Hello everyone. If you don't see me in the dive shop over the next couple of days, it is because I am in New York visiting my family for 5 days. NY is so convenient to fly to from Saint Martin, so it isn't difficult for an impromptu trip. Chris is holding the fort down and doing a great job, as usual.
The main reason that I am here is to visit my grandmother, Nanna Vera. She is from England and is visiting my parents in New York (my mum is English for those of you that didn't already know) for about 6 weeks. So I am joining for the last one. You wouldn't know it from her youthful appearance, but in just 5 short years she will be receiving a letter from the Queen of England congratulating her on her 100th birthday. She should be coming to Saint Martin in November, so if you see a lovely British lady with a head like a white hydrangea knitting like crazy, that would be Nanna. I don't think I am going to be able to convince her to scuba dive, but you never know. I have trained a few grandmothers to dive in the past.
So, you probably are not interested at all about what I am doing in NY as some of you are probably from NY! The reason you read my blog is so that you know what is going on in Sunny Saint Martin. Well, from talking to Chris last night yesterday was a great day of diving! We had three divers come in the other day that have been coming to Saint Martin for years, but always dived with centers on the Dutch side. They are staying in Guana Bay, which is almost exactly on the other side of the island from us in Grand Case. They said that they were sick of diving the same sites on the Dutch Side and wanted to experience some of the sites on the French Side, so they came to us. Well, according to Chris they were not disappointed and were amazed at the health of the reef and the biodiversity of the fish. There was even a Humpback whale spotting in between Japanese Garden and Chico at Tintamarre!
Also, there is nice family of four that is just finishing up their certification dives this afternoon. They came in last week and made the booking with me. It was a little difficult to fit them in, as they hadn't made an advanced booking, so if you are a group of three or four, please try and make the booking in advance, as we would hate not be able to accommodate you!
I did want to write a little paragraph about the other day when I was swimming with dolphins. Well, actually I wanted to write a whole blog about it, but then something took my time away, and I didn't get the chance.
Anyway... it was one of those rare afternoons where we only had one diver on the boat and we were going to the Dutch Side for a Deep Dive. So Chris said, "hey, why don't we do a fun dive? We'll all go." Well, I had loads of paperwork to do (running a dive center isn't all sunshine and fish you know... there is a lot of behind the scenes action that goes on as well) so I said I couldn't. Besides, someone should stay in the shop in case future customers stopped by. Everyone was going to go out... Mark and Jenn (our two Divemaster interns), Aure and Stuart (our two instructors) and of course Chris. At the last minute I couldn't take it, so I yelled out "Hang on! I'm coming." I rushed out and put up a sign on the door "Sorry, out diving. Back at 4:30 PM" and we headed out. On the way, just as we were in front of Bay Rouge past Marigot, we saw the breathtaking site of Dolphins swimming our way. Chris quickly maneuvered the boat so that we were navigating with the Dolphins and not crossing in front of their path. Chris slowed the boat, and we went with the dolphins for a bit. Then Chris brought the boat to a halt and the Dolphins were still all around the boat. So I said "I'm getting in, I'm getting in." I grabbed my mask, and jumped over the side.
Well, from the surface Dolphins look so beautiful and graceful, but once you jump in and look at them under the water, they are huge. HUGE! And they move fast. I didn't even have my fins, and although the water was clear, it was pretty deep. The ease with which the Dolphins move through the water really made me realize how clumsy and inefficient I must seem in the water. After just about 2 seconds, I started to feel a little insecure. "Hey. Is anyone else coming in? These Dolphins are really big..." One Dolphin turned around and swam towards me, it was probably only about 10 feet away, and we made eye contact. Although it was a special moment, I have to admit, those Dolphins are big, and I was scared. After a few minutes of looking down at the Dolphins and the looking topside for reassurance from everyone on the boat, I got back on. It stays with you, those moments, and makes it all worthwhile. There is nothing better when you have tons of work to do on the computer and accounts than saying "screw it! I'm going diving" and be rewarded with about 10 Dolphins and some really close encounters in the water!
Thinking about that almost makes me forget how cold it is here. I don't know how I used to do it, but I have become a wimp since my time in the tropics, and it is cold here!!!
Well, say hi to the boys for me if you are in Saint Martin this week. They are working hard in my absence, and if you buy something or pay for something, please remind them to write it in the book! Or else it is a nightmare for me!!! Or, if you are in Saint Martin and need something from NY, let me know as soon as you can.
Write more soon...
(Sally wrote this blog :) From NY)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
For Stuart's Mum
Apparently Stuart's mum reads my blog all the time. This way she gets to keep up tabs on what her little boy is getting up to in Saint Martin all the way from Sunny England (well, sometimes sunny England). So, I thought that I would write a small blog about Stuart, so that she can catch up on some of the great things that he has been up to.
Well, where should I start? Stuart told me not to write anything that would worry you. So, I am not going to write about the deep dive that we did the other day near the Fusheng. I am not going to write about the fact that the main reason that I went on this dive was so that I could see Stuart at 140 feet and hopefully see him under the influence of Nitrogen Narcosis. I told Stuart that I wouldn't write about the fact that at 143 feet I looked over at Stuart and made the Narcosis sign (this is done by putting up your first and second finger together and then making little circles) to ask him if he was narked, and he made the sign right back to me, but it was much more exaggerated and his eyes were wide with is eyebrows up, and I think I heard him mumble something under his regulator like "f-ing right". But of course, Stuart's mum knows that he doesn't ever swear, (he is a clean living young man) so I must have misunderstood the mumbling. I will never in my life forget this special moment that Stuart and I shared in our state of nitrogen narcosis at 143 feet. So, in order to not worry Stuart's mom, I agreed that I would keep this incident off of the blog. So, let's just keep it between us then...
According to Wikipedia (of course the most official of sources) "Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while scuba diving at depth. It produces a state similar to alcohol intoxication or nitrous oxide inhalation. It can occur during shallow dives, but usually does not become noticeable until greater depths, beyond 30 meters (100 ft)."
