The Sound of Flowing Water

Open Water Dives at Lake Rawlings

2008-09-02T13:36:00.017-04:00

Coffee…I need coffee. It’s 7:00 AM on Saturday, and I am to meet my dive instructor Julian, and fellow two dive trainees Courtney and Steven at the Starbucks nearby. I went through my check list to make sure that nothing is missing for my journey to Lake Rawlings, southwest of Richmond, VA. Got the tanks with compressed air, wetsuit, booties, BCD, weights & weight belt, flippers, mask & snorkel, and sunglasses.

Yes sunglasses…it’s a long weekend. Have to look cool.

We left Alexandria in two cars at about 7:30 AM. Steering wheel in my left hand, gear stick in my right and Bob Marley in my head, the drive was nice and smooth all the way down interstate 95 South, through Richmond, and then interstate 85 South.

Ahhh Yes, 1 Quarry Lane, Rawlings VA. Lake Rawlings at last after a 2 ½ hour drive. The lake is quarry with fish, dedicated for dive training in the boondocks of Virginia.

After a good stretch and quick bit to eat, we unloaded our gear near the lake and went through the plan of the first and second dive with our instructor. Then we geared up, and in slow motion, with The Big Blue soundtrack in my head, we made it into the water.

We went through a couple of drills in our first dive, took a one hour break, and went through a couple more in our second.

Disguised in my mask, snorkel, and regulator I took a slow entry, and I blend in with the fishes. Only the Red lobster could see me as we hunt for the 9 feet alligator. We were told that it lurks in the dark shadows of the Abyss, and those who have seen it never got to tell their story. Well, I didn’t get to see it, but it would make a great posting.

Halfway there, we decided to call it a day. After a huge meal at Little Italy, we headed to the Sleep Inn and then crashed.

Coffee…I need coffee. 6:45 AM on Sunday, and it time to head to the Lake again. Relaxed as ever, we completed three more dives, the last of which we enjoyed what the lake had to offer, with no pressure of performing any drills.

We became divers that day, and I can’t wait to get back in the water. Dominica, here I come.

Please check out the slideshow & video bar to the right for more pictures and video.

Let's Talk Housing!

2008-08-28T14:24:00.007-04:00

With my new hobby, diving, I am looking forward to seeing the splendor of the underwater life. I am also interested in taking some pictures of all the wonderful things down there. Besides, what good is diving if you can share with others what you've seen under the water. In order to make that a reality, I will need to get one of two things. I will either have to go the expensive route and obtain a real underwater camera—like the Sea & Sea DX-1G 10 mp Digital Underwater Camera with an average price of $1000, or the cheap route of obtaining a housing for my existing camera which will cost me about $150.

I have a Canon PowerShot S500 which my "wife bought for me" a while back. It's an excellent camera that takes great shots, but most importantly, it has a sentimental value which over shadows how well it performs.

The Sea & Sea DX-1G 10 mp Digital Underwater Camera, among others like it, is designed for the purpose of taking professional pictures underwater. My intentions, however, are to take pictures which I think are great pictures, not professional pictures. I am not looking to be a professional underwater photographer. Besides, that sort of toy is too hot for my pocket.

So, despite the uncertainty that such a device will really work, I bought the Canon Waterproof Case WP-DC800 housing, and even the Canon WWDC1 Weight for it. It cost me about $200. It came in the mail yesterday and I couldn’t wait to test it out. I performed what Canon calls, “The Preparation & Care” last night and it work flawlessly. It involved moving the O-Ring from the housing, rubbing some grease on, put in it back in place, stuffing some tissue paper into the housing, sealing it, and submerging the housing into water. (Sigh…what a mouthful).

I added the weights I got to the housing so that it would sink to the bottom. That didn’t work…I guess it also needs the weight of the camera to keep it from floating to the top. Alternatively, I had to hold the housing submerged underwater. I did that for about 30 minutes while pushing all the built-in buttons. Once completed, I took the tissue out of the housing, and it was dry. The test was a success.

