Children love the thought of having pet fish, and letting them pick out funny pet names for fish can be a great way to do some family bonding and have some fun together. Your kids will love the fact that they get to be a part of naming the fish and will have a blast doing so. So how do you go about finding the perfect funny pet name for fish? You can start by making a list of the funniest words you know and let the kids step in and think of silly words that make them laugh. Next, you might want to consider the kind of fish it is and what the colors are, etc.

Next, think of a theme that you want to use for naming your funny fish. Do you want to play on words and name it something silly that rhymes? Or do you want to think of funny pet names for fish that are related to a favorite family cartoon fish or movie fish? Once you sit down and let your imagination run wild, you will be surprised with what you can come up with for funny pet names for fish.

If you need some help getting started in the naming process, here are some funny pet names for fish that are popular and you may want to consider for your pet fish:

• Snuggles
• Fetch
• Doogie
• Mr. Bubbles
• Fluffy
• Lollipop
• Princess
• Scooter
• Squiggles
• Jaws
• Cricket
• Flapjack
• Tiny Tim
• Perky
• Pinky
• Aquarius
• Bubble
• Cheeky
• Dribbles
• Fizz
• ET
• Gumball
• Jelly Bean
• Pipsqueak
• Wiggles
• Abracadabra
• Biggles
• Gremlin
• Ladybug
• Mischief
• Larry
• Curly
• Moe
• Einstein
• Moochie
• Tarzan
• Sherbert
• Dickens
• Santa
• Uma
• Zerzer
• Zorro
• Babe
• Buster
• Bub
• Cujo
• Cal
• Carlo
• Arthur
• Apollo
• Fred
• Fin
• Fin Flicker
• Finny
• Finegan
• Flick
• Funny Fins

If you still need some assistance after going through that list of funny pet names for fish, you can always compile a name based off of what each person in your family wants. One fun idea is to take a hat and everybody write down one name that they want to name the fish. Everyone puts the name into the hat and you shake them up. Next, take the names out of the hat one by one and lay them out on the table.

After each name is laid out on the table, everyone can go around making up a funny name that incorporates each of the names in the hat. You can end up with the longest, silliest name you have ever heard of for your fish, and everyone in the family will be happy that they had a role in naming the newest addition to the family. Since fish do not need to know their name to be trained like other family pets, your options are truly endless with long, silly or wacky that you want to make your funny pet names for fish be.

Amazing things happen when two oceans meet. At Komodo National Park in Indonesia – a relatively small stretch of sea around the famous ‘dragon island’ – cool upwellings from the Pacific are forced into relatively shallow water and then flood into the Indian Ocean. The area which sees this massive movement of water is marked by a few volcanic islands which conspire to create some of the most powerful and unpredictable currents on the planet.

It’s a remarkable place – a hothouse for evolution and home to an incredible array of marine life. Of the 500 or so coral species found in the Indo-Pacific, Komodo has 260. It harbours more than 1,000 species of fish and 70 species of sponge. Acre for acre, it is one of the most diverse coral reef environments in the world.

My journey began on the 42m Kararu, a traditional rigged sailing vessel which serves as an extremely spacious liveaboard. It operates from Bali, 160 miles to the west, but the journey to and from Komodo is punctuated by dive sites which are fascinating in their own right, and serve as a build-up to the world-class diving at Komodo and its neighbouring island, Rinca. My host was the boat’s co-owner, Tony Rhodes, a Brit with an easy manner and a knack for spotting near-microscopic animals.

On an early dive at a site called Mentjang Wall, we were finning along in mid-water when Tony suddenly swooped down to the reef. I followed, squinting at the scrappy patch of coral to which he was pointing. At first nothing, then I could make out a tiny brownish nudibranch (of the Flabellinidae family). He had seen it from 10m away! Suspicious, I wondered if he had sneakily placed it there when I wasn’t looking, possibly inspired by Donald Pleasence’s similar trick in The Great Escape.

As I was to discover, his spotting skills were quite genuine. While there are plenty of sizeable creatures to marvel at in Indonesia, the area does tend to attract divers with a penchant for the diminutive. These are rich seas, and there is a perpetual battle for space on the reefs. After just a few days, your eyes become familiar with the environment, so that semi-camouflaged critters begin to reveal themselves. Professional dive guides become finely attuned to this sort of diving.

Komodo National Park comprises the seas around the islands of Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and some smaller islands. It’s a two-wetsuit trip: on the northern side of the islands, the water is warm, and most people dive comfortably with the thinnest of skins. Cool, nutrient-rich upwellings prevail on the southern side, where 5mm suits, hoods and gloves are the order of the day.

These islands act like a dam, holding back the warmer Pacific waters, which are then forced through various straits, creating a pressure void along the park’s southern side. This allows cold water from the Sumba Sea to rise up, effectively replacing the water removed by the currents at the surface. With the cold water comes a bloom in phytoplankton, forming the basis of Komodo’s super-charged food chain. It is a very, very special place indeed.

The results of these crazy upwellings are best experienced at Horseshoe Bay on Rinca’s southern side. These are the most crowded reefs I have ever seen, but the payoff is low visibility caused by all those nutrients suspended in the water. Horseshoe Bay’s famous site is a pinnacle known as Cannibal Rock (named after a monstrous Komodo dragon seen eating one of its own kind nearby), where dense swathes of black, yellow and red crinoids jostle for space.

It’s a great place to test buoyancy skills, because crinoids stick to neoprene like glue; any contact whatsoever and you’ve got yourself a hitchhiker. Once, after taking head-on photographs of an implacable lizardfish, I looked down to find I had picked up two featherstars complete with clingfish and crinoid shrimps – a whole ecosystem! I guiltily set them back on the reef.

Just outside Horseshoe Bay is a fascinating site known as the Great Yellow Wall of Texas, renowned for its soft corals. Visibility here was reminiscent of British shore-diving standards, and the coral polyps were all retracted, so I hardly saw the reef in all its glory. Still, I could appreciate the sheer intensity of the place. Nestling among the crinoid forest were some fascinating animals, including brightly coloured sea apples, a spectacular member of the sea slug family. Tiny hawkfish nestled between the fronds of soft corals, while gobies darted around their tiny territories.

Night dives were even more atmospheric. The currents sweeping over Cannibal Rock were too much to cope with after dark, so we searched for night creatures in the shallows. At first glance, the sandy expanses were devoid of life, but a closer inspection revealed a wealth of nocturnal drama. Octopus each the size of a child’s fist moved over the sand, extending their tentacles into tiny holes as they hunted for suitably small prey. Every now and then, they would retract their foraging limbs in pain, having received a nip from some hidden sand-dweller.

Inshore sites often serve as nurseries. I saw lots of tiny fish, including juvenile oriental sweetlips (flapping wildly like some out-of-control bumblebee) and a rockmover wrasse complete with protruding unicorn’s horn. Photographers found the night dives to be the most productive of all, and some would sacrifice an afternoon dive to be alert for the evening.

The best night dive took place beyond Horseshoe Bay on a sandy slope near Banta Island. The site has a particularly cheesy name – ‘It’s a Small World’ – which nevertheless hints at the macro wonders which have made it their home. I dropped in and descended 10m to what looked to be a lunar landscape, devoid of life. The gritty sand billowed briefly into the water column as I landed on the sea bed and looked down to see a skeletal face leering back with utter contempt.

