Time for Another Update

I've had quite a few people ask me why I just abruptly stopped blogging once I started my dive business full time. It's a bit complicated, and yes, I have been extremely busy, but I guess a big part of it had to do with all the negative blogging controversy with some Saipan bloggers a couple years ago, and a few less than pleasant situations with some fellow dive instructors. But as far as I can tell, most of them are either gone now, or have just silenced themselves after accomplishing all the destruction they could manage. I do realize that many people followed by blog and lived vicariously through my dives and my pictures. So with this in mind, I'm going to make a concerted effort to try posting things on a regular basis again.

It's been a very busy year, I've certified over 150 divers in my first year and a half, and taken many divers out who were visiting Saipan. I've had people come to dive with me from Belgium, Germany, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Israel, London, Switzerland and the list goes on and on. I've taken out students from BYU in Honolulu to collect marine animals for their labs and classes, I've taken out dive professionals who came here to see Saipan, and I've taken hundreds of divers who just wanted to experience the Grotto. Yes, I'm still very glad I made the career switch and decided to make a business out of my passion. It's also been a year of monumental milestones. Kelli and I traveled to Florida in March to meet our first grandson - Adam. We spent a couple weeks visiting with Josh, Regis and Adam and it was amazing getting to hold my grandson. It was a feeling I doubt I will ever be able to adequately describe. I can't wait until I get to teach "the little pirate" to dive and join me on my underwater adventures. While we were in Florida, we took a one day trip down to the Florida Keys to meet with a dive resort owner and look into the possibility of moving there to be closer to our new grandson. We discovered that the economy there was even worse than it is in Saipan, and they pay their dive instructors very poorly there, so it really wasn't much of a temptation. I was also very disappointed in what the Keys have become. They have always been one of my favorite places, but no longer. They aren't what they once were, and if you're thinking of going on a dive vacation there, I'd think again and head somewhere with better visibility and diving.

On June 7th, Kelli and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, quite a milestone these days. We had already spent enough on our trip to Florida, so we decided to stay on Saipan and just celebrate it quietly together. Our daughter Sarah and her husband Chris arranged for us to have a private dinner for 2 in the gazebo at the Hyatt. It was truly a magical setting and a great way to celebrate a lifetime together.

We also found out around the same time that Sarah is expecting our 2nd grandchild in January. It's amazing how our family has been growing lately and all the changes as a result. I still don't really feel old enough to be a grandfather yet, well unless I've done 4 Grotto dives in one day, and then I feel my age. I guess you never really expect to be the person that your own grandfather was, you somehow always see yourself as much younger. I am looking forward to being able to spoil my grandchildren though, and to try to instill my love of the ocean in them as well.

Kelli also finished her Divemaster course and is now an official Divemaster. Hard to believe that she has really come that far. And just in case you're thinking that I just gave it to her, that wasn't the case, she had to earn it the same as anyone else would. It took her over a year to get it all done, but she has become an amazing diver and Divemaster in that time. I'm proud to have her along on my dives with customers, and she can definitely pull her own weight.

Then in October, Kelli and I both turn 50, fortunately though, Kelli turns 50 first. Yup, quite the year and we're still going strong. I would rather just let the day quietly pass, but I think Kelli is determined to make a big deal about it, so we'll see.

If you're following my blog and want to see more dive pics and stories of the dives, let me know and I'll make an effort to tell you some of the stories and show you a bit of my life.

Still Alive & Kicking!

I realize I've just disappeared for the past 10 months, and many rumors have sprung up as to what happened to me. Every time I see someone in public and they say "hey weren't you Harry Blalock, that radio guy?", I say no, he's dead, I'm the dive guy. So I guess it should really come as no surprise that there are the perpetual rumors that I have actually died, but rumors of my demise are greatly exxagerated, trust me. A new owner took over the radio station that I was managing last May, and after determining he was a complete dweeb I thought it might be a good time to retire from radio and pursue my dream of having my own dive business, well full time I mean. I had a very busy first year as a dive instructor and dive guide on the island of Saipan. I certified over 75 new divers, which is quite a few when you realize that I do mostly all private lessons, no classes. I also became a Master Scuba Dive Trainer and have a whole slew of specialties that I teach now as well. I also became the primary Saipan dive guide that MDA, the big dive shop on Guam sends all their divers who want to dive Saipan to. That has also been a very nice cushion to my instruction business. And that's in addition to the military that have already heard about me through word of mouth and come looking to dive with me. Then I've also had quite a few couchsurfers come to stay with us and get certified while they were here as well. If you've never heard of couchsurfing, it's a very cool concept, check it out at http://www.couchsurfing.com/ I've certified couchsurfers from London, South Korea, Germany and I took a couch surfer from Israel out on a Discover Dive. It's been a lot of hard work, but I wouldn't trade it for my old life, not in a million years. So you can see why I've been a little busy and haven't had a lot of time to update my blog. But I've had several people tell me lately that they really miss my blog and that they think it brought a lot of business my way, so I promise to try to find time to update you more often.

As long as I'm bringing you up to date, I suppose that I should also tell you that Kelli and I are about to become grandparents, our son Josh and his wife Regis are expecting our first grandchild in the middle of March. So Kelli and I are taking a very rare vacation for 2 weeks and going to meet our new grandson, Adam Patrick Blalock from March 15th through April 1st. I know, it's very hard to believe that I'm actually going to be a grandpa, I'm simply not old enough! But in spite of specific instructions from me to both of my kids to wait until I was 50 to turn me into a grandfather, my son had to defy me and make me a grandfather when I was 49 and 5 months.