We teach our students about this, but Stuart had never experienced it himself, so I thought that he should to better his teaching. It is, however, reversible, (as wiki points out) and even if Stuart's mom should find out about the deep diving, she shouldn't worry. Stuart is such an amazing, competent diver, that even in a state similar to the inhalation of nitrous oxide at over 40 meters under the surface of the ocean, he can still maintain his usual safe diving practices.
We were actually diving near the Fusheng in order to find another mythical wreck that is down there just a bit deeper, but we were unsuccessful. Well, that was the legitimate reason for diving, I just wanted to see Stuart Narked!
Other items that Stuart probably wouldn't want me to tell his mum about is that he hurt his foot the other day doing some sort of superhuman-deep-water-forward-flip-entry into the water. He is fine now though, the swelling went down and the doctor said in a few days the likely hood that we need to amputate his leg will go down from 90% to 75%. So not to worry.
What I am allowed to tell Stuart's mum is about what a great instructor he is. We get so much positive feedback from his divers and students that it would make Stuart's mum beam with pride. Recently Stuart looked up his records and he has certified over 200 students, and some of them (believe me) were a challenge. So this is no small feat! I can tell Stuart's mum that Jenn recently brought back some nice curtains from NY to help decorate his apartment, and he also received a sofa from his devoted employers (that would be Chris and me) which has a lovely throw over it. Although, I must tell Stuart's mum that he has an 8 x 10 inch picture frame on the wall with nothing in it!! So if you need an idea of something to send over, a photograph to fill the sad picture frame would be a great idea. He also recently bought a pan to cook, although I think the only action it has seen was the other day when he boiled some water for some tea. The intention to cook is there, however, so Stuart's mum should be pleased with this as well.
Hmmm, what else would Stuart's mum like to know. Since Stuart has been with us he has blossomed as a boat captain and has completed a firefighting course, a sea survival course, a marine radio course, a power boat course, and also is picking up a bit of french a long the way. We were going to start having french lessons once a week, but this hasn't happened yet. I blame Calmos, the pub down the road! He is an excellent boat captain though, driving Octopussy with pride. I could probably come up with some inappropriate comments about the name of the boat and Stuart as captain, but for the sake of Stuart's mom, I won't.
I won't write about Stuart's love life, as he is a tall guy (I was going to write big, but since he has been throwing those tanks on and off the boat he isn't really that big any more) and he may throttle me if I do! Boss or no boss, some topics really are off limits. Although I will say that as his mom already knows, he is a real catch!
I will now search through all my photos for the one that Stuart's mum will appreciate the most... I'm thinking the one below, where Stuart is about to teach a Rescue Diver course and he is all serious!!!
I hope that Stuart's mum enjoyed hearing all about Stuart in Saint Martin, and I also hope that Stuart doesn't batter me for writing this.
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Well, where should I start? Stuart told me not to write anything that would worry you. So, I am not going to write about the deep dive that we did the other day near the Fusheng. I am not going to write about the fact that the main reason that I went on this dive was so that I could see Stuart at 140 feet and hopefully see him under the influence of Nitrogen Narcosis. I told Stuart that I wouldn't write about the fact that at 143 feet I looked over at Stuart and made the Narcosis sign (this is done by putting up your first and second finger together and then making little circles) to ask him if he was narked, and he made the sign right back to me, but it was much more exaggerated and his eyes were wide with is eyebrows up, and I think I heard him mumble something under his regulator like "f-ing right". But of course, Stuart's mum knows that he doesn't ever swear, (he is a clean living young man) so I must have misunderstood the mumbling. I will never in my life forget this special moment that Stuart and I shared in our state of nitrogen narcosis at 143 feet. So, in order to not worry Stuart's mom, I agreed that I would keep this incident off of the blog. So, let's just keep it between us then...
According to Wikipedia (of course the most official of sources) "Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while scuba diving at depth. It produces a state similar to alcohol intoxication or nitrous oxide inhalation. It can occur during shallow dives, but usually does not become noticeable until greater depths, beyond 30 meters (100 ft)."
We teach our students about this, but Stuart had never experienced it himself, so I thought that he should to better his teaching. It is, however, reversible, (as wiki points out) and even if Stuart's mom should find out about the deep diving, she shouldn't worry. Stuart is such an amazing, competent diver, that even in a state similar to the inhalation of nitrous oxide at over 40 meters under the surface of the ocean, he can still maintain his usual safe diving practices.
We were actually diving near the Fusheng in order to find another mythical wreck that is down there just a bit deeper, but we were unsuccessful. Well, that was the legitimate reason for diving, I just wanted to see Stuart Narked!
Other items that Stuart probably wouldn't want me to tell his mum about is that he hurt his foot the other day doing some sort of superhuman-deep-water-forward-flip-entry into the water. He is fine now though, the swelling went down and the doctor said in a few days the likely hood that we need to amputate his leg will go down from 90% to 75%. So not to worry.
What I am allowed to tell Stuart's mum is about what a great instructor he is. We get so much positive feedback from his divers and students that it would make Stuart's mum beam with pride. Recently Stuart looked up his records and he has certified over 200 students, and some of them (believe me) were a challenge. So this is no small feat! I can tell Stuart's mum that Jenn recently brought back some nice curtains from NY to help decorate his apartment, and he also received a sofa from his devoted employers (that would be Chris and me) which has a lovely throw over it. Although, I must tell Stuart's mum that he has an 8 x 10 inch picture frame on the wall with nothing in it!! So if you need an idea of something to send over, a photograph to fill the sad picture frame would be a great idea. He also recently bought a pan to cook, although I think the only action it has seen was the other day when he boiled some water for some tea. The intention to cook is there, however, so Stuart's mum should be pleased with this as well.
Hmmm, what else would Stuart's mum like to know. Since Stuart has been with us he has blossomed as a boat captain and has completed a firefighting course, a sea survival course, a marine radio course, a power boat course, and also is picking up a bit of french a long the way. We were going to start having french lessons once a week, but this hasn't happened yet. I blame Calmos, the pub down the road! He is an excellent boat captain though, driving Octopussy with pride. I could probably come up with some inappropriate comments about the name of the boat and Stuart as captain, but for the sake of Stuart's mom, I won't.
