Posts by The Wandering Waterman:
Git along little doggy! Wait… there aren’t any horses underwater!
July 24th, 2009So, this post isn’t going to be about diving, I’ll tell you that upfront, so you can move on if that’s what you were hoping for… “Damn, he calls himself the Wandering Waterman, but he’s writing about… what? RODEO?!?”
Well, yeah, sometimes I have to come onto land you know, so I can see my loved ones! Of course, this time around I spent it at the Salinas Rodeo with NONE of my loved one’s so… Ok, I went up there to do some shooting, both still and video, looking to put together a small multimedia piece on the rodeo, and no, it won’t be an anti-rodeo piece. I actually like the rodeo, my dad is a former cowboy, grew up working the ranches in Arizona and Mexico, and he used to take me to rodeos all the time when I was a kid. I also grew up riding, and working with horses, so I can appreciate what the rodeo is. I know there are more “enlightened” people that hate the rodeo and can rail against it, and you know what? That’s cool, that’s your right as an American, and as I’ve said before, I will fight for you to have that right. That being said, I’ll also fight for the right of rodeo lovers to have their say, freedom of speech applies to all.
Anyways, back to the rodeo… I’m going to keep the words short and just post the photos, so look through and enjoy. Oh, and let me know what you think, but PLEASE, keep the negative energy to yourself. Thanks all, and enjoy!
Summertime and the living’s….
June 1st, 2009Wow, I really suck atthis whole blog thing, don’t I?!? I mean, it’s been 3 months since my last entry, and I stopped right in the middle of a trip! It’s that short attention span of mine and all the shiny, flashy things around me. I’ll start formulating thoughts, thinking about what I’m going to wtie, getting prepared and… oh, what’s that?…it’s my guitar in the corner!… Think I’ll go stumble over some power chords! Sigh, and then the writing is forgotten and this blog doesn’t get updated.
Well, I’m going to try and ignore the guitars, the camera, the television that runs in the background, my iPod, my two dogs (which is a bit difficult, ’cause they both rock!) and anything else that might distract me for the 20 minutes it takes me to bang something out on this here blog!
Alright, so last I left you I was in Utila… not there anymore, back in L.A. with the smog, the traffic, and the WAY TOO MANY people! The rest of the trip was spectacular, we went out to Tarpon Hole and came across some amazing stuff, including… TARPON! These babies were huge, and it was great seeing them just hanging in the water, not really moving.
I also paid for one more day of diving, which I’m glad I did, because we ran into Whale Sharks again that day, and I got the best shot of the trip, which made me extremely happy! To be honest, the whole time I was there I was extremely happy, because I was in my element, where I belonged, in the water, camera in hand, filming the denizens of the sea! Which is where we all want to be, right? No, I don’t mean in the water with camera in hand! I mean, we all want to be doing what makes us happy, what completes us, and what we were placed on this planet for, right? Of course we do! I can’t picture some reader going “No, no, no, no, I wanted to be a football star, practiced everyday as a kid, even in the pouring rain, dedicated my life to it, knew it was my purpose for being here, but I’m fine working in this tiny cubicle, for a tiny minded man (or woman, yes, you women can be tiny minded too, it’s not just a guy thing!) and watching my waistline rise as my life sinks!” NO! Well, unless that was his dream, to be stuck in a cubicle, though if it was, then that reader needs help.
No, I think if more of us followed our dreams we would be living in a much happier, and healthier society. I think we would all get along better, and our lives would run fine, because we were doing what we were meant to do. I went hiking this weekend with a bunch of friends, and during one of our conversations one of them said to me “We just have to do what makes us happy in order to survive this life, don’t we?” and you know what, it’s true, isn’t it?
So, you might be thinking “WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DIVING!?!?!” Well, it may not be about diving, but it is about diving, at least to how it pertains to my life and to this blog. I have to focus on diving, filming and writing in order to become successful, and be happy. So that being said, I’ll try to keep the non-diving, non-adventure writings to a minimum, but I ain’t promising anything… except that there will be writing on here!
Utila rocks! except for the bloodsucking, little sand fly bastards!
