NBC Nightly News & MSNBC

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of taking Ian Williams of NBC News out diving. Here is the clip that just played on NBC Nightly News on April 23, 2009.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30376206#30376206 You will see me briefly in the water as one of the guys rolls off the back of the boat, and then cutting some fishing line away from a piece of coral.

MSNBC also had a story that Ian put together using some different clips. In this clip you will see a segment of a morning talk show they filmed with myself and Angelo Villagomez, and there is a segment where you see me diving. I'm the one in all black with the shaved head. This was truly great publicity for Saipan. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30369070#30369070

Hopefully this won't be the last time that we are in the spotlight as a result of the recent marine monument designation by President Bush.

Students & NBC Nightly News

I know there are those who think I've dropped off the face of the earth, or maybe more appropriately, disappeared beneath the crystal blue waters of the Pacific ocean surrounding Saipan, to only occasionally surface for air and food. The latter isn't very far from the truth, I'm already approaching 200 dives for the year, and it's only the middle of April! Every week, I seem to pick up several new students so that now I've got a waiting list that stretches out over the next couple of months. I'm still taking students on a first come, first serve basis, so the first one to book some time for dives or lessons gets that slot. Suren is one of my latest students and has provided one of my biggest challenges so far. She is Mongolian and is in the process of learning English. She can speak some English and understand a fair amount and can read it fairly well, but when it comes to sitting down and reading the PADI Open Water manual, that was a little more than she was ready for. So I worked with her every afternoon for the better part of two weeks, going over all the chapters, looking up words in her English-Mongolian electronic translator and making sure she understood everything. I wasn't sure if I would be able to adequately teach her everything in the book, but she got it all, and aced the exams when we were finished with it. I don't think this quite qualifies as a Mongolian dive instructor, but it does mean that if you have a student who really wants to learn, and an instructor who really wants to teach, it can be done! I also have an assortment of students of other nationalities that I have lined up to teach in the coming weeks, so life is never boring.

In addition to all the students, I seem to be getting more and more requests to just take people out diving that are just here visiting. Some of them come to me from recommendations, some find my blog or my Smugmug picture site, and some of them just heard me talking about diving on the radio. I've taken some Coast Guard personnel lately, some policemen and firemen here training our local police and firemen, and a reporter and his cameraman from NBC. Ian Williams was here to do a story on the Marianas Marine Monument and wanted to do some diving as a part of the story. Thanks to Angelo, another of my Advanced students lately, I was picked as the Divemaster for the day and the one who got to take Ian and Kyle to several of our dive sites. Mike Tripp, another dive buddy of mine was hired for the day to do some filming of the dives. We started out our day with an early morning Grotto dive, always a good way to start any day! There was a big brown stingray just sitting on the bottom outside of hole #1 that we got to get right up to, and hopefully Mike got some amazing video footage of. We also got to see a green sea turtle and the usual assortment of fish. The sun was shining brightly and lit up the water perfectly.
I never get tired of seeing the huge Gregorian fan coral that guards some of the caves outside the Grotto. I think Ian and Kyle were properly impressed with the grandeur of the Grotto, Ian kept saying how it was an intense experience. Next we went and got on the Aquajet boat and Scott Eck took us down to Naftan point for our second dive of the day. Before we even left on the boat, there was a group of about 15 spotted eagle rays that came right up to the boat sitting at the dock. We looked down and there they were as though to greet us and welcome us to an awesome day of diving. I was a bit surprised as we headed down to Naftan, that Kyle had the TV camera tightly focused on my face as we were headed out, and then Ian came over and did an impromptu interview me on the side of the boat. I didn't realize I was going to be interviewed as well, I thought I was just the dive guide for the day. After our dive at Naftan as we surfaced, Ian wanted to go over next to the boat and do an interview while we were still in the water with our gear still on. So Kyle was shooting looking down on us, it was all pretty strange for me being on the other side of an interview.
The next stop on our dive tour was Ice Cream, we were going to visit the spotted eagle rays. Visibility wasn't that great when I got in the water, but fortunately that didn't seem to matter to the spotted eagle rays. There were over a dozen of them swimming back and forth and doing acrobatics for us when we got there. I took Ian and Kyle to the top of Ice Cream to just watch them swim in front of us, but evidently Mike thought I was in his way for filming, so motioned for me to get out of his way twice. I decided I don't really like being in an underwater video, and having to worry about cameras and film angles. I'm more into taking divers to see spectacular sites and letting them just enjoy them. Oh well, live and learn.The spotted eagle rays put on quite a show for us that day and Kyle got in the water to enjoy them as well. Everything was coming together to give these guys a picture perfect day of diving and they said later that it ranked as one of their best days of diving ever.When we got to the shipwreck, the great diving luck continued as we had some of the best visibility I've ever seen there. Conditions were awesome and the shots were coming out crystal clear. Above is a picture of Ian just floating over the shipwreck. Kyle dove on the wreck with us again and seemed to really enjoy himself as well. For me the highlight of this dive was finding a Tiger Cowrie that had taken on the rust color of the wreck, giving it an amazing golden glow.I have only seen a couple other shells that took on a different color as a result of their surroundings like this, but none as remarkable or beautiful as this one. The shell was live and was happily nestled in the sand. I waved over John Starmer, a marine biologist who was with us on the dive to show him, and he seemed as impressed with it as I was. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. We don't really know yet how much of the interviews or footage they will use in the finished story on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, but the story is supposed to air sometime during the week of April 20th. Needless to say, Axe Murderer Tours may be on the verge of a little bit of national publicity. Not too bad for a dive operation that started out as a joke.