I won't write about Stuart's love life, as he is a tall guy (I was going to write big, but since he has been throwing those tanks on and off the boat he isn't really that big any more) and he may throttle me if I do! Boss or no boss, some topics really are off limits. Although I will say that as his mom already knows, he is a real catch!
I will now search through all my photos for the one that Stuart's mum will appreciate the most... I'm thinking the one below, where Stuart is about to teach a Rescue Diver course and he is all serious!!!
I hope that Stuart's mum enjoyed hearing all about Stuart in Saint Martin, and I also hope that Stuart doesn't batter me for writing this.
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Could it get any better?
Hey Blog Followers,
Thanks again for following the blog and hope that you are all well.
Its been a while since we blogged, mainly because we have had another crazy few weeks of business which is just awesome.
Both boats have been working this week and last and we have had Certification after Certification.
You may wonder about the Title, well it's true, could it get any better? Sally and I have been out diving along with Stuart and Auree and we have seen Dolphins, Eagle Rays, Turtles, huge amounts of fish and the sea conditions have been absolutely amazing.
On Tuesday 16th March the ocean was like a swimming pool (not full of Band aids and chlorine) just dead flat and calm, so we closed up and headed out for some exploration dives. We found a shallow reef on the charts (which bottoms out at 45 feet) and headed out some 7 miles offshore to dive it.
We got kitted up and jumped in, I clocked 110feet and found nothing but flat sand and a barracuda!! You never know.... that treasure chest is out there somewhere and one day we will find it!!
So we headed back to Tintamarre for a few beers and some well deserved RnR. Stuart and Auree decided to bury little Alex on the beach which was entertaining. Then Auree saw Dolphins on the way back and Stuart says he saw Elvis..its amazing the affects of a few Presidente beers!
Anyway a great day out and alot of fun.
Congratulations to all our Students espcially, Scott, Patty, Kelly, Connor and Keith all passed Open Water and Advanced Open Water with us, we had a great time with all of you and you are awesome divers.
There is so much to tell you, so I will try to keep it short.
Sally and I moved into our beautiful new house in Grand Case, that is located on the beach that will also be the new Dive operation. The shop will stay in Grand Case on the street as a booking shop and boutique but the new place will house the compressors, Nitrox filling station, equipment, free parking and offer customers a piece of heaven in Grand Case to chill and enjoy a beer after your dive.
Good news for us - no more loading tanks on the boat, we aim to fill the tanks on the boat.
Also free 32% Nitrox for certified customers - we will be the only dive shop on
St. Martin / St. Maarten to offer this and it should be up and running by next season.
As some of you are aware I recently went to the UK to see my Family (Hi Dad - he reads the blog all the time!!) and also had the chance of using an Inspiration Vision Closed Circuit Rebreather.
This was an extremely interesting experience and not quite what I expected.
Water conditions weren't great, we were diving a quarry where ambient temperature was zero and water temp 4 degrees C or in old money thats 39 degrees F.
First dive was planned at 90 minutes (you need 6 hours to be certfied) where I lasted a gruelling 87 minutes before I got out and cried with pain...
We then decided that the quarry was too cold and went to HMS Scylla in the seas off Cornwall. The vis was like diving in soup so we hit 16 meters couldn't see eachother and came straight back up and off to the quarry again!!
The best way I can describe using a CCR is like riding a bicyle all your life and then jumping on a uni-cycle that is computer controlled - a very challenging and humbling experience as a Master Scuba Intructor!!
But in warm water this could be a great experience and soon i will be buying one with the intention of becoming a CCR Instructor and teaching CCR in St.Martin / St. Maarten. We will be the first to offer this and as usual it will be low Instructor to student ratios, one to one.
Sally will write more soon, maybe even this afternoon!
Thanks for reading,
Chris
Thanks again for following the blog and hope that you are all well.
Its been a while since we blogged, mainly because we have had another crazy few weeks of business which is just awesome.
Both boats have been working this week and last and we have had Certification after Certification.
You may wonder about the Title, well it's true, could it get any better? Sally and I have been out diving along with Stuart and Auree and we have seen Dolphins, Eagle Rays, Turtles, huge amounts of fish and the sea conditions have been absolutely amazing.
On Tuesday 16th March the ocean was like a swimming pool (not full of Band aids and chlorine) just dead flat and calm, so we closed up and headed out for some exploration dives. We found a shallow reef on the charts (which bottoms out at 45 feet) and headed out some 7 miles offshore to dive it.
We got kitted up and jumped in, I clocked 110feet and found nothing but flat sand and a barracuda!! You never know.... that treasure chest is out there somewhere and one day we will find it!!
So we headed back to Tintamarre for a few beers and some well deserved RnR. Stuart and Auree decided to bury little Alex on the beach which was entertaining. Then Auree saw Dolphins on the way back and Stuart says he saw Elvis..its amazing the affects of a few Presidente beers!
Anyway a great day out and alot of fun.
Congratulations to all our Students espcially, Scott, Patty, Kelly, Connor and Keith all passed Open Water and Advanced Open Water with us, we had a great time with all of you and you are awesome divers.
There is so much to tell you, so I will try to keep it short.
Sally and I moved into our beautiful new house in Grand Case, that is located on the beach that will also be the new Dive operation. The shop will stay in Grand Case on the street as a booking shop and boutique but the new place will house the compressors, Nitrox filling station, equipment, free parking and offer customers a piece of heaven in Grand Case to chill and enjoy a beer after your dive.
Good news for us - no more loading tanks on the boat, we aim to fill the tanks on the boat.
Also free 32% Nitrox for certified customers - we will be the only dive shop on
St. Martin / St. Maarten to offer this and it should be up and running by next season.
As some of you are aware I recently went to the UK to see my Family (Hi Dad - he reads the blog all the time!!) and also had the chance of using an Inspiration Vision Closed Circuit Rebreather.
This was an extremely interesting experience and not quite what I expected.