March 18th, 2009Day 4 in Utila, and I LOVE it! The diving here is spectacular, seen whale sharks, turtles (2 already!), barracuda (sing it if you know it), and tons of reef life. 100 foot visibility at times, average 50-70 feet, water temp has been between 75 to 82, but coming from California diving that is 3mm wetsuit, no hood, no gloves, “what are you a wuss, this ain’t cold!?!” kind of diving, and I’m loving it!
Utopia dive resort is also top notch, I highly recommend it so far, though if you’ve got sweet blood like mine, make sure you bring some bug repellent, the sand flies will drain you. Apparently, they’re not always present, so it’s basically a roll of the dice… do you feel lucky? The owners I’ve met so far, Angelika, Kyle, and Roxanne, have been gracious hosts, and have a great story about how this place got started, read it here: Washington Post these women are great examples of strong women taking action, we can all learn something from their story.
Alright, still two more days of diving, still hunting Whale Sharks, fingers crossed, need to shoot some sellable clips. I’ll post again once I’m home, will give it all a proper review and let you all know what I recommend…
oo-teel-ah NOT you-til-a!
March 16th, 2009So, I’ve been in Honduras for 4 days now, on Utila for three, and I’m loving it. The flight down here took forever, left L.A. at 12:50am, transferred in Houston at 9am, after a 3 hour layover, and got to San Pedro Sula at around noon. Stepped off that nice air-conditioned plane, and stood there wondering what the hell I was doing wearing jeans, as I got smacked in the face by the full force of Central American jungle humidity! If I’d had any hair it would’ve wilted.
Stayed the night at the Tamarindo Hostel, a basic hostel, run by Angela, a very good musician and jazz singer, and her associate Doña Maria, who, like most older Latina women, seemed to be hooked on novelas, since the television was tuned to one at every hour of the day. It’s a great little place, secure, you have to buzz in and out, and in a more suburban location, away from the center of town. For $11 a night, it was a great deal! Now, the only reason one should be in San Pedro Sula it seems, is you live there, you’re doing business there, or you’re on your way to, or from, somwhere else. The city really has nothing to attract visitors. I’m not bad-mouthing the town, I’m sure the locals love the place, but from a tourist point of view, there’s just not much to do there. I did a walk around, saw nothing but houses and fast food joints, decided it looked too much like Northern Florida, and went back to the hostel, where I promptly fell asleep at 8pm for the next 12 hours!
The next day we had to take a bus ride over the mountains to the city of La Cieba in order to catch our ferry to Utila, since our flight had been canceled. Now, I driven through the streets of New York City, survived the avenues of Manila, and faced down the 405 during rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon, so I’m solid when it comes to traffic involved excitement… except, it seems, when riding in a mini-bus ona Honduran Highway! Apparently drivers here have the uncanny ability to see around blind-curves! What else would explain their decisions to pass each other on these curves? We had a few near misses, and all I have to say is thank god for my iPod, put those headphones in, turn up Johnny Winter, close those eyes and hope we make it to our destination! The driver was rushing because we HAD to make it to the ferry by 4pm, because, in his words, “They will not wait for anyone, they say 4pm and they leave at 4pm on the dot!” We left at 4:25pm… on the dot….
The resort, Utopia Dive Village is nice, newly built in the last 3 years, owned and run by a group of American friends, and based on an Eco/Green philosophy. Have to say, this place rocks! Air conditioning and fans in the rooms, a Grade A chef, pool table, friendly people, this place is perfect… though they do have one little request that seems to make every guest go “huh?” It seems they have a special kind of toilet/sewer system installed, and it seems that toilet paper tends to mess up this special system, so they ask that you not throw toilet paper in the bowl… just put it in the waist bin… sorry, just grimaced a bit… anyways, I, of course, keep forgetting that rule, and have now fished out toilet paper from the bowl, oh, a half dozen times. Yeah, let that image sink in a bit… grossed out yet? I just have to thank God that I haven’t had anything bad to eat… ok, we’ll leave it at that!