It was a stargazer, a voracious lunge-predator whose stealth is rivalled only by its monumental ugliness. It buries itself in sand right up to its eyes, then waits for a suitable morsel to happen along. Ambush predators don’t like being seen, and this one looked up at me with undisguised disgust as I gently fanned the sand away from its fearsome features. Eventually, the indignity of being exposed in this way proved too much; it launched itself off the sand and sped off into the darkness.

I enjoy watching other divers at night. Despite the best intentions of the buddy system, there is something about the combination of shallow, current-free sites and diving by torchlight which internalizes the diving experience. Divers retreat into themselves, their attention focused chiefly on the thin column illuminated by their lights. I hovered behind a professional videographer, Roger Munns of Scubazoo (the film-making outfit based in Southeast Asia) fame, who had found a handsome red frogfish – okay, ‘handsome’ isn’t a word often associated with frogfish, but we’re talking ‘eye of the beholder’ here, okay?

As he trained his video lights on the frogfish, the brightness attracted a small food chain. Driven by some inexplicable urge, tiny worms massed around the lights in writhing density. They in turn attracted the attention of some cardinalfish, which foolishly took the frogfish to be a lump of coral. They were soon disabused of this notion as the predator extended its jaws and sucked a hapless cardinalfish into its maw.

This super-gulp is too fast to see. Later, watching Roger’s footage on an iBook laptop, we studied the lunge frame by frame. You see the frogfish give a dainty little leap, and there is a slight blur around its mouth as it takes the fish, but the movement itself is too fast even for a professional-quality video recording in slow motion mode. Viewed at normal speed, the frogfish twitches slightly and the cardinalfish simply disappears.

In addition to illustrating the efficiency of the frogfish’s feeding mechanism, this episode revealed to me the depth of the cardinalfish’s stupidity. The ‘not exactly quick on the uptake’ survivors kept returning to the lights, and the frogfish enjoyed a further six courses while the cardinalfish doubtless wondered where all their companions had gone. By the time I had sidled in to photograph the frogfish, it was noticeably bulkier and appeared to have a case of the hiccups.

Providing a contrast to Komodo’s macro dives is a great manta site off the island of Langkoi, a busy little channel where the graceful rays can be seen feeding on plankton-loaded water. Langkoi’s mantas are among the biggest I have ever seen, some even approaching the legendary 6m mark.

It was a pleasure to dispense with the hood and gloves when our boat Kararu returned to the balmy sites of the north. Here, I was presented with dizzyingly clear water and some classically beautiful reefs. There were plenty of reef fish, but I saw little in the blue, despite the preternatural clarity of the water. Occasionally, schools of barracuda, jacks or bannerfish would appear, but there were no sharks or tuna. This is the case across much of these islands, where shark-finning has decimated reef shark populations over the past decade. Illegal shark fishing and even dynamite bombing still takes place in Komodo National Park, despite its protected status.

Still, conservation efforts at Komodo – reinforced by the presence of tourism – have succeeded in preserving vast tracts of reef. These reefs have an additional importance which transcends the pleasure they give divers. The coral here is especially resilient to the effects of coral bleaching caused by factors such as global warming and El Niño. This is due to the upwelling effect of cooling water from the depths of the Sumba Sea.

Marine biologists believe that as coral reef systems continue to be lost, it is places such as Komodo that will replenish and re-colonize devastated habitats elsewhere in Indonesia and the wider Indo-Pacific. The same currents which make life so difficult (if entertaining) for divers, carry coral larvae beyond the national park to places where reef space is available. In this sense, Komodo is a mother among coral reefs, and one we should all cherish.

• Simon Rogerson dived with Kararu Dive Voyages. Charters are available for trips of different duration, but the standard Komodo tour takes 11 days. Trips to the remote reefs of Alor and Rajah Empat are also available. For further information, contact UK agents Divequest on 01254 826322 or check out Kararu’s website, http://www.kararu.com.

The world’s easiest wreck dive?
No diver should visit Bali without diving the wreck of the Liberty, a First World War-era cargo ship which lies off the beach at the village of Tulamben on the nortwest coast. The Liberty grounded itself on this beach after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942, and stayed there until 1963 when the Agung volcano exploded, pushing her into the water and splitting the hull in two.

Today, the wreckage sits on black volcanic sand at a diver-friendly 27m, providing a home for a prodigious amount of marine life. It pained me not to include the Liberty in DIVE’s recent rundown of the world’s best wrecks, but the truth is that this is a wreck dive for divers who don’t like wrecks.

The structure of the wreck is undeniably impressive, but the resident marine life steals the show. There is a school of jacks which regularly form the classic spiral shoaling formation, and tame reef fish abound (they’ve been fed, and approach divers with feverish enthusiasm).

The wreck is coated in coral, and sought-after macro subjects such as the pygmy seahorse can be reliably found. It has to be one of the world’s best shore dives, but what makes it so ludicrously easy is the presence of a local co-operative which charges a small amount for access to the shore, then carries your BC and cylinder to the entry point.

What makes all this slightly shameful is the fact that the co-operative is made up of local women, most of whom are slightly built and less than five feet tall! They can carry two sets of kit at a time for the ten-minute walk over the pebble beach! On their heads!

I couldn’t bring myself to let them carry my gear, but my guide warned me that it would be seen as unforgivably patronizing not to let them do their job. So, I hobbled over the beach behind my petite kit-bearer praying to the Balinese gods that no one would recognize me.

Want diving, cruising and liveaboard in komodo?

Many of us have visited marine parks and seen whales and dolphins up close such as the orcas at Sea World but there is no substitute for seeing these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. We guess the whales feel pretty much the same way too!

So what can you expect to see when visiting Newfoundland and Labrador? Well, a lot depends on when you visit of course as the whales and other mammals are not year round residents. Whales are usually sighted between the months of May and September, so you are just in time to book that trip.

If you are one of those people who doesn’t have any sea legs and thinks that it is not worth going as you “won’t get into that boat” think again. Whales here are so common and numerous that they can be spotted not just from boats out at sea, but from the land as well. In fact you can even get into a kayak and paddle alongside them if you dare.

What species will I see?

As we previously mentioned there are twenty-two species of ocean mammals off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. There are two types of whales, baleen and toothed. Baleen whales have bristle like baleen plates instead of teeth. The baleen is made of keratin the same substance found in hair, nails and horns and the whale uses them to filter water and catch food. Toothed whales have a set of teeth they use to catch and eat food.

Humpback whales: The most common whale here is the humpback whale (pictured on our title page) and Newfoundland and Labrador has the largest population of feeding Humpbacks in the world. The Humpbacks spend the winter months in the Caribbean and migrate north to the Newfoundland and Labrador coast during April and stay until October.

Humpbacks are baleen whales and the adults can weigh 36,000 kilograms and measure 12-15 metres in length. Females tend to weigh more than males and are longer. Adults can eat two tons of fish and planktonic crustaceans every day. They only feed during the summer, living off reserves in the winter months.

This species is know to catch fish using a bubble net feeding technique. This is where a number of humpbacks encircle a school of fish whilst blowing air bubbles. The circle grows ever tighter forcing the fish into a small area when the whales suddenly swim upwards through the fish catching thousands in one mouthful.

