The customer slept in today, this left Giel with a smile on his face as he has been working for about 3 weeks without a day off. After that I guess any reprieve is nice. We head out on the boat again, another calm day the ocean again has barely a ripple, almost lake like. Perfect weather.
Today as no diver with Giel and I we will lead a pack of 6 snorkelers, two kids and four adults. One lady is not so comfortable its her 1st time and another has never used a snorkel but is a good swimmer. During the slow ride out to Phi Phi we gather some snorkeling gear and I take some time to read some more of the Dive Master Manual that I have been neglecting, I read a little each day but I have not got as far as I normally would with these kind of things, likely too much time blogging!
The divers go in 1st and we help the snorkeling crew find fins and masks to fit, after a little swap and shuffle we are ready to go. For the lady that's a bit worried I found her a life jacket and assured her I will stay close. Into the water we go and even the lady who is a little nervous enters with only a little hesitation. We start to swim around the bay at Koh Bida Nok and after a few minor adjustments in the water to masks and fins everyone starts to feel more comfortable. One lady continues to have trouble with her mask but its doesn't stop us, we'll try another for the second round.
I can say I've done a lot of snorkeling in the past and I am pretty comfortable in the water but the extra responsibility making sure everyone stays together and is ok is a new experience, I try to make a habit of counting everyone every minute or so. I was a boy scout so helping is in my nature, you know. Helping old ladies across the road before pushing them into traffic! That sort of thing.
Learned something today apparently snorkels are not very comfortable with braces, maybe if I ever have to help another snorkeler with mouth Jewelry we can find a different shape snorkel, maybe that's something you just have to put up with if you have braces. Kids are not as tough as they used to be, suck it up boys and girls a little discomfort is good for you. Crawl through drains, scrape your knee; PlayStation makes you soft!
Second round of snorkeling was a breeze after a mask and snorkel swap. Everyone was more expert after the practice in the morning and I did not feel so obliged to worry about everyone though I kept up the counting ritual for my own piece of mind. Giel entertained us by Dive Bombing some of the scuba divers, one secret of scuba divers, they never look up if you come from above you can catch them by surprise, fun! This activities remind me to look up every now and then and admire the scenery we are snorkeling under beautiful cliffs with pipers nesting in the rock face that I point out to the group. Surprisingly I am not disappointed that I did not dive today.
On the return journey I am going through a fish book showing some of the snorkelers some of the fish we saw. The boat came to a stop for no apparent reason, I scan the ocean thinking maybe a whale sighting or something, but there is barely a ripple on the surface. Boris the tour leader on the boat comes up and explains there was an earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia. Registered 8.6, a big one. There are quite a few people who were here for the Tsunami twelve years ago and everyone is a little nervous. Warning sirens were sounded in Patong and areas close to the coast and people evacuated to high ground. There was some disagreement on the boat about what we should do. The captain wanted to race in ahead of any potential wave and evacuate everyone to high ground, I guess he wanted to get home to his family. Can't blame him but this was not the sensible option. Reason won over we stayed out an extra couple of hours waiting for news of any wave that would take one and a half hours to reach Phuket if it was to hit.
Text messages were sent home, so mums and family alike would not worry and we played the waiting game. Also another game, played my 1st game of Yatzee in years! With some kids on the boat to pass the time, I was not victorious. Beaten by kids again! By about 6:30 waiting out in deep water where its safest with all the boats that had left port for safe deep water it became apparent that no wave would hit and we headed in to port under a breathtaking sunset guided home by the now lit up Big Buddah, perhaps he was watching over us today? Patong was slightly shaken and much relieved by the time we were heading home. There were still a few people playing safe and waiting roadside to hear news that they could return to there homes and hotels alike. Diving activity for Seafun has been cancelled for tomorrow a decision made with no thought of profit in mind, my respect to Renee for this quick selfless decision.
That's me done for the day! Yes I know this blog is starting to look little boring, pictures coming soon!
Today as no diver with Giel and I we will lead a pack of 6 snorkelers, two kids and four adults. One lady is not so comfortable its her 1st time and another has never used a snorkel but is a good swimmer. During the slow ride out to Phi Phi we gather some snorkeling gear and I take some time to read some more of the Dive Master Manual that I have been neglecting, I read a little each day but I have not got as far as I normally would with these kind of things, likely too much time blogging!
The divers go in 1st and we help the snorkeling crew find fins and masks to fit, after a little swap and shuffle we are ready to go. For the lady that's a bit worried I found her a life jacket and assured her I will stay close. Into the water we go and even the lady who is a little nervous enters with only a little hesitation. We start to swim around the bay at Koh Bida Nok and after a few minor adjustments in the water to masks and fins everyone starts to feel more comfortable. One lady continues to have trouble with her mask but its doesn't stop us, we'll try another for the second round.
I can say I've done a lot of snorkeling in the past and I am pretty comfortable in the water but the extra responsibility making sure everyone stays together and is ok is a new experience, I try to make a habit of counting everyone every minute or so. I was a boy scout so helping is in my nature, you know. Helping old ladies across the road before pushing them into traffic! That sort of thing.
Learned something today apparently snorkels are not very comfortable with braces, maybe if I ever have to help another snorkeler with mouth Jewelry we can find a different shape snorkel, maybe that's something you just have to put up with if you have braces. Kids are not as tough as they used to be, suck it up boys and girls a little discomfort is good for you. Crawl through drains, scrape your knee; PlayStation makes you soft!
Second round of snorkeling was a breeze after a mask and snorkel swap. Everyone was more expert after the practice in the morning and I did not feel so obliged to worry about everyone though I kept up the counting ritual for my own piece of mind. Giel entertained us by Dive Bombing some of the scuba divers, one secret of scuba divers, they never look up if you come from above you can catch them by surprise, fun! This activities remind me to look up every now and then and admire the scenery we are snorkeling under beautiful cliffs with pipers nesting in the rock face that I point out to the group. Surprisingly I am not disappointed that I did not dive today.
On the return journey I am going through a fish book showing some of the snorkelers some of the fish we saw. The boat came to a stop for no apparent reason, I scan the ocean thinking maybe a whale sighting or something, but there is barely a ripple on the surface. Boris the tour leader on the boat comes up and explains there was an earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia. Registered 8.6, a big one. There are quite a few people who were here for the Tsunami twelve years ago and everyone is a little nervous. Warning sirens were sounded in Patong and areas close to the coast and people evacuated to high ground. There was some disagreement on the boat about what we should do. The captain wanted to race in ahead of any potential wave and evacuate everyone to high ground, I guess he wanted to get home to his family. Can't blame him but this was not the sensible option. Reason won over we stayed out an extra couple of hours waiting for news of any wave that would take one and a half hours to reach Phuket if it was to hit.
Text messages were sent home, so mums and family alike would not worry and we played the waiting game. Also another game, played my 1st game of Yatzee in years! With some kids on the boat to pass the time, I was not victorious. Beaten by kids again! By about 6:30 waiting out in deep water where its safest with all the boats that had left port for safe deep water it became apparent that no wave would hit and we headed in to port under a breathtaking sunset guided home by the now lit up Big Buddah, perhaps he was watching over us today? Patong was slightly shaken and much relieved by the time we were heading home. There were still a few people playing safe and waiting roadside to hear news that they could return to there homes and hotels alike. Diving activity for Seafun has been cancelled for tomorrow a decision made with no thought of profit in mind, my respect to Renee for this quick selfless decision.
That's me done for the day! Yes I know this blog is starting to look little boring, pictures coming soon!
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