Northwest Dive Club

And another year comes to an end. Christmas in the Marshall Islands.

Start the new year ( 1982 ) with trip aboard the Egabrag II to Enewetak Atoll.

On this trip we had a little bit of unusual excitement. In the era of
Cold War, Russian fishing trawler appeared in our waters. Rather sad
story, the details in the narrative written by the gov rep aboard ...

I took advantage of time off between sailing, packed my dive gear and took an
airplane ride to near Caroline Islands - my goal the wreck diving paradise of
Truk Lagoon ...



Although I sometimes travel alone and it is convenient in many ways, while diving
in foreign places it becomes a great disadvantage. Dive planning becomes completely
depended on others, since I found myself an add on to other groups, some of them
not very experienced .. But for wrecks I came and on wrecks I dove...

Thanks for doing this, Jan- this thread is amazing...

Furnari wrote:Thanks for doing this, Jan- this thread is amazing...

Well, thank you, glad you enjoy it...
Another day of wreck diving in the Truk Lagoon:

The Fujikawa Maru is the diving dream for many. The masts are sticking out
above the surface, so the dive boast (small skiffs ) just tied to it. snorkelers
can enjoy floating around the cross tree overgrown with coral and see the wreck
below, and divers/photographers have lots of stuff to photograph, from the bow
and stern guns to pieces of the famous Zero fighter airplanes in the holds. My
puny little strobe was no match for the task at hand. Two dives were not
enough to get feel for this wreck. These pictures don't represent what the
Fujikawa Maru has to offer ..

Finding somebody who was as crazy about wreck diving as I was became a problem.
Every morning at nine o'clock, I drag my dive bag to the hotel dock and hope that
divers show up. During evening meal, sometimes I was the only guest, there just were
no tourists here this time of year. I struggled. Also my Nikonos camera started to give
me trouble, the advancing sometimes failed, there were few dives when I came back
without any photo documentation to put into my dive log :(

And week of wreck diving comes to an end, last day I was the only diver who
shows up on the dock at nine in the morning, the planning for the day, but
I got rewarded with two great dives on a great wreck of the Shinkoku Maru.

From the wreck diving part of my vacation, I switch to some land oriented part,
on my way back to the flat low laying island of Kwaj, I stop on lush tropical
island of Ponape, now named Pohnpei.



Even here, in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, one can find mysterious ancient ruins.
While we normally associate tropical islands with little shacks under palm trees, somebody
stacked up heavy basalt columns and built structures so modern man can stand along them
and wonder: "How they did it ?"



I even put in one dive on Ponape ...

What a wonderful photographic legacy you've shared with us here Jan..... Absolutely amazing!

Dan

My wife decided to become a diver. Almost got killed on her second certification dive when the
dive boat with two instructors and the two student divers was turned over by high waves in the
SAR Pass (Search and Rescue Pass blasted through the reef). Got hit on her head by the boat,
almost passed out, got a black eye... Fortunately overhead passing helicopter spotted the upside
down boat and called the marina for help. They sent out an M-boat, picked up the divers and towed the
overturned 21' Boston Whaler back to the harbor. We then took our whaler and went to look for the lost
dive gear. Managed to recover most of the tanks, regulators, fins and masks. My wife finished the course

enjoying the warm tropical waters ...

After four years in the tropics I pack my belongings, load them aboard the Egabrag II and head back to
California via Honolulu.

The good old Egabrag II was in need of major facelift, we started by adding a lab space and
more accommodations on the main deck...


Egabrag III went for a shake down cruise to nearby islands

where I managed to squeeze in some diving

Start another year right - diving in the warm tropical waters
Cozumel here we come !

And back to work ...

The Captain of USS Point Loma invited me to spend couple days aboard his ship.
I was asked if I could provide photos and cartoons for their Crew's Book. So I wandered
around clicking happily away, enjoying watching other people work

Happy to leave the dirt and grind of boat building behind for couple weeks, I pack my
bag and head to Micronesia. Squeezing in few days to dive Truk Lagoon with good
friends before work related trip aboard the Liktanur II in the Marshalls.


we dove the Nippo Maru twice, I combined pics from both trips into these pages.

Second day of diving. The Million Dollar Wreck, the fabulous San Francisco Maru.
During my last visit at Truk Lagoon, I had no chance to dive it, being alone then,
I was depended on other diver desires and this wreck is out of reach for the
casual recreational divers. This time we had a team. Bottom time limited, diving on air,
but with the best dive guide in the islands, one and only Kimiuo Aisek, who lived here
when American aircraft in World War II sent all these ship to the bottom, providing
some of the best wreck diving in the world ...