Females give birth every two or three years and have a gestation period of 12 months. The calf will weigh around one ton at birth and be 3-5 metres in length. They typically feed from their mother for the first year.

Humpbacks are notorious for their acrobatic skills and can be seen jumping out of the water – known as breeching – and falling back, slapping the water. They are also the star of many a photograph when they dive under the water raising their tail flukes in the air, as pictured to the side.

Individual whales can be distinguished by their tail flukes as each one is unique. This is rare amongst whales making them one of the most studies species.

Minke whales: These whales have a distinctive narrow, triangular shaped head and are one of the smallest baleen whales. They are very fast in the water reaching speeds of 16-21 kilometers an hour.

They can be seen in the bays around Newfoundland and Labrador but spend most of their time below water, so can be more difficult to spot. They are however curious and will often approach boats and swim alongside. They are most common in summer and early fall.
Adult males measure around 8-9 metres in length and females slightly longer at 8-10 metres. Both weigh around 10 tons and feed on krill and small fish.

Females give birth once every two years and calves measure around 3 metres and weight 450 kg at birth. They nurse for around six months.

Pilot Whale: This whale is actually a member of the dolphin family and is very intelligent and second in size only to the orca or killer whale. They swim in large groups of around one hundred individuals and are very social. They have a distinctive round bulbous head with a long, stocky body. Unlike the previous two species we discussed the male pilot is larger than the female at around 6 meters in length and weighing in at three tons. The female is around 5 metres and weighs only 1.5 tons.

Pilot whales are toothed whales but only have 40-48 teeth compared to the usual 120 or so in other dolphin species. They feed primarily on squid but also eat octopus, cuttlefish an other small fish such as herring.

Females give birth only every 3-5 years and calves are typically around 1.8 metres in length and weigh 100 kg at birth: they nurse for around two years.

Pilot whales can be seen in the Newfoundland and Labrador water during summer and early fall.

Finback Whales: These whales are huge and the second largest whale in the world. They have very distinctive lower jaw colouring with the right side being white or creamy yellow and the left mottled black. The colours are reversed on its tongue.

These whales tend to be found further from the shore than most other species and so may only be seen from a boat, usually in small groups of 5-8 individuals.

Adult males grow to around 24 metres in length and weigh between 50-70 tons. Females give birth every three or four years and the calf nurses for 6-8 months.

Blue Whale: This whale is the largest mammal ever to have lived on earth. Adults can reach lengths of over 30 metres but are more usually between 23-25 metres. The largest ever found was 33 metres in length. Females are larger and can weigh up to 150 tons compared to around 100 tons for males.

Surprisingly for such a huge animal they feed on small fish and krill but have to eat around four tons a day which equates to around 40 million krill a day.

Females give birth every two or three years to a calf weighing tons and measuring 8 metres in length. Calves are weaned at around 8 months by which time they weight around 23 tons.
The best time to catch a glimpse of a blue whale in Newfoundland and Labrador is in the fall and winter months.

Orca: Also commonly known as the killer whale, Orcas are seen off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador during the summer months.

These are probably some of the most familiar species of whale with their distinctive black and white markings. Every orca has its own distinctive markings making each individual identifiable. This makes them another well studied species. The dorsal fin is also very distinctive and can reach 1.8 metres in length and is a straight triangle shape on males and a more curved triangle on females and young males. Orcas in captivity seem to loose the rigidity of their dorsal fin allowing it to bend over to the side. This phenomenon is not seen in the wild.

Orcas are toothed whales and will feed on any small animals including seals, sharks, penguins and other smaller whales. Males can grow to just under 10 metres in length and weigh around 9 tons. Females are much smaller at around 8 metres weighing an average of four tons. They give birth every 3-5 years and the calf will be around two metres in length.

The summer months are the best time to spot Orcas off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

White-sided Dolphin: These playful dolphins can often be seen jumping out of the water and riding the waves. They tend to be found in large groups from a few dozen to many hundreds.
The belly of the dolphin is white, the sides grey and the back black. It has a black beak and a black eye ring and a yellow patch at the rear of the dorsal fin making it a very attractively colored dolphin. They tend to be around 2-2.5 metres in length and weigh around 150 kg.

They eat squid and small fish such as herrings and tend to feed at night. Females give birth every two or three years and the calf is usually about a metre in length.

Harbour Porpoise: This small dolphin is not easily seen as it tends to stay under the waves and does not seek out boats as many other dolphins do. They tend to stay close to shore making them easily studied and also easily hunted. They make a loud puffing sound when the break the water to breathe.

They are dark grey in colour with a white belly and are around 1.5 metres in length and weigh around 60 kg with females being bigger than males.

They feed on small fish and have to consume around 10% of their body weight every day.
Other species: There are many other species you can spot off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador such as the White-beaked Dolphin, Bowhead Whale, Sperm Whales and Beluga Whales.

How to see them

There are many boat tour operators along the coast who can offer you the opportunity to see whales. They are very experienced and can almost guarantee you will see whales and can answer any questions you have along the way.

It is not unusual for whales and particularly dolphins to swim alongside a boat to get that extra special view.

You can also join a kayaking tour and get up close and personal with the wildlife. Always use a qualified operator if you want to kayak as approaching whales and dolphins can be very dangerous and the tour guides are trained to give you a save and enjoyable experience.
As we mentioned before, those of you who simply cannot take a boat tour you can usually see plenty of whales simply by walking along the coastline. Some of the best viewing sites are Signal Hill, Cape Spear, Cape St. Francis, Trinity, Cape Bonavista, Twillingate, White Bay, Strait of Belle Isle, St. Vincent’s, Cape St. Mary’s, Cape Race, Witless Bay, and Groswater Bay.

The aircraft intended for my mission, the North American B-25 Mitchell registered 130669 “Tondelayo” and wearing its drab olive-green livery, had been the third parked on the ramp of the American Airpower Museum, both an historical and symbolic position relative to the two heavier, longer-range aircraft which had been preceded it.

Resulting from a 1938 Air Corps requirement for a twin-engined, medium-range bomber which could fulfill niche roles its larger, quad-engined counterparts had been unable to, and tracing its lineage to the B-10, the B-12, the B-18, and the B-23, the B-25 itself, named after the US Army Air Corps Officer General Billy Mitchell, had been infused life as a self-funded project by North American Aviation in the form of the NA-40-1.  The 19,500-pound prototype, featuring a narrow fuselage with a green house cockpit; a straight mid-wing; two, 1,100-horsepower R-1830 piston engines; an angular, twin vertical tail; and a tricycle undercarriage of single wheels, had first flown in January of 1939, but a power deficiency had necessitated the retrofit of 1,350-horsepower R-2600s.  Although the modified version, designated NA-40-2, had offered superior performance, it crashed after a two-week test program.

Its NA-62 successor, which had been extensively modified, featured a wider fuselage which in turn increased the now lower-mounted, constant root-to-tip dihedral mid-wing span, 1,700-horsepower R-2600-9 engines, square-geometry vertical tails, and a 27,000-pound gross weight.  Approved in September of 1939, this version, designated the XB-25, first flew in prototype form on August 19 of the following year.

Initially delivered to the Army Air Corps, the aircraft demonstrated directional stability deficiencies, resulting in the outer wing mounting redesign with the tenth aircraft off the production  line, which reduced the engine-to-wing tip dihedral and gave it its characteristic gull-wing profile.