The dive operation U Dive, is awesome, and our dive masters, Juan Carlos “Huka”, and Gina, are pros, really taking us to some great dive spots. I highly recommend this place so far! The diving…well, yesterday was our first day out, and we hadn’t been out more than 30 minutes, when shouts of “Tiburon Ballena!” Filled the air… WHALE SHARK! They hadn’t seen any in awhile, and our first 30 minutes in the water we hit it! You snorkel up, sit on the rear of the boat, and when you’re given the signal, you slide into the water and snorkel around, looking for the spots that will tell you WHALE SHARK! This was my first time experiencing Whale Sharks, and 3 Sharks in an hour’s time, it was incredible! The rest of the trip, we dove two sites, and have to say, the reef life is incredible, just beautiful, AND unlike my story on Fiji… I wasn’t running a Marathon underwater, nice and easy!
Todays’ dives were equally exceptional, we first did the wreck of the Haliburton, a small ship specifically sunk for divers, and then, after an hour surface interval, we dove Black Coral Reef, a spectacular little reef covered in, what else, Black Coral! All my dives, except for the wreck have been at least an hour,, water temperature has been in the high 70’s low 80’s and I’ve been getting some great video, which I’ll post when I get home.
We’re doing our night dive tonight, as long as the sea stays calm, and tomorrow we’re off to search for more Whale Sharks… wish us luck!
Whale SHARKS!!!!! Sharks the size of Whales!!!! One more week!
March 9th, 2009
Alright, so it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. Wish I could say it’s because I’ve been traveling the world, filming amazing footage, hobnobbing with the Cousteaus…. but I’ve just been lazy… yep, a lazy diver, imagine that?
Anyways, I’m about to leave to Utila in less than a week’s time, and I’m ready to gogogogogogogo now! Everything has been checked, double checked, triple checked and sitting in the corner waiting to go… or to be checked again!My wife Maria says I’m like a kid at Christmas…. of course I am, I’m going diving with Whale Sharks! Who wouldn’t want that day to roll in already? I know, I know, I was this excited back in October when I went down to La Paz for Whale Sharks and came back with footage of everything BUT Whale Sharks. I’m not one to be disappointed though, and I think they’re all just kicking back down in Honduras!
I’m staying at the Utopia Dive Village, an Eco-friendly resort run by a few Americans. It’s isolated, supposed to have an amazing house reef, and just be a great place to dive out of. I’ll be posting daily here while I’m there… they have WiFi, and I’ll let you know what the overall experience is like.
Here’s some info on Whale Sharks, courtesy of National Geographic:
As the largest fish in the sea, reaching lengths of 40 feet (12 meters) or more, whale sharks have an enormous menu from which to choose. Fortunately for most sea-dwellers—and us!—their favorite meal is plankton. They scoop these tiny plants and animals up, along with any small fish that happen to be around, with their colossal gaping mouths while swimming close to the water’s surface.
The whale shark, like the world’s second largest fish, the basking shark, is a filter feeder. In order to feed, it juts out its formidably sized jaws and sucks in everything in the vicinity. It then shuts its mouth, forcing water to filter out of its gills. Everything that remains becomes the giant shark’s dinner.
The whale shark’s flattened head sports a blunt snout above its mouth with short barbels protruding from its nostrils. Its back and sides are gray to brown with white spots among pale vertical and horizontal stripes, and its belly is white. Its two dorsal fins are set rearward on its body, which ends in a large dual-lobbed caudal fin (or tail).
Preferring warm waters, whale sharks populate all tropical seas. They are known to migrate every spring to the continental shelf of the central west coast of Australia. The coral spawning of the area’s Ningaloo Reef provides the whale shark with an abundant supply of plankton.
Although massive, whale sharks are docile fish and sometimes allow swimmers to hitch a ride. They are currently listed as a vulnerable species; however, they continue to be hunted in parts of Asia, such as Taiwan and the Philippines.
Alright, keep coming back, especially after the 13th, that’s when I land in Honduras!
RIP to a pioneer
January 18th, 2009On Dec 29th Elmer Munk, a pioneer in the sport of Scuba Diving, passed away at his family home. Mark Zaloudek of Herald Tribune had this to say:
Elmer Munk Scuba Pioneer
Munk was an avid fisherman living in Evanston, Ill., when a newspaper article in 1956 about scuba diving caught his attention.
He took his first dive the following year and lobbied his local YMCA to offer a scuba diving course.
In 1959 he completed the Y’s first course nationwide for certifying diving instructors and instructor trainers, and by 1961 was teaching a scuba course at his Y.
