Captain Dave

[finGrabber]

And more:

2006-11-25
Weather: Light winds of 10 knots.

Water: Clear vis with over 100' visibility and 79oF

Comments: Our first dive was an advanced dive with current. Our guests were rewarded with white tip reef sharks, reef fish and a manta that followed the skiff back to the mother shhip. We then had open pool time with the manta gracefully flying in amongst the divers and snorkellers for so long that he tired us all out. Our evening snorkel with the silkt sharks was both frightening and fascinating with some 3 and 5 foot sharks checking us out. At 2300 we had four dolphins and three four foot sikly sharks come in to feed on the flying fish attracted by the overboard floodlights. Captain Dave

[finGrabber]

Yet Again:

Diving with the giant mantas 2006-11-26
Location: West side of Socorro Island

Weather: Beautiful and sunny.

Water: 79oF

Comments: We had another beautiful day on the west side of Socorro Island. Our divers were treated to dramatic views topside of lava flows covered in low green bushes that are still enjoying hte residual water from the last hurricane. Underwater the rock formations are even more dramatic because of the rapid cooling of molten lava by the sea water. There were feeding mantas, a loggerhead turtle, and of course the silky sharks ranging in size from 3 to 5 feet that are curious to see the divers. At the end of the dive day some guests snorkelled with dolphins and silky sharks feeding on flying fish. Captain Dave

[ScubaHawk]

WHAT A TRIP!! Diving with sea lions, manta rays, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, silver tip sharks. hammer head sharks, more morays that I could count, octopi, rock fish, rocks, fish etc!!!! The boat and crew were awesome, the service - outstanding and the divers were the best!


It was a good trip.

[orcaman]

WHAT A TRIP!! Diving with sea lions, manta rays, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, silver tip sharks. hammer head sharks, more morays that I could count, octopi, rock fish, rocks, fish etc!!!! The boat and crew were awesome, the service - outstanding and the divers were the best!


It was a good trip.

Cool, it was awsome, WW wants to to know when the Limericks will get here so I can finish the video. so let me know please,
enjoyed the trip.
Orcaman

[Diversitea]

WHAT A TRIP!! Diving with sea lions, manta rays, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, silver tip sharks. hammer head sharks, more morays that I could count, octopi, rock fish, rocks, fish etc!!!! The boat and crew were awesome, the service - outstanding and the divers were the best!


It was a good trip.

Cool, it was awsome, WW wants to to know when the Limericks will get here so I can finish the video. so let me know please,
enjoyed the trip.
Orcaman

Oh the Mantas - and sea lions - and Hammerheads.......When I get some of the pictures up on the Diversitea site I will link them - WOW!!!!!!

And the Diversitea was a hit as well! (Always makes me glad). But I was up til 3:30 Friday night trying to catch up - and am still at it, but it was all worth it!

[WreckWench]

All I can say is WOW!!! This was one of the best trips I've ever been on. The diving was FANTASTIC!!! The crew was superb and the group was one of the best mixes of divers I've ever been on!

I can't wait to post some of the pictures the divers took and give a full update! For those who didn't know...I celebrated the most incredible dives in my diving history to date...dive #999, #1000 and #1001!!! My first hammerhead on dive #999. We had incredible Manta Ray interactions on my 1000th dive (yes they let us tickle their bellies and they kept coming back for more! And in such blue, blue water too!) And then on dive #1001 I saw my first school of hammarheads and more Mantas! We played with sea lions who were sooooooooooooo playful and cute and FUN!!!

I will post a full report soon! -ww

[secretsea18]

To those on the Socorro trip:

How many dives were you offered in total for the trip???

Were there any night dives offered in Socorro region? were any offered in Sea of Cortez?


Thanks,
Robin

[OTWdiver]

As I recall we had 8 days of diving out of 11 total days. Total dives offered were 30 and two snorkel events, one a night Snorkel with silky sharks at the back of the boat under the boat lights the other was with a very friendly Manta near the boat. We did one night dive in the Sea of Cortez and three transition dives in the Socorro region on the trip. I am one of those guys that does not log every dive but I think I am close on this one.