I've had an awful lot of people who come to Saipan and want me to take them on a couple Grotto dives. After having dove the Grotto well over 1,000 times, I'm probably one of the most experienced Grotto guides around. The top picture is some of the Gregorian fan coral that lines one of the swimthroughs outside of the Grotto. It is quite spectacular to swim up through the passageway and look up through the fan coral. In the picture directly above, a few sea whips are lit up by the flash and stand in contrast to the deep blue of the ocean out the other side of the cave. I know where the sharks and barracudas like to hang out, I know all the best places to find the nudibranchs, and most importantly, I know how to get you safely over to the rock in the Grotto and out of the water safely. Many people are under the mistaken impression that just because they are certified, they are qualified to dive the Grotto. If you don't have extensive experience in the Grotto, you need to go with someone who has or you can very easily get yourself into big trouble in a hurry. This big white tip reef shark was hanging out in the fan coral cave when I took some divers down last Saturday morning. I've seen him there several times before, but none when he was as friendly as this one. He just kept going out and coming back in putting on quite a show for us. All in a days work. That was a 4 Grotto dive day for me, and I have to admit that those days definitely take their toll on me, but again, it sure as heck beats sitting in a radio station talking about idiot politicians. Yup, the work is hard, the hours are long, and occasionally the students can be very challenging, but there is just no better job satisfaction than seeing someone's eyes light up when they see their first turtle on a dive. Absolutely priceless!

Students & NBC Nightly News

I know there are those who think I've dropped off the face of the earth, or maybe more appropriately, disappeared beneath the crystal blue waters of the Pacific ocean surrounding Saipan, to only occasionally surface for air and food. The latter isn't very far from the truth, I'm already approaching 200 dives for the year, and it's only the middle of April! Every week, I seem to pick up several new students so that now I've got a waiting list that stretches out over the next couple of months. I'm still taking students on a first come, first serve basis, so the first one to book some time for dives or lessons gets that slot. Suren is one of my latest students and has provided one of my biggest challenges so far. She is Mongolian and is in the process of learning English. She can speak some English and understand a fair amount and can read it fairly well, but when it comes to sitting down and reading the PADI Open Water manual, that was a little more than she was ready for. So I worked with her every afternoon for the better part of two weeks, going over all the chapters, looking up words in her English-Mongolian electronic translator and making sure she understood everything. I wasn't sure if I would be able to adequately teach her everything in the book, but she got it all, and aced the exams when we were finished with it. I don't think this quite qualifies as a Mongolian dive instructor, but it does mean that if you have a student who really wants to learn, and an instructor who really wants to teach, it can be done! I also have an assortment of students of other nationalities that I have lined up to teach in the coming weeks, so life is never boring.

In addition to all the students, I seem to be getting more and more requests to just take people out diving that are just here visiting. Some of them come to me from recommendations, some find my blog or my Smugmug picture site, and some of them just heard me talking about diving on the radio. I've taken some Coast Guard personnel lately, some policemen and firemen here training our local police and firemen, and a reporter and his cameraman from NBC. Ian Williams was here to do a story on the Marianas Marine Monument and wanted to do some diving as a part of the story. Thanks to Angelo, another of my Advanced students lately, I was picked as the Divemaster for the day and the one who got to take Ian and Kyle to several of our dive sites. Mike Tripp, another dive buddy of mine was hired for the day to do some filming of the dives. We started out our day with an early morning Grotto dive, always a good way to start any day! There was a big brown stingray just sitting on the bottom outside of hole #1 that we got to get right up to, and hopefully Mike got some amazing video footage of. We also got to see a green sea turtle and the usual assortment of fish. The sun was shining brightly and lit up the water perfectly.
I never get tired of seeing the huge Gregorian fan coral that guards some of the caves outside the Grotto. I think Ian and Kyle were properly impressed with the grandeur of the Grotto, Ian kept saying how it was an intense experience. Next we went and got on the Aquajet boat and Scott Eck took us down to Naftan point for our second dive of the day. Before we even left on the boat, there was a group of about 15 spotted eagle rays that came right up to the boat sitting at the dock. We looked down and there they were as though to greet us and welcome us to an awesome day of diving. I was a bit surprised as we headed down to Naftan, that Kyle had the TV camera tightly focused on my face as we were headed out, and then Ian came over and did an impromptu interview me on the side of the boat. I didn't realize I was going to be interviewed as well, I thought I was just the dive guide for the day. After our dive at Naftan as we surfaced, Ian wanted to go over next to the boat and do an interview while we were still in the water with our gear still on. So Kyle was shooting looking down on us, it was all pretty strange for me being on the other side of an interview.
The next stop on our dive tour was Ice Cream, we were going to visit the spotted eagle rays. Visibility wasn't that great when I got in the water, but fortunately that didn't seem to matter to the spotted eagle rays. There were over a dozen of them swimming back and forth and doing acrobatics for us when we got there. I took Ian and Kyle to the top of Ice Cream to just watch them swim in front of us, but evidently Mike thought I was in his way for filming, so motioned for me to get out of his way twice. I decided I don't really like being in an underwater video, and having to worry about cameras and film angles. I'm more into taking divers to see spectacular sites and letting them just enjoy them. Oh well, live and learn.The spotted eagle rays put on quite a show for us that day and Kyle got in the water to enjoy them as well. Everything was coming together to give these guys a picture perfect day of diving and they said later that it ranked as one of their best days of diving ever.When we got to the shipwreck, the great diving luck continued as we had some of the best visibility I've ever seen there. Conditions were awesome and the shots were coming out crystal clear. Above is a picture of Ian just floating over the shipwreck. Kyle dove on the wreck with us again and seemed to really enjoy himself as well. For me the highlight of this dive was finding a Tiger Cowrie that had taken on the rust color of the wreck, giving it an amazing golden glow.I have only seen a couple other shells that took on a different color as a result of their surroundings like this, but none as remarkable or beautiful as this one. The shell was live and was happily nestled in the sand. I waved over John Starmer, a marine biologist who was with us on the dive to show him, and he seemed as impressed with it as I was. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. We don't really know yet how much of the interviews or footage they will use in the finished story on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, but the story is supposed to air sometime during the week of April 20th. Needless to say, Axe Murderer Tours may be on the verge of a little bit of national publicity. Not too bad for a dive operation that started out as a joke.

