Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Captain and His Mate
What do the captain and his mate do while the divers are enjoying the blue sea? I always wondered. Don’t you? Well, after yesterday’s BCD incident, we certainly found out.
Turns out, not much! They hang out at the helm, shooting the breeze, and keeping an eye on the bubbles. It’s always a drift dive, remember? So, the current takes the divers northward, and the boat follows suit. Sometimes, he powers up the boat to move it east or west, but never a lot—just keeping up with the bubbles.
Maybe they do more when it’s just them—maybe we cramped their style. I don’t know.
Another Dive Palancar boat pulls alongside ours, and they tie the two boats together. I wish I knew enough Spanish to figure out what they’re saying to each other. They exchange a few drinks between boats. Then, I think one of the other boat’s crew uses the head on our boat. (Our boat had a head, theirs didn’t.) They might have been polite because we were there.
Greg and I peer over the side of the boat. It’s so clear we can see all the way to the bottom—the white sand and the coral heads.
Before you know it, out of the water pops a yellow emergency sausage. It’s the Divemaster’s method of letting the captain know he and the divers are on their way up.
Right now, I can just imagine what the divers are doing…they’re floating along in the current, slowing ascending to the surface. Once they reach 18 to 15 feet, they hang in the water completing their safety stop for at least three minutes. (Typically, I keep one eye on my gauge while I glance below and all around; you never know what you’ll see on your safety stop.) With your safety stop complete, you slowly ascend the last few feet until you reach the surface.
From our vantage point on the boat, we can see the divers’ brightly colored fins just below the surface of the water. Then, they slowly popped up—one by one.
They wait on the surface until the captain backs up the boat just within a few feet of where they’re at. Then, the captain and his mate help the divers into the boat. (You take off your fins close to the boat and hand them up. With your BCD and tank still attached, you climb up the ladder to the boat.)
As more of the divers come onboard, you can hear the excitement in their voices as they exchange stories.
“Did you see that eel?”
“The green one, right?”
“Yea! It was huge! I thought it was going to reach up and grab me!”
Laughter ensues as the stories continue.
“That sucker was this wide!”
“Check out the toadfish!”
“You found a toadfish?”
“Yea, Juan found it! It’s the first toadfish that I’ve seen and gotten a picture of.”
“Pretty cool!”
She shows the picture of the toadfish to anyone who will look. “See the toadfish?”
I feel a slight pang of regret. The divers have bonded over a shared expereince. Greg and I missed it so all we can do is listen and wish we had been there.
Now, it’s the mad scurry of getting all your gear together before we reach the pier. Gathering masks from the bucket and fins from the back of the boat. Taking off regulators and BCDs from the tanks. Putting on shirts, shorts, hats, glasses, and sandals. The captain knows the divers need some time to get all this done so he makes sure it’s a slow ride back; we’re not so far today.
The captain easily brings the boat alongside the pier while the mate throws the ropes to secure the boat. The Divemaster thanks everyone for diving and hopes to see us real soon. The crew on shore and the mate help everyone off the boat with their gear.
With everyone and their gear off the boat, the mate pulls up the ropes. The captain waves to the divers as he motors the boat away from the pier. Another successful dive for everyone!
Turns out, not much! They hang out at the helm, shooting the breeze, and keeping an eye on the bubbles. It’s always a drift dive, remember? So, the current takes the divers northward, and the boat follows suit. Sometimes, he powers up the boat to move it east or west, but never a lot—just keeping up with the bubbles.
Maybe they do more when it’s just them—maybe we cramped their style. I don’t know.
Another Dive Palancar boat pulls alongside ours, and they tie the two boats together. I wish I knew enough Spanish to figure out what they’re saying to each other. They exchange a few drinks between boats. Then, I think one of the other boat’s crew uses the head on our boat. (Our boat had a head, theirs didn’t.) They might have been polite because we were there.
Greg and I peer over the side of the boat. It’s so clear we can see all the way to the bottom—the white sand and the coral heads.Before you know it, out of the water pops a yellow emergency sausage. It’s the Divemaster’s method of letting the captain know he and the divers are on their way up.
Right now, I can just imagine what the divers are doing…they’re floating along in the current, slowing ascending to the surface. Once they reach 18 to 15 feet, they hang in the water completing their safety stop for at least three minutes. (Typically, I keep one eye on my gauge while I glance below and all around; you never know what you’ll see on your safety stop.) With your safety stop complete, you slowly ascend the last few feet until you reach the surface.
From our vantage point on the boat, we can see the divers’ brightly colored fins just below the surface of the water. Then, they slowly popped up—one by one.
They wait on the surface until the captain backs up the boat just within a few feet of where they’re at. Then, the captain and his mate help the divers into the boat. (You take off your fins close to the boat and hand them up. With your BCD and tank still attached, you climb up the ladder to the boat.)As more of the divers come onboard, you can hear the excitement in their voices as they exchange stories.
“Did you see that eel?”
“The green one, right?”
“Yea! It was huge! I thought it was going to reach up and grab me!”
Laughter ensues as the stories continue.
“That sucker was this wide!”
“Check out the toadfish!”
“You found a toadfish?”
“Yea, Juan found it! It’s the first toadfish that I’ve seen and gotten a picture of.”
“Pretty cool!”
She shows the picture of the toadfish to anyone who will look. “See the toadfish?”
I feel a slight pang of regret. The divers have bonded over a shared expereince. Greg and I missed it so all we can do is listen and wish we had been there.
Now, it’s the mad scurry of getting all your gear together before we reach the pier. Gathering masks from the bucket and fins from the back of the boat. Taking off regulators and BCDs from the tanks. Putting on shirts, shorts, hats, glasses, and sandals. The captain knows the divers need some time to get all this done so he makes sure it’s a slow ride back; we’re not so far today.
The captain easily brings the boat alongside the pier while the mate throws the ropes to secure the boat. The Divemaster thanks everyone for diving and hopes to see us real soon. The crew on shore and the mate help everyone off the boat with their gear.
With everyone and their gear off the boat, the mate pulls up the ropes. The captain waves to the divers as he motors the boat away from the pier. Another successful dive for everyone!
// posted by Leenie @ 3:48 PM 
