Starting IDC on Samui

We're in SE Asia again (finally) and I'm starting (finally) my Instructor Development Course on Koh Samui with http://www.easydivers-samui.net/. So far I don't have all the books, don't know whether I can use electronic Instructor Manual and have some more doubts but it's going to be OK :)

FishQuest.info is live

Finally, after more than two years of redesigning, we've managed to successfully start up a marine life identification site. FishQuest.info is something between a marine life photo gallery, fish taxonomy site but it's main purpose is to collect different common names in a well organised manner. The idea first came to my mind after talking to other divers and having to use English names for the critters that had perfectly usable names in other languages. Being much simpler that fishbase.org, I feel that it will serve this purpose well.

Won the PADI Renewal Competition

Yesterday when I went to check my snail mailbox I was very surprised to see a big packet I was not expecting. My surprise was even bigger when I saw PADI stamps on the envelope, so I've torn the wrapping and saw... PADI Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving - the prize in this years Renewal Competition I have almost forgotten I've entered:). It's not the grand prize (return of the renewal fee) but still niiiiceeee:)

Book: The Dive. A Story of Love and Obsession.

The Dive is Pipin Ferreras' autobiography. As in most biographies it describes his life:) This turns out to be a very interesting life as Pipin (that's his nickname, real name is ) is a freediving champion in no limits category, who set many world records. Pipin started freediving when he was a child. Actually he started spearfishing, which then became a way to earn his living when he was older. His record setting started as a way of attracting attention to Cuba in order to boost it's tourism and economy which was in serious trouble after the fall of USSR.

The book is not only a biography but also a tribute to his fourth wife, Audrey Mestre, who died while trying to set a world record in no limits freediving.

This is a sad book. Come to think about, it's a second book that is about an extreme diver who died during diving that I've read recently. The other one is The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury.

It's a good book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in freediving. The film Ocean Men directed by Bob Talbot, starring Pipin, Audrey and another freediver, Umberto Pelizzari, is an excelent complement to this book.

James Cameron is planning to film this book, however I haven't found information on when it's going to happen.

Book: The Last Dive

As I've mentioned earlier we recently came into possession of a book The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury. I, of course, read the book almost instantly as I thought it would be at least as good as Robert Kurson's Shadow Divers (both books touch the same topic). Unfortunately I was disappointed. You see, in Poland these books where published by two different publishers - a small one and a big one, The Last Dive by the former. It seems that the publisher did not have enough resources to get things done right. The translation is pathetic and so is the copy editing. Apart from the technical issues the book itself is badly written and chaotic. Nevertheless there's lot of interesting information contained in it.

The Last Dive is a history of a father's and son's (Chris and Chris Jr. Rouse) diving careers, from their first diving lessons to the tragic end. If you treat the book as a collection of anecdotes it might be readable. I wanted to read it because I've read Shadow Divers which was a very good book and wanted to see that story from another point of view.

The book is full of information on diving in the late 80s and early 90s especially about cave and wreck diving. It's also a great overview of the beginning of technical diving. The stories that constitute the book are, when treated separately, also quite interesting.

I would recommend this book, as you probably won't have problems with the translation :)

Diving Xmas gifts

Whole year of talking about diving took effect - no stupid 'what shall I do with this crap' Christmas presents:) We (me and Magda) got lots of books on diving, including 'Last dive' by Bernie Chowdhury, 'Wreck Diving' and some others. I got a Suunto SK-7 diving compass and Magda got a Suunto Vyper diving computer. I also got new fins, not just fins but brand new Cressi Sub's Gara 3000 - they especially made for freediving and are twice as long as normal fins. Can't wait to try them at the swimming pool (it was closed for Christmas)...