more underwater pics

All good things come to an end

We managed to make the most of our time and stayed right up to the last minute of our permits in the area but as with all good things the end was in sight and a new course for the horizon was set.

Looking at our ETA at the next destination it was evident that we would be arriving late evening. This is not generally ideal as pilots charge overtime, line handlers etc and the customs and formalities can't be completed until the morning anyway. So I decided to anchor over night at a small group of islands on the way. What we found was incredible! A total utopian paradise. No humans no sign of them and such a remote and beautiful island. I had to wonder when the last people were actually there. Most of us took a chance to walk to a vantage point and to travel through the islands in one of our small boats.

Whale Sharks

Part 4

It was quickly decided that we should remain for the following day and I was there early the next morning helping to launch the boat and already wearing my swim shorts.

The fishermen live on static boats called Baggans and they lower nets to catch fish, hauling the nets every two hours. The tiny fish that escape the nets are like Whale shark chocolate. These fish are what is attracting the Whale sharks to the baggans. The fishermen believe that the sharks are good luck and they live in harmony with them.
Locals say that there are 4 types of fish. Fish that are good to eat, fish that are poisonous to eat, Fish that are dangerous and fish that are not dangerous but are not good to eat either. Luckily I think the Whale sharks come in the final category!

There are not words to describe the morning I spent in the company of these huge and beautiful creatures.

Part 3 Adrift

It was sunrise on the 27th June I was on the bridge, looking through the binoculars towards a couple of small islands, wondering how it was possible for places to get more and more beautiful as we travel around. The crimson sky was mirrored in the perfect calm of the sea. If our contacts friends, contact was to be believed we were in for a spectacular day!

Some times I wonder what is in my head. Why did I suddenly think that a local guy would be able to show me on a chart where we needed to go. The chap had never seen a chart in his life. As he stood shivering in our air-conditioned bridge, grinning at me and pointing to a place with his finger, I took out my dividers and measured the distance happily proclaiming that it was 10 miles. More grinning!

The tender was launched and loaded with gear and the first lucky crew members, including myself, set off for the mornings adventure. We were hoping to see a pod of whale sharks. We head off in the direction of our guides waving hand, a nod and a giant grin confirmed to our driver that he was on the right course.

An hour later we had to change over fuel tanks! One half of our fuel had been consumed. The boat was slightly overloaded but even so, we had been traveling at, at least 15-20 miles an hour. If Oakmeads School, mathematics department had not failed me, one hour at 15-20 miles per hour, should mean that we have gone past our estimated 10 mile destination! With my best puzzled look and with a combination of sign language I asked how far to go. Waving my arms towards the front. Yes, he nodded, grinning! I was less than confident and we were now a very long way from the mother ship.



Lucky for us, the satellite phone that we take on such excursions was fully charged. It appeared as though we had exhausted our VHF radio range. It was time to call Thunderbird one to the scene. The phone connected with a beep and there was a confusing delay in the communication but I eventually explained our GPS position and heading and that the big boat should pick up the anchor and come to find us. It was not long after this call that the blurt blurt and sudden change of engine noise indicated that we had in fact, exhausted all fuel supplies and were now seven people adrift in a rubber boat, in one of the most remote areas that I have ever been. Was it was time to make friends with the vegetarians!?




Two long hours later our rescuers came over the horizon and within 3 hours, we were alongside topping up the tender with fuel and re examining the chart. We had traveled 35 miles!

My whale shark adventure was now off and I was feeling a bit disappointed, not to mention, sun burnt but a safe anchorage for the big boat needed to be found. A small team left again in the tender. With its lighter load and fewer crew, the boat took off at its normal 30 knots speed. It took me two and a half more hours to find a good anchorage and just as we had settled and I was drinking a cup of tea, the tender returned with some very excited crew, who had obviously found the whale sharks and had enjoyed and extended swim in their company. Still not completely happy with the anchorage, I was not able to leave in the second boat for the excursion and watched as the excited crew members sped away.

I had been up since 4 am and it was starting to feel like a long day. It was late in the afternoon when I finally boarded the tender for the 15 minute run to where the sharks were. I had been persuaded that I should try and get a swim before the days light went away.