Water conditions weren't great, we were diving a quarry where ambient temperature was zero and water temp 4 degrees C or in old money thats 39 degrees F.
First dive was planned at 90 minutes (you need 6 hours to be certfied) where I lasted a gruelling 87 minutes before I got out and cried with pain...
We then decided that the quarry was too cold and went to HMS Scylla in the seas off Cornwall. The vis was like diving in soup so we hit 16 meters couldn't see eachother and came straight back up and off to the quarry again!!
The best way I can describe using a CCR is like riding a bicyle all your life and then jumping on a uni-cycle that is computer controlled - a very challenging and humbling experience as a Master Scuba Intructor!!
But in warm water this could be a great experience and soon i will be buying one with the intention of becoming a CCR Instructor and teaching CCR in St.Martin / St. Maarten. We will be the first to offer this and as usual it will be low Instructor to student ratios, one to one.
Sally will write more soon, maybe even this afternoon!
Thanks for reading,
Chris
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Lemonade! Buy your lemonade!
Last Sunday was really fun as all of our divers came back to the dive shop and were greeted with some lemonade. This was courtesy of our local lemonade sellers, Lola and Julia. Hopefully they will be here every Sunday as they did pretty well (most of the lemonade was bought from me however!) For only 25 cents you can purchase a cold glass of home made lemonade with ice. Here is photo of them with Javenot, our nieghbor, buying some lemonade. So, maybe, when you are next diving with us, Julia and Lola will be there to take advantage of your thirst.
One of the reasons that I think they did so well was their constant heckling of tourists. "Fresh, homemade lemonade! Buy it here! Only 25 cents! C'mon, why don't you want one? We're kids, we need money! Buy from us!"
It worked on me, anyway. I spent a whopping 2 dollars to buy a round of lemonade for everyone!
Enough about that. I had a fun day out yesterday. I went diving with Chris from Ohio, and Isabelle and Patrick from France. We went to Tintamarre to dive Japanese Garden and then the Tugboat. I was crossing my fingers super tight for some dolphins, the water has been a bit colder recently, which is a good sign for dolphin spottings... but alas, we didn't see any. We did see tons of fish, shark, turtles, morays and more, but no dolphins. Next time.
Right now I have Alex in here and Devin. Devin's mom works at the Undersea Explorer, which is the glass bottom boat, and Alex did an internship here last year and the year before. I have blogged about him before, but maybe not so recently. Alex is trying to do some of the work towards the Advanced Open Water, and Devin is watching the dvd for the Open Water. Alex is donning a sporting fake rasta hat and isn't wearing a shirt because Kevin got him wet with water from the rinse tank (that was pretty funny). They are both really keen, although having trouble concentrating at the moment. It seems to be 3 minutes reading the manual and then 5 minutes running around, then back in the seat for some more concentration. It is great though, I love to see it. I wish more of the St. Martin locals were divers. I'm hoping that Alex will eventually become and instructor and work for us. But right now he is only 15, so we will have to wait and see! Sometimes though, with Kevin in here, Alex and Devin, it can be a bit much! I do have work to do!
What else has been going on here. We had a great time at Harmony night the night before last. We met Shane there, who was diving with us the day before, and also we were dancing away to Jonny's and Mikey's band. Jonny and Mikey live opposite the dive shop and their dad is Reverend Hodge (who owns Les Alizes).
I feel like I should be writing more about diving and less about the local activities, but Grand Case is such a small, close knit community, that it seems intertwined with the diving activities.
Alright, I need to kick Alex and Devin out, they are asking a million questions and driving me crazy!!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
One of the reasons that I think they did so well was their constant heckling of tourists. "Fresh, homemade lemonade! Buy it here! Only 25 cents! C'mon, why don't you want one? We're kids, we need money! Buy from us!"
It worked on me, anyway. I spent a whopping 2 dollars to buy a round of lemonade for everyone!
Enough about that. I had a fun day out yesterday. I went diving with Chris from Ohio, and Isabelle and Patrick from France. We went to Tintamarre to dive Japanese Garden and then the Tugboat. I was crossing my fingers super tight for some dolphins, the water has been a bit colder recently, which is a good sign for dolphin spottings... but alas, we didn't see any. We did see tons of fish, shark, turtles, morays and more, but no dolphins. Next time.
Right now I have Alex in here and Devin. Devin's mom works at the Undersea Explorer, which is the glass bottom boat, and Alex did an internship here last year and the year before. I have blogged about him before, but maybe not so recently. Alex is trying to do some of the work towards the Advanced Open Water, and Devin is watching the dvd for the Open Water. Alex is donning a sporting fake rasta hat and isn't wearing a shirt because Kevin got him wet with water from the rinse tank (that was pretty funny). They are both really keen, although having trouble concentrating at the moment. It seems to be 3 minutes reading the manual and then 5 minutes running around, then back in the seat for some more concentration. It is great though, I love to see it. I wish more of the St. Martin locals were divers. I'm hoping that Alex will eventually become and instructor and work for us. But right now he is only 15, so we will have to wait and see! Sometimes though, with Kevin in here, Alex and Devin, it can be a bit much! I do have work to do!
What else has been going on here. We had a great time at Harmony night the night before last. We met Shane there, who was diving with us the day before, and also we were dancing away to Jonny's and Mikey's band. Jonny and Mikey live opposite the dive shop and their dad is Reverend Hodge (who owns Les Alizes).
I feel like I should be writing more about diving and less about the local activities, but Grand Case is such a small, close knit community, that it seems intertwined with the diving activities.
Alright, I need to kick Alex and Devin out, they are asking a million questions and driving me crazy!!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Friday, January 29, 2010
Congratulations!
This is just a quick one, I realize that I didn’t blog for a couple of days, but we have been a little busy.
I just wanted to say congratulations to Youseff and Andrew who recently certified as Open Water Divers. They did a great job, and in some tough conditions too. We had a big swell come through that made the visibility about 15 feet for a couple of days, but they were troopers and passed with flying colors.
So, great jobs guys! Keep checking the blog, I’m going to get Chris to post about England soon, before he forgets everything.