Best Job In The World!

Every so often something comes along and you realize it was custom tailored just for you. That was the feeling I got after reading a story Kelli forwarded to me. I showed the website to a couple friends of mine, and they both said, this is unbelievable, they are looking for you, they just don't know it yet. Here is the story:

"An Australian state has launched a global search for candidates for "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the successful applicant's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, soak up the sun, snorkel the reef, "maybe clean the pool" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The winner, who will stay rent-free in a multi-million dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be an excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

"They'll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they're doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.

"The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world."
Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.

While the campaign has elements of some reality television shows, a candidate's looks will not be a prime requirement, Tourism Queensland chief executive Anthony Hayes told AFP.
"No, I don't think beautiful is what we want, I think charismatic is what we want," he said. "The reality is we are looking for a fantastic communicator.

"What we want this person to do is travel throughout the Great Barrier Reef and just try every experience, every adventure they can find and report back via blogs and video to tell the world why Queensland is a great place to come for a holiday."

Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state. "I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said. "This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone."

Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1."

So let me see if I got this straight, they are offering $105,000 US plus airfare and expenses to the winning candidate. They are looking for someone to stroll the white sands of the beach (I love wandering beaches), soak up the sun (I always soak up all the sun I can, and never use sunscreen, I think it's for tourists), snorkel the reef (not only will I snorkel it, but I'll dive it extensively, and I'll even certify anybody I run across who wants to learn to scuba dive), clean the pool (it will be sparkling when I'm done with it), and report to a global audience via weekly weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates (seriously, I mean this is sooooooooooooooooo me it's scarey!).

They are looking for an excellent communicator who can speak and write English and has charisma. Seriously, after 28 years in radio, I don't think I could possibly be any more custom tailored for what they're looking for. And then they say a candidate's looks will not be a prime requirement, they are not going after beautiful, they are going after charismatic! Not that I haven't been told I'm beautiful by certain blind fans of mine in the past, (they were obviously big fans of the bald is beautiful movement), but it's awesome that they aren't looking for beautiful, again I am totally their guy! They are looking for a fantastic communicator who isn't shy and can effectively promote their islands and diving. I've been doing it for free for Saipan for the past 13 years, without so much as a thank you from MVA or any government entity, just think how much more effective I can be in a situation where they want to help me promote them!

I need to put together a 60 second video telling them why I'm the perfect candidate for the best job in the world. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head it feels like it's ready to explode. Once I get my video posted on the site as an official applicant, I'll be asking for all of you to go there and give me a high rating on my video. Wish me luck, this could be a life changing job!

Meet Lisa - My Latest Student!

When I went to the dive shop on New Years day to get my tanks filled, Mr. Lee told me about an American couple who were here looking to get the wife certified to dive and asked if I would be interested in taking care of it that weekend. He said they wanted to get her certified as soon as possible. I called and left a message at their hotel, and as I crawled out of Lau Lau for my 2nd dive of the new year, my phone was ringing in my truck. Lisa's husband Scott was calling to see if he could arrange to get Lisa certified. They wanted to buy a mask and fins for her, so I arranged to meet them at the only real dive supply store on island and help advise them on equipment for her. We got her a mask and decided to hold off on the fins for the moment and see what style she liked using in the water. Lisa is coming out of the water in the picture above, after her final confined water training dive, very happy that the confined water training portion of the course is over.

Scott is an F-18 pilot on the USS George Washington, and Lisa teaches English in Japan, so they were perfects candidates to be the next victims of Axe Murderer Tours. Kelli and I asked if they would like to join us at the Seaside Grill at Pacific Islands Club for Happy Hour drinks and appetizers. Since they really had no plans or agenda, other than getting Lisa certified, they seemed more than happy to join us. We met up with Randy and Dayl, who I had been taking diving earlier in the week. Randy is a Navy professional diver, and he wanted Dayl to have an awesome dive experience, so he asked if I could make that happen for them. Not a problem! So we all enjoyed the sunset, a few drinks and appetizers, and Randy dutifully told Scott and Lisa that I was a great dive instructor. You would have thought I had paid him for the commercial, but he was just being nice.

So the plan was to pick up Scott and Lisa for lunch Friday, and then head to Sugar Dock for her confined water training. I decided to stop by the Post Office before getting them, and sure enough, Kelli's and my new cameras were there!!! What great timing! Lisa was an awesome student and put up with way more harassment from Scott and I than anyone should have to endure. It was starting to get a little dark though before we finished, so we decided to finish up the final two confined water dives on Saturday morning, and then head off for an open water dive.
Here you see Scott and Lisa in the water at Lau Lau. Even though we were getting some very gusty trade winds, and high waves on the other side of the island, Lau Lau was calm and beautiful. The visibility was the best I've seen there in a very long time. Almost as if on cue, as soon as we came to the end of the rope going in at Lau Lau, we ran into this guy.
He was munching on seaweed and algae right next to the pipeline, and let us get right up to him for a good look. I can't think of a better way to get someone hooked on diving than spending some quality time with a green sea turtle on their very first open water dive. He was also very cooperative about posing for some pictures as well.
I know I've said it many times, but there is truly something magical about just swimming alongside of a turtle. You tend to forget about everything else and just exist in the moment with the turtle. It was an outstanding weekend all weekend for diving at Lau Lau and the turtles were everywhere.Here is Scott just watching as this turtle decides to go up for some air. It was a great weekend of diving, and Lisa is just one dive away from being certified now, which will be happening this afternoon. My next 2 months are going to be packed full of dive students and classes, but there is always room to fit in another if you're interested. I'll introduce you to my turtle buddies at Lau Lau.

Here is the video I was taking when the one spotted eagle ray decided to tickle my neck with his tail.