I slipped into the water and was instantly lost for words and totally amazed. In the excitement of the day I had not really taken time to know what a whale shark was or what it might be like to swim with one. There were two there and for about 5 minutes I swam about watching them. Just Iike all good things it is better if you have to work hard for the pleasure. It wasn’t long before the two whales swam away and we returned to the boat.

As we approached, the ships horn sounded and there were some balloons tied up on the bow. It was a small birthday party and we drank some cocktails on the bow as the sun finally dipped below the horizon at the end of another fantastic day.

Part two

Someone who knew someone, who knew a guy in Holland, who had contacts with a local bloke, who told them, then they told us. This is just the way it happened. We were directed to one small wonderful place after the next. We moved on, feeling our way at night around the coast, anchoring by day. We found WW11 wrecks and dive sites that are hardly known, named or charted, all of them were immensely rich in colour and full of wild life. The remoteness of these sites is such that we would be among only a few fortunate people to have ever seen them. Some of them I am convinced that our team would have been the first.

On one day we had been advised of some wrecks that had been found by some local fishermen off of one of the small villages on the coast. Somehow a message got to them that we would be looking for them early one morning. I was totally surprised that we managed to find them but I guess they found us. We tend to stick out a bit around here.

We negotiated a price for their services which included an extra fee for their Chief. I just thought yeah yeah.. but it wasn’t so much and I was happy to pay them for their services. They were great! Happy dudes with ever present grins and a willingness to help us. After a little trial and error, they located the wrecks for us and we were able to dive and film. At the end of the day I gave them the cash as promised and our boat ran them ashore. First stop was at a beach along the way, one of them ran up into the trees to visit the local chief and to pay him his share of the fee! I felt a little ashamed at thinking that they were trying to make a few extra bucks from the shiny white boat but I was also really pleased at this simple honesty and sharing. This small thing had made my day.

As we set out into yet another amazing sun set, to another place that was suggested by someone, who know someone, who heard of something in or around the area. I was reflecting on the journey and wondered what was in store for us tomorrow, on my 42nd birthday.

A grand Adventure. Part 1

A little under four weeks ago we set off from the Philippines to explore and document the best of the diving that we could find in the area of Western Papua Province.
It is an area called Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is translated as 'The 4 kings' Known on board as Rogers armpit it is a group of four main islands and is the home of the most diverse reef and sea life ecosystems on the planet.
In only one dive off of the ‘house reef' on Kri Island an expert logged 328 species of fish..

The unfolding of our unique schedule, the people we met and the few dramas that occurred along the way are all a part of being at sea and travelling in remote places. It was brilliant!

Our welcoming committee on arrival into Indonesia consisted of 8 uniformed officers who promptly set about wiring up our steering and engine controls! This was not the most friendly of approaches to visitors that I have experienced and I was a bit put out by it! The action was to prevent us from moving while our permits were issued. Perhaps the permits and papers would have arrived in a more timely manner if I had agreed to furnish their requests for souvenirs?



After two long days however, a bloke eventually showed up and cut the wires. I took some delight in telling him that we have at least 3 other ways of operating the engines and steering on board but he just grinned at me.

So, it was just after lunch on the 2nd Day when we finally heaved the anchor and headed off on the 4 hour journey to Kri Island. I wanted to arrive before dark as there is a reef and a narrow gap to negotiate. We had made contact with a local guy who agreed to come out in a boat to lead us through the reef. They also dropped a young lad off onto our boat who was supposed help us through from on board. The excited young man was escorted to meet me on the bridge, where I was carefully matching radar bearings and depth soundings to the paper chart. The chart reassuringly advises in italic letters ‘incompletely surveyed’ so I was thrilled to see the smiling young man who was to be my local guide. I don't know why I expected him to speak any English and then he was so amazed at our air conditioning and electronics that he was baffled into a stunned silence. I thought that he may take a bearing of the mountains in the distance or line up two banana trees or something, even peer over the bow and point the way but there was nothing! Only a giant, wide eyed grin.

The local boat of choice in this area is a long slender boat, carved mostly from a tree, normally with additional out-riggers for stability and a small outboard engine. These boats have a maximum depth of under one meter.

