Dives 128-139 (7/6-18/6)
Well I’ve just realised that I haven’t updated my blog with dive logs for quite a while. So without further delay, let’s get on with it! Continue reading this entry »
A busy weekend of diving at Maeda
8 dives in 3 days is what living in Okinawa is all about, and if my friend hadn’t had to desaturate before flying back to the States the day after, I’d have done more. I hate to tempt fate, but maybe the rainy season is coming to and end in Okinawa. The weather forecast is certainly looking more promising (rather than the thunderstorms every day, that has been forecast for the past month). I’ll post the dive logs later, but here’s a summary of my weekend diving. Continue reading this entry »
Photos from Maeda
Well, I promised myself that I’d try and post some pictures from my recent diving at Maeda Misaki, and so here they are. These were taken a couple of weeks ago, during the very short respite we had between the torrential rain. Will hopefully post some better photos once the sun comes out again and I’ve got some decent light and subject matter to work with.
There are lots of huge batfish which greet every diver as they initially descend, and often follow them throughout their entire dive.
Uwatec Smart Com and a PocketPC
Well, as readers of this blog may know, I had some issues when I first got my Uwatec Smart Com console. I went to install the Smartrak software and the program just wouldn’t run. I had all sorts of problems trying to get it working but nothing worked. One of the features I like about the computers, and especially this one, was the infra-red connection which allows you to transfer your dive logs, and also change settings through your computer. It makes the dive computer operation a lot easier. So I was almost out of ideas when I realised that you can also transfer logs and change settings via a PocketPC. And the plot thickened…
So I managed to swap my dusty PSP (which I’ve hardly ever used since I bought it) for a nice Toshiba E800 PocketPC with Windows 2003 on it. I’ve never really used a PDA before and was very impressed with everything it does. In seconds I was connected to the Smart Com and transferred all of my logs. I can heartily recommend these to anyone who loves technology and diving, as it will be your own digital logbook - very cool indeed! You can log all of the information from your dive, add comments and change all of the settings that you need to, all through the infra-red connection.
It’s certainly solved my problems, and made me even happier with the console as part of my recreational diving gear.
Open Water class review
What a long 7 days this has just been. I’ve been Divemaster-ing (can you make Divemaster a verb?!) for an Open Water class over the past week and it’s been tiring stuff. Not so much the work involved, as the academic sessions were pretty relaxed, but the long days wears you down. I’ve been finishing work at 4:30, then driving all the way up to Kadena for the class (about an hour’s drive), and not getting back until 11pm. Plus it’s been raining all week which hasn’t helped things. I know we’re in the rainy month at the moment, but the sheer amount of rain has been crazy: around 16 inches in June already. It feels more like a monsoon season than just a rainy month. But it is due to end in the next days and I keep trying to do little sundances to make things improve… as of yet they have had no effect. Continue reading this entry »