The boat was very easy to get around with a very large dive deck. More camera table space than we could use not counting the two shelves one above and one below the table. Two large camera tanks and fresh water changed twice a day. They thought of everything and then some. This crew was the best I have been with. You could ask everyone on the trip and I will bet they did not realize the boat was even short a crew member for our trip. They were feeding us before the first dive at 7:30 and fed us again after the dive at 9:00. Water and Diversitea, and snacks delivered to the divers on a tray while you were putting your arms into your BC before the dive and again when you stepped off the launch after the dive by our stewards. Everyone felt pampered. Every dive you were greeted with a friendly "how was your dive" by Sten and Steen, the men who kept our tanks full. We were going through air and Nitrox like there was no tomorrow but they did a great job keeping up. The boat had four compressors and three sets of banks. They were always filling tanks and we never had to wait for fills. This boat was prepared for every diver to suck the tank dry and splash after the surface interval. GREAT JOB guys.

[OTWdiver]

Thank You Everyone
I would like to thank everyone on the trip and the Crew on the boat for helping my Mom and I.
Everything from holding doors, filling water bottles, sneaking a cookie, band aids and ointments, and of course help with stairs and doorsills. We could not have done this trip without your help. I was able to make every dive and most of the time I was on the first boat. The only way this was possible was with all of the support I had.
She enjoyed the activity in the salon and sharing our dives through watching the videos on the TV and of course the jokes and laughs. I know she does not talk a lot but she had the best time. She was always a very outgoing personality and I owe a lot to her.

We will share the best memories with this trip and for this opportunity; I am forever grateful and thankful to you and what you gave us.
Thanks,
OTWdiver & OTWmom

[ScubaHawk]

2 of the funniest jokes on the trip were told by OTW's mom. (she has great timing)

OTW - I still owe you for the dive book - let me know.

Larry - I've been working since I got back - but I have sunday off and will record and e-mail you (PM me your e-mail address.)

[Diversitea]

Thank You Everyone
I would like to thank everyone on the trip and the Crew on the boat for helping my Mom and I.
Everything from holding doors, filling water bottles, sneaking a cookie, band aids and ointments, and of course help with stairs and doorsills. We could not have done this trip without your help. I was able to make every dive and most of the time I was on the first boat. The only way this was possible was with all of the support I had.
She enjoyed the activity in the salon and sharing our dives through watching the videos on the TV and of course the jokes and laughs. I know she does not talk a lot but she had the best time. She was always a very outgoing personality and I owe a lot to her.

We will share the best memories with this trip and for this opportunity; I am forever grateful and thankful to you and what you gave us.
Thanks,
OTWdiver & OTWmom

The trip was great, and your mom has a good sense of humor - and a LOVE of ice cream.....me too! It was a pleasure having her on the trip, and although she did not dive, she did several vicarious dives watching the great video you and Orcaman and Alfredo brought back!

I am all stocked up on calendula cream and stuff - so let me know if you want some. I left our only tube on the Nautilus for the crew...but the shipment cane in and was logged today.

[orcaman]

WHAT A TRIP!! Diving with sea lions, manta rays, white tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, silky sharks, silver tip sharks. hammer head sharks, more morays that I could count, octopi, rock fish, rocks, fish etc!!!! The boat and crew were awesome, the service - outstanding and the divers were the best!


It was a good trip.

Hawkman, waiting on the Cd with the limericks, need it so try to get it soon,
Thanks and enjoyed the trip.
The Orcaman

[orcaman]

2 of the funniest jokes on the trip were told by OTW's mom. (she has great timing)

OTW - I still owe you for the dive book - let me know.

Larry - I've been working since I got back - but I have sunday off and will record and e-mail you (PM me your e-mail address.)

Hey, don't work too hard, just do it and then convert to MP3 and send to orcaman@bellsouth.net,
Thanks
Larry