What's going on ......
This part of my personal web page will inform you of what I am doing in the moment and what I am up to .....
What is going on ...
I arrived in Europe coming through Amsterdam / Netherlands once more and landing in Hannover / Germany where I was greeted by my Mom and my Brother at the airport. I am getting ready for the motorcycle trip to Switzerland starting on August 4th. The weather is fair and not to hot.
If you want to see some photos from this trip please just click here.
What did happen ...
The Asia part of my current trip
After some 6 month of preparation finally it was time to bit my farewell to Mexico and go to the Philippines for a CCR wreck diving trip with fellow CCR victim Keith Barke. I am leaving Mexico with a feeling of not wanting to leave as I am so overloaded with check in luggage and hand luggage that it becomes a stress factor, thinking I will not make it at some point during the trip with all that luggage, maybe loosing some of it as I fly from Cancun to Amsterdam, Singapore and then Manila.
The 9 hour flight from Cancun to Amsterdam was relatively painless, arriving in Amsterdam airport I am stopped at the gate by plain cloth customs agents and searched in the arrival hall. Having a stop over of some 9 hours in Amsterdam I decide to leave all hand luggage in some lockers inside the airport and take the 2o min train ride to Amsterdam Central Station. It is a beautiful day with sunshine and no clouds. After sitting in the plane for some time it feels nice to walk around.
The 11:20 hour flight to Singapore is somewhat surprisingly painless too. Arriving in Singapore I got all my luggage without fuss, Immigration and customs are a breeze. Outside the customs area is a hotel reservation desk and within minutes I have a room and sit in a taxi to get there.
I am leaving Singapore through the budget terminal, small and nice. Check in is painless but connected with a $ 150 usd charge for overweight as they allow only 20 kg on board for free on check in. No word about the two super heavy carry on bags.
The Philippines
The flight from Singapore to Manila is 4 hours in a half full plane. I am now 13 hours ahead of Mexico time. As we are not on location yet we still have more travel in front of us, as we need to go by mini bus 3 hours to Batangas and then take a 1 ½ hour boat ride before reaching Puerto Galera, Small Laguna with all of our heap of luggage. Nothing left, lost or damaged. Dave from Tec Asia is with us on the boat and gives us a tour in his dive shop as we arrive. We leave after a short tour to check into the very nice El Galleon Resort, change into shorts and go for ocean view lunch. In the afternoon we prepare our rebreathers for tomorrows diving.
Phase one – Puerto Galera
Prior first dive I give a safe ccr diving presentation with the staff of Tec Asia as they are no very familiar with CCR divers and procedures. Apparently they had some bad experiences with CCR divers and would like to take the opportunity to talk about save CCR diving practices, in particular planning and bailout procedures. As we go diving with our guide Sam we do a full CCR skill circle stationary and then drifting in order to polish up on them for the next three weeks of diving.
Next day with no rain the viz is much better, I see the first time in my life a Seahorse, a Pygmy one that is. The so called pump boats or outrigger boats make a nice diving platform, the ladder is nice too. The dives we where doing in Puerto Galera included a number of CCR normoxic trimix dives to the Japanese wreck. The wreck was sunk during WW II, it was a wooden vessel that burnt down to the waterline. Today we can see the Scottish steam engine with anchor, prop shaft and prop sitting in the sand. Marine life is quite nice, the whole dive site pleasant to dive with no or little current at 142 feet with an ascent along the sloping reef as we get shallower we see a lot of soft corral, crabs, nudibranchs and more Seahorses to finish up decompression.
Another site is a dive to a wreck that was sunk as artificial wreck named Alma Jane right here in the bay to 100 feet. As we jump in the water a strong current is pulling but we make it to the mooring line and descent. The wreck is open with a tube like superstructure and a lot of spade fish took up residency at the rudder and super structure. A nice dive with lots of photo ops. During our ascend and deco stops we use our jon-lines and they work like a breeze, sailing in the current with no need to hold on to anything. That is quite some fun.
Another nice dive is an easy drift for an hour along Kilima wall at 90 feet for an hour and some change, coming up slowly. The marine diversity is just incredible. Nothing is big but a lot a lot of different stuff around. First time in my life I see some frog fish, actually two of them together, black ones. Stone fish too is in the area.
