Descent into the Depths

Well, I've been here on Gili Trawangan, off of the island of Lombok, for a while now - this is one of the dive meccas of Indonesia, and I've had ear problems the whole time -- so I've had to content myself with snorkling. The reefs just of the beach are pretty good and I've liked seeing the bright colorful fish, some nice coral formations, and have been playing with my underwaterhousing a bit. I can't pressurize my right ear (or hear out of it), and have had a pretty impressive throat infection, so I'm now on antibiotics (for the second time in this trip - craaazy -- i'm almost surprised that I would let this happen, but I REALLY want to get in the water, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes...). Ah well .... I really don't mind getting delayed here on this tropical island paradise -- life has slipped into a routine of banana p[ancakes in the morning, then yoga and working out on the beach, maybe some swimming. Reading and studying, a brief nap in the heat of the afternoon, some internet, and dinner and a movie lounging around by the big screen outdoor cinema. And some dancing in the evening or listen to some music. Then sleep, and back at it the next day. After so much packing and unpacking, this is nice just to relax.
So in the meantime to feel like I am still making progress toward my goal, I have enrolled in a divemaster program, which consists of
1) Emergency First Response
2) Rescue Diver
3) Divemaster training

Here are the divemasters in training:


I've finished the first part of the dive-master course yesterday -- the Emergency First Responder course where we practiced CPR, rescue breathing, bleeding management, splinting, defribbulation, etc. Good course material! It was a great eye-opener for me and has certainly helped to boost my confidence to deal with emergency situations. I recommended to Veronica (my dear sis’) that since she is a super-mom extrordinaire, that she should consider at least reading the course material. It has gotten me thinking about possibly pursuing more advanced medical training as I'd like to have the knowledge and skills to assist when necessary. Who knows -- many options. Good to practice anyway - we went through a bunch of scenarios, such as an unconscious person in the office, the scene of a major car crash, an electrocution victim, etc. After doing it a bunch of times it becomes somewhat second nature -- well, easier anyway, and I started to use visualization techniques to imagine that the rubber doll "little annie" was actually one of these victims instead of a fake doll in a classroom. Fun fun fun . The instructor was great too - a lifeguard and a nurse -- he had a good amount of extra knowledge.
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Finally I am diving!


And I managed to find Nemo!


As well as some sharks at Sunset Reef:



And some other gorgeous batfish:


These Bumphead Parrotfish are like large herds of cows:


Flounders hiding on the bottom:




Another hiding creature:


But these don't hide -- super poisonous bad-@ss fishies (white one is a leaf scorpion fish, and the red ones are lion fish):




Another tough creature:


As well as the poisonous Nudibranch -- a peaceful and slow-moving little worm creature:


Here is Marcos charming a Cuttlefish -- with patience, he would lure it in, and raise one finger, and the futtlefish would put up one tentacle -- ten two fingers, and it would put up two tentacles -- some strange communication, or maiting ritual....




I helped teach a Rescue Diver course after I had completed the first one, and here is the merry crew that spent time dragging me out of the water as I acted as an unconscious diver needing CPR:


One day along a fast moving drift dive out at Shark Point, Marcos and Harry and I came across a massive school of large Trevalles swimming to keep place at the top of a ridge. So we fought the current to ascend from the base of the wall, and slowly integrated ourselves with the school of massive fish:




So many gorgeous and fractally-complex corals:








Back in the boat:


I'd noticed that I had let myself slip a bit out of my routine here and was staying up way to late with all the great nighttime activities, getting about 3-4 hrs of sleep for multiple nights in a row, which may have contributed to getting sick. So I'm clamping down a bit now, regulating my diet more, going to sleep earlier, etc. Also been doing yoga, lifting weights, and practicing poi on the beach every morning, and often get in a second pump in the afternoon before eating my dinner protein chunk. This has been a nice change, and especially as I get into the diving groove, it will be a blessing to continue this ritual. Especially to help welcome in the 30th year.

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The dive shop, Blue Marlin Dive (www.diveindo.com) conducts a lot of technical diving training courses -- nitrox, twin tanks, tri mix, deep deep diving, rebreather, etc. So there are some very seasoned divers. One of which, Will Goodman, attempted to break the world record for the longest time continuously spent underwater. With the assistance of about 20 of the divers at Blue Marlin, he spent a continuous 24 hours under the ocean. I got to assist with the first shift, and spent two hours underwater hanging on a platform with the full moon filtering through the water. Will's strength and determination were impressive, and made me realize that I often give up before attaining the really big goals. So I'll think back to his persistence and vision when approaching the next big undertaking. (Will is in the middle in the red space suit, and I’m in the back in the black wetsuit).