“When I started diving it was literally just getting started in this country,” he told the Herald-Tribune.
Munk turned his hobby into a career when he opened Elmer’s Water Sports in the Chicago area in 1971.
He later helped develop courses in underwater search and rescue techniques, night diving and other advanced skills.(more)
I hope to make it as far as he did, and to be just as influential in this sport. Because of guys like Munk you’re able to enjoy your time underwater, so next time you’re at a dive site and you’re hoping that grizzled old dude with the ancient gear doesn’t start talking to you, take a step back and say hi, without guys, and gals, like them, we wouldn’t be enjoying this sport.
Become the old person in this sport yourself….
Why can’t you celebrate New Years by shooting guns into the air instead?
January 18th, 2009Ed Zieralski of the Union-Tribune reported on the following story January 10, 2009
Some local scuba divers and an executive chef combined this week to eliminate a controversial seafood item from a menu for a Chinese New Year celebration.
Scuba-diving enthusiast Carl Robbins noticed the menu in an advertising flyer from Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino.
Among the offerings was shark fin soup, the controversial Asian delicacy that relies on the fins of sharks, some of which are finned and released in a mutilated state back into the sea. The practice is being blamed for a decrease in shark populations around the world.
The Year of the Ox, which commences Jan. 26, was going to be started with some fin of the shark, which traces its beginnings to the Ming Dynasty in the mid-1300s. (more)
Yeah, it’s part of a culture, and I tend to respect most cultural traditions, but when you’re obviously advancing the demise of a species, maybe it’s time to change those traditions. Every culture has changed traditions with the times, even the tribes that ate humans (not just South Pacific tribes BTW) don’t do that anymore and it was a HUGE part of the culture. Time to take a second look at what’s really important…
… but I kept my eyes closed the whole dive, so I didn’t see anything!
January 18th, 2009Back in August, Scuba Herald posted this story, based on a study from Oceana:
Sorry, no bulk deals!
Oceana released the results of a new study today that finds a strong economic incentive for protecting living ocean resources. Sea the Value: Quantifying the Value of Marine Life to Divers shows that scuba divers are willing to pay more to see healthy corals, sharks and sea turtles.Divers are personally invested in the oceans and truly understand the importance of safeguarding marine wildlife and habitats,” said Suzanne Garrett, dive program coordinator at Oceana. “Divers are avid participants in ecotourism and show a great willingness to protect all that inhabits the oceans.”(more)
It goes on to give an average additional amount that divers are willing to pay:
Sea Turtles: $29.63 per dive (annual value: $177.8 million)
Sharks: $35.36 per dive (annual value: $212.2 million)
Healthy Corals: $55.35 per dive (annual value: $332.1 million)
So, taking the economic debacle we’re in right now, will this also be affected by free market practices? “Um, how about I give you $125 for three sea turtle and two shark sightings? I mean, the guy down the street is offering the same for $130, PLUS he’s offering a family of seahorses! oh, and since I’m paying cash, how about no tax?”
I’m all for paying more to actually see stuff, especially if I’m the one being paid, but honestly, I’m happy just being underwater regardless of what I see. I don’t even mine the Discount Kelp Bass and Garibaldi at Catalina! “We’ve got too many, so we’re offering ‘em cheap,cheap,cheap!”
Didn’t anyone bring the starch down!?!
January 18th, 2009Scuba Herald posted this article on January 14th, 2009:
Most people don’t look forward to tackling the pile of un-ironed clothes in their laundry basket.
And for John Lynch the decision to pick up an iron on Saturday ended up with him in deep water.
As the 38-year-old from Sheringham laboured over an ironing board, he was 12m under water and wearing scuba gear.
Mr Lynch was joined by 130 other divers in a former quarry in Chepstow, Gloucestershire, as he tried to break a world record in the sport of extreme ironing under water.
The current holders of most people ironing under the waves or surface is held by 72 Australians.(more)
The divers then decided to start a daily laundry service. Fluff and fold will be offered, but DRY cleaning is not an option…
Sheesh, what’s next, Underwater silver polishing?