The B-25 Mitchell, in production form, appeared with an aluminum alloy, semi-monocoque fuselage, constructed of four longerons, which produced a 53.6-foot overall length.  The cantilever, all-metal, mid-mounted wings, comprised of a two-spar, fuselage-integral center section housing integral fuel tanks and two outer, single-spar sections with detachable wing tips, featured sealed ailerons with both fixed and controllable trimming tabs and dual-section, hydraulically-operated, trailing edge slotted flaps divided by the engine nacelles.  Spanning 67.7 feet, they sported a 609.8-square-foot area.  Powered by two 1,700-horsepower, Wright-Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder, air-cooled R-2600 piston engines housed in aerodynamic nacelles which traversed the wing chord and turned three-bladed, constant-speed, 12.7-foot, full-feathering, anti-icing Hamilton Standard propellers, the aircraft could climb to 15,000 feet in 11.3 minutes and attain a maximum speed of 303 mph at 13,000 feet.  The cantilever twin vertical fins and rudders, fitted with fixed and controllable trimming tabs, had been modified with rounded tops and yielded a 16.5-foot aircraft height.  The tricycle, single-wheeled, hydraulically-actuated, aft-retracting undercarriage, the first such configuration employed by a US bomber, featured aerodynamic door covers over all three wheel wells in both the extended and retracted positions, while the main wheels were equipped with hydraulic brakes.  The aircraft, with a 21,100-pound empty weight, had a maximum gross weight of 33,500 pounds.

Several versions had been produced.  The first of these, the B-25A, incorporated pilot armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, while its successor, the B-25B, introduced two electrically-operated Bendix turrets, each of which replaced the midship and tail guns and featured two .50 caliber machine guns.  Entering service in 1941 with the 17th Bomb Group at McChord Field near Tacoma, Washington, the aircraft, whose production run totaled 120, also featured a separate photographic station between the upper turret and the tail and a shortened, 54.1-foot length.

Powered by two 1,700-horsepower Wright R-2600-13 engines, the B-25C, the third version, introduced an autopilot system and external racks which could carry eight 250-pound bombs, and a later fuel capacity increase to 1,100 gallons.  Of the 3,909 build, 1,619 had been produced in Inglewood, California, while 2,290 had been assembled in Kansas City, Kansas, under the B-25D designation.

The singular B-25E and –F variants were intended as test vehicles of wing and tail anti-icing systems, while the B-25G replaced the glazed nose with an armored one, the latter containing two .50 caliber machine guns and one 9.6-foot-long, 900-pound, cradle-mounted, M-4 cannon capable of firing 23-inch, 15-pound shells.  Although its armament had otherwise adhered to the B-25C standard, its bomb bay could accommodate an aircraft torpedo.  The variant, operated by a crew of four and featuring a 50.10-foot overall length, enjoyed a 405-unit production run.

The B-25H, with significantly increased armament, featured four .50 caliber machine guns in the metallic, armored nose, and a further four on the side, arranged in pairs; a repositioned top turret, now located in the roof of the navigator’s compartment; the removal of the ventral turret; enlarged, aft-wing, .50 caliber machine gun waist positions; and a tail gun station with two further .50 caliber machine guns.  As World War II’s most extensively armed design, it could attain 293-mph speeds at 13,000 feet and had a 23,800-foot service ceiling.

The B-25J, the definitive and numerically most popular version, had been intended for precision bombing.  The aircraft, introducing a bombardier who increased the crew complement to six, reincorporated the glazed nose which had now been provisioned with one fixed and one flexible .50 caliber machine gun.  The largest single Mitchell order, for 4,318 B-25s, had been placed on April 14, 1943, and the aircraft, attaining 292-mph speeds at 14,500 feet, could cruise at service ceilings of 25,500 feet.

Between 1941 and 1945, the Army Air Corps took delivery of 9,816 B-25s, 3,218 of which had been produced in Inglewood, California, until 1943, and the remaining 6,608 of which had been produced in Kansas City.

The B-25 Mitchell had several post-war applications.  Demilitarized, and designated TB-25, the type, based upon the B-25J, had been converted into a trainer with the installation of an observer’s seat in the nose, ahead and below the cockpit; two student seats behind the standard two pilot-instructor positions; and up to five seats in the aft cabin.  Of the 400 converted aircraft operated by the US Air Force during the 1950s, the last active-duty staff transport had not been retired until May 21, 1960, although it had continued to be operated by the air forces of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Holland, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

A photographic reconnaissance variant, the F-10, had featured a nose-installed tri-metrogon camera along with other aerial photography equipment, while other non-military roles had included those of executive transport, freighter, and fire bomber.

The aircraft operating my Labor Day flight, a B-25J registered 44-28932, had been produced in August of 1944 by North American Aviation in Kansas City, Kansas.  Accepted by the United States Army Air Corps on August 3 of that year, it had served in the US in the AAF Flying Training Command Program, serving 12 different air bases until January of 1959, at which time it had been declared surplus and had been deleted from the US Air Force inventory.  Converted into a fire bomber, it had combated forest fires for another 25 years.

Acquired by the Collings Foundation in 1984, and restored by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft over a two-year period, the B-25J, the first World War II bomber in the collection, had been flown n air shows in the Boston area for a decade, whereafter it had been ferried to Chino, California, in late 2001, for a secondary restoration by Carl Scholl of Aero Trader, Inc.  Subsequently repositioned to Midland, Texas, it was painted by AVSource West in its current Tondelayo livery after the B-25 which had been operated by the Air Apache 345th BG of the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater against targets in New Guinea, the 500th BS of the 5th Air Force itself having been the fourth squadron of the 345th BG to have attacked shipping in Vunapope near Rabaul on October 18, 1943.  The Tondelayo name had been inspired by Hedy Lamarr’s character in the 1943 movie White Cargo and given by the crew of Lieutenant Ralph Wallace.  The three-aircraft formation, comprised of the B-25 “Snafu” and flown by Captain Lyle Anacker, the “Tondelayo” flown by Lieutenant Wallace himself, and the “Sorry Satchul” flown by Lieutenant Paterson, had claimed three ships, but avenging fighters had attacked “Sorry Satchul,” hitting its port engine and forcing it to ditch, and “Tondelayo,” damaging its right engine.  Shut down and feathered, it had almost wrenched itself from its mountings because of severe vibration.

Flying over Cape Gazelle toward base, the B-25 duo, maintaining tight formation, had been targeted by some 50 Japanese fighters, “Sorry Satchul” so badly damaged that it had been forced to head for shore and ditch and “Tondelayo,” despite its own critical wounds, hovering only 30 feet above the water where it had managed to shoot down five additional enemy aircraft.  Limping into base at Kiriwina, the aircraft had subsequently been repaired and patched, receiving a new right wing, engine, propeller blades, and radio equipment.  Its crew had been awarded the Silver Star.

Squatting under the forward fuselage and climbing the short ladder into the cockpit section on that Labor Day in 2006, I took the right of the two observer’s seats located a foot below, and behind, the cockpit, while the four other passengers entered the aft section, located behind the bomb bay, through the ventral hatch, which had been configured with an aft-facing, three-person bench seat and three individual seats.  With the ladder now raised and the dual panel folded across it to form a portion of the integral floor, the B-25J had been secured for engine start.