On our last day here we take off for a afternoon cruise along the coast and lagoon toward Coco Beach, Puerto Galera and White beach. Dave and Sam are joining, along is Sam’s daughter Katy as we visit an Italian restaurant on White beach to have some real Pizza.
Phase two – Coron Bay
We are leaving the Manila Airport hotel at 6:30 am toward the domestic terminal where we fly to Busuanga Island part of the Palawan Island chain for wreck diving. We have together 166 kilo of check in luggage plus the two heavy carry on pieces over our shoulder not to mention. Over all is cost about 7000 FP / $ 120 usd as we get 50 kilo free. The flight from Manila to Busuanga is short with 40 minutes in a brand new 25 seater turbo prop plane which is a third empty and has a lot of leg room. The airport in Busuanga is a small wooden building, it takes a bit of shoving around to get our 7 pieces luggage into the small minivan but of we go for a 40 minute ride on a dirt road that is in progress of an overhaul. Arriving in small and laid back Coron City we look for our boat that will bring us to Sangat Island where our resort is located at as it has the shortest travel time to the wrecks. The boat ride takes around 30 minutes cruising along a scenic coast.
Andy the owner is greeting us upon arrival, The Sangat Island and resort could be somewhat out of a movie or travel catalog. A small island with steep hills where a small beach is nestled in a small bay, all with white sand and clear water. The resort is all bamboo with no noise or electricity. I change my CCR onboard tanks over from my 13 cft tanks to 40 cft tanks as there is no booster on the island to bring my oxygen pressure up, so I rather dive larger tanks to have enough reserves to make two dives without the need of refilling in-between dives.
The dives conducted where all on the Japanese ships in the area sunk during a U.S. air raid on September 24th 1944. We where visiting the wrecks of the Tangat Maru with 165 mtr length and at max depth of 85 feet. She is a large but empty freighter, almost no current and a viz of about 24 feet. The bombs hit the ship straight into the pilot house causing major damage. The huge cargo holds are empty and invite easy exploration. With minimal decompression we return to the surface. The Sangat Gun Boat located just around the corner of Sangat Island Resort, with a max depth of 65 feet and a length of 35 mtr an easy afternoon dive. The shallow parts of the wreck are beautifully encrusted in all kinds of corral. The engine has been salvaged during the 1950’s providing a large empty space for easy penetration.
I could get JoJo (Joachim) to take me to the Iraku Maru wreck located at 139 feet depth with a length of 200 mtr. She was a freezer and food processing ship for the Japanese fleet. Viz is around 23 feet and green. JoJo leads on to a deep penetration where we see a sewing machine, the large engine room, an industrial size kitchen with all the equipment. As we get closer to the bow the doors getting to small for all my gear incl. bailout tank and I turn the dive to get back on deck. The pilot house was hit fair and square by a bomb. Not much left of it.
The Kyogo Maru with 110 feet depth and some 180 mtr in length. She had loaded construction material which can still be seen with tractors, wire mesh and hardened concrete bags. We dive today with a different boat, a traditional pump boat instead of the diving boat from the last days. Viz is around 30 feet or less with little current. As we dive towards the prop we discover it has been salvaged. The ship is laying on its starboard side giving excellent access to the wreck at various depth. In total of six cargo holds invite for further exploration as well as the pilot house superstructure, which has been hit fair and square by a bomb, so has been the stern where the steering mechanism is located. In the forward cargo hold some tractors can be seen, in the central super structure bathrooms and kitchens can be identified.
The Akitsushima, a flying boat tender and only military ship in the area. Apparently she took part in the battle of Midway, got damaged then repaired in Japan and sunk here after two days of fighting. Large cranes and radio towers provide plenty of photo ops at 125 feet depth along this 180 mtr long ship which lays on its port side. Two triple AA guns can be seen aft and midship. A large crack separates the wreck at the sea plane staging area. Plenty of areas for easy penetration.
Some 30 minutes after the dive Keith is suffering from dizziness and vertigo but responds to oxygen first aid. As a precautionary act we evacuate to Coron City where at the Sea Dive Resort a small one person recompression chamber is used to treat local Hookah divers free of charge as a community service. The doctor recommends a table 6 treatment and of goes Keith for a ride for suspected inner ear DCS.
On our last day on the Island we do an island hopping tour aboard a small outrigger boat to have a look around. The Island tour is very nice as the weather is beautiful. We visit North Key, a small island within a small chain of Islands on the very Western edge of the Palawan Island chain where we have lunch served with a grand view of clear water, white beach and islands stretching as far as one can see.
