I was recently interviewed about diving and my book “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?” on the dive site DiveMoreWorkLess.com. This is great site with informative articles, awesome photos and interviews of fantastic people within the dive world. Check it out.
Tag Archives: scuba book
Columbia, the Last Certification Dive
Excerpt taken from “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?”
“We were in the midst of thick mangroves somewhere in Columbia with two shady looking characters manning the boat. Cartagena is where the cruise ship docked and that’s all I knew. Pretty Boy and I had our students on their last certification dive. As I looked at their faces, I could tell they were thinking the same as I was. It was an endless, slow tour of navigating the narrow channels, then out to open ocean then back into the mangroves.
There was no way in hell that there is any diving around here. No possible way.
Finally, the cut throat Colombian crewmen killed the two outboard motors and tossed out the anchor. I was relieved to see that there was no body tied to the line.”
Reviews:
Excellent Read
“This is by far my favorite book within the realm of “diving books”. I have read it over and over.” – Amazon
Great Entertaining Read!,
This review is from: Does This Island Go To The Bottom?: The Adventures of a SCUBA Instructor in the Caribbean (Kindle Edition)
“I actually laughed out loud many times when reading this book. It is a great read and thanks to Eric, I had a few sleepless nights because I did not want to go to bed, I wanted to continue reading it. What I admired about the writing of this book is the raw factor you get from it. Eric does not hold back in language or opinions, but you don’t find yourself offended at all. You can tell that this is Eric’s passion and I could visualize every part he wrote about because it is written very well. I honestly could even feel the warmth of the sun when reading this and I live in Northern WI! You will not get bored. If you are like me and have never been to the islands, never been scuba diving…or even if you have, this is a must read!!” – Amazon
“I read this book almost in its entirety and it is not for the faint of heart. Disturbing on so many levels. A rather sobering view on the scuba industry and dive ‘professionals’ narrated by the author.” – ScubaBoard.com
“Phew! I’ve just finished reading this whirlwind ride through a Californian diving instructor’s real-life experiences in the Caribbean of the 1990s, and still don’t know quite what to make of it . . .” – Divernet.com
Review in “Diver Magazine”
Here is an honest review of my book “Does This Island go to the Bottom?” by the editor of the UK’s 1 selling dive magazine, Diver Magazine and its online format Divernet.com. I am honored and grateful for the editor to take the time to review my book and feature it in the magazine. It’s an awesome feeling to know that something you worked so hard at is selling over seas!
Thank you Diver Magazine.
Divernet | Scuba Diving | Scuba News | Scuba Gear | Underwater Photography
Click link below to go strait to article.
A review from a diver on ScubaBoard: Does This Island Go To The Bottom?
If you’re a diver than you know about ScubaBoard.com. A social media site for divers that covers all things related to SCUBA. Here is a fellow divers review of my book “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?”
“I just finished the book on a flight back from FL to the frozen north of MN. It was a nice quick read with very good imagery. I could picture all the places and sites that Eric described in the book.
I always enjoy hero to zero escapades of the “been there, done that” divers you run into on dive boats. Eric also points out how instructors and DMs get a kick out of the new divers awe of being underwater for the first time.
Overall a solid book and good money spent.”
And here’s another . . . this one’s great!
“I read this book almost in its entirety and it is not for the faint of heart. Disturbing on so many levels. A rather sobering view on the scuba industry and dive ‘professionals’ narrated by the author.”
Audio Review from ScubaRadio.com, 2 Fins Up!
The host of ScubaRadio.com, Greg “The Divemaster,” sent me an email saying that he had finished my book. He told me that he really liked it a lot. So much so, that he decided to do a follow up review of my book, “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?” on his radio show. This was a bit of a surprise to me for the reason that ScubaRadio.com adheres to strict safety standards set forth by the scuba agency and promotes the positive aspect of the sport of scuba diving. My book on the other hand, at times, is the total opposite. Like a maverick on the open ocean. It was the reality of the business at that time.
Here is Greg’s review. Skip to 29:50.