The two-person cockpit, sporting bow tie control yokes, featured a throttle quadrant with the two engine throttles angled toward the pilot, two propeller-pitch throttles, and two fuel-mixture throttles angled toward the copilot.

Engine start, commencing with the right, number 2 powerplant, entailed turning the master ignition switch and right booster pump on, at which point the Wright R-2600 powerplant rotated and the interior became saturated with deep, vibrating, Hamilton Standard propeller-created noise.  Priming and stabilizing them with the throttle to create between 800 and 1,000 revolutions per minute, the captain applied a full-rich mixture, causing them to settle into a throaty, 1,200-rpm idle. The process was repeated with the left, number 1 engine.

Contacting Republic Ground on 121.6 for taxi clearance, and armed with the latest automatic terminal information service data, the twin-finned bomber released its brakes at 0845, the thrust created by its engines, even at idle settings, sufficient to move it forward over the American Airpower ramp and away from the World War II bomber trio.  Taxiing parallel to the active runway, 32, the B-25J periodically jolted in response to brake applications, turning on to the run-up area by means of differential power, its slipstream-bombarded twin rudders aerodynamically inducing ground turns.  Extending its slotted, trailing edge flaps and advancing its throttles, the medium-capacity bomber, assuredly a giant in comparison to the currently landing Piper Warrior, moved on to the runway’s threshold, just as the B-17 had commenced its own taxi roll from the ramp.

Moving into take off position and aligning its nose wheel with the centerline, aircraft 130669 received take off clearance from Republic Tower on 125.2, slowly advancing its two throttles in order to establish initial directional control.  Firmly maintaining a straight acceleration roll, the 1,500-horsepower twin-row radials powering the Collings Foundation aircraft exploded with cabin-saturating noise as smooth, steady throttle advancements pinnacled them into their METO settings of 2,600 revolutions-per-minute and 40 inches of manifold pressure.  Counteracting wind-induced directional variations with subtle rudder deflections, the captain began applying control column back pressure at 75 knots indicated air speed, the now ground-separated nose wheel producing a lift-generating angle-of-attack.  The air speed-created pressure differential, bathing the huge, outstretched, upper wing surfaces in a steady stream of accelerated air, removed all ground restraints and allowed them to peel the gravity-defying aircraft to which they had been attached off the ground at 115 knots.  Retracting its tricycle undercarriage at the aircraft’s VMC-determined 145-knot speed, and trimming itself into its initial climb, the twin-engined bomber, encased in engine slipstream, rolled into a right bank over Route 110, headed toward Long Island’s south shore.

Maintaining a 150-degree heading, the now-graceful flying bird reduced its engine rpm to 2300 and its manifold pressure to 30, moving abreast of the metallic, erector set-appearing Captree Bridge at 1,000 feet, which stretched across the deep blue surface of the Great South Bay from the island to Jones Beach and its signature lighthouse.  The azure of the water, seamlessly merging with that of the sky, melded into a surreal dimension, as viewed from the 270-degree-encompassing Plexiglas nose.

The power-to-weight ratio, coupled to its aerodynamic design, had been the key to the highly-maneuverable, medium mission bomber.  Unlike its long-range, high-altitude, heavy B-17 and B-24 counterparts, the B-25, at half their acquisition costs, had been intended for interdiction purposes, delivering tactical blows to enemy targets closer to the front.  Because of its maneuverability, it had been able to fly low-level, tree-top strafing sorties, where it had remained virtually hidden, and had then dropped parachute-retarding bombs, which had enabled it to escape before detonation.  Although it had operated extensively in the Pacific, targeting Japanese air fields from treetop altitudes and skip-bombing enemy ships, it had been used in all theaters of operation, and had been flown by the Australians, the British, the Chinese, and the Dutch.  It had been the first bomber to have been lend-leased to Russia.

The most famous B-25 mission, led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle and occurring on April 18, 1942, had entailed the launch of 16 aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.  Of the four candidate aircraft, inclusive of the B-18, the B-23, the B-26, and the B-25 itself, the latter had been chosen because of its performance.  The aircraft, B-25Bs modified at the Northwest Airlines maintenance facility in Minnesota to increase their fuel tankage from 694 to 1,141 US gallons, had featured dorsal and ventral power turrets, but had been devoid of tail armament.  Loaded on the USS Hornet for the sea journey to Japan, 16 aircraft, each at 31,000-pound gross weights, would take off from the 467-foot deck at a 450-mile distance, close enough to permit them to bomb targets in Tokyo, Yokahama, Kobe, and Nagoya, yet retain sufficient fuel supplies to continue the 1,200 miles to China.

Encountering a Japanese picket boat during the morning of April 18, and fearing imminent attack, Doolittle made the decision to launch the B-25 fleet at an 800-mile distance, or 350 miles further, from land, the first take off occurring at 8:18 a.m., which had been less than an hour after the boat had been sighted.  Using strong headwinds and the deck’s sea swell-created inclination, the bombers had just been able to accomplish the precarious feat, with the last taking off at 9:21 a.m.

After some four hours of flying, the lead aircraft, flown by Doolittle himself, dropped the first bomb over Tokyo, shortly after which it had been joined by the remaining 15.  Although all safely departed Japanese air space, insufficient fuel, caused by the earlier launching, and deteriorating weather, resulted in the crash-landing or abandonment of 15 B-25s in China, while the 16th landed in Vladivostock, where its crew had been captured.

Nevertheless, the mission had been both a technological and operational success, and had elevated troop morale and garnered tremendous notoriety for the aircraft.

Banking left to a 240-degree heading, aircraft 1306669 Tondelayo was carried back over Captree Bridge by its gull, variable-dihedral wings and its three-bladed propellers, crossing over Long Island’s south shore.  The B-17 Flying Fortress, appearing particularly graceful over the blue surface of the Great South Bay, flexed off of the port cockpit windows.  World War II skies had somehow been resurrected that morning.

Fuel burn depended on engine setting: at 180 mph, with the engines turning at 1,700 revolutions per minute and feeding off of 27 inches of manifold pressure, the aircraft burned 120 gallons per hour, while a ten-mph cruise speed increase, attained with a 1,800-rpm/28-inch setting, resulted in a 130-gallon per hour consumption.

Recontacting Republic Tower, aircraft 130699 advised its intention of “inbound for landing” and reduced power, now gravity-induced into its descent profile.  Maintaining a 180-mph speed and a 320-degree heading, it extended its trailing edge flaps, which provided air speed control, by means of progressive drag production.  Flap settings equally depended on flight phase: 1/4 for take off, 1/2 and 3/4 for descent, and full for landing.

The aircraft’s clean stalling speed had been 95 mph, which decreased to 83 mph at maximum gross weight with full flaps and undercarriage at 26,000 feet.

Extending its drag-producing landing gear into the slipstream, the aircraft inched toward Runway 32’s threshold, as its altimeter unwound: 600 feet…500…300…100…

Passing over the fence at 115 mph, the olive-green, twin-engined, twin-finned medium bomber sank toward the blurred concrete in a full back-pressure control yoke-induced flare, screeching on the ground with its left main wheel at 80 mph, at which time the friction sufficiently reduced its air speed to permit the remaining two bogies to settle earthward. 

