fforbes

Matt, I'm sorry to say I saw no sharks at all on any of the wrecks we dove. The dives are still awesome, coral growth aplenty and lots of little sweepers etc. I have a Truk Lagoon gallery on my website, << fletcherforbes.com >> if you want to see what some of the wrecks look like.

Sean, I guess you were talking during the briefing. JJ, the Odyssey Captain said that "R2D2" and the engine room were not in the part of the wreck that had collapsed, but it was in eminent danger of collapse.  He asked us not to ask the divemasters to take us there as it was unsafe, and they all had families who depended upon them.  

We talked about it with our dive master Ken, and he did not want to make the penetration, so we respected that.

And sadly, the San Francisco Maru wheelhouse has mostly collapsed, which made a great backdrop to the tanks. Before and after photos below. We would go back in a second, if you love wrecks this is nirvana. But they are changing.

The king post on the Fujikawa Maru is showing some real deterioration, but that may be because it is pretty heavily "loved". Note a diver's  spare tank attached to the top. Before and after photos:

I have a 230mm dome port that I was planning to use for this experiment. I'm thinking that I don't need a port extension for a 60mm lens. Can't think why it might be a pain to install.

We leave for Yap & Truk this Friday. If this works, I may use it for some of the smaller rooms in the wrecks, like the machine rooms.

Warm water, woohoo! Love California diving but… warm water is mighty nice!

D700 body has been sold, thanks!