Interview on ScubaRadio.com
After recently publishing my book, “Does This Island Go To The Bottom?” I wanted feed back from my peers, and maybe just a little exposure. So last week I sent a copy of my book to this guy in Florida who’s love of diving caused him to start up the first radio show dedicated to scuba diving called ScubaRadio.com. He goes by the name “Greg the Divemaster.” He started up the show about 15 years ago at the same time I was on my island hopping hiatus in the Caribbean and it has been going strong ever since.
I wasn’t expecting a response from Greg, at least not a quick response, but I got an email from him on Friday. He said he already read the first 50 pages of my book and loved it! He asked if I would come on the show Saturday, which was the next day, and talk about the book. Of course! Why would I say no?
It was a great experience and a little intimidating being interviewed on a radio show that’s broadcasted throughout the United States. ScubaRadio.com covers news and stories about all things evolved around diving and provides valuable information on ocean awareness and conservation while having fun doing it.
Here is the link to my interview with ScubaRadio.com promoting my book. Cut to minute mark 39:30 start of the interview. Or listen to the whole thing. Subscribe to ScubaRadio.com and listen to their podcasts for free on iTunes. It’s a great show!
Copy and paste link: http://archives.warpradio.com/btr/ScubaRadio/020915.mp3
Thanks again Greg!
Panic 80 Feet Down
Panicked dives are common place when one teaches scuba for a living. Most of the time you can recognize a diver who may have potential problems before even getting in the water and avoid a nasty situation. You take care of it by talking and reassuring the diver while you check over all their gear, that you’ll be right there guiding them underwater until they get comfortable.
Sometimes, an instructors head isn’t in the game. Maybe a rough night before the dive, cobwebs scattered over the brain. Or maybe the instructor wants a lesson learned in humility by letting a situation get close to the edge but not going over. Or as for me in the excerpt below, both.
Taken from the chapter “Back Home, Panic 80 Feet Down.”
Does This Island go to the Bottom?
The visibility was awesome, close to a hundred feet. We could see the tug boat way down on the bottom, resting upright in the sand just off the edge of the reef. I got the groups attention and led them 80 feet down to the boat. Mrs. Addams, as I suspected, was a horrible diver. Her buoyancy was worse that a bad novice diver. She was all over the place. She was also constantly clearing her mask because she had half her head of Cousin It hair trapped inside the skirt of the mask.
As soon as we got to the tug boat at 80 feet my headache was gone and I felt energized. Thank God for nitrogen. I was a new man, but still felt a little hung. The only part that really sucked was when I burped up tequila through my regulator. A few times I took out my reg and swished around saltwater in my mouth and even swallowed a bit to try to get the horrible taste out of my mouth.
I led the divers around the tug boat. Then I got their attention and motioned for them to come over to where I was on the wreck. I found the eel. She was a beast! Big, thick and bright green. She was hiding in an open hatch. I had my dive light on her. Her large, toothy mouth was agape, undulating water through her gills. All the divers got a good look. But it was Queen Diver who crowded in to get closer.
Now, for the most part, moray eels are generally docile, but if you invade their space for too long they can get pissed off. I’ve seen it a few times before and this time was no exception.
Without warning, Morticia Addams reeled back as the mammoth eel bolted out from the hatch. The other divers backed away slowly but the Queen Diver freaked out and started bolting to the surface, fast!
Oh Shit!
She spit he regulator out and tore off her mask. She was in full blown panic, shooting up to the surface from 80 feet. My reaction was instant. I grabbed ahold of her ankle and started climbing up her like a flag pole. She was blowing the air out of her lungs fast and kicking violently. I wrapped myself around her like an octopus slowing her wild ascent. At the same time I grabbed her regulator and shoved it in her mouth. She choked and coughed trying to take it out again. But she couldn’t, I had a good hold on it.
Taken from “A Power Nap.”
This section in the book takes place the morning after a very rough night on the cruise ship which I was working on. It was a party every night. The cruise ship at the time was crowned The Raddison Diamond, pictured below.
Taken from the chapter “A Power Nap.”