Completing its deceleration roll and taxiing on to the American Airpower Museum ramp, the B-25J Mitchell, as the medium mission bomber, had appropriately been the first to return to base, the B-17 and the B-24 still plying the skies.  If World War II had still been raging, the sequence would have been exactly the same.

Animals instinctively recognize healing crystal and mineral energy as being beneficial. Your pet does not have to be told Rose Quartz calms frazzled nerves and helps with sleep. Your pet senses what the crystal can do for him or her, which is why most pets are attracted to Rose Quartz.

You can buy crystal and mineral charms to attach to your dog or cat’s collar or hide inside the pet’s bed where it can’t be reached by the animal.

Other four-legged pets, as well as no-legged, finned, and feathered, also benefit from the healing energy of crystals and minerals.

Reptile owners can use healing crystals and minerals inside their pet’s habitats. Fish owners can do the same as long as the chosen crystal or minerals do not contain water soluble chemicals like copper. These chemicals will leach into the water and harm the fish.

Parrot owners! As you know, a parrot will chew on anything. Do not place crystals or minerals in your bird’s cage or on its stand if there is any risk of the bird being injured or if you even suspect the crystal or mineral contains a poisonous substance (copper, for instance).

Below is a list of crystals and minerals that will benefit your pet, including birds, reptiles, and other four-legged and finned companions:

1. You cannot go wrong with the Agate family. Agates come in a rainbow of colors, patterns, sizes, and shapes, and are often used for carving. The powerful yet gentle energy of Agate can open the channels of communication between you and your pet, will balance your pet’s energy, assist with sleep, calm anxiety, and help your pet focus during training.

Agate is often used to make jewelry, charms, and carvings, and can be bought as colorful agate slices, book ends, and tumbled stones.

A. Blue Lace Agate promotes sleep, calms an anxious pet, and boosts self-esteem.

B. Moss Agate: Mossy green and white. It is a wonderful source of Earth energy. Relaxing, grounding. My dove Emma sits on my big Moss Agate egg as if she laid it!

2. Amethyst is a popular crystal to use with pets. Its energy perks up couch potato pets, clears negative energy while balancing your pet’s energy fields, calms rattled nerves, and is an all-around healer. I heard somewhere fleas hate amethyst energy (It would be fascinating to find out if the claim is true).

3. Carnelian is a reddish-orange mineral that promotes emotional warmth, individuality, courage, happiness, and harmony. It also helps release emotions such as anger, fear, and envy. Attach a Carnelian charm to your shy or nervous dog or cat’s collar.

4. Rose Quartz is the stone to use if your dog or cat is aloof and standoffish. Rose Quartz energy will help your pet learn to accept love and companionship without fear. It is ideal to use with rescued animals, injured or sick animals, or when introducing a new pet into your household. Spread the love by adding the influence of Rose Quartz energy into all your fur-kids’ lives! Acceptance of the new member of the family (be it another dog or a new baby) will run a smoother course.

I used to own a huge chunk of Rose Quartz I kept in an aquarium that contained a pair of Angelfish. The fish were obscenely healthy and bred constantly! Can I credit the Rose Quartz? Well, they were feeling the love.

5. If you have more than one pet in the house, and the animals socialize, then you may have squabbles from time to time. Smoky Quartz works to reduce future hostilities by grounding and clearing negative energies in your household, which would also benefit any human squabblers.

6. Jasper reigns supreme as a nurturing stone. Its grounding abilities supports tranquility and inner strength during times of stress or danger. Dalmatian Jasper, a creamy white stone mottled with black specks, is especially popular for use with animals as it grounds and helps alleviate fears. Pet charms are often made from Dalmatian Jasper.

7. Blue Calcite is used when your pet is recuperating from surgery or trying to settle into a new home. Its relaxing energy soothes nerves, relieves anxieties, and helps with sleep. This is a great mineral to use with nervous, high-strung animals.

8. Clear Quartz (the king of crystals!) will help strengthen your pet’s immune system, which will improve his or her overall health. It can also stimulate energy levels. Dog and cat owners use it during training as quartz heightens communication between the pet and its owner. Bird owners could use it as well when taming and training new birds.

9. You reptile owners should try using black Obsidian in your habitats. Obsidian absorbs negative energy and heat. Your reptiles will love its heat-retaining qualities, and the shiny black stone will look cool in the habitat. Just be sure the stones have smooth edges. Black Obsidian can have razor sharp edges.

Do not be embarrassed about using healing crystals and minerals to help your pet. The practice is becoming common place these days as more and more people use natural methods to maintain their pet’s health and well-being.

If asked why is the dog is suddenly wearing jewelry, merely say you think the charms are cute, signify a special memory, or simply that you like the darn things and they are going to stay on Fido’s collar. You can keep the real reason a secret between you and Fido! He won’t spill the kibble.

From the eyes of a sea creature living in the depths; a fish, a turtle or a crab looking up through the rays of sun streaming through the blue azure, a large grey-green object passes over head at the surface, its fins revolving at high speed-churning white froth and a grating whining noise that suddenly dies as the rest of the body glides to a halt. Then, a strange two legged creature plunges in from the side with its long fins propelling it down deeper. We can only try to imagine how we scuba divers must look to these creatures, yet at the same time make us realize what a wonderful, extraordinary world exists beneath our oceans.

 

When visiting Thailand, you should not only explore the culture, its people and its jungles, but you should also make the time to discover a whole new world beneath the waves.

 

Whether your passion is snorkelling on the surface or diving the depths, it’s always advisable to seek formal instruction of some kind before taking the plunge. Though extremely safe, complacency is a danger that cannot be ignored when it comes to any marine recreation, however once you have learned the ropes, you can enjoy the fun safely and free of accidents. The best way to do this would be to take up an introductory course in diving at one of the many schools in Phuket such as PADI Course Director Chris Owen’s Indepth Instruction. This school offers a wide range or PADI courses from beginner snorkel or scuba discovery courses to PADI IDC diving instructor courses.

 

The way the world learns to dive

If you fall in love with scuba diving like so many of us have, then you may even want to teach your passion to others. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors or PADI formed in 1966, is the world’s largest recreational diving membership and training organization of diving instructors. The PADI members consist of Diving Instructors and Divemasters and teach most of the world’s recreational divers. PADI courses are proactive based dive programs that start from entry level programs like PADI Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Specialty Instructor Courses.

So are you hooked with the idea? Do you not only have a passion for diving but also a passion to teach? Regardless of your knowledge and ability to dive, you can take a 10+ day PADI IDC course that will enlighten your knowledge of the aquatic world and bring you closer to your goal. PADI Course Director Chris Owen can offer you this chance, a professional PADI Instructor Development Course for all divers with his PADI IDC Phuket programs!

Wonder of wonders

Don’t expect miracles over night, becoming a diving instructor will take time, but with a little effort and the proper training you can do it. PADI IDC classes are ideal for those who are not only not afraid of hard work, but also wish to achieve their goals, while at the same time enjoying the experience of a life time. Lots of fun and great moments.