Now to the Open Water…

Tell me, have any of you done any underwater photography or interested in doing so? If you have, please share your experience with us. And if you plan on doing so, where will you be going?

A Splash From The Past

2008-08-24T11:46:00.008-04:00

I had a reserve soak in the pool at the company picnic on Friday. It was a nice sunny day and plastered with goggles and smiles on their faces, the kids were bobbing all over the pool. They couldn’t have been more than 8 years old, some as young as two. There were about 10 to 15 of them in the pool at one time, jumping from the edges or diving board, dog paddling to a nearby grown up, throwing a ball around, or going underneath to touch the bottom.

It brought more than a smile on my face to see the fearless leap off the edge by a two year old, and the unfair start of a race between two from the edge of the pool to a grown up. It brought back memories of playing tag in the sea, racing from home to what we called, “The Big Stone” 50 feet away. There were times when we competed to bring up the most handful of sand, little stones or loose coral 5 to 15 feet under the water. Off cause we did those things without goggles and the obscurity of salt water in our eyes. But such was the product of our environment.

During school time our routines involved coming home from school, doing homework, grabbing a small but quick bit to eat (because we had to…it’s a parent thing) and then head for the sea. We were in the sea everyday during the summer for no less than two hours. Sometimes our fingers were, “pruned to the bone” as my mother would say. And then there were times when we stayed so long that we built an appetite that would make Emeril Lagasse proud.

There was nothing more fun that being in the sea when we were young, until we grow up to be teenagers. Well, we did spend time in the sea as teenagers, but not as much as we did when we were younger. What we did the sea as teenagers? Hmmmmm… That I will reserve for another “The Sound of Flowing Water” blog posting.

Confined Water Dive...getting the "Hang Of It".

2008-08-18T14:18:00.008-04:00

I completed my confined water dives this past weekend. It was a two day course: Saturday and Sunday. On the first day, because I was a little concerned about jumping into the "unknown", I focus allot on safety and paid close attention to what my instructor taught.

After getting comfortable with breathing under water, learning how to use and take care of the different equipments, and clearing water from my mask while under water, I became more relaxed in the water. Towards, the end of the first dive, I began getting the "hang of it”...and that's the whole idea.

That evening, when I went to bed and closed my eyes, it felt as if I was in the water. I began going over all the things I learned before I actually fell asleep.

The second day, I had more fun. Already comfortable with most of the procedures, I was ready to go back under. I learned that repetition is good thing and practice makes perfect. Buoyancy became a challenge. Sometimes I ended up being too positively buoyant, and other times too negatively buoyant. Eventually, nevertheless, I got the "hang of it”. For me it was a combinations of applying the right weight to my weight belt, having the right amount of air in my BCD, and having the right amount of air in my lungs at the right moment.

My instructor, Julian, is a great and talented up and coming instructor. His instructions and directions were straight to the point, and very easy to understand. Safety was his number one concern, and enjoying the experience and having fun was in a close second. Besides ending up with floor burns from kneeling at the bottom of the pool in a short wetsuit (thank God there were no cameras), everything else was awesome. Thanks Julian.

My fellow trainees, Courtney and Steven were awesome too. It was fun “hanging” in the water with you’ll.

I can't wait to jump into the next phase of the course..."The Open Water Dive". Think I can get the “hang of that”.

Chai Diab - Ugly or Beautiful

2008-07-28T10:38:00.010-04:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How many times have we heard that phrase. Well, here's a situation where that is true. Growing up on the shores of Pointe Michel, you learn about the many houses or what we called, "Chais", laid out under the sea. Yes, under the sea. What are Chais you may ask. In reality, a Chai is what we call a house in Patois or Creole. For those of us who grew up by the sea, Chais are huge rocks under the water with coral on them.