I was underwater quite some time. I can’t even remember how many people Damon sent down to me, maybe nine or ten? I was tired, starting to peter out. It didn’t look like no one else was coming down so I decided to just sit on the bottom of the pool and rest for a minute or two. That’s when everything went black.
There was a VW Bug tricked out in Baja fashion with stubby wings on each side gliding in open water just off the coral reef wall. It had its mouth open and was filtering plankton through the gills located behind each fender. Brick colored smoke was pouring out of its exhaust pipe like smoke from a locomotive. A 354 pound black lady with an orange beard was in the drivers seat puffing on a huge stogie.
What the hell?
I looked at my depth gauge. I was 122 feet down and kneeling on a little ledge. I can’t be narced. I have only suffered from nitrogen narcoses once, and that’s when I went to 180 feet for some unknown reason. I looked back at the VW which was soaring back and fourth about twenty yards in front of me. Then the driver rolled down the window and looked in my direction. She pulled the cigar out of her distorted, fat mouth and said, “Watch out, it’s starting to rain snowballs.”
All of a sudden, snowballs the size of lemons were falling all around me. One hit my head. I winced, closing my eyes. I almost spit my regulator out of my mouth. Then another one hit my head. And still another.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself still sitting on the bottom of the pool. Holy shit, I fell asleep underwater! The snowballs that I felt were Pretty Boy tapping me on the head with a pole. I went to the surface.
“Jesus dude, I thought you died down there,” Damon said. “There was barely a trickle of bubbles coming out of your reg. What were you doing, meditating?”
“Meditating, hell, I fell asleep.” I said.
“You passed out underwater?” Pretty Boy started to laugh.
“Yeah. Damn, I had one wild dream too.”
“Hey Eric, these are our new students,” Pretty Boy said. There were six people standing beside him that I had just given the scuba demo to. They all had terribly concerned looks on their faces.
“Don’t worry, I’m a trained professional. You’re in good hands.” I said.
Let the bullets fly!
My book has consumed me. I haven’t had the mental capacity to write about anything else. The final edit is underway, that is, if there is such a thing as a final edit. I haven’t kept up with this site for this reason. So I felt it was time to post another section of my book to keep it breathing, to keep it alive.
This piece takes place in St. Thomas USVI. It was wild. I really couldn’t believe it was happening until it was over. Time put on the breaks and everything moved in slow motion. Taken from the chapter “Bullets Fly in Paradise.”
One fine Caribbean morning I had a resort course in chest deep water at Coki Beach. I was going over the power inflater on the BC with my students and explaining how to deflate to go underwater when bullets rang out, cracking the still air savagely like barking dogs. The tranquil morning was broken. I looked in the direction of the shots and saw two West Indians running up the beach in our direction. The dude in back was holding a vicious looking hand gun and was taking wild pop shots at the other West Indian he was chasing. The natives were definitely restless.
Holy shit! Was I seeing what I was seeing? Island violence in all it’s glory. Brutal and mean, it was not only a sight of terror but also a theater of comical mayhem. The beach was littered with pasty white cruise ship passengers and hard body vacationers one minute, and then the next minute came white flashes of people scattering like ants, trying to take cover. Cups of rum punch and beer bottles flew up in the air, beach chairs clanked and squeaked kicking up fine white sand as they were thrown about. It was total chaos.
My students were facing me and were oblivious to what was happening. They were too focussed on me, which was a good thing. I had to think quick. Cat-like reflexes were key to avoiding stray lead shooting about. The students were still holding onto their inflater/deflater hoses and their regulators were in their mouths. Perfect!
“Ok everyone hold up your hoses and press the top deflate button and let all the air out of your BC,” I said. “Go all the way underwater and lay on your bellies. Do it now!” There must have been a sense of urgency in my voice because there was no hesitation on the students’ part. They dropped like rocks to the sandy bottom. As I went under I heard one more round fire. The threatening sound of the discharge while underwater was wicked and amplified. I looked at all my students and gave them the “OK” sign. They all gave me the sign back.
Thank God. I said to myself.
This excerpt just may appear in the next issue of Aquatica Magazine.
Below is Coki Beach where the shooting took place.
PasleysDivingAdventures 