Why I've Been Too Busy To Blog

Now there are those who might think I've just gotten lazy or not interested in blogging - not true! I've just unbelievably busy as a dive instructor and have had all the students I can handle lately. Meet my latest student, Jennifer Snyder. She's a professional beach volleyball player who came out to Saipan as a part of PIC's beach volleyball exhibition. There were several others who came out as well, including Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhauser. I had been contacted a couple weeks previous to their arrival and told that Jenn really wanted to dive and get certified if at all possible, but she had a pretty tight schedule, and they were wondering if I could accommodate her or not. Soon after I said yes, I got an e-mail from Jenn telling me how excited she was that she was going to be able to get certified and do some diving. When I have a student who is really excited about it, I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen. So I claimed two full days of her time, and took two other half days and got her certified and also managed to take her out on a night dive after her course, and then a Grotto dive as well. Jenn was every instructor's dream, she took to everything naturally and just had a blast diving. She promises to come back next year to get her Advanced certification and do some more diving with me before the tournaments start. And by the way, no I don't ever ask to get my picture taken with anyone. I've met some very famous people, but I'm just not the kind who cares about souvenir pictures. But we went to watch Jenn play at the pro exhibition at PIC last Friday night, and she came over to our table to talk to us for a while after the games. Kelli insisted on me getting my picture taken with her, and I figured this wasn't the time to argue with my wife about posing with my latest student. But then she made me pose again with Janelle, Jenn's partner in the tournament, who is also a pro beach volleyball player.
I know, it's a tough life I lead, but I was just trying to make my wife happy. I've got plenty of dive pics I'll start posting soon as well, and a new color correcting filter that makes a huge difference underwater. Here is an underwater pic of Jenn using the filter.

I've been doing 3-4 dives every day for the last month, which would explain why you haven't seen me unless you've been underwater. But Axe Murderer Tours actually has a business license and has been busier than ever, and it looks like it may take on a life of it's own soon. I'll keep you posted.

Who Do the U.S. Navy Divers Call When They Want To Dive the Grotto? Axe Murderer Tours!

I got a call last weekend from a friend I met a month ago or so, his name is Randy Duncan and he's the Chief Warrant Officer of Company 16, Mobile Diving & Salvage Unit One, based out of Hawaii. He and his crew are currently stationed on the USS Safeguard and have been removing coralheads from the shipping channel in the Saipan lagoon. He said that he and a bunch of the Navy divers would like to dive the Grotto and they wanted me to lead the dive for them. These guys dive for a living and take it very seriously, so they know the inherent risks with diving a spot you're not very familiar with, and of the importance of having someone who knows their way in and out of all the holes. I was quite honored that they chose me to be their dive guide for the day. It should come as no surprise that Axe Murderer Tours gets the call when the military wants to go diving though, we have a long and colorful history together.

Speaking of Axe Murderer Tours, now that I'm an instructor and getting things going with instructing, I've decided to finally make my fictional tour company official and went in to get business licenses for Axe Murderer Tours both as a dive instruction company and a professional dive guide service as well. So Axe Murderer Tours is now in business and is ready to become a professional dive service on Saipan. Hopefully I'll stay pretty busy with military, Americans, English speakers or Japanese who want an interesting American dive guide. So it's probably time to look into getting a clothing line, and diving accessory line going with the Axe Murderer Tours logo on it that is affordable. Cafe Press is convenient and doesn't require an investment on my part, but it's not cheap. So I'll be checking into a few different options locally, and also seeing if I can get some good deals from companies abroad to supply me with scaps, mask headbands and rash guard dive shirts, and maybe even bikinis and board shorts.

There may be some pretty big developments in the coming months regarding diving on Saipan and my future, stay tuned and I'll keep you informed. But in the meantime if you want to get certified to dive by the old Axe Murderer himself, or you want a custom Axe Murderer Tour yourself, let me know. Axe Murderer Tours is open for business and is official, FINALLY!

Best Job In The World!