With both confined and open water training, students utilize the accumulated knowledge and experience from his team of dive professionals, the team spirit you will encounter will aid you in your training and further improve your ability. Consider other advantages of signing up with PADI Course Director Chris Owen’s Indepth courses; small classes of up to ten students make team bonding that much easier. Class language is in English, French, Dutch, German, Danish and Swedish or Thai, but language assistance for other nationalities is also available. There is a 5% Early Bird discount for those who sign up early and another 5% Cash Incentive discount, a total of 10% discount off the whole package. The programs are so well structured; they aim to intensify training periods with equally long relaxation periods. Practise freely in the pools available to tune your diving skills and prepare you for the day you test in open waters.

Other

Other PADI IDC lessons include the very important safety features so that you will know what to do in emergency situations. One of the latest is the newly released PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider Course where you will be taught how to give first aid and oxygen administration to divers in trouble. Needless to say, all PADI scuba divers and PADI scuba diving instructors must be prepared when faced with these types of emergency situations.

Other courses available include Emergency First Response Instructor; this allows PADI Divemasters, Assistant Instructors and divers who have completed an IDC to become Emergency First Response Instructors.

All this achieved in beautiful surroundings with state-of-the-art equipment and up to date facilities aimed at making your examination testing preparation a pleasurable and memorable experience.

Take the time to do a little maintenance of your RV air conditioner.  A little work now may save you lots of time and money later!

The first thing to look at is the filter.  Dirty or clogged filters reduce air flow which can create freeze up, electrical, and efficiency problems. Also, dirty RV AC filters will allow dirt to get thru to the evaporator.  The filter should be checked once a month during the season.  Most filters are made of foam which are washable and reusable. Gently remove the filter and wash in warm water. Allow to air dry before reinstalling.  Replace damaged filters with the correct size and type for your air conditioners’ make and model.

Check the evaporator. Unclean filters can allow excessive contaminants to be pulled through and build up on the evaporator fins. The build up insulates the evaporator and reduces efficiency, and can cause the compressor to overheat.  You can usually see the evaporator from the inside of the RV when you remove the ceiling assembly and filters.  Wipe off dirt with slightly damp cloth if needed.  Dry before reassembling.

Next, climb on top of the RV and inspect the condenser fins.  Carefully straighten fins that have been bent or crushed. Remove debris or bugs caught in the fins.  This will increase efficiency by allowing better air circulation.  While on top of the RV, look at your shroud.  Check for cracks and make sure it is securely attached to the coach.

Plug your camper into a 30 amp outlet and turn on your air conditioner to test it.  It is important to run your AC using at least 30 amps. Using anything less may do serious damage to motors, compressors and other components by providing insufficient power. Run your RV air conditioner for at least a half hour to check the fan and controls.  Test cooling by placing a thermometer where the air is going into the filter, and one where the air is coming out.  There should be at least a 20 degree difference with the compressor running.

Problems found during this quick check should be diagnosed by a qualified RV mechanic, using the proper meters and tools. The RV air conditioner is a sealed unit, and can not be repaired except at a repair shop with technicians trained to work on them.

With so many Cincinnati Window Contractors you have come to the right place. We’ve installed thousands of windows in the Cincinnati area building friend after buddy and satisfied shopper after the next.

If you live in Cincinnati and are desiring a Cincinnati Window Contractor, Just click and start your journey today. Located in Cincinnati train each Window Contractor in our company our unique installation and selection system.

When it comes time to find the right Cincinnati Window Contractor, just give us a call.

When it comes time to find the right Cincinnati Window Contractor, just give us a call.
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The number one housing defect is water intrusion. The number one entry path for water is around things that penetrate the exterior walls. Let?s talk about windows.

Most homes are built today with vinyl windows. Don?t get me wrong – vinyl windows are wonderful products. They are energy efficient, comparatively cheap, reusable, and need small maintenance. But vinyl windows have some inherent problems that has to be correctly addressed during installation.

Installation Damage

20% of new windows may leak because of damage that occurs when the window is handled and installed. Sadly , you can?t see this damage. Vinyl windows are especially vulnerable because the corners of the window frame are ?fused? together on many brands. During shipping, handling, or installation, the seal at the corner can break.

Improper Installation

We used to slam new windows into homes with tiny regard for water intrusion aside from squirting some caulking around it. Have you ever looked closely at a usual vinyl window? A fin extends from the fringe of the frame all around the fringe. This fin extends over the fringe of the opening in the wall. But it?s not very wide. On most windows the fin is less than 1-1/2 inches wide, with holes in it for fastening. So it is actually a mounting flange. It’s not really sealing out much moisture.

Water can travel horizontally where building wrap, siding, and flashing overlap vertically on a wall. Therefore, you need wide flashing to prevent leaks.

The window industry has come up with the solution: a more stringent installation standard for the person installing the window. The new standard asserts you must flash around the window when it is installed, using express steps.

The flashing must be at least 9 inches wide and sealed to the window fin on the top, bottom and sides. The concept is to make a nine-inch-wide waterproof flashing around the window.

In addition, the flashing at the bottom of the window extends into the coarse opening to guard the framing and finish materials within, if the window frame leak. Ideally, a sill pan should be installed at the bottom.

How do you know if a window has been installed properly?

1. Be there when the windows are installed.

2. Ask the builder to expose the bottom corner of one window so the flashing can be inspected.

3. Ask for an extended guaranty on the window installation for leaks, if the builder can’t give you confidence that it was installed properly.

4. Look for evidence of moisture or moisture damage around the inside surfaces diagonally opposite to all windows. Also, look on the floor below the window.

5. Ask the builder if your windows were installed by an authorized InstallationMaster ? Installer.

Advice for Homebuilders

1. Inspect all window flashing details before the wall cladding material is installed.

2. Make sure that the windows are installed according to the window manufacturer instructions.

3. Encourage your window installation workers and sub-contractors to become Authorized InstallationMaster? (a program commended by the AAMA, Yankee Architectural Manufacturers Association).

4. Consider using a specialty contractor to install windows instead of the framer.
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In case you didn’t read the earlier article, I’m a 44 year old, somewhat overweight but basically fit man who has a lingering fear of the water but who has wanted to Scuba Dive since watching Jacques Cousteau on TV as a small child. My plan had been to get trained in this country and then do my first dive abroad under the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) scheme where you can split your training across dive centres. Circumstances overtook me and it didn’t happen that way at all.

Three weeks ago my partner and I had the opportunity to jet off to Gran Canaria for a short break and to my simultaneous delight and horror, I discovered the Cordial Mogan Playa (the hotel we were staying at) had recently opened a dive centre in the grounds. Years ago, my daughter (then 10 and a strong swimmer from all the lessons I took her to) taught me to swim at a local pool, simply by saying “go on daddy, just push off and swim.” The idea of my daughter watching me wimp out overcame my lifelong fear of the water so I pushed off and, to my astonishment, I discovered I could actually swim (by which I mean not drown too much)! In a similar way, finding a dive school on my doorstep with five days of no excuses and an expectant partner raising her eyebrow at me, I had little choice but to take the plunge so I found myself in the dive centre booking up for an introductory session.

This centre (part of the Extra Divers group) offered SSI (Scuba Schools International) courses rather than the PADI courses I had previously looked at but the basic pattern of training looked much the same and I had heard of SSI before, so I booked up for the half-day “Try Scuba Diving” course at a cost of the equivalent of about 60 GBP.

My instructor for the course was Carlos who had excellent English (I try but my Spanish goes not much beyond ordering coffee). Reassuringly, Carlos turned out to be an ex-military diving instructor and local expert on dive safety, so I knew I was in good hands.