Oh… Kevin kept wanting to blog on my blog, so we started his own, it is kevinstmartin.blogspot.com.
Alright, I’m off now, it was a great day. I was diving with Carol for her Advanced Open Water and she did a great job. Tomorrow we are diving Deep and Wreck, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also, apparently my writing warrants the grammar police, so I apologize about that. The words just come out of my fingers, and I find that if I think too much about it all, it doesn’t sound as good.
So, as my Uncle Clay would say “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.”
(Sally wrote this blog, as usual :) )
PS Stuart’s quote of the day: “I’m just running home for a quick evacuation.”
I just wanted to say congratulations to Youseff and Andrew who recently certified as Open Water Divers. They did a great job, and in some tough conditions too. We had a big swell come through that made the visibility about 15 feet for a couple of days, but they were troopers and passed with flying colors.
So, great jobs guys! Keep checking the blog, I’m going to get Chris to post about England soon, before he forgets everything.
Oh… Kevin kept wanting to blog on my blog, so we started his own, it is kevinstmartin.blogspot.com.
Alright, I’m off now, it was a great day. I was diving with Carol for her Advanced Open Water and she did a great job. Tomorrow we are diving Deep and Wreck, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also, apparently my writing warrants the grammar police, so I apologize about that. The words just come out of my fingers, and I find that if I think too much about it all, it doesn’t sound as good.
So, as my Uncle Clay would say “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.”
(Sally wrote this blog, as usual :) )
PS Stuart’s quote of the day: “I’m just running home for a quick evacuation.”
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Beer and Pizza and Nitrox?
Well, we had a really lovely Octopus Diving night last night. Brad and Paula, who had been diving with us all week, kindly invited us over for some Beer and Pizza.
Brad and Paula are both from Minnesota and they are such a lovely couple, we really had a blast hanging out with them. They had some great dives while they were here with us as well, Circus, Basse Espagnole, amazing vis, amazing diving!
So, thank you so much for the invite and the wonderful evening! We won't forget it!
In other news: Tonight is Harmony Night, also known as Mardi Gras Grand Case. For those of you that don't know what this is about, it is basically a street fair with live music, great food and lot's to do. It is a must if you are coming to Saint Martin, whether you are staying on the French side or on the Dutch side. They close down the whole of Boulevard de Grand Case to cars and at about 7 PM the action really starts. There is a live band outside of the Lolos and also lots of vendors selling everything from lingerie to wooden carvings to hot peanuts. Lots of local food is available, there are stalls where you can sign up for activities, and also at 8 PM the dancers and the band come through, really building up a beat.
Harmony night is every Tuesday for 19 weeks, last week was the first one of 2010! So if you are coming to Saint Martin, make sure that it includes a Tuesday!!
In other news, we met with Mike Hill from PADI today. He is our PADI representative and just stopped by in Saint Martin to say hi. He said he was really happy with us because we are the only diving center in Saint Martin who increased the number of certifications from 2008 to 2009! So... Go OCTOPUS! That doesn't mean that we have done the most certifications, (because as you know we only ever take 6 people at a time and we believe in quality not quantity), but rather that all the other centers had fewer students in '09 than in '08... Except for us!!!
He also congratulated us for the number of E-Learners that have chosen to go through our diving center. E-Learning is a way of completing the entire knowledge component on line before coming to Saint Martin on vacation. A really great option if you aren't interested in doing any classroom work in the Caribbean. Cuz, who want that?
We spoke about Rebreather Courses that Chris is interested in developing and also the idea of Nitrox. PADI has now developed an E-Learning option for Nitrox, so that you don't have to do a single quiz, exam, or knowledge review while here in Saint Martin for the Nitrox Specialty. Just diving...
We hope to offer Nitrox soon; we just need to figure out the best option for us. Then the Nitrox specialty would be great here, especially as you can do it almost all on line.
The Advanced Open Water can be done on line as well, just the diving portion with us! How cool is that?
Alright, I'm off now, mosquitoes are killing me at this time of the day! Not to Harmony Night though, too much beer and pizza last night, tonight I’m thinking vegetables and juice!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Brad and Paula are both from Minnesota and they are such a lovely couple, we really had a blast hanging out with them. They had some great dives while they were here with us as well, Circus, Basse Espagnole, amazing vis, amazing diving!
So, thank you so much for the invite and the wonderful evening! We won't forget it!
In other news: Tonight is Harmony Night, also known as Mardi Gras Grand Case. For those of you that don't know what this is about, it is basically a street fair with live music, great food and lot's to do. It is a must if you are coming to Saint Martin, whether you are staying on the French side or on the Dutch side. They close down the whole of Boulevard de Grand Case to cars and at about 7 PM the action really starts. There is a live band outside of the Lolos and also lots of vendors selling everything from lingerie to wooden carvings to hot peanuts. Lots of local food is available, there are stalls where you can sign up for activities, and also at 8 PM the dancers and the band come through, really building up a beat.
Harmony night is every Tuesday for 19 weeks, last week was the first one of 2010! So if you are coming to Saint Martin, make sure that it includes a Tuesday!!
In other news, we met with Mike Hill from PADI today. He is our PADI representative and just stopped by in Saint Martin to say hi. He said he was really happy with us because we are the only diving center in Saint Martin who increased the number of certifications from 2008 to 2009! So... Go OCTOPUS! That doesn't mean that we have done the most certifications, (because as you know we only ever take 6 people at a time and we believe in quality not quantity), but rather that all the other centers had fewer students in '09 than in '08... Except for us!!!
He also congratulated us for the number of E-Learners that have chosen to go through our diving center. E-Learning is a way of completing the entire knowledge component on line before coming to Saint Martin on vacation. A really great option if you aren't interested in doing any classroom work in the Caribbean. Cuz, who want that?
We spoke about Rebreather Courses that Chris is interested in developing and also the idea of Nitrox. PADI has now developed an E-Learning option for Nitrox, so that you don't have to do a single quiz, exam, or knowledge review while here in Saint Martin for the Nitrox Specialty. Just diving...
We hope to offer Nitrox soon; we just need to figure out the best option for us. Then the Nitrox specialty would be great here, especially as you can do it almost all on line.