Every so often something comes along and you realize it was custom tailored just for you. That was the feeling I got after reading a story Kelli forwarded to me. I showed the website to a couple friends of mine, and they both said, this is unbelievable, they are looking for you, they just don't know it yet. Here is the story:

"An Australian state has launched a global search for candidates for "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the successful applicant's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, soak up the sun, snorkel the reef, "maybe clean the pool" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The winner, who will stay rent-free in a multi-million dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be an excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

"They'll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they're doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.

"The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world."
Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.

While the campaign has elements of some reality television shows, a candidate's looks will not be a prime requirement, Tourism Queensland chief executive Anthony Hayes told AFP.
"No, I don't think beautiful is what we want, I think charismatic is what we want," he said. "The reality is we are looking for a fantastic communicator.

"What we want this person to do is travel throughout the Great Barrier Reef and just try every experience, every adventure they can find and report back via blogs and video to tell the world why Queensland is a great place to come for a holiday."

Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state. "I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said. "This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone."

Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1."

So let me see if I got this straight, they are offering $105,000 US plus airfare and expenses to the winning candidate. They are looking for someone to stroll the white sands of the beach (I love wandering beaches), soak up the sun (I always soak up all the sun I can, and never use sunscreen, I think it's for tourists), snorkel the reef (not only will I snorkel it, but I'll dive it extensively, and I'll even certify anybody I run across who wants to learn to scuba dive), clean the pool (it will be sparkling when I'm done with it), and report to a global audience via weekly weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates (seriously, I mean this is sooooooooooooooooo me it's scarey!).

They are looking for an excellent communicator who can speak and write English and has charisma. Seriously, after 28 years in radio, I don't think I could possibly be any more custom tailored for what they're looking for. And then they say a candidate's looks will not be a prime requirement, they are not going after beautiful, they are going after charismatic! Not that I haven't been told I'm beautiful by certain blind fans of mine in the past, (they were obviously big fans of the bald is beautiful movement), but it's awesome that they aren't looking for beautiful, again I am totally their guy! They are looking for a fantastic communicator who isn't shy and can effectively promote their islands and diving. I've been doing it for free for Saipan for the past 13 years, without so much as a thank you from MVA or any government entity, just think how much more effective I can be in a situation where they want to help me promote them!

I need to put together a 60 second video telling them why I'm the perfect candidate for the best job in the world. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head it feels like it's ready to explode. Once I get my video posted on the site as an official applicant, I'll be asking for all of you to go there and give me a high rating on my video. Wish me luck, this could be a life changing job!

Scott Swimming With a Turtle

Just in case you've always wondered what it would be like to swim with a turtle, this video of Scott swimming with a green sea turtle at Lau Lau might give you an idea.

Meet Lisa - My Latest Student!

When I went to the dive shop on New Years day to get my tanks filled, Mr. Lee told me about an American couple who were here looking to get the wife certified to dive and asked if I would be interested in taking care of it that weekend. He said they wanted to get her certified as soon as possible. I called and left a message at their hotel, and as I crawled out of Lau Lau for my 2nd dive of the new year, my phone was ringing in my truck. Lisa's husband Scott was calling to see if he could arrange to get Lisa certified. They wanted to buy a mask and fins for her, so I arranged to meet them at the only real dive supply store on island and help advise them on equipment for her. We got her a mask and decided to hold off on the fins for the moment and see what style she liked using in the water. Lisa is coming out of the water in the picture above, after her final confined water training dive, very happy that the confined water training portion of the course is over.

Scott is an F-18 pilot on the USS George Washington, and Lisa teaches English in Japan, so they were perfects candidates to be the next victims of Axe Murderer Tours. Kelli and I asked if they would like to join us at the Seaside Grill at Pacific Islands Club for Happy Hour drinks and appetizers. Since they really had no plans or agenda, other than getting Lisa certified, they seemed more than happy to join us. We met up with Randy and Dayl, who I had been taking diving earlier in the week. Randy is a Navy professional diver, and he wanted Dayl to have an awesome dive experience, so he asked if I could make that happen for them. Not a problem! So we all enjoyed the sunset, a few drinks and appetizers, and Randy dutifully told Scott and Lisa that I was a great dive instructor. You would have thought I had paid him for the commercial, but he was just being nice.