The first part of the course was classroom based and one-to-one, where Carlos taught me about basic techniques and safety issues such as pressure equalisation, illustrating its importance by running through the calculations based on bars and depth in metres. He did a wonderful job of tying the theory to practice by letting me calculate the sort of thing that would happen to my ear drums if I dived to 20 metres without equalising as well as what would happen to my lungs if I surfaced from 20 metres while holding my breath (in both cases, the short answer is “bang!”).

From there we moved into the pool and, suitably kitted out, I got my first taste of breathing underwater. Apart from the exercises (mask clearing, retrieving a dropped regulator, and basic buoyancy control) I can’t describe the thrill of my first go at diving. Initially, like most first timers, my concentration was on breathing but I soon learned to trust the equipment and switch over to thinking about how my lung inflation was affecting my buoyancy and using this to make brief buoyancy corrections while adjusting the inflation of my BCD (buoyancy control device or “jacket” as Carlos called it). On about the third go round I was able to swim round the deep end of the pool holding a steady 2-3 feet from the bottom and could switch over to thinking about how I was using the fins. Carlos had pointed out that the aim is to use leisurely rather than frantic effort to conserve air, so I slowed down my finning speed, straightened out my legs and found myself smoothly cruising through the water and able to look around. This was the moment when it hit me that I was finally doing it – I was scuba diving, looking up at the underside of swimmers and motoring along with a level of comfort that, while I could not afford to be arrogant or lax, allowed me to feel that I was here, I was doing it and this was my space to explore.

The final part of training was a dive in the sea and for this we were joined by a couple of excited school girls from Germany doing their next level of training. We drove round to Amadores beach at Puerto Rico on the South-West coast of Gran Canaria, a popular crescent-shaped beach in a cove protected by two rocky jetties. Getting kitted up provided the opportunity for another lesson in equipment and safety checks (I must remember to lie my cylinder back down after connecting the regulator), then Carlos took us through the hand signals for the dive and finished by jokingly telling us he would permit “no mistakes” as we were diving in front of a rival dive school here. Walking down to the beach through the crowd of sunbathers was a thrill, as heads turned towards us and I could almost hear the thoughts of “damn, wish that was me” that were behind some of the envious glances.

I must confess I was a little clumsy both at getting into and out of the water, in fact I trod on my own flipper on the way out and fell over into the surf, but Carlos tells me this is not unusual and you get less clumsy with practice, so I guess this was a forgivable mistake. Entry to the water was from the beach and initially the water was so cloudy with sand that I had to hang on to Carlos’ BCD to make sure I didn’t get lost. Once we were in, though, all I can really say is wow!

We worked our way down the stepped sand banks, dotted with eroded volcanic rocks, to a depth of about 12 metres. While he kept checking on me and included me in the underwater exercises (more mask clearing and regulator retrieval), Carlos’ main concern was to keep an eye on the children and this left me free to explore while keeping close by. We swam gradually deeper until I had my first aquatic encounter, which was with a lizard fish. I hadn’t noticed it until I was about 2 feet away, when it startled from its almost buried or well camouflaged position in the sand. It darted a few feet ahead and as this was on our course I kept on swimming. This turned into a magical game of ‘tag’ where I would swim to within a foot or two of the fish and it would dart ahead again. After three of four goes at this, Carlos signalled we were turning to the right so I had to leave my gilled friend behind and follow along.

This wasn’t my only encounter with the denizens of the deepish. Further along, while going knees down on the sea bed for an exercise I managed to disturb a hidden flatfish that made me jump. Later, as we were in the deepest part of the dive, Carlos found a couple of cute little cuttlefish, one of which seemed quite happy to hover above his outstretched hand as the girls tickled it. I am not sure how long we were down, enough to exhaust my tank down to 110 bars before we turned back to the beach, but it felt like an age. Hanging on to Carlos’ BCD once again, we ascended through the submerged sand storm and arrived back at almost exactly the spot from which we had entered. Flippers off and out of the water, I may have felt good coming down the beach but going back up I felt on top of the world – I had finally done it – I might still have a lot to learn but I could at last say I had been scuba diving.

Of course scuba divers need to know how to look after their gear so once we returned to the dive school, the final part of my lesson was rinsing off and packing away the gear I had used before saying goodbye to the girls and thanking Carlos for his encouragement, training and stewardship. He’s an excellent instructor and I cannot recommend him highly enough.

Experienced divers would no doubt be completely unimpressed by what this dive offered but I’ve heard before that you never forget your first dive and I would have to go along with this. This first dive gave me the opportunity to enjoy the richness, thrill and feelings of freedom and achievement that you get when exploring the undersea world. Since then I’ve read a few dive magazines and seen the amazing sights and experiences on offer throughout the world on reefs and wrecks. Because of the SSI web registration system, I can continue my training at any SSI dive center in the world so I don’t know where my next dive will be. What I can tell is that there will definitely be a next dive, and soon. Scuba diving is everything I expected it to be and more, and no matter what happens next I am sure I will never forget the thrill of that wonderful first dive.

Catch More Crappie With “Trained” minnows:This amazingly Works!

wouldn’t it be great if you could teach your crappie fishing minnow to catch more fish for you? Well we have figured out some methods that have worked for us over the years and I think you will be amazed at the results! If one of the these techniques fail, try another until you start catching crappie.

6 minnow hooking tips that can increase your crappie fishing catch

#1 The “Upper & Lower Jaw crappie minnow hooking method”

Place your hook at the lower jaw of the minnow and push up through the upper jaw, make sure the barb clears the upper jaw.~Run the hook through the upper and lower jaw of the minnow. This will stop to much water flow through the gills (drowning) that will have him ” floating with the fishes”. This method is great for trolling, it keeps you minnow alive much longer.

#2 The “Front Dorsal Fin crappie minnow hooking trick”

Place your hook right in front of the dorsal fin at his shoulder point. GO easy if you hit the bone you will kill the minnow. Rule of thumb slide the hook about a 1/4″ of and inch each push,then see if the crappie fishing minnow is still squirming around, if not start over with a fresh minnow.

#3 The “rear Dorsal Fin crappie minnow hooking method“

Hook the minnow in the back, behind the dorsal fin, and he will swim away and up (heading for “the light”.) This trip is great when you fish deep, for suspended crappie. The minnow will swim up though the school and drive them crazy! If you can find the crappie schools you will catch crappie with this method.

#4 The The “rear Anal Fin crappie minnow hooking trick”

Place your hook right behind the Anal fin about a 1/2″ away about 1/4″ into the flesh. This hooking position will make him swim down and away. Do not use any weights with this method. Place your crappie fishing minnow right on the surface and let him swim down into the crappie school.

#5 The “left – right gill crappie minnow hooking trick“

Run you hook through the gill outer cover only, about 1/8″ from the edge.This will cause your crappie fishing minnow to swim “left”. Do the same on the right side and your crappie fishing minnow will go swim “right”. Great for steering minnows into crappie waiting to ambush from a hiding place.

#6 The “right behind the gills crappie minnow hooking trick“

Place your hook right behind the gills in the tough flesh area. This will make your Minnow swim in circles! This method works great in a school of crappie, you will be amazed how this gets the crappie stirred up and ready to bite.