Entries about marine

What We Do When We're Bored

When the weather's rubbish and you've got no customers, why not spend your time building your very own artificial reef!

15.09.2011 - 16.09.2011 29 °C

The recipe? One solid-concrete mold of half a cannon, add some available soft corals, giant clams and throw in some schooling fish and VOILA! Instant artificial reef available today at Vasco's Dive Centre, Subic Bay.

Last night was the official farewell for Vasco's regular Mark Vickers and his lovely partner Shirley who after 5 long years in Subic have made the brave decision to return to the UK. On behalf of the whole crew, I wanted to say goodbye and good luck Mark! My gift to you is this quick video below. Forgive me, it has taken 3 months in Subic to discover I am actually capable of producing my own home movies (even longer to work out how to pack my 'Pack 'N Go' raincoat into it's pocket) and this first attempt may be a bit rough but at least you will get to see what I was up to on the day I told you I was interior decorating 6m below sea level.

What We Do When We're Bored

Posted by VascoDiveMaster 20:07 Archived in Philippines Tagged fish rainforest beer ocean beach adventure philippines life safari rainbow puerto tropical marine manila hard soft you reef coral cocktails cannon all hands luzon galera treetop anilao corals flatworm zoobic jest artifical Comments (1)

Cheese Burger in Paradise

20.08.2011 - 21.08.2011 32 °C

I like seeing people working hard... Mark and Jayson got stuck sorting a least half a container load of masks, snorkels and fins, some of which Gregg is donating to deserving kids, the others will now be included in any discover scuba and open water divers courses!

This box, like three others is filled entirely with snorkels. Slight overkill.

Here is the boss, supervising operations...

Plenty of construction and interior decoration taking place at Vascos recently. Lolo is slaving over the timber varnish for Brian's latest venture; The Treasure Trove.
Soon to be a very unique gift shop next to the restaurant where Brian's going to start selling a couple of his particularly special blue-glazed chinese antiques.
I like seeing people working hard.

Felt a bit down today actually. I can compare my life almost singularly to one Simple Plan song. Tragic.

....On second thoughts, Jimmy Buffet's 'Cheesburger in Paradise' might also do it.

[Heading out today on our epic surfing road trip. So excited! Details when I return in 7-10 days ]

Posted by VascoDiveMaster 23:19 Archived in Philippines Tagged boats surf market shopping storm philippines summer sun surfing paradise resort scuba marine manila underwater scuba_diving souvenirs luzon south_east_asia swell subic_dive_centre uss_new_york surfboard wreck_diving baler Comments (0)

San Quentin

On the morning of April 27, 1898 the gunboat San Quintin and two merchant ships were scuttled to block the eastern entrance to Subic Bay....

31.05.2011 - 31.05.2011 34 °C
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In a futile attempt to stop the invading Americans, Admiral Montojo of the Spanish Navy, thought that by blocking the eastern channel between Grande and Chiquita Islands, he could concentrate his land-based cannons on the western entrance. Coming ashore at Grande Island to inspect the defense works, Montojo was disappointed to find that four KRUPP 6 inch guns had not been installed due to lack of cement. A defense disaster for Montojo but a blessing for divers a century later.....

Since Brian and his team discovered the wreck, it has deteriorated significantly; with it's guts strewn about the sea floor, but with the two large boilers still visible from the surface, as too the bow, stern and many of the ribs.

There's very little current and plenty of young coral and tropical species of marine life. As a wreck dive, it is historic and doesn't have the hazards of modern shipwrecks. There are no areas to penetrate, but also no silt to stir up as the area is almost entirely covered in young coral growth. The San Quentin was the location chosen for me to test out a super groovy new wetsuit; significantly thinner than my previous one which requires me to carry only 4 pounds of weight now and has a large, reflective V down the middle which makes me feel like a Power Ranger. Unfortunately Jayson made a point of telling me I actually had it on backwards...... Dive Master FAIL!

Once I got my act together, I discovered The San Quentin is in my opinion, exactly what diving was meant to be... fun!

The visibility is so great here because it actually lies just outside the bay, with a good variety of marine life. It was also where we gave Mara her first un-official diving experience.
For a first try she was amazing! Connar came along and is starting to scare us a bit with his confidence and tends to stray off on his own....
Fortunately Gianne and I were there to keep things under control!