Open Water Scuba Instructor

After 9 straight days of the Instructor Development Course, 2 days of the Instructor Exam, and another 2 days to become an Emergency First Responder Instructor and an O2, Oxygen Provider Instructor on Guam, I am now officially a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

I had spent the 2 months previous to the course reading all the books, and cramming studying, so I really felt like I was prepared for the course, even though I have to admit I was more than just a little nervous. The first thing they had us do in the IDC when we arrived was to take an exam that would be similar to the written exam we would have at the end. It was to let the Instructor know what our strengths and weaknesses were. I was a bit surprised when he told us it was a closed book test, since we had been told previously the tests would be open book. But as I started through it, I realized that I was ready for it, the answers were all right there. I missed 3 questions out of about 200, not too bad. You had to score 75% or better on each of the different exams to pass, so I had easily passed. Brad, who went over to take the course with me also passed the test, and Kat, a student who was taking the test as part of her Assistant Instructor course, and would be joining us later for the Open Water Instructor portion also passed, but the other 4 students who took it didn't do quite as well. Fortunately this test was just for evaluation, so it didn't count against them, it just showed what they needed work in.

The thing PADI is looking for in their Instructors is the ability to follow their guidelines and methods and incorporate everything they want. I caught on to that very quickly and tailored my presentations following their formula exactly. I have to admit, many of the endless class lectures did get to me after a while, since it was all information I had already read and gone over. I'm the type who prefers self study to sitting and listening to lectures. So there were some days I was ready to beat myself unconscious with my Instructor's Manual. It didn't help matters any that after about 3 days of the course I came down with a horrible head and chest cold, I felt terrible, and couldn't stop coughing and sneezing. I knew I was going to be in for trouble because I couldn't clear my right ear because of all the congestion in my sinuses. We only had one more open water dive session as part of the class though, and the instructor said we didn't have to go down past 15', so hopefully I should be ok even if I couldn't get my ear to clear. It wasn't fun, but I did manage to make it through that session. I was just praying that it would all clear up before the Instructor's Exams though, a bad head and chest cold was the last thing I needed for that.

Finally we got to the end of the 9 day IDC and we had a couple days off before the Instructor's Exams. Brad and I went to have lunch at the Food Court at the Outlet Mall, and I decided to try seeing if my ear would clear or not yet. Much to my surprise it actually cleared, so I told Brad we could head out and go do a dive for fun. He was all for it, so we went back to the dive shop, got tanks and headed for a beach in Agat that I knew we could dive. My right ear wasn't crazy about going diving, but it did eventually cooperate and we had a good dive. The next day we decided to do a shallower dive and went to the Piti bomb pits and Fisheye Marine Park. It was fun watching the tourists in the snuba helmets and seeing the people look at us from the observation deck underwater.

Wednesday morning it was time to show what we had learned though, the Instructor's Exams took place at the Marriot hotel. As was usually the case, Brad and I were the first ones to show up, not because Brad likes being so punctual, but mainly because he was riding with me. We chatted with Michael, the Examiner out of the PADI home office in California, who had arrived at 2 am that morning. The first part of the test was the written exam and Brad and I were both a bit shocked when we were told it was to be a closed book test, since someone else had told us previously it would be open book. It didn't bother me too much though as I really felt prepared for this test. There was a time limit for the tests, but it seemed to be far more than what was actually needed. I finished all 6 tests fairly quickly and turned them back in. Michael, the Examiner asked if I was sure I was ready to turn them in, that I had plenty of time to look them over. I said no, I was ready and just wanted them graded. He motioned me back up a couple minutes later and congratulated me on getting a perfect 100% on each of the tests. I have to admit, that really felt good!

Next we started preparing for our classroom presentation and our confined water presentations, and then broke for lunch. I guess since I was the first one to turn in my written exams, I was tagged to go first for everything from that point forward. So while others got to watch how I did things and learn from it, I was happy to get it over with and just be able to concentrate on the next test. I sailed through the classroom presentation, the demonstration of water skills and the confined water teaching skills, and that was the end of day #1.

We met at Fisheye park for our Rescue demonstrations and our open water skills tests. I missed getting two perfect scores on the water skills tests by a hair, all because my Divemaster let the two divers she was supervising descend away from the rope. Oh well, I'll take a 5.0 and a 4.8 any day, with 5 being a perfect score. I also passed the Rescue demonstration on the first try and that was it, I was now officially a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. They had a little ceremony right at the parking lot of Fisheye Park, and gave us all new PADI Instructor hats, although I had already bought myself one several days earlier. Brad said that it would have jinxed him, I figured it was just showing that I had conficence that I would be passing.

Then the next couple days we had to take the First Aid Responder Instructor course and the Oxygen Provider Instructor course as well. You need to be able to teach those courses in order to put someone through Rescue Diver, so it was another necessary time and financial investment, but we got those two taken care of as well.

So now I am a certified, insured PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and am quite eager to get back in the water and start showing people why I love the underwater world so much, and equipping them to be able to explore it as well. If you've been thinking about getting certified, let me know, I'd be happy to teach you how to dive!

Just Another Dive?

This is the latest group of victims of Axe Murderer Tours. I was contacted a couple weeks ago by e-mail asking if I would be willing to take some of the visiting White House dignitaries out diving while they were here. Of course the answer is always yes! Axe Murderer Tours is almost always available and always eager to please. I told them I would accomodate whatever would fit into their schedule, to just let me know when they were free. It was soon established that Tuesday morning, October 21st would work out best for them. I went to the meeting they attended at the Fiesta Resort the night before and met a couple of them and arranged to meet them at the dive shop at 8 am, as soon as I got done with the talk show. In the picture from left to right are: Sean Morton - Director of Coastal Policy for the Council on Environmental Quality, Tim Keeney - Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Department of Commerce/Oceans & Coast, Yours Truly - the old Axe Murderer himself, Allen Tom - Regional Director for Marine Protected Areas & Sanctuaries for the Pacific from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Jim Connaughton - Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Lyle Laverty - Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Interior/Fish & Wildlife. Yes, I was obviously way out of my league with these distinguished gentlemen, but they didn't act any different than anyone else I know. They were all down to earth, friendly and genuine, and truly seemed to enjoy the chance to go diving.