So the plan was to pick up Scott and Lisa for lunch Friday, and then head to Sugar Dock for her confined water training. I decided to stop by the Post Office before getting them, and sure enough, Kelli's and my new cameras were there!!! What great timing! Lisa was an awesome student and put up with way more harassment from Scott and I than anyone should have to endure. It was starting to get a little dark though before we finished, so we decided to finish up the final two confined water dives on Saturday morning, and then head off for an open water dive.
Here you see Scott and Lisa in the water at Lau Lau. Even though we were getting some very gusty trade winds, and high waves on the other side of the island, Lau Lau was calm and beautiful. The visibility was the best I've seen there in a very long time. Almost as if on cue, as soon as we came to the end of the rope going in at Lau Lau, we ran into this guy.
He was munching on seaweed and algae right next to the pipeline, and let us get right up to him for a good look. I can't think of a better way to get someone hooked on diving than spending some quality time with a green sea turtle on their very first open water dive. He was also very cooperative about posing for some pictures as well.
I know I've said it many times, but there is truly something magical about just swimming alongside of a turtle. You tend to forget about everything else and just exist in the moment with the turtle. It was an outstanding weekend all weekend for diving at Lau Lau and the turtles were everywhere.Here is Scott just watching as this turtle decides to go up for some air. It was a great weekend of diving, and Lisa is just one dive away from being certified now, which will be happening this afternoon. My next 2 months are going to be packed full of dive students and classes, but there is always room to fit in another if you're interested. I'll introduce you to my turtle buddies at Lau Lau.

Hanging With the Spotted Eagle Rays

I took Randy & Dayl Duncan out on the Sunrider dive boat to check out the spotted eagle rays at the Ice Cream coral formation. Randy is a U.S. Navy diver who is on the USS Safeguard which is currently docked on Saipan. They are getting ready to pull some of the big coralheads out of the shipping channel so that military vessels can come and go easier and hopefully bringing us more military ship visits in the next year. Dayl was his fiance until last Saturday, when they tied the knot on Saipan island-style. David Sablan brought Randy in to the station last Friday morning to join us on the talk show, knowing that I would love talking with another diver. I told him about our Christmas morning dive with the spotted eagle rays and showed him the video and some pictures. He said he really wanted to get Dayl out diving somewhere that she would have a great experience, and that looked like just the ticket. She has been certified and did a few dives, but never really had a great experience, we were looking to change that. The spotted eagle rays made their appearance and got fairly close as you can see from the video, maybe a little too close for Dayl's liking.Randy was quite excited to see this big piece of ammunitition from WWII still sitting down there on the bottom. We even saw a couple smaller bullets from a rifle just sitting down there amongst the coral. Dayl seemed quite relaxed and to really enjoy herself, and why wouldn't she, she was with Randy & I.I think they both enjoyed diving the Chin Sen Mauru the most though, that was the 2nd dive of our boat dive. The were enjoying looking through all the holes and at all the old pieces of equipment on the wreck. Of course all the fish that seem to be everywhere on the wreck help add to its charm as well.Not a bad way to spend a honeymoon, and hopefully these will be the first of many dives that they will do as a couple over the years. As always, I probably had more fun than they did, just because I'm really more than half fish, but they seemed to have a good time too. Two more happy victims of Axe Murderer Tours, who hopefully will still make a dive at Lau Lau to go see some turtles up close and personal. Congratulations on your recent wedding Randy & Dayl, and may you have many more happy dives together!

Lewie Discovers The Wonder of Turtles!

I took Lewie out for his first two Open Water dives Sunday afternoon. He had been certified with NAUI years ago, but hadn't done any diving since. Because I will be putting him all the way through Divemaster, I figured it would be a good idea to just have him go ahead and take the Open Water course over again to reacquainte him with all the skills and get him comfortable underwater again. I took him to Lau Lau for his first two Open Water dives because I think there's something absolutely magical about seeing turtles on dives. Lewie got to spend some quality time with a couple green sea turtles and just watch them eating the growth on the rocks. After being slightly nervous at the beginning of the dive, you could just watch him visibly relax and start to really enjoy himself underwater.
Yup, you really can get this close to the turtles and just observe them, they don't seem to mind at all as long as you don't try to touch them or make any fast or threatening moves. Even after thousands and thousands of dives, and spending thousands of hours with turtles, I still get excited every time I see one and get to spend some time with it.
Kelli has been using my first underwater camera as she hones her underwater photography skills, and I'd say she's doing an awesome job! Especially considering that the camera no longer has its flash diffuser, and that it doesn't always work the way it's supposed to. I can't wait to see the kind of shots she comes up with when she gets her new camera this week. And of course I'm very excited to be getting a new camera myself this week, so there should be some great pictures coming very soon.

I was looking under a few rocks on the way back in and I discovered this live Textile Cone mostly buried in the dirt. This is the 3rd most deadly cone shell in the world. It's very beautiful but very deadly, which is why I'm carefully holding it by the base end, and have the point end pointing away from me. I put him back after Kelli took a picture of it, and after she was giving me one of those looks asking what the heck I think I'm doing. We had a great weekend of diving, managing to get in 5 dives for the weekend, which puts me just shy of 300 for the year, not a bad year at all! I think Lewie is totally hooked on diving now, and I keep getting new students lined up every day. I may have to clone myself before too long.

Here is the video I was taking when the one spotted eagle ray decided to tickle my neck with his tail.