Because Lina called me out...

Wow, I have been absolutely terrible at updating this and my friend Lina definitely called out me out for it. So here you go... my past two months summed up and my summer plans.

I finished up my PADI IDC (instructor development course) in mid-April. The course itself, consisting of 6 modular days was mostly focused on the PADI system, liability issues, and how to teach and market PADI courses. At the time of finishing I was a bit disappointed it did not focus more on the actual teaching aspects of being a dive instructor, but at the end of the day, and as a friend told me, "that's something you already know how to do" and something I think you can only really learn with experience. I passed my Instructor Exams with flying colors, with averaged scores in the high 4's (out of 5-they never give 5's) and my examiner told me in regards to what to work on: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". He said I'll be a fine instructor in time and just need to work at it. So there ya go. Overall, what does it really mean? Not much. Once I get into teaching I'll figure out what works and what doesn't but until then, I'm just a newbie with a dive instructor certificate and a lot of options.

(Below: New happy dive instructors and our wonderfully nice yet comparatively vertically challenged course director, Dianne) and (video of a nurse shark on a dive off Jupiter, FL after my IDC/IE) and (stingray and scalloped (?) Hammerhead off Jupiter, FL).

Now, as I had finished college, the answer to "What next?" had been "Become a dive instructor, travel the world". It seemed like a perfectly logical sequence at the time, but as of a year ago, I was only an Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW) with about 25 dives to my credit, more or less a guppie in diving terms. I had a long ways to go, and while I knew I loved both diving and traveling, taking such a leap following graduation looks pretty bold in hindsight. But youth, determination, and optimism are three friends that go well in the corner of any 23 year old lad and I suppose it's turned out alright.

So, now that I'm a dive instructor, now what? The plan was always to go to Asia, become an instructor, then travel around southern Thailand/Indonesia and walk right into a job. But, between a US roadtrip with cousins and my sister's graduation, things didn't go as planned.

Upon returning from instructor-whatnot in Florida, I spent a little while at my folks' place in Maine while waiting for my sister's graduation celebration from NYU in mid-May. Not wanting to take a break from the water (as well as not being able to pass up a great deal) I decided to get into the world of dry-suit diving. Now, in the wonderful Caribbean where waters are in the high 70's/low 80's, you can dive in just a swimsuit or preferably a thinner wetsuit (3mm thick for mine, while others prefer a 5mm or 7mm) and be just fine. However, up in Maine, it is a chilly 47 degrees give or take in the water and needless to say, you get quite cold, quite quick (for water, think 47 degrees in air and multiply by 10 and that's the cold factor you're talking about). So, for those divers limited by the geographics of regions lacking warm, crystal-blue waters there is the drysuit (at right, although filled up with air, usually it is much more trim). It seals off at the neck and wrists and you wear warm winter clothes or a sleeping-bag-esque onesie underneath under the theory that the air around your body will keep you warm. And the verdict? The dry suit works! It keeps you warm and dry although is a bit like relearning how to dive int terms of buoyancy. I feel quite awkward underwater and it is like having your body as a balloon you somehow have to control and keep oriented properly.

(Below: me in full Maine diving gear)

Like I had mentioned previously, my sister graduated from NYU in mid-May and I went down the weekend before to see some of my friends from Cal who were in the city. On Friday night, we went out to see one an electronic music group called The Glitch Mob. We were in for quite a treat as it was an amazing show, setting a new standard for the sort of skill I now expect to see out of an electronic music show. All three members were able to switch between computerized players and other standard DJ equipment, soundboards, percussion and guitar/bass instruments resulting in some tremendous sound to go along with some great visual displays which are gradually become a bigger part of the live music scene. Wild stuff and great to party with my friends from Cal again, certainly do miss them. Wish I could find a good video from the show, but none to be seen. Here's a look at their latest official video:


The next week was occupied with Emily's graduation activities. Grandma came up from Virginia and we naturally ate wonderful meals as our family tends to do. When not with family, I spent the days hanging with Emily and the night we'd go out with her friends. Odd to think they're all graduating now. Seems like just yesterday I was visiting Emily during her freshman year at NYU. Now she's all graduated. Funny, cause at my graduation it really didn't hit me that much that "adulthood" had arrived but at Emily's it really sunk in. While I'm opting for a career abroad, Emily has taken to NYC and will be staying there and is currently trying to find a job. I'm sure she'll get something soon, she's quite bright and I'm one proud brother.

And so we continue... after Emily's graduation I went with my dear grandmother down to Virginia to visit for a bit. I stayed there for a week, visiting with family and friends from high school and had quite the time before heading back up to New York for the season finale of LOST.

Emily and I went to see her friend Adam's band, Previously on Lost which recaps episodes and storylines from the ABC television show. They played before the season finale and have to say were quite good. Entertaining upbeat music with a high enough dork factor for me to buy a t-shirt afterwards and thereby establish my coolness. But yeah, the band was great. The show? Great until the last twenty minutes when (SPOILER ALERT) it turns out that everyone was dead all along. So a big middle finger to you, LOST. And since then, I've been up in Maine, doing more drysuit diving, working out, and biding my time until my next great adventure, which, dear reader, I don't believe I've discussed yet. So here we go... (but after this cool picture of a sunset the other night)


My summer plans....(drumroll).... I will be working for Sail Caribbean (website) as a dive instructor and glorified camp counselor on board their sailboats in the British Virgin Islands.

Tough life, I know.

So how did this all come about? While down in Florida at my IDC, one of my fellow candidates had worked for a company called Action Quest which does sailing + watersports activities in the Virgin Islands and recommended I take a look at it. I did, and applied, and waited... and waited... and waited... But no response. So after calling them up, I discovered they had never looked at my application, the woman who oversaw that went on leave and so they filled up all positions. Oh well.

I was a bit discouraged at this and continued to email various other diving operations, although the idea of working on sailboats in the Caribbean was definitely still appealing to me, no openings really seemed to be out there. At the lowest point of my unemployment I was at my grandma's house and woke up one morning determined to find a job or at least get out as many options as possible. I checked the PADI website job boards and applied and applied and applied. As luck would have it, two jobs came up with pretty much the same description as I had hoped for with Action Quest: dive instructor on a sailboat summer camp. Within a period of 24 hours, I had applied, interviewed, and had reference checks with both Sail Caribbean and Broadreach. Although I had interviewed with Broadreach first, my contact with Sail Caribbean was with the owner, Mike, and had a real positive feel to it. The next day... boom, got my first diving job.

So here I am, ready to ship out tomorrow night to spend the night in Boston Logan airport followed by a flight on Wedensday to St. John and then a ferry to Tortola. Packing all my stuff tonight and you can't even begin to imagine my excitement level for this trip. I get to dive in the Caribbean again. I get to learn to sail. I get to pass on my diving knowledge to teens. I get to earn a paycheck! All good things.

Ultimately it's been quite a past two months with a lot of fun times but also a lot of uncertainty. But, it all works out in the end and the more and more I experience, the more and more I find that if you put yourself out there, life will find a way to make everything work out in the end. Cristina Zenato, a shark feeder/sleeper, gave me some advice after I finished my rescue course last October. She told me "you're young, and no matter what road you take, you can hop off and you'll land on both feet, and from there you'll have 5 more roads to take. And it will work out. And if it doesn't, you can always go back."

It certainly seems as if my road is taking off. So, I'll see where it goes from here and hopefully won't be "going back" anytime soon. As I will be on sailboats for most of the summer, I can't promise much in the way of blog posts or pictures or anything but until next time, here is an absolutely badass video that should keep you occupied till then.

Base Jumping sous l'eau - Koreus