Phase three – Subic Bay
Travel day again. The check in at Busuanga airport is easy, going through security check with our pile of luggage we pay for 166 kilo (no 50 kilo free this time) 8500 FP / $ 200 usd for excess luggage. Back in Manila we meet and are picked up by Sam from Tech Asia. We hired Sam as our dive guide in the Subic Bay area. As we pass Clark airfield where the U.S. air base used to be we see the 20 meter high ash fields from the 1992 Mt. Pinatubo Volcano explosion. While entering the old Subic Bay Naval base we entering a Philippines apart with clean and organized roads and traffic, no Tricycles and no Jeepneys. We stay at Vasco´s, owned by Australian Bryan who is quite a character and has done a number of wreck expeditions. His exploits can be seen all around the nice water front restaurant and the small private museum.
After a call to the DAN office in the U.S. Keith is off to the local hyperbaric doctor to see when he can go diving again. He is cleared with one more day of rest, that is very good news.
In Subic Bay we plan and dive the U.S.S. New York as much as we can. The light battle cruiser New York was scuttled in 1941 before approaching Japanese troops could seize her. We are lucky that no American ships are in port at the moment as they have a security zone around them, and the New York does lie in the zone. Visibility is about 3-25 feet but the wreck is quite impressive laying on the port side. Both, the aft and forward turret with the large guns are still in place, so are the props. The wreck is buried in the silt almost to the center line. Our dive’s are to 100 feet to the sand where the guns and the prop are.
We dive out of a WW II landing craft with a ramp that can be lowered which makes it a very comfortable diving platform. The trip from Vasco{s to the wreck site is a mere 5 minutes. Plenty of deep penetration can be done on the New York with some permanent guidelines in place. A strong and focused primary light is essential in order to penetrate the limited viz. though.
Sam and I are diving on the LTC, a landing craft from WW II. Just after the war she was used as target practice and sunk just outside the runway. As the wreck is located a bit more outside the bay the viz is much better with plenty of marine life. As we cruise around the wreck first we see winches, water bomb racks, gun turret mounts and intake ducts. After getting a good view on the outside of the wreck we do a bit of penetration swimming through a bunch of crew quarters with the folding beds up in travel position. We exit in the holding bay and cruise along the back of the vessel with easy 50 feet viz. and great dive with 93 feet depth.
The last day of the trip is spend in a posh Manila hotel to tank up energy to deal with airline personnel, and the heap of luggage that I came here with. With no major hickup but a $ 200 usd luggage excess charge I arrive at midnight in Singapore. In order to travel easy I decide I will leave most of my luggage in a luggage storage area in Terminal 1, Changi airport.
Malaysia
Traveling light with a small backpack, finding my way around the Singapore subway is more difficult then finding the 4 1/2 hour bus to Malacca, Malaysia. Malacca is where it all began for Malaysia from the arrival of the Arab, Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch and British traders who all left their marks in buildings, language and cuisine in the central part of this medium size city. I am staying in a small and basic hotel right in China town to better enjoy the ambiente with Churches, Mosques and Bhudist temples all in the same street. Malacca is a melting pot of cultures, colors, smells and taste's. A feast for the eye and palate.
Singapore
During this trip I have been twice in Singapore, both times for less then 24 hours duration in order to get to the Philippines or get to Malaysia. I take some time before leaving Asia toward Europe in order to revisit a Singapore I have seen 14 years ago the last time. I am staying in Little India this time to better enjoy the Indian food I love so much.
Before the trip ....
June 2008 - I just finished the remodeling and make over of my Kawasaki ZRX 1100 and it turned out quite nicely.
May 2008 - With the house remodeling and expansion finally completed we moved into our new home and are still in the process of finishing up the final touches. After getting connected to the internet, cable and phone lines we are back in touch with the world. The house came out nicely.
March 2008 - I just returned from my long planned and anticipated motorcycle trip from Florida to Playa del Carmen. Atfter visiting Daytona bike week with Eveline I went on through the U.S. to Texas and New Mexico onto Mexico to visit Copper Canyon, the Pacific coast down to Acapulco and crossing to the Gulf Coast, riding my Kawasaki ZRX 1100 to arrive safe and sound back in Playa del Carmen after four weeks and 8500 kilometers.