3 of them wanted to go scuba diving and the other 2 were going to snorkel. I had been watching the conditions on the reef line and thought it looked like a perfect opportunity to sneak in another Wing Beach dive, even though the season should have been over months ago. I told them not only was it my favorite dive, but it would also be the best place for the snorkelers to see some spectacular coral.

We had a plainclothes police escort along with us just to make sure there were no problems. I really appreciated having someone at Wing Beach to watch my truck as we were on the dive. When we went down to the beach to check the conditions, they were absolutely perfect, so the dive was on! I gave them a pre-dive briefing, telling them what we would be doing and what to expect, and then we walked out to the cut. The water felt awesome and refreshing after the walk out wearing the heavy equipment in the hot sun. It was a bright sunny day, so the coral was all lit up looking like a Christmas tree. Tim had a fin strap buckle break as he was putting on his fins, so I gave him mine and I used the ones with the broken buckle, just jamming it onto my foot. I led them all out to the crevasse, and we dropped down to check out two huge lionfish resting on the bottom. They all seemed very relaxed and like they were very experienced divers. The current was pushing us back as we worked our way along the wall, making for a very easy swim back. Jim Connaughton was taking pictures, and I hope he got a good sampling of our underwater beauty.

We got everyone back safe and sound without any incidents, and they all seemed to think it was just an awesome dive. When we got back to the dive shop, Jim presented me with a blue box with the Presidential seal on it. Inside was an official Presidential Seal pin, with the President's signature personally engraved on it. He told me it was from President Bush with his thanks. I was absolutely speechless. I've received some very cool momentos in the past, but this one would forever be the most impressive.
I don't care what your political affiliations are, you have to be absolutely humbled by something like that. Now I guess Axe Murderer Tours can claim to have had a connection with the President of the United States.
It just happened that the group from the White House was also going to Rotary for lunch that day, so I went to my office, threw on some dry clothes after the dive, and met them all at the Hyatt for Rotary. Sean Morton sat at my table with me and we talked quite a bit. He asked what my future plans were and I told him about getting my PADI Instructor's card and then moving to either south Florida or the Carribean early next year. He got this shocked look on his face and asked if I was serious. Then he told me that he might wind up in Florida next year as well. He told me to look him up as soon as I got down there and see what was available. Isn't it amazing how things work out sometimes? I don't know if anything like a job would ever come of it, but I do know that I've made a friend hopefully for life who I'll most likely be connecting with quite often for the next couple of years. All because I want to share my love of the ocean with everyone I can, and do it under the guise of a make believe dive company called Axe Murderer Tours. This is definitely a story for my book!

200 Dives For The Year!

My goal this year was to hit 200 dives for the year once again. Now I know that to most dive industry professionals, that's no big thing, many of them will hit 400, 500 or 600 dives a year. But I'm not a dive industry professional, well not yet anyway. I managed to get all those dives in by October 5th as just another weekend diver with a normal day job. Now you may not think that 200 dives in a year is a big deal, but when you realize how many dives that adds up to every weekend, it shows that you pretty much lived under water on the weekends. My new goal is to hit 250 for the year now, it will be the first time I've ever accomplished that, and I think the goal is fairly achievable. I had to get in 7 dives this last weekend, in order for #200 to be with my great friend Hozumi and her last dive on Saipan.

The picture above was of a green sea turtle we saw at Lau Lau Sunday morning. He was having breakfast and just didn't seem to care if we were there or not. He let us take all the pictures we wanted and posed graciously. After posing for that picture, I decided to borrow the camera from Kelli for a second and take a couple pictures of the turtle myself.

I always love gazing into a turtles eyes, they are just so soft and full of personality. This guy was very accommodating about having me that close to him, didn't seem to mind at all. So I snapped a few pictures and then let him get back to his breakfast. This was definitely one of the coolest turtle encounters I've had in a very long time though.Yup, these couple pictures convinced me that I really need to start saving up to replace my underwater camera though. I miss capturing these moments on the camera and then being able to share them. Kelli took a picture of Hozumi and I together on this my 200th dive of the year and her last dive on Saipan. It was a great dive, and Hozumi really seemed to enjoy herself and just soak everything in one last time. I will really miss taking her out diving occasionally and watching her face light up when she sees a turtle, or watching her recoil in horror as I hold a sea cucumber out to her. Thanks for sharing that dive with me Hozumi, you will be greatly missed!

Dive Master

I've just finished putting another notch in my diving belt on the road to my future career change. The Dive Master class was interesting in many respects, and again I wound up learning quite a bit that I will take with me as I become an Instructor. One of the first lessons I learned was in one of the skills tests at the beginning of the course. Our instructor told us that this was an important test and we needed to take it very seriously. He kind of rushed through the instructions, and then gave us 5 minutes to come up with a plan as to how we would accomplish the task. One of the things that neither of us really understood was that the time deadline was only for coming up with our plan, we both thought we were under a strict time deadline underwater as well. Because we didn't understand that the underwater task was not timed, we put a lot of extra pressure on ourselves and it made it that much more difficult. Obviously we did pass the test, but I was pretty convinced underwater that we had failed it, because I knew we didn't make the time deadline I thought we were under. I learned a couple things through that little exercise, to make sure to ask all the questions I need to get proper clarification especially for something that important, and also that when I'm an instructor, I need to be crystal clear in my instructions and make sure that my students understand their task clearly and all rules pertaining to it. Much of their success will depend on my ability to communicate clearly and to give them the best chance of success.

