Cairns: Luxury Cabin on the SS Minnow − 21 October, 2000
There's something just not right about getting up butt-ass early when you're on vacation. I suppose it's not so bad, considering that we're doing it to head out for our live-aboard dive trip.
All the divers met up at the dive shop and helped load the gear into the vans. There was a quick roll-call then a short drive to the docks where we got our first look at the dive boat. The Kalinda is an old boat, and she's showing her age. My first thought was, Holy fuck, it's the SS Minnow -- after it was shipwrecked. The dive shop also had a brand-new boat, which I thought we would be on. Figures that we'd end up on the one due for retirement. Not that I really minded about the boat, though. She was perfectly sea-worthy and clean, and we were there to dive, not lounge around on the Love Boat.
The boat was loaded up and we received a quick tour along with a safety briefing. As we were pulling out of the harbor, they gathered us all together and started assigning cabins. Sweet, we all get cabins! I was surprised they had enough cabins on such a small boat to accommodate all the divers and crew.
Since my wife and I were the only couple on the boat, they assigned us to a big cabin in the bow. We were all smiles until we saw our "big cabin." Allow me to translate Australian dive-shop language to English:
big = fucking tiny
cabin = thin mattress behind a curtain
But, this development didn't bother us in the least; in fact, we couldn't stop laughing for a good half hour. Oh, and the bow area was shared with two other divers. So much for privacy. I sure hope the other divers aren't the modest type, because they're apt to see some bare ass hanging out of our curtain in the mornings. Also, the crew didn't even have bunks; they slept on the seat cushions in the lounge area or on the deck. Damn. How's that for an employee benefit?
The ride out to the reef took a while, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't get the least bit seasick. My wife felt pretty queasy most of the way, but one of the other divers gave her a Kwells (motion sickness pill) and she was fine. The only thing that bothered me (and everyone else) is that the ancient tub we were riding on periodically belched out ash from the smokestack... which got all over us. Why didn't we sit inside or under the canopy? No room inside, and there was no covered area outside at all. Here's to hoping the sun isn't too intense on this trip.
We stopped and hooked up to a mooring at around 10am. After a really good briefing on the site (Milln Reef), we all geared up and were in the water by 11am. For this first dive, we all went as a group so we could get familiar with the area. It was a bit deeper here, so we mostly saw stag-horn coral, some soft corals, and some scattered small fish. But the water... bathtub-warm and crystal clear. This is bad. I'll never be able to dive in cold murky locations again. Australia is going to ruin me for diving.
Our second dive of the day was at around 1pm. It was at the same site, so the sights were more of the same. My wife and I didn't pay too much attention to the reef, however; we were a bit nervous, we were on our own, diving, just the two of us, out in the fucking Pacific ocean. Slightly unnerving when you think about it, but when we discovered it wasn't any trouble to navigate our way back to the mooring line and back to the boat, we were much more relaxed.
We moved to a slightly different location (Milln Reef, "Outback") for the third dive at 4pm. Being much more relaxed this time, we watched stingrays skimming the sandy bottom and a parrot fish munching on coral (we could hear its "beak" scraping away at it). The most fascinating thing turned out to be sea cucumbers -- those slimy, green slugs inching along the bottom. Watching them just sit there wasn't particularly entertaining, but we saw a few of them crap out their "sand turds." Now that was entertaining.
After this last dive, everyone showered before dinner. This is when we were introduced to the concept of the marine head. In an effort to conserve space, a toilet, sink, and shower were crammed into a tiny closet. The shower nozzle was positioned above the toilet. When you showered, everything in there got wet. My wife thought it was disgusting -- but it didn't stop her from using it. I really didn't think much of it one way or the other. The beef I had with it was simply that it was on a boat. Even the slow rocking motion kept throwing me around in there -- at least the tiny size allowed me to brace myself against opposite walls with just my elbows.
Something about diving really takes it out of you. Most of us turned in for the night shortly after dinner. The beers were tempting, but the thought of relaxing in our luxurious cabin won out.
