Not much to report today.

What I have made is a quick video clip of stuff that Jen has filmed on the last 4 dives..

Quite the budding videographer eh?!

We arrived at Crystal around 10.15  ..Nathan was already there talking to Carsten and the DMT team as to what needed to be done for the beach clean up. 

Teams were sent off with gloves and bin bags down the beach to collect rubbish and then groups started to sift the sand at the side of the decking as it was full of polystyrene balls which had escaped from the tired old bean bags used in the bar.  I personally think they should bin them and replace them with some environmentally friendly seating.

Whilst this was going on, Nathan, Si and I gathered all left over gear that was going to be deployed at Junk Yard (weights system, cross trainer, pvc coral garden etc) and put that to one side, ready to be put on the long tail, then stored all the left over pvc piping, rope and did a general tidy up.
A couple of hours had passed and the sifting had stopped, rubbish had been collected and before breaking for lunch, everyone helped to load all the gear up onto the longtail.

We had an hour or so for lunch, so Simon & I rode up to ‘Deep Down’ to see what was going on and had a coffee whilst ordering lunch from ‘Zest’

Back at Crystal and before the dive site clean up began, Nath, Si & I jumped on the longtail and dropped off all the equipment at Junk Yard.  We’ll be arranging it and assembling items in the next few days and then finally, Junk Yard should be complete.

Back on land, everyone gathered, dive kits assembled and after a briefing by Nathan we headed out equipped with rubbish bags (nets) and scissors.  Some got dropped off from the longtail whist some of us just swam out.

It didnt take that long to fill our bags, we’d found nets, plastic bags, sacks, piping, drink cans and clothes to name a few.   The longtail was coasting about, so on surfacing, we’d call it over and empty out the contents and then carry on collecting.

Our dive was just over an hour and we’d collected 693kg worth of rubbish between us which was sorted into categories and then disposed of.
In the evening, ‘Vibe’ were having a fundraising bbq for ‘Save Koh Tao’.  There was tug of war, which Crystal won :-D, a limbo competition and more but as we arrived late, I think we must have missed a few.

After the success of last month, with 2 joint winners…. this month we give you “The Men”

Contestant Number 1: Hailing from New Zealand, we have the newly returned Dominic.

Dominic was on Koh Tao last year learning to become a Divemaster. He is the youngest, and palest of our contestants. He enjoys activities that involve his hands. Knitting, Finger Painting, and Belly Dancing (see the full hip sway move in this photo) are top of his agenda to be at one with his female side. He hopes for a New World Order of Sheep to rule to end the worlds problems….. BAAAAAA.

Love Muscle number 2 is Iain. From Good old Blighty, he has been an island resident for what seems like eternity. He spends his time teaching Open Water courses, being a part time Eco Warrior,  and serving drinks at Vibe. Having a hectic schedule barely leaves him enough time for working out. He enjoys listening to The Cheeky Girls, baking cakes, and dressing up in Lingerie. His big hopes for the World is that they build a KFC on Koh Tao.

Finally, our last contestant. Yes, it is a man under all that hair! His name is Johnny and also comes from England. Being a recently qualified Divemaster, Johnny is currently under the protective wings of Crystal, enhancing and training him to become a fully fledged Yeti. Up extra early every morning, he dries and combs his locks, and 3 hours later he is finally ready to go to work. He enjoys Lucys Lunches, bagels with bacon and cream cheese, Gazapacho soup…. sucking his belly in for a photo… His big hope for the world is to create a new stronger, longer lasting hairspray.