The first thing I discovered about the Divemaster course was that there was an awful lot of reading and bookwork involved. This course took you much deeper into the physics and physiology of diving and the theory behind it. I had to memorize a bunch of different formulas for figuring different problems. I had to memorize a bunch of figures for such things as the specific gravity of both salt water and fresh water, the displacement and weight of 1 cubic foot of water in both salt water and fresh water. I had to learn how much pressure is exerted by 1 atmosphere of water, yup, both salt and fresh, and the figures are different for all of them. I had to learn how to calculate pressure, volume, air consumption, partial pressures, surface equivalency and more. I had to learn how diving affects our physiology, the effect of the gasses that make up the air we breathe under pressure. I had to learn to calculate decompression times for multiple dives and be able to answer a bunch of questions about how the human body responds to the pressure in an aquatic environment.

There were times that I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Was I too old to try cramming all these figures and formulas into my head? Could I really remember all of this, and pass it on a test? Memorization was always my weakness in school. I could discuss theory and have a good grasp of what is going on, but when you just want me to start reciting random facts, it's a real challenge for me. My instructor wasn't about to let me throw in the towel though, and said that I was going to get it no matter what it took. I eventually did, and it all actually made sense to me. But I'll readily admit, I spent countless hours pouring through all the books, sometimes over and over until it finally clicked. I have to admit, I was a bit shocked that I actually passed the written exams, this is college level stuff, and there's an awful lot of different subjects all crammed into one course. That would probably be a big reason that the PADI courses are qualified and accredited to receive college credit.

Part of the Divemaster course is to act as an assistant and Dive Master while the instructor is actually teaching some real Open Water dive students. I really enjoyed that part, it's why I want to become an instructor and change career paths at this point in my life. I want to share my passion with as many other people as I can, and being a Dive Instructor or a professional Dive Guide is the best way to accomplish that. I learned from all my reading that the role of an assistant or Divemaster in a class situation is to handle the logistics. You are to make the instructor's job easier, and take care of all the things like equipment, making sure the students bring their log books, coordinating training times, demonstrating skills when asked to by the instructor, and helping the students to master the various skills if they need some extra work on something. While diving, the Divemasters job is to either lead the dive, or to pick a vantage point where he can keep a good eye on all the students and react quickly in case of any trouble or emergency. The Divemaster's job is not to teach the students, that is up to the instructor. And while there may be a temptation to add your two cents worth, you need to carefully weigh whether it will help or only confuse the situation. A good Divemaster will blend into the background until called into service by the instructor and then will be right there to help with anything required of him or her. You should also anticipate any needs or problems that may arise. Bring extra log pages, in case the students forget their log book, bring dive tables or an Electronic Recreational Dive Planner, so the students can use them in case they forgot their own. Bring extra masks and fins and regulators, just in case.

A good Divemaster can make the instructor's job so much easier, but a Divemaster who either doesn't know his job or do his job very well, can be very frustrating to the instructor as well. It's important to thoroughly understand your role, and then think through all possible scenarios to make you as effective as possible.

I also learned that the PADI system really does work and makes sense when used properly. It ensures the greatest chance of success for the student, and takes the pressure off the instructor. The instructor doesn't have to worry about coming up with a plan, wondering what to teach on what dive or how to show the skills. PADI has laid that all out for them, all they have to do is follow the information on the dive slates and make sure it is learned satisfactorily. I had the opportunity to watch how my instructor would go to great pains to do everything by the book, making sure there were no shortcuts taken or information left out. But I also had the opportunity to watch other instructors with their students, and see the shortcuts they took sometimes, and how their students would pay the price when they weren't as thorough as they should be. I learned many things in this couse that helped prepare me for what lies ahead in the Instructor's Course in Guam. I learned many things that I will incorporate into my teaching style, and I also observed a few things from other instructors that I will carefully avoid.

Yes, it is possible to convert old diving dinosaurs and to bring them up to speed with modern methods and training, but in order to get them to be willing to take that first step, you need to be very careful in your approach. They can be easily chased away, and are very tough to get back if you take the wrong approach in the first place. Make it fun, make it fulfilling, make it a point of honor, and let them know they will be able to share their passion much more effectively if they learn a few new tricks. This old diving dinosaur has passed the PADI Rescue Diver course, the Emergency First Aid Responder couse, and the PADI Divemaster course all in the last few months. And in exactly one month, I'll be taking off for Guam to do the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor course. If I can do it, you can do it, it's all a matter of setting your mind to it and taking it seriously. There may be better instructor's out there than me when I'm finished, but I seriously doubt there will be many who are more passionate or dedicated to passing along their love of diving to as many others as possible. I already have my first 2 students just waiting for me to return from Guam to begin their course. If diving is something you've always wanted to try, or if you've always thought about getting certified, I would love to have the opportunity to be your instructor. I'll still be on Saipan from mid-November through probably April or possibly May of next year. Let me know and let's get you certified to explore some of the coolest places on the planet!

Rescue Diver

I got an e-mail from PADI last week congratulating me on becoming a PADI Rescue Diver. I remember sitting having a discussion with some friends who helped found Marianas Dive last year, and they were trying to convince me why I should take the PADI Rescue Diver course. Their arguments went something like this:
- You can always learn something new to help you out in one of those situations
- New knowledge is always a good thing
- It would put you one step closer to Dive Master status
- We'd feel better knowing you had the training to haul any of us out of the water if we ever got into trouble
- We'd love the challenge of trying to teach an old diving dinosaur like you a few new tricks.

My arguments against it went something like this:
- I've been diving for 35 years, you've been diving how long?
- I've already rescued more people than I can keep track of, how many have you rescued?
- I've been diving longer than you've been alive!
- So you're trained to rescue people but you never have had to, and I'm not trained for it by you, but I've already rescued far too many, how does that make sense?
- You want me to pay how much to teach me something I've already done countless times?