The Advanced Open Water can be done on line as well, just the diving portion with us! How cool is that?
Alright, I'm off now, mosquitoes are killing me at this time of the day! Not to Harmony Night though, too much beer and pizza last night, tonight I’m thinking vegetables and juice!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Kevin's Blog
Some of you may know Kevin, as he is around the dive shop quite a lot. He wanted to blog something... so here it goes.
The following is Kevin talking, he has written it down, now he is reading to me, but the words are from him, he wants you to know this.
"About Chris and Sally and Mark and his wife, they are very good friends of mine and Aure and Stuart too. I really like them. Every Saturday I go snorkeling, Chris gave me a book. Now I'm learning everything about diving. I'm doing a new discovery. I see fish when I'm snorkeling.
These guys are the best of the best."
-KEVIN from Octopus Diving
Kevin also brought in a photo of himself, had me scan it, and then in photoshop asked me to give him an afro and an earring... not sure why? It is an old photo of him as well. SO here are some newer one's when he went out on one his Saturday Snorkeling excursions.
The following is Kevin talking, he has written it down, now he is reading to me, but the words are from him, he wants you to know this.
"About Chris and Sally and Mark and his wife, they are very good friends of mine and Aure and Stuart too. I really like them. Every Saturday I go snorkeling, Chris gave me a book. Now I'm learning everything about diving. I'm doing a new discovery. I see fish when I'm snorkeling.
These guys are the best of the best."
-KEVIN from Octopus Diving
Kevin also brought in a photo of himself, had me scan it, and then in photoshop asked me to give him an afro and an earring... not sure why? It is an old photo of him as well. SO here are some newer one's when he went out on one his Saturday Snorkeling excursions.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
10 Dolphins!
Yup, you read it correctly... 10 Dolphins.
So there I was, I had just finished a productive afternoon in the office, (cleaning and organizing the shop, some accounts, some work on the website, I also taught two local kids how to use the Recreational Dive Planner) when in walks Stuart. First of all he just walks right in the shop... tracking mud and dripping water from his wetsuit on my nicely polished floor.
"Well, Sally, I think you are going to want to give me notice when you here what I have to say."
I immediately imagine something is wrong; a lost diver, a sunken boat, a sexual harassment suit... my mind is racing.
"We were just diving with 10 dolphins!" Then I think he actually thrust his fist in the air and whooped, or something of the sort.
So, I replied with what any normal person would say; "That's right, Stuart, you're fired!"
I mean, there I was, being a really great employee to myself (when you are the owner, it doesn't necessarily mean you are the boss, it just means you are an employee that makes the hardest decisions, gets the most boring jobs, and gets paid the least amount of money) and they were diving with 10 Dolphins, definitely a dismissible offence.
So, as Stuart tells the story, they were just finishing their dive at the Tug Boat, swimming back to the wreck from the reef, when all of a sudden there were all these undulating bodies. In a moment of disbelief, Stuart forgot the sign for dolphin (which is your hand, palm down, undulating like a dolphin does... as if you were showing someone "you go up the hill, then down the hill, then up the hill, then down the hill.") so he just kind of pointed and went "mwaahhhh."
Then there was about 5 - 10 minutes of diving bliss.
They were Bottlenose dolphins, a pod of 10, including adults and young. Stuart said that the youngest dolphin was showing off the most, putting on a display for them with flips and all sorts under the water.
All the divers were so excited they were all talking at once. It was fabulous. They have gone back to Tintamarre today, so I will let you know if they see any more. Also, Jen took some video of them, so I will see if I can ask her to post it. Mark had his camera, but unfortunately with e 35 mm macro lens attached... gutted!
Although I expressed joy at their good fortune, those of you that know me best, know that I was secretly squinting my eyes and shaking my fist in jealousy!
Ah well, the season of the dolphins has started. This normally lasts until April, when the water starts to warm up again, so book your diving now... don't wait too long!
Oh... in other not as exciting news, Chris is back, safe and sound. His bag didn't make it... but he did! I will get him to blog soon!
Have a great day everyone!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
So there I was, I had just finished a productive afternoon in the office, (cleaning and organizing the shop, some accounts, some work on the website, I also taught two local kids how to use the Recreational Dive Planner) when in walks Stuart. First of all he just walks right in the shop... tracking mud and dripping water from his wetsuit on my nicely polished floor.
"Well, Sally, I think you are going to want to give me notice when you here what I have to say."
I immediately imagine something is wrong; a lost diver, a sunken boat, a sexual harassment suit... my mind is racing.
"We were just diving with 10 dolphins!" Then I think he actually thrust his fist in the air and whooped, or something of the sort.
So, I replied with what any normal person would say; "That's right, Stuart, you're fired!"
I mean, there I was, being a really great employee to myself (when you are the owner, it doesn't necessarily mean you are the boss, it just means you are an employee that makes the hardest decisions, gets the most boring jobs, and gets paid the least amount of money) and they were diving with 10 Dolphins, definitely a dismissible offence.
So, as Stuart tells the story, they were just finishing their dive at the Tug Boat, swimming back to the wreck from the reef, when all of a sudden there were all these undulating bodies. In a moment of disbelief, Stuart forgot the sign for dolphin (which is your hand, palm down, undulating like a dolphin does... as if you were showing someone "you go up the hill, then down the hill, then up the hill, then down the hill.") so he just kind of pointed and went "mwaahhhh."
Then there was about 5 - 10 minutes of diving bliss.
They were Bottlenose dolphins, a pod of 10, including adults and young. Stuart said that the youngest dolphin was showing off the most, putting on a display for them with flips and all sorts under the water.
All the divers were so excited they were all talking at once. It was fabulous. They have gone back to Tintamarre today, so I will let you know if they see any more. Also, Jen took some video of them, so I will see if I can ask her to post it. Mark had his camera, but unfortunately with e 35 mm macro lens attached... gutted!
Although I expressed joy at their good fortune, those of you that know me best, know that I was secretly squinting my eyes and shaking my fist in jealousy!
