Sailing Day 3

Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Today we did the least traveling but the most activity, by far. We started with another great breakfast from our chef, who hasn’t let us down once in any of the seven meals he has prepared yet. I have yet to leave a morsel and have often devoured the remainders of Hudson’s plate. After the eggs benedict, we had our first dive.
I was surprised how little preparation was required. We honestly spent about five minutes in chest deep water learning how to rid the mask of water, how to equilibrate pressure in the ears, and how to use the regulators. Then off we went on the dive. After hearing so much about the process of getting certified diving, I was impressed how easy it was to do an introductory dive. Granted they watched us like hawks and didn’t make the student:teacher ratio greater than 2:1, and they knew their stuff. I didn’t feel like I was taking a risk. In fact, I think it is a fabulous way to test the waters, if you will. And of all the places, the thought of having been out here without seeing the things that we saw; well, it would have been criminal.
The real experience was in the sensation of being in another world, however. To be totally removed from what was going on at the surface, and to realize, from the flip perspective, that all of this lies beneath and is going on as we float above. All this life, coral and fish, all of it in great colors and patterns, there all the time. Not just an event, but a continuous part of life that I have never seen, and most people never do see. But being down in it is quite different than even snorkeling. The latter is a far cry better than looking through aquarium glass, but there is a sense that you can only penetrate that environment a bit even snorkeling. When you are at the same depth of the fish, mixing among them at their more comfortable depth, you actually are interacting with them in their environment, not just spectating.
I did have some problems with the second dive, which was this afternoon in Butterfly Bay. I had much more difficulty getting the pain of pressure off of my ears. I really had to force the Eustachian tubes to open, more than I felt comfortable using. It detracted from the dive, providing a preoccupation from the views and the other SCUBA nuances. I eventually got down to the 8.5 meter mark, about the same as the first dive, but it took numerous equilibrations. I attribute the problems to swelling accompanying the sinus drainage that I have had the past couple of days. Future dives will tell.
I did snorkel a couple of times today as well, once before and once after lunch, and I have to say there is much less stress with cruising this way. I saw most of the same critters, though from limited perspective. And several of the species were curious, gregarious, or hungry. They would occasionally follow you, keenly watching. Several times I would pause to look around, only to see the same school of fish close behind. There were also a few larger fish that liked to mingle amongst the divers. These included a hump headed Maori wrasse, which weighs in at about 60 kg; and a giant travelly which reportedly can outrun a shark. I haven’t—and desire never to have—seen a shark in pursuit—of anything, but I believe this big fella could give a shark a run for his money. He slowly mosied around Joey and me while we did our afternoon snorkel, then he would slowly curve down and around some coral, maybe wander off for a minute, only to return and see what progress we had made—an insignificant distance in each case, I assure you. Then, without hesitation, he darted off. He was gone in an instant. I would have been more impressed if I hadn’t immediately pondered his motivation. Turns out it was nothing, either fun or a false alarm, but Joey missed his hyperwarp entirely by just looking away for a moment, even though the fish had been only about five feet below him.
Other things I have seen here: a green turtle, many sulfur-crested cockatoos, a sea eagle, and a dolphin that came around the boat tonight while we were all awaiting dessert in the dining area. We got to see the dolphin as he came to the surface several times while hunting the squid and small fish that dance in the fringes of the light emitted from the boat. It was peaceful, delightful.
Tomorrow we head to shore, take a rental car about three hours north back to Townsville, then fly back to Sydney. Thursday we depart for Uluru!