Sat, May 10, 2014 Dives: 3 Bottom Time: 90 minutes Max Depth: 51-60ft/16-18m Avg Viz: 61-70ft/19-21m Water Temp: 71-75°F/22-24°C Weight: 14 Exposure Suit: Fullsuit - 2 (Gloves) Tank Type: Steel - 80cf/11L Gas Type: Air Dive Type: Boat Dive Buddy: Jonathan (SandgroperDiver)   LarryH, CharleyF Kerama Islands Japan Water Type: Salt Entry Type: Boat

Dive#16 to Nozaki off Tokashiki Jima I had 20lbs with steel tank and ended up sucking up my air too fast. Had to surface long before my group was ready. Still corked to surface once I ascended to about 25 feet. I need to work on controlling my ascent. Good news though, absolutely NO anxiety at surface or at depth. Buoyancy issues made observations difficult. I noticed a lot of elk horn coral. Not a lot of color but we saw a moray eel and SandgroperDiver did point me to my first nudibranch sighting. Had 400 psi at the end.
Dive# 17 to Sand Tra off Gishippu Jima Removed 6 pounds and dove with 14lbs. Changed groups to dive with students so we