Ah well, the season of the dolphins has started. This normally lasts until April, when the water starts to warm up again, so book your diving now... don't wait too long!
Oh... in other not as exciting news, Chris is back, safe and sound. His bag didn't make it... but he did! I will get him to blog soon!
Have a great day everyone!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Friday, January 22, 2010
7 Eagle Rays!!!
Well, I know I missed yesterday, but I was on the boat all day, so I didn't get a chance to blog. Yesterday was absolutely awesome though, both the morning and the afternoon trips.
First of all, both groups were great. Everyone seemed to get along really well, lots of joking, laughing and talking on the boat. We had Brad and Paula (from Minnesota); they just arrived yesterday for 5 days of diving. Then there was Erin, Stefano and Nick (from Canada and Milwaukee… I believe); they were just finishing up their last day of three days of diving. Then there was Skip (I can’t remember where Skip was from, but I do remember he was super nice and great diver). He hadn’t dived for 2 years and just decided to come in and see us one day as he walked by, we talked him into diving :) and he sure was grateful we did.
We headed out to Tintamarre, moored up at Japanese Garden and did a drift dive there. The Vis was great, we were greeted by a Caribbean Reef Shark after about 10 minutes, and apparently while we were looking at this shark there was another baby shark in the other direction. I didn't see it, I think that we need to give our divers tank bangers as well as the other equipment so that they can get my attention when they see something cool. There was also a visit from a Turtle, an Octopus spotting, and loads of beautiful coral and interesting geological features.
Then we headed over to Basse Espagnole. This has to be my favorite dive site in Saint Martin. The reef is the healthiest that I have ever seen in the Caribbean and it just never surprises me. Basse Espagnole is in such good condition because it is rare that anyone is able to dive it. If the waves are too big here, then they break over the reef making it impossible to dive. I would say that we get to dive this site about 15 - 20 times a year, so not a lot really. Oh... but when we can… it is amazing!
The Nature Reserve recently put a new mooring in, so it took me a minute or two to get my bearings as I wasn't sure where exactly on the reef we were going to drop into. I used my handy compass though and found the exact spot that I was looking for; a large canyon with amazing red and orange sponge coral covering almost everything and lots (I mean lots) of lobsters. What was also really beautiful was this ball of silver fingerlings that would all move as one, forming this ever changing cloud of shimmering, shiny baby fish. There is also a large portion of the reef that has endangered Elkhorn Coral on it, so that is always heartening to see.
The divers were super happy as we came up, as you can imagine, and for Erin, Stefano and Nick they said that we had saved the best for last! Skip was also really excited, as he hadn't dived for 2 years, so it great to get wet again!
So, that was the morning! In the afternoon we had 4 snorkelers and one diver, Ron. We went out to Creole Rock and Turtle Reef, both were really good, but today Creole Rock took the prize. The Vis was great, the water calm, clear and full of life. I snorkeled all the way around the rock with my four snorkelers and we were rewarded by seeing 4 eagle rays, all majestically swimming together about 15 feet below us. We followed them for about 5 minutes as they circled around, and then all of a sudden another group of 3 eagle rays showed up. So there were seven, count them... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven Eagle Rays all together! It was amazing!
The divers saw them as well, and apparently they stayed with the divers for quite a long time. Normally Eagle Rays hang around a lot longer when you are just snorkeling, as the divers with all our bubbles scare them away. We also saw an Octopus in about 3 feet of water. It always amazes me to see Octopods while snorkeling as the light is so fantastic between 0 -5 ft, so you get a real sense of their changing colors.
All in all it was a great day. I didn't get out of the office until 6:30 PM though. I had so much fun on the boat, that I didn't get a chance to answer any emails during the day, so apologies to those who didn't get a speedy reply.
Chris is back tonight though, so with two of us back on the job, one of us will always be answering right away. Our goal is to get back to you all within 24 hours or less!
I will ask Chris to blog about his Rebreather experience in England and what his future plans are. I know one thing he is going to mention, and that is the cold!! BRRRRRRR! Luckily we don’t have to deal with that in the sunny Caribbean! He is flight right now and gets home tonight.
OK, over 800 words in this blog I think that this is enough, thanks for reading!
Over and out!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
First of all, both groups were great. Everyone seemed to get along really well, lots of joking, laughing and talking on the boat. We had Brad and Paula (from Minnesota); they just arrived yesterday for 5 days of diving. Then there was Erin, Stefano and Nick (from Canada and Milwaukee… I believe); they were just finishing up their last day of three days of diving. Then there was Skip (I can’t remember where Skip was from, but I do remember he was super nice and great diver). He hadn’t dived for 2 years and just decided to come in and see us one day as he walked by, we talked him into diving :) and he sure was grateful we did.
We headed out to Tintamarre, moored up at Japanese Garden and did a drift dive there. The Vis was great, we were greeted by a Caribbean Reef Shark after about 10 minutes, and apparently while we were looking at this shark there was another baby shark in the other direction. I didn't see it, I think that we need to give our divers tank bangers as well as the other equipment so that they can get my attention when they see something cool. There was also a visit from a Turtle, an Octopus spotting, and loads of beautiful coral and interesting geological features.
Then we headed over to Basse Espagnole. This has to be my favorite dive site in Saint Martin. The reef is the healthiest that I have ever seen in the Caribbean and it just never surprises me. Basse Espagnole is in such good condition because it is rare that anyone is able to dive it. If the waves are too big here, then they break over the reef making it impossible to dive. I would say that we get to dive this site about 15 - 20 times a year, so not a lot really. Oh... but when we can… it is amazing!
The Nature Reserve recently put a new mooring in, so it took me a minute or two to get my bearings as I wasn't sure where exactly on the reef we were going to drop into. I used my handy compass though and found the exact spot that I was looking for; a large canyon with amazing red and orange sponge coral covering almost everything and lots (I mean lots) of lobsters. What was also really beautiful was this ball of silver fingerlings that would all move as one, forming this ever changing cloud of shimmering, shiny baby fish. There is also a large portion of the reef that has endangered Elkhorn Coral on it, so that is always heartening to see.