Chais were named based on the shapes they formed, how far they were away from the shore, what kind of fish hung around them, or even how ugly they looked. Which brings us the most ugliest Chai there was..."Chai Diab". Some of you may say, what does Chai Diab really mean? Well, "Diab", in Patois or Creole, means "Devil", and the coral bed laid out on this Chai was so huge and mistrious to those with young eyes that we name it the "Devil's House" or "Chai Diab".

Chai Diab had different corals on its top with many colors which revealed themselves beautifully in the glimmering sunlight. At its based, schools of fish, big and small treating Chai Diab as an apartment complex which provided meals all day long.

In one of the deep holes within Chai Diab, there was a huge, long eel we called, Kong. Not King Kong, just Kong. To my friends and I who grew up on the front of the Sea in Pointe Michel, Kong was the Land Lord of Chai Diab. Trying to catch him was an annual summer adventure which I will share with you in another Blog.

In the meantime, dwell your imaginations on Chai Diab. At the time, to us young kids Chai Diab was the Ugliest House there was, but as adults today, it is the most beautiful rock in the Sea. (photo by Jon Hanson found at http://gallery.hd.org/_c/natural-science/_more2005/_more02/Moray-Eel-Red-Sea-JH.jpg.html)

The Uncertain, "La Falaise"

2008-06-30T16:49:00.015-04:00

Tuesday afternoon in September. I'm in the first Form at St. Mary's Academy (SMA) and a tropical storm is on the way. Yes, it is hurricane season. The Head Master (Principal), says that all should go home before it rains too much, and we can't make it home.

SMA, an all boys school in Roseau, the major town of Dominica, presented issues for us southern villagers on the journey back home when it rained heavy and there were high seas. Major mode of transportation? Buses or what is called minivan here in the US. On the way home, all minds were on "La Falaise". A cliff 500 feet STRAIGHT UP, destine to throw it's rocks and sands down whenever it rained heavy. At its feet, a stretch of pot hole road, less than a mile long, between Loubiere and Pointe Michel. On the other side of that road, a 10 to 15 feet drop into the sea. Ahhh the sea…normally still and calm with a gleaming reflection of the hot sun, but not that day. That day, the sea turned into a barrage of 10 to 20 feet waves pounding the stone walls stuffed in a wire net that kept the road in place. Yes, the only road into Pointe Michel from Roseau.

A creamish Mitsubishi bus with the name "Nice & Easy" smack in the middle of its face. Not very rugged looking, though every vehicle in Dominica at that time were treated as such. The name of the bus driver...yes, "Mr. Nice & Easy". Don't think there was a person from Pointe Michel who didn't have a nickname. But that's a story for another Blog posting.

Not much can be seen when driving in rains from an approaching Tropical Storm, but I had a front eye view of the white curtain that rapped "Nice & Easy". There was nothing nice and easy about our ride home, but Mr. Nice & Easy certain made it feel that way. Slowly but surely, (and everyone who knew Mr. Nice & Easy knew him to be slow) we passed through New Town, then Loubiere. Then finally we got under what was certainly uncertain to all….La Falaise. The view? Breath taking. The waves climbed the wall and dashed onto the road leaving behind a flurry of puddles and spray in its trail. The water from the rain rushed down the run offs from the mountain. Nevertheless, despite what was up ahead Mr. Nice & Easy eased his way into the frontier of uncertainty and onto the feet of La Falaise. With every smash of the waves on the sea wall came a thunderous rumble. A sound which crawled into your stomach and brought shivers to your skin. Smash after smash and run off after run off, it felt like “Nice & Easy” was being flogged on all sides. Yet, like a determine ant we moved closer and closer to making it home.

Around the ridge and Pointe Michel is sight. The heart starts to slow down a little. Only a few more run offs, and maybe three more waves to go. You could time just by looking at their approach in the distance. Suddenly, as it appeared that this ride was going to be event less, a huge rock rolled down from above, 15 feet in front of “Nice & Easy” and kept on rolling towards the sea. A few more smaller rocks followed suit. Then after an abrupt stop and a moment of jaw dropping silence, Mr. Nice & Easy floored the gas pedal, made a quick maneuver around the debris and moved on into Pointe Michel.