It suddenly dawned on me that the two meter deep reef that I was trying my hardest to miss with our 3.5 meter keel had never been of importance to anyone here! The penny dropped in my small brain, that despite the eager help available, we were on our own! Obviously, with great skill and cunning we made it through the reef without incident.

Our anchor was soon, carefully lowered into 40 meters of water and as the boat settled to it, I was able to relax and the stunning scene became clear. We had arrived in our first paradise of the trip.

Some Diving

A picture paints a thousand words

Snorkelling in Jelly Fish Lake!

A long journey

The flight to Fiji via Auckland was an epic and the volcano ash was behaving it self too so I did at least have that to be thankful for!
On arriving in Fiji, I walked up the gang plank to find out that we were departing on the following morning for Palau. (I had to google it too and I was supposed to be navigating us there!)
I woke up not knowing what time of day or night that my body was expecting to find and soon after breakfast we were on our way. Another 3000 miles and 11 days at sea and we arrived in a true absolute paradise.

The picture is actually us anchored in Bora Bora but you get the idea!

Back at work

It seems that there is less incentive to write about the stuff that I am doing when at home. I had a wonderful leave and as usual, thoughts of work were at the back of my mind and I had a brilliant time with Mrs P junior, my friends and family.

I did a bit of Kayaking, ran a marathon and even did some Morris Dancing!
As usual that all came to a sudden end. The Morris Dancing too! The call came and I was whisked off to work on the other side of the world!

Four finishers in Paris

That's better. As I said, there were four of us finish together and this is all of us at the finish line.

Promotion

I sit today with only slightly aching legs and the race that seemed a long way ahead is now behind us.
On Saturday, four of us, all friends from Sussex ran in the 3rd edition of the Eco Trail De Paris. We all finished the 80kms (50 miles)together in 10 hrs 40 mins which was a brilliant effort

Today I laughed! As I read the results because out of the 1255 finishers we were consecutively 651st through to 654th. This was a fantastic achievement but what was making me laugh was the order of names. 654 Charlie, 653 Cliff, 652 Pete and 651 was Me! Does this fluke of administration mean that I can have a promotion in the Sussex mens fitness league, even though we did actually all finish at the same time?

One thing is for sure, wherever I am in the fitness league, I am now qualified to wear tights!

Tights at the ready

I started training for this silly event six months ago and as I stood beneath the Eiffel Tower on the morning before the race I was starting to wonder if I had done enough to prepare.
Too late to worry about it I went to find a coffee!

To Paris..

Last summer, my good friend Dai and I went to the French Alps to support some other friends who were competing in an extreme ultra marathon in the mountains there. It was amazing to be at the finish line watching some of the competitors come in and foolishly I was inspired!

Not long after returning from our brief sojourn in the Alps and still foolishly inspired, I signed myself up, to compete in the 2010 Eco Trail de Paris. http://www.traildeparis.com/pages/public/index.php?v=event&id=6

In the morning tomorrow. Mrs P junior and myself have tickets on the Eurostar to Paris and the silliness is upon us.

At 1230 on Saturday, the start gun will go and together with a few hundred other tight wearing Europeans I will make my way over 80kms (50 miles) towards the Eiffel Tower. Where, we are all aspiring to finish the race by climbing the stairs of that famous land mark!

Winter Olympics

It is a while ago since I left Canada and the excitement of the winter Olympics but it was a good experience, especially the day we got up on the mountain to see the womens freestyle skiing. My pictures do not do justice to the wonderful atmosphere.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Tonight the winter Olympics openned in Vancouver and our 3 ring circus is in full swing. I think that I should be the MC but feel like a juggling clown.
However, we took a few minutes to watch the fireworks tonight. The atmosphere is wonderful and everyone is busy.

Olympic Flame

This morning the Olympic Flame arrived in North Vancouver. Hundreds of people have run with it, over 104 days on it's long journey, through thousands of communities all over Canada.

So today we were thrilled that we could take off from work to go and enjoy the excitement. There was quite a crowd gathered out side here early this morning and it really was great fun!