Needless to say, they weren't successful in their attempts to convince me I needed Rescue Diver training. I just couldn't make any sense of it in my head. Part of it was stubborn pride, back when I got certified it was a 3 month course and they taught you all of that stuff back then. Of course that was back in the mid-70's, and admittedly diving and diving equipment has changed just a little bit since then. Even though I didn't agree to take the class from any of them back then, it did get me thinking about it. I like to think about things for a long time usually before making a decision though. If they had pushed too hard, or taken the wrong approach, they would have closed the door permanently and I never would have considered taking the Rescue Diver course, no matter what.

Then there was a situation that really had me rather ticked off at a few of the dive weenies at the time. It was the incident where I evicted a couple hermit crabs from Tritan Trumpet shells and took the shells for my collection. Back when I got certified, in the mid 70's, things were vastly different. Not many people thought in terms of conservation, scuba spearfishing was not only allowed, but was encouraged, and even taught in most of the courses back then. And shell collecting was one of the benefits of scuba diving. So I really didn't think anything of it at all, I didn't kill the crabs, and the shells went into my collection. One of the other divers on the island who also had a blog, decided to take the pictures off of my blog of the Tritan Trumpet shells and publicly castigate me for my "crimes against nature". She made sure everyone knew who she was talking about by putting a link to my blog, thus ensuring the public humiliation was complete. Her dive instructor made some comments about it on her blog, also referring to me as an uneducated and insensitive diver. At the time I felt like if this is how the new breed of divers operates, I want nothing to do with them. To me they were obnoxious, rude, they stole my pictures without getting my permission so they had no honor, and to me they were very counter productive. If the whole point was just to publicly embarass me, I guess they were successful, but if it was to educate me about conservation, their methods couldn't have been worse.

Mike Tripp, who also has a Saipan diving blog, also saw my post, and was also upset about it, but for a couple different reasons. He was afraid that because of my prominent position in the community with my radio presence, and because everyone knew I was a diver, that it would send a bad message to other divers and those who might consider getting certified down the road. He told his wife about his frustration, and she counseled him to sleep on it, and then call me up the next day and talk it over personally with me. That was an approach that I could relate to, and actually responded to very favorably. If you want to educate someone on something, you don't start off by publicly humiliating them and criticizing them. During our talk, I admitted to Mike that I was a diving dinosaur, who got certified in the mid 70's, back when most divers were also spearfishermen, and also shell collectors. I heard all his concerns, and had to admit, he had some very valid points. But because of the reaction by some of the other divers, it made me totally reject any possibility of taking other PADI courses at that time.

Another friend of mine had continued talking to me about diving and my role in diving on the island, and had quietly encouraged me to at least think about taking the Rescue course. He was making progress on me, but like I said, I make those kind of decisions slowly. Finally he made me an offer I couldn't refuse and I agreed to go ahead and take the Rescue Diver course. Once I decide to go ahead with something like that, I take it very seriously and throw myself into it 110%. As I was reading through the books, I had to admit I was learning a lot, there were a lot of things that either weren't covered in my initial course, or that I'd long since forgot. Plus, so much has changed in diving, that it was good to know what was behind some of the various changes. The more I read, the more I wanted to learn and discover, it was contagious for me.

Yes, even an old diving dinosaur like me can learn if you approach it the right way. If you just want to criticize and humiliate, you won't accomplish anything, but if you approach things the right way, you might be amazed at the results. I was reading an article in "The Best of the Underwater Journal" for my Instructor's course entitled "Is Diver Education Deteriorating?", and I had to laugh when I read this paragraph. "Having been in and around the diving industry for quite some time, I've heard complaints about the deteriorating skills of the new diver and new instructors echoed from a variety of industry sources for more than 20 years. There is no objective evidence to support these complaints, but much evidence that refutes them. I would like to take a few minutes of your time to stir your thoughts and present a viewpoint. You might find this useful next time you are in a conversation with a diving "dinosaur" who feels everything is broken. Many of these macho (and macha) types look down upon other divers as poorly trained and somehow not really fit enough to dive. They generally view the modern recreational scuba participants as "boutique" divers. Who knows, armed with this information you may successfully convert a diving dinosaur into a "nuevo" diving dinosaur."

I am proof positive that it is indeed possible to convert a diving dinosaur, and having read through most of the books required for the Instructor's course, I have to say, that I not only understand why PADI does things the way they do now, but I wholeheartedly agree and endorse it!

One of the main things I learned through the class was that if you have me in the water as a panicked diver you're trying to rescue, if you can't just shove something at me and have me save myself, you don't want to get anywhere near me, it won't have a pretty ending. But as someone who has been diving for 35 years, and didn't think there was any need of further diving courses or education, let me assure you, there is always something new to learn and you'll wind up a much better diver for it. And after mid-November, I'd be happy to teach you those courses and certify you as well!

A New Start

There are a few people out there who knew from a very early age what they wanted to be when they grew up, they pursued that dream and turned it into a reality. Then there were others of us who knew what we really enjoyed, but we were pushed in different directions and we pushed our dreams to the back burner and found something else we could do to make money, and we stayed there for years, and years and years. I've been in radio for over 26 years now, and it's not that I haven't enjoyed it, I've had some amazing experiences in radio. I've emceed concerts for Eddie Rabbit, Moe Bandy, Loretta Lynn, Garth Brooks, Lorrie Morgan, Collin Raye and a bunch more that I don't even remember anymore. I've gotten to travel to Nashville and interview the biggest names in country music from 1986-1992, Randy Travis, The Oak Ridge Boys, Reba McEntire, Juice Newton, Marie Osmond, The Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Clint Black and the list goes on and on. I had a lot of fun in country music, but the time came to put that behind me and move on to the next phase of my radio life.

