Dolphins Off the Bow

Good morning everyone! I have a solid half hour online this morning before I head off to my Rescue Diver Course so I thought I would put in a quick update.



First off I am halfway done with my 46 day work off at CDC and am having a great time with it. Recently I have been getting a little antsy to keep moving, getting out of Cairns, and seeing more of Oz. These urges are mysteriously coinciding with hearing more from Jesse and Erin out in NZ and talking with lots of friends and family from back in Cali last week. But then I get out on the reef and remember why I am here for another month or two.

My Rescue Diver Course is sort of halfway to the Dive Master and Assistant Instructor. We learn about how to assist and save panicked snorkelers and unconscious divers and all that. Mostly it sounds like a lot a lot of fun. For a couple days we do tons of practice scenarios where one of us goes out in the waters and is panicking and then tries to cause as much trouble as they can for whoever comes out to rescue them. As soon as my rescuer gets within reach their mask will be off and thrown far away. Fins too. If they are wearing a stinger suit, lets get that unzipped partially and pulled over an arm limiting their mobility. On top of that I will pretty much try and drown my rescuer. Sounds like lots of fun especially when you have multiple rescuers coming at you at once.

So that will be fun. A couple other stories from the Reef. We had dolphins come and play off the front bow of the boat as we were changing dive sites the other day. At least 20 came and played around weaving and jumping in front of the boat for about a half hour. Other wiley veterans on the boat says that happens every few months so I was psyched to be out there for that day. Also, on the liveaboard boat there are usually two hostesses running the bar and laundry and food and all sorts of other things. For the last few days there was only one hostess scheduled so she was working constantly doing the work of two people so she had no chance to go diving for a few days. She finally had a second to get in one dive right before she came off the boat. On that dive she saw not one but TWO manta rays! One was normal size (5 foot wingspan) and the other was around 8ft. So jealous.



Alright that is all the time I have for now. Miss everyone! I have a day off after the rescue diver course so hopefully I will have more pics and stories then.

Love,
Lindy