Eight Days in Chuuk - Day Four

China from the Kansho

For what was to be Woody’s last morning of diving, it was decided to do the San Francisco – Truk Lagoon’s signature dive.  At 50m, it was a deep one and when Nick woke up still feeling unwell, he decided against it.  I didn’t fancy doing it without him, so pulled out as well.  This left Woody to go off with Tomo on his own.  However, the weather was really rough – with wind and rain lashing Thorfinn, the dive looked like it might be called off before they set off.  However, Buster in charge of the tender and Tomo tried their best to get Woody on the wreck, but it wasn’t to be and they eventually turned back to a different site out of the wind and waves.  So we were quite pleased we had staying on Thorfinn and had enjoyed a relaxing time in the lounge with a coffee and our log books.

More heavy rain delayed the second dive of the day, which was to be…

Dive 10 – Kansho Maru – 4,862 ton passenger cargo ship.  Had fun with computers bleating, as we exceeded their MOD for 32% in the very interesting engine room.  There were a few tight squeezes and we were in single file in the maze of gangways across two or three decks.  There was a great set of spanners (as in huge!) still on the wall in one part.  Out through bridge and another fully kitted up kitchen.  Finished on mast for safety stops.  It was Woody’s last dive of his trip.

Back to Thorfinn and straight to lunch where we were joined by two new guests, Colin and Caitlin Chance.  They had been living in Guam but about to go back to the US so taking the last opportunity to come and dive in Chuuk.

So there were four of us who set off for the dive at 2pm…

Nick on the Unkat

Dive 11 – Unkat Maru No 6 – 3,230 cargo ship.  We were guided this time by Buster - the Chances were with Hayley.  It was a very choppy ride to the dive site in the rain – not a good start to their Truk adventure for the others and not the best diving experience for Caitlin.  No penetration on this dive but lots of life on the decks including a turtle, a shark and a school of barracudas.

By the time we were back on Thorfinn, it was quite late so the next dive was postponed to 5:30pm, which gave us time for a coffee and sit in the lounge.

Dive 12 – Sutzuki – patrol boat.  Much calmer weather conditions so was a shame Caitlin decided she’d had enough for the day after the earlier dive.  So just three with Buster guiding again.  Much shallower dive than any other so far in the week, averaging only 6.1m.  Bit of a current at surface but ok around the wreck.  Started at the stern – swimming between the props and the rudder, then made our way along the ship which was sunk on its side.  Lots of corals and I took pictures.  Nick suffering with sinuses again particularly at 6m safety stop so surfaced earlier than the rest of us.

Woody’s last evening on board so we were up chatting with him and the Chances after dinner.