Been a long time…
January 17th, 2009Wow! My last post was October 6th, 2008! 4 months fly by when life is kicking you in the nuts, doesn’t it! Alright, maybe I’m being a bit over dramatic, but things have been CRAZY! Though not difficult, life never really is, is it? We make it difficult, Life just is…
Anyways, let’s pour a cup of coffee, or tea, sit back and get re-acquainted. Lots has gone on, but I won’t bore you with the small stuff.
First big piece of news: The Travel Channel, bought, and aired, my La Paz trip on January 5th… at 6 in the morning, so you might have missed it… but I don’t mind, because MY WORK WAS SHOWN ON A MAJOR CABLE CHANNEL!!!!! Just a bit psyched about it, so bear with me. I’ve requested a copy of the show, hopefully they’ll send me a dvd and I’ll post the clip up here for you guys to see. Now I have to re-edit my Fiji footage, and the new La Paz footage I have.
Which leads me to the second thing, my last dive trip of 2008 was back to La Paz to look for Whale Sharks and dive with Hammerheads…. which didn’t happen, because apparently someone forgot to tell them that I was coming down to shoot footage of them… damn talent…. Nevertheless, it was still a great trip, did some great diving, the conditions were awesome! Warm water, got 86f on a daily basis, visibility was good, and the sealife was pretty stunning! Last time I was there I got to see my first sea turtle, and this time I got to see not one, but two, seahorses! Yes, I get easily excited when I see stuff underwater, even though I’ve seen Moray Eels more times than I can remember, I still get just excited when I look into a crack and see a little beady eye staring at me, or the gaping maw of one of those suckers coming out. Maybe it’s just me, but I would get excited even if I was looking at one little gold fish swimming around, because Hey, I’m underwater and not behind some piece of glass!
On that trip I did get caught in a minor hurricane, just the outskirts of it really, nothing too exciting, but what was really cool is I got to meet one of Diving’s, and underwater photography’s, pioneers Joe Liburdi who was just a great guy. Even though he showed up a few days after I did, and was hosting his own dive group, he brought me into the group, not only inviting me to eat with them, but insisting I dive with them as well. That was a great experience and if you ever get a chance to go on a dive trip with him, you won’t regret it, I swear. It’ll be a great experience!
So, that being my last dive trip I hunkered down and helped my wife out in her store, YOLK. We were getting ready for the holiday season, and to be honest, a bit worried due to the economy. I spent a lot of time pouring over the numbers in the back, figuring out promotions, making phone calls, while she busted her butt putting the store together, working the floor, bringing in beautiful products and just being the boss woman. After all was said and done, the year ended well, we survived the economic doomsayers and had a decent holiday season, being the neighborhood gift store for Silver Lake is a good thing for us.
The holiday season is over, the shop is back to normal, the sun has been shining in L.A., and I’ve been itching to go diving. Will be going out to Catalina in the next few weeks, including the 21st of February to participate in the Avalon Harbor 2009 Underwater Cleanup which you’re totally invited to join in on. You like having a chamber nearby incase you get bent while diving? Well this event pays for that chamber, so donate, or participate, because you may never need it, but you’ll be glad it’s there if you ever do!
What’s on the horizon? Well, I’m off to Utila in March to swim with Whale Sharks! (you’ll need to be on Facebook to see the info) Should be a great trip, they’ve already started spotting them! Also planning on doing a trip down to Cozumel, either with my buddy Lorenzo, in June, or maybe with a much smaller, more exclusive group in July. Depending on what I decide for Cozumel, I’ll also be heading out to North Carolina to dive Wreck Alley where there a number of WWII wrecks, including a German Sub the Coast Guard sank, along with a few Sand Tiger Sharks that love to make these wrecks their home! Rounding out the year, I’m hoping to have a reunion with a few friends I made while working at the Walkabout in Newquay, England back in 2004. I want to shoot a diving trip with the lot of us, and, quite frankly, just want to see them all, it’s been too long!
Anyways, thanks for reading all this, the next few posts will be significantly shorter, and much more visually appealing for all you ADD addled, MTV raised, non-reading fans out there! I’ll be posting all new video and photos here in the next few weeks, plus some new reviews, including one on Canon’s new G1o camera and housing, Sealife’s Universal Strobe, Pinnacle’s Evo2 Drysuit, and much much more, so keep coming back!
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