La Falaise was no longer a threat to us............But what about that ravine up ahead???? Hmmmm.

New Member To The Family

2008-06-30T10:20:00.003-04:00

This morning, my cousin and his wife had a healthy baby boy. It's their first. Both Mom and the baby are doing fine. Not sure about Dad though. He sounded giddy with joy when I spoke with him on the phone.

This is a wonderful occasion. My wife and I have not gotten to that point yet, but we certainly have allot of friends and family members (among our Parents) who we can rely on for advice...................when the time comes. :)

Big Up to all the Parents out there who have found interest in my Blog. Especially the BK families.

Spain over Germany in Euro 2008.

2008-06-29T16:55:00.008-04:00

What a great victory for the Spaniards. Germany was out classed on the field. What a brilliant goal by Torres. I feel kinda bad for Ballack, he being 31 and not winning a championship for Germany. In fact, you would say that he had a great year reaching the finals for his country, and his club team Chelsea. But, he came up short on both accounts.

I remember my club football years playing left back for three time Champion, Gunnners, in the Pointe Michel league. What a power house we were, and what memories we left in pointe Michel. Most memorably, what a leader we had in our captain, Brian Toussaint. A man that thought many on and off the field. It was because of people like him young men, at the time, had the courage to play hard against older players. Thanks Brian....Rest In Peace.

(Photo by Joe Klamar/AFP found at http://liverpoolfcclips.blogspot.com/2008/06/torres-goal-germany-vs-spain-euro-2008.html)

A Refreshing Memory

2008-06-28T11:39:00.005-04:00

Alexandria, VA and it's 87 degrees. Just biked back from playing basketball with an old college school mate and some other friends. Playing three ours in the hot sun reminded me very much of the Saturday mornings playing basketball with friends on the Poree courts in Pointe Michel. The only difference was we would charge down the hill to the sea right after we played. Trust me, after playing three our of basketball in the Caribbean, there's nothing like a dip in the blue Caribbean Sea. A relief I desperately desire right now. The water being a cool 75 degrees was a welcome refreshing experience. Hungry...yes, but we would stay in the water until we were satisfied or again, yes, until our fingers turned prune like. This became our Saturday routine. A far cry from what I do today, but the memories of it all are sweet nonetheless.

Alright, that's enough reminiscing. Think I will head for the shower and accept the sound of what water will trickle down my head. For now, if you're in my area or any other place where it's warm...stay cool.

Not Much of a Writer

2008-06-27T10:58:00.003-04:00

I am not much of a writer, but I will attempt to share my stories using this blog thing that has become so popular over the last ten years. You may find a few grammatical errors here and there, but if you’re willing to look beyond that characteristic, you will enjoy some of the stories I will share with you.

I decided to titled this blog, "The Sound of Flowing Water" because at this point in my life, being underneath the water has, by far, been the most tranquil experiences I have ever encountered. I grew up on the shores of Pointe Michel on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Not well publicized as a tourist destination when I was growing up, Dominica could have been considered to be a safe haven for all. As a kid, I spent at least 40 percent of my time in the water. Water being the sea, the many rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and hot water springs you will find in Dominica. There were days when my fingers were pruned and my hair, being black, turned red from sun exposure and staying in the sea for so long. There were times when my Dad would take my siblings, friends and I to the mountains of Dominica where we would indulge in waters like the Trafalgar Falls, the Layou River, Titou Gorge, and more.

As kids we don’t think allot about how our parents made money to give us the life they gave us, but Dominica being the sustainable island that it was and still is provided allot for many families in Dominica to live on. The abundance of fruits, provisions, vegetables and fish gave us the strength to take on whatever adventures came our way. And boy did we have allot of adventures. Stick around, and I will share with you all the adventures I can remember having on the island of Dominica.