Chettra - Chef/cabin steward
Jaycee - Divemaster
Troy - Our Captain
(L to R) Matt, Les, Dan, Tammy, Suzi, Chet, Shawna, MartinSunday morning right at 10:30 the Fish & Fins van picked us up at the LDS chapel in Koror where we attended services with the sweet little congregation there.
Our boat was the Ocean Hunter I. It is a 60’ vessel with a 2000 mile range and top speed of 7 knots… slow and steady wins the race. We also towed a 30ft run-a-bout which would take us to some of the dive sites when the Hunter was anchored.
Our cabin was in the stern of the boat. It had a double bed Tammy & Suzi shared and a single bunk for me. We also had a small bathroom with a little shower, not to be confused with a bidet. It was small but comfortable. They had us unload just what we needed of our gear and kept the rest of our luggage in lockers on the dock.
The bow of the boat had two more rooms that each slept two with their own bathroom. The crew had a couple of bunks in the same bow area. Between the sleeping areas was a small salon where we ate, visited, and could watch dvds. We kept our wet suits on the deck of the bow where they would dry and off the stern all our tanks, BCDs, mask and fins.
In a boat this small with 10 people on it everyone kept their stuff picked up and in its place with no clutter. Tammy was in her element. The crew consisted of:
Captain Troy, from Palau who had been working for Fish & Fins 10 years.
Jaycey the divemaster, also from Palau who has been with Fish & Fins for over a year.
Chettra, from Nepal, who was the cook and cabin steward has been working there for 8 years
These guys knocked themselves out to make it a great dive trip. Anything we wanted or needed was taken care of for us. We don’t think we have been waited on like this since we were in diapers. Heck they would even get mad if we carried our own bags.
Our ship mates were:
Martin from Germany who is a dive master with well over 2000 dives. If we had ever caught him sleeping we would have checked for gills. He has been a dive guide in the Red Sea for several years and has traveled the world. His English was great and since Tammy can say “Gesunthite”, Suzi sings “Edelwise” and I like Strudel we got along famously.
He was quiet and reserved. With his vast experience he never acted like a know it all or interfered with the crew. We think he probably had some great whale stories but he just isn’t the kind of guy to brag.
To give you an idea of his diving ability…he almost always went deeper than us and stayed longer than us. Most impressive was at one of the dive sites where everyone else is tethered to the reef so they don’t get blown away by the current, Martin was in the middle of it. We aren’t talking hunkered behind a coral head. We are talking right in the middle where all the fish are flying by and he’s not moving, he’s not finning. When we asked him how he did it, he said you just find the right place in the current. Whatever…He is freaking Aqua-man.
Dan from Bumpass, Va. No we are not lying that is really where he lives.
He is a retired Colonel and has served in the pentagon and worked in both the Regan and Bush Senior administrations. He flew helicopters during the Vietnam War spending a great deal of his service at that time in Laos, but “we were never there.”
He sort of fell into diving by accident when he was on a cruise, there wasn’t anything else to do, and he was bored. He celebrated his 1100th dive during our week together.
He has been married for close to 35 years to a saint of a woman who will one day be canonized.
Les from Hawaii. Les met Dan on a dive trip put together by a dive shop based in Alexandria, Va. They were room-mates and have since been on several dive trips together. Les is also a retired Colonel and was “Special Forces.” He is an engineer who has worked as a consultant and is now working for the Army. He travels the world trying to help folks figure out which way is up.
He is the proud father of a 9 year old spit fire named Kira who will no doubt embrace his passion for diving. Les has also been married for nearly 35 years and his sweet wife let him come on this trip the day after her father died. We are so glad she did.
Matt from Hawaii, lives across the street from Les and they dive together all the time. Matt is a Lieutenant Colonel in the army and has done tours in Afghanistan and was in the 1st Desert Storm as well. He has three daughters and a good wife who keeps everything together when he is called away.
We don’t know if we could have felt more safe or better taken care of between the attentive and trained staff, Aqua-man and all the G.I. Joes who were all in every way both officers and gentlemen. We have an immense respect for what they have done and what they continue to do.
If someone gets on your nerves in these close quarters when you eat all your meals together and spend all that time diving, they will be riding it for 7 long days. The truth is we all got along great.
I think they were a bit worried by Suzi’s exuberance, and Tammy’s mere 50 dives to their 1000’s, but they got used to and joined in on the WooHoo’s (so close to a “Huray”) and Tam quickly proved herself underwater able.
Diving is a beautiful sport. It has the potential of being very “zen” as you are embraced and surrounded by water that has been here since the beginning of the world. There are colors and creatures unimaginable unexplainable unless you have been 80 feet beneath the surface and had the shadow of a Manta pass over you.