All the divers met up at the dive shop and helped load the gear into the vans. There was a quick roll-call then a short drive to the docks where we got our first look at the dive boat. The Kalinda is an old boat, and she's showing her age. My first thought was, Holy fuck, it's the SS Minnow -- after it was shipwrecked. The dive shop also had a brand-new boat, which I thought we would be on. Figures that we'd end up on the one due for retirement. Not that I really minded about the boat, though. She was perfectly sea-worthy and clean, and we were there to dive, not lounge around on the Love Boat.
The boat was loaded up and we received a quick tour along with a safety briefing. As we were pulling out of the harbor, they gathered us all together and started assigning cabins. Sweet, we all get cabins! I was surprised they had enough cabins on such a small boat to accommodate all the divers and crew.
Since my wife and I were the only couple on the boat, they assigned us to a big cabin in the bow. We were all smiles until we saw our "big cabin." Allow me to translate Australian dive-shop language to English:
big = fucking tiny
cabin = thin mattress behind a curtain
But, this development didn't bother us in the least; in fact, we couldn't stop laughing for a good half hour. Oh, and the bow area was shared with two other divers. So much for privacy. I sure hope the other divers aren't the modest type, because they're apt to see some bare ass hanging out of our curtain in the mornings. Also, the crew didn't even have bunks; they slept on the seat cushions in the lounge area or on the deck. Damn. How's that for an employee benefit?
The ride out to the reef took a while, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't get the least bit seasick. My wife felt pretty queasy most of the way, but one of the other divers gave her a Kwells (motion sickness pill) and she was fine. The only thing that bothered me (and everyone else) is that the ancient tub we were riding on periodically belched out ash from the smokestack... which got all over us. Why didn't we sit inside or under the canopy? No room inside, and there was no covered area outside at all. Here's to hoping the sun isn't too intense on this trip.
We stopped and hooked up to a mooring at around 10am. After a really good briefing on the site (Milln Reef), we all geared up and were in the water by 11am. For this first dive, we all went as a group so we could get familiar with the area. It was a bit deeper here, so we mostly saw stag-horn coral, some soft corals, and some scattered small fish. But the water... bathtub-warm and crystal clear. This is bad. I'll never be able to dive in cold murky locations again. Australia is going to ruin me for diving.
Our second dive of the day was at around 1pm. It was at the same site, so the sights were more of the same. My wife and I didn't pay too much attention to the reef, however; we were a bit nervous, we were on our own, diving, just the two of us, out in the fucking Pacific ocean. Slightly unnerving when you think about it, but when we discovered it wasn't any trouble to navigate our way back to the mooring line and back to the boat, we were much more relaxed.
We moved to a slightly different location (Milln Reef, "Outback") for the third dive at 4pm. Being much more relaxed this time, we watched stingrays skimming the sandy bottom and a parrot fish munching on coral (we could hear its "beak" scraping away at it). The most fascinating thing turned out to be sea cucumbers -- those slimy, green slugs inching along the bottom. Watching them just sit there wasn't particularly entertaining, but we saw a few of them crap out their "sand turds." Now that was entertaining.
After this last dive, everyone showered before dinner. This is when we were introduced to the concept of the marine head. In an effort to conserve space, a toilet, sink, and shower were crammed into a tiny closet. The shower nozzle was positioned above the toilet. When you showered, everything in there got wet. My wife thought it was disgusting -- but it didn't stop her from using it. I really didn't think much of it one way or the other. The beef I had with it was simply that it was on a boat. Even the slow rocking motion kept throwing me around in there -- at least the tiny size allowed me to brace myself against opposite walls with just my elbows.
Something about diving really takes it out of you. Most of us turned in for the night shortly after dinner. The beers were tempting, but the thought of relaxing in our luxurious cabin won out.
the mv kalinda
our luxury cabin
Comments:
kga245 (June 29, 2008. 04:20pm)
I gotta learn to dive.
intrepideddie (June 29, 2008. 05:45pm)
You won't regret it. Until you start neglecting other things... ;) Just make sure you choose a good dive shop for your certification. Doesn't matter if it's PADI, NAUI, YMCA, whatever... you really need to be confident in and comfortable with the instructor(s).
kga245 (July 3, 2008. 05:07pm)
Or else what?