The divers were super happy as we came up, as you can imagine, and for Erin, Stefano and Nick they said that we had saved the best for last! Skip was also really excited, as he hadn't dived for 2 years, so it great to get wet again!
So, that was the morning! In the afternoon we had 4 snorkelers and one diver, Ron. We went out to Creole Rock and Turtle Reef, both were really good, but today Creole Rock took the prize. The Vis was great, the water calm, clear and full of life. I snorkeled all the way around the rock with my four snorkelers and we were rewarded by seeing 4 eagle rays, all majestically swimming together about 15 feet below us. We followed them for about 5 minutes as they circled around, and then all of a sudden another group of 3 eagle rays showed up. So there were seven, count them... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven Eagle Rays all together! It was amazing!
The divers saw them as well, and apparently they stayed with the divers for quite a long time. Normally Eagle Rays hang around a lot longer when you are just snorkeling, as the divers with all our bubbles scare them away. We also saw an Octopus in about 3 feet of water. It always amazes me to see Octopods while snorkeling as the light is so fantastic between 0 -5 ft, so you get a real sense of their changing colors.
All in all it was a great day. I didn't get out of the office until 6:30 PM though. I had so much fun on the boat, that I didn't get a chance to answer any emails during the day, so apologies to those who didn't get a speedy reply.
Chris is back tonight though, so with two of us back on the job, one of us will always be answering right away. Our goal is to get back to you all within 24 hours or less!
I will ask Chris to blog about his Rebreather experience in England and what his future plans are. I know one thing he is going to mention, and that is the cold!! BRRRRRRR! Luckily we don’t have to deal with that in the sunny Caribbean! He is flight right now and gets home tonight.
OK, over 800 words in this blog I think that this is enough, thanks for reading!
Over and out!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
2 posts in row!!!
I can't believe I am blogging two days in a row... but to tell you what, I think I am over my blogger's block.
Well, today is great weather and the morning divers should be back any minute. We seem to be having a week of certified diver this week. Sometimes we have weeks were it seems all our divers are newbies getting certified, or other weeks lots of people who are snorkeling and doing try dives, but this week is the week of the experienced divers.
That is always really nice as when people do multiple days diving we get to know them better, so we can have their equipment prepared on the boat, we know how much weight they need, how they like to enter and exit the water, etc. Plus you find out more and more about people as well.
This week most of the divers brought their own equipment. It is always nice to dive with your own equipment, but in these days of reduced baggage allowances and increased cost for extra baggage, you may want to think about leaving it behind. We have new, reliable equipment here. Sometimes, people decide to use our equipment instead of their own because they prefer it... especially our masks.
Things that I would bring if I was restricted with luggage and going on a diving vacation would be... my mask, my diving computer, my Deployable Surface Marker Bouy and my wetsuit. The rest, well... it isn't worth it for me. Some people don't like to use regulators that other people have put in their mouths, so a good trick is just to bring your own mouthpiece. I have a SeaCure mouthpiece that I love, because it is molded to my teeth so I don't ever get jaw ache, or have to deal with a mouthpiece that someone else has bitten through!
For me having my own mask is important because it really increases the enjoyment of your dive if you have a well fitted mask. My dive computer I need because I would never trust someone else to calculate my no deco time. My Deployable Surface Marker Bouy, because it has saved my life on numerous occasions, and my wetsuit because, well... I like to be warm. So without the BCD, the regs and the fins, I am really saving a lot of space and weight.
Of course, it may make sense financially to bring everything if rental is expensive, but otherwise, I would leave it at home!
Hold on, divers are back, will finish up in a sec!
Sorry about that. Well, I can report that the divers had a great time, the vis was great, they saw lots of Turtles, and Octopus and loads or Moray eels. So they seemed happy. The weather is great today, although there are some clouds up above, hopefully they will clear out for this afternoon.
Chris is back on Friday... yeah! Only two more days.
Alright, I'm going to try and keep this stint going and blog again tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone! I know I am!!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
Well, today is great weather and the morning divers should be back any minute. We seem to be having a week of certified diver this week. Sometimes we have weeks were it seems all our divers are newbies getting certified, or other weeks lots of people who are snorkeling and doing try dives, but this week is the week of the experienced divers.
That is always really nice as when people do multiple days diving we get to know them better, so we can have their equipment prepared on the boat, we know how much weight they need, how they like to enter and exit the water, etc. Plus you find out more and more about people as well.
This week most of the divers brought their own equipment. It is always nice to dive with your own equipment, but in these days of reduced baggage allowances and increased cost for extra baggage, you may want to think about leaving it behind. We have new, reliable equipment here. Sometimes, people decide to use our equipment instead of their own because they prefer it... especially our masks.
Things that I would bring if I was restricted with luggage and going on a diving vacation would be... my mask, my diving computer, my Deployable Surface Marker Bouy and my wetsuit. The rest, well... it isn't worth it for me. Some people don't like to use regulators that other people have put in their mouths, so a good trick is just to bring your own mouthpiece. I have a SeaCure mouthpiece that I love, because it is molded to my teeth so I don't ever get jaw ache, or have to deal with a mouthpiece that someone else has bitten through!
For me having my own mask is important because it really increases the enjoyment of your dive if you have a well fitted mask. My dive computer I need because I would never trust someone else to calculate my no deco time. My Deployable Surface Marker Bouy, because it has saved my life on numerous occasions, and my wetsuit because, well... I like to be warm. So without the BCD, the regs and the fins, I am really saving a lot of space and weight.
Of course, it may make sense financially to bring everything if rental is expensive, but otherwise, I would leave it at home!
Hold on, divers are back, will finish up in a sec!
Sorry about that. Well, I can report that the divers had a great time, the vis was great, they saw lots of Turtles, and Octopus and loads or Moray eels. So they seemed happy. The weather is great today, although there are some clouds up above, hopefully they will clear out for this afternoon.
Chris is back on Friday... yeah! Only two more days.
Alright, I'm going to try and keep this stint going and blog again tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone! I know I am!!!
(Sally wrote this blog :) )
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