To go with people who love it as much as you do, who you feel safe to joke with, tease with and dive with you… well it is just a joy.
Our boat was the Ocean Hunter I. It is a 60’ vessel with a 2000 mile range and top speed of 7 knots… slow and steady wins the race. We also towed a 30ft run-a-bout which would take us to some of the dive sites when the Hunter was anchored.
Our cabin was in the stern of the boat. It had a double bed Tammy & Suzi shared and a single bunk for me. We also had a small bathroom with a little shower, not to be confused with a bidet. It was small but comfortable. They had us unload just what we needed of our gear and kept the rest of our luggage in lockers on the dock.
The bow of the boat had two more rooms that each slept two with their own bathroom. The crew had a couple of bunks in the same bow area. Between the sleeping areas was a small salon where we ate, visited, and could watch dvds. We kept our wet suits on the deck of the bow where they would dry and off the stern all our tanks, BCDs, mask and fins.
In a boat this small with 10 people on it everyone kept their stuff picked up and in its place with no clutter. Tammy was in her element. The crew consisted of:
Captain Troy, from Palau who had been working for Fish & Fins 10 years.
Jaycey the divemaster, also from Palau who has been with Fish & Fins for over a year.
Chettra, from Nepal, who was the cook and cabin steward has been working there for 8 years
These guys knocked themselves out to make it a great dive trip. Anything we wanted or needed was taken care of for us. We don’t think we have been waited on like this since we were in diapers. Heck they would even get mad if we carried our own bags.
Our ship mates were:
Martin from Germany who is a dive master with well over 2000 dives. If we had ever caught him sleeping we would have checked for gills. He has been a dive guide in the Red Sea for several years and has traveled the world. His English was great and since Tammy can say “Gesunthite”, Suzi sings “Edelwise” and I like Strudel we got along famously.
He was quiet and reserved. With his vast experience he never acted like a know it all or interfered with the crew. We think he probably had some great whale stories but he just isn’t the kind of guy to brag.
To give you an idea of his diving ability…he almost always went deeper than us and stayed longer than us. Most impressive was at one of the dive sites where everyone else is tethered to the reef so they don’t get blown away by the current, Martin was in the middle of it. We aren’t talking hunkered behind a coral head. We are talking right in the middle where all the fish are flying by and he’s not moving, he’s not finning. When we asked him how he did it, he said you just find the right place in the current. Whatever…He is freaking Aqua-man.
Dan from Bumpass, Va. No we are not lying that is really where he lives.
He is a retired Colonel and has served in the pentagon and worked in both the Regan and Bush Senior administrations. He flew helicopters during the Vietnam War spending a great deal of his service at that time in Laos, but “we were never there.”
He sort of fell into diving by accident when he was on a cruise, there wasn’t anything else to do, and he was bored. He celebrated his 1100th dive during our week together.
He has been married for close to 35 years to a saint of a woman who will one day be canonized.
Les from Hawaii. Les met Dan on a dive trip put together by a dive shop based in Alexandria, Va. They were room-mates and have since been on several dive trips together. Les is also a retired Colonel and was “Special Forces.” He is an engineer who has worked as a consultant and is now working for the Army. He travels the world trying to help folks figure out which way is up.
He is the proud father of a 9 year old spit fire named Kira who will no doubt embrace his passion for diving. Les has also been married for nearly 35 years and his sweet wife let him come on this trip the day after her father died. We are so glad she did.
Matt from Hawaii, lives across the street from Les and they dive together all the time. Matt is a Lieutenant Colonel in the army and has done tours in Afghanistan and was in the 1st Desert Storm as well. He has three daughters and a good wife who keeps everything together when he is called away.
We don’t know if we could have felt more safe or better taken care of between the attentive and trained staff, Aqua-man and all the G.I. Joes who were all in every way both officers and gentlemen. We have an immense respect for what they have done and what they continue to do.
If someone gets on your nerves in these close quarters when you eat all your meals together and spend all that time diving, they will be riding it for 7 long days. The truth is we all got along great.
I think they were a bit worried by Suzi’s exuberance, and Tammy’s mere 50 dives to their 1000’s, but they got used to and joined in on the WooHoo’s (so close to a “Huray”) and Tam quickly proved herself underwater able.
Diving is a beautiful sport. It has the potential of being very “zen” as you are embraced and surrounded by water that has been here since the beginning of the world. There are colors and creatures unimaginable unexplainable unless you have been 80 feet beneath the surface and had the shadow of a Manta pass over you.
To go with people who love it as much as you do, who you feel safe to joke with, tease with and dive with you… well it is just a joy.
Here is a link to the Ocean Hunter I
Sounds incredible!!! What an adventure!!!!
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