Saipan has definitely given me a chance to become a different person in radio altogether. I started doing local political commentary, and a morning talk show. It has been anything but boring, and I think after I leave I'll have left my mark, it may be a skid mark, but it will be a mark all the same. I have loved living on Saipan, the whole tropical experience, living in such a mixing pot of cultures and people from all over the world. I have made many good friends on Saipan, and have watched many of them leave over the years. I have had a former Governor blame me for his losing re-election bid, which I wear as a badge of honor. I am probably the most hated person by nearly every politician on island, something else which I take pride in. I wanted to make a difference here, to let people know they didn't have to keep voting for the same old relatives, they could vote intelligently, providing there happened to be anyone intelligent actually running. I'm not really sure how much of a difference I did make that way, but the one difference I believe I did make was to show people that they can speak up against their leaders, and demand honesty, integrity and change. Since I have been doing the commentary for the past 8 years, more and more people have begun to speak up and to demand accountability from their leaders. If that's the only thing that I managed to accomplish during my time here, it was something and I am good with that. But it is nearly time to retire my microphone and head a new direction in life. Many people I have talked to about it simply can't understand why I would walk away, and give it all up just to be a dive instructor. Those people don't really know me, and don't understand my love of the ocean and my passion for it.

The diving on Saipan is nothing short of spectacular and I've managed to get in over 2,500 dives in the 12 1/2 years that I've lived here. I doubt there are many people who have spent as many hours as I have exploring and looking through all the various tunnels and swimthroughs all around Saipan. Once I discovered underwater digital photography it took my diving to an all new level excitement-wise. I was able to bring my dives back and let other people enjoy them as well through pictures and video. Anyone who knows anything about me at all realizes that my real interest and passion in life lies underwater. I just can't get enough of it, and love sharing it with as many people as I can. That is the main thing that finally led me to a realization, that is how I want to spend the rest of my life. Not entertaining, educating and pissing people off on the air every day, but teaching them to dive and showing them the wonders of what lies beneath the surface of the water.

I got certified to dive back in the mid-70's through the YMCA. Back then, there was one certification course, and they taught you a lot and made sure you knew what you were doing. But there weren't all these other level of dive certifications. So for years and years I refused to get any of the further certifications, believing that I really didn't need them, I had been diving far longer than most of the people teaching the courses, so I made it a point of honor to only be an Open Water certified diver. I referred to myself occasionally as the diving dinosaur, which a few of my diving friends liked the sound of and started referring to me that way as well.

Several years ago, someone stole my wallet, which contained my old YMCA scuba certification card. That was the only thing I was really bummed about losing in the wallet. That picture of me in 1976 was priceless, long sideburns, straight hair combed over to the side, a classic mid-70's look. Whenever I would show it to anyone in a dive shop, they would always do a double take, and then say no, that wasn't me. Then I'd tell them to look at the date on it. That would be followed by something like, wow, you've been diving that long? Yes, I have. I knew I would eventually need another scuba certification card, but I also knew that the YMCA didn't keep records from that long ago. So I talked to the owner of one of the dive shops and asked him if I could just take a skills test to qualify for a PADI Open Water certification card. He just laughed at me, and said that if I wasn't qualified to dive with all the diving I do, then nobody is. I would usually get my tanks filled there 4-5 times every week. He surprised me though, when I got my card, it was for Advanced Open Water, again, he said if I'm not Advanced, then nobody is. I thanked him and proudly took possession of my new C-Card.

Recently, one of my dive buddies, who happens to be a PADI Instructor talked me into getting my Rescue and Dive Master certifications. Don't ask me how he managed to do that, I'm not even sure I know. He was a bit worried about taking on a student like me though, who has been diving longer than he has been alive. He figured I'd be a know-it-all, and wouldn't want to learn anything new. But when I decide to do something like that, I jump in with both feet and soak it all in like a sponge. That's not to say that I won't have a bunch of questions and may want some things explained to me, but in the end I will accept the new ways and adapt. I was quite surprised as I started reading through the various books at just how much I was learning, and how beneficial it was. This old dog was actually learning new tricks, and enjoying it!

As I was in the middle of the Dive Master class, I realized that I was only one certification away from becoming a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. Here something that I had always fought against and refused to ever consider was now within reach. All of the sudden a light came on, and I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I don't know exactly where, and what the specific job will look like, but I know I'm going to be a dive instructor and I will be taking people diving for the rest of my life.

Kelli has been wanting to move back somewhere closer to our son Josh and his wife Regis, because they keep threatening us with grandchildren. I figured if I moved back to Florida, about the only job I would get would be as a Wal-Mart greeter, and I just didn't see myself as being old enough for that yet. But now I realized that I could be a dive instructor and either live in southern Florida or the Carribean, do what I love and be fairly close to Josh & Regis. Sarah is moving to Alaska, there is no way I'm moving anywhere to be close to that frozen place.

The situation on Saipan lately has made the decision to leave that much easier, constant power outages, theft and crime on the rise, exorbitant electricity rates and fuel prices, the cost of food and other goods continuing to climb, many of our other friends all leaving the island, and the usual moronic and corrupt politicians. Yes, now that I had a plan, it was time to finally leave Saipan, as hard as that was going to be.

I have paid a deposit to be in the Instructor Development Course on Guam October 31 - November 13, and then I'll be a certified PADI Instructor. The plan is to come back to Saipan and work at the station for several more months saving up money, selling everything off (except dive gear of course), and then make the big move early next year. So yes, I might be crazy, but at least I'll be doing what I really love and sharing it with as many people as I can, and I'll be happy as a clam! That's where this new journey begins and the events that led up to it. So if you've always wanted to learn to dive, but were just waiting for that "special" Instructor to come along, here I am! Just let me know and let's get you certified, or if you want to further your certifications, I'll be able to certify you through Dive Master after mid-November.

I'll keep you up to date on the job hunting prospects, what it's like going through the Instructor's course and all the other adventures involved in it. And of course I'll still be telling a few dive stories while I'm still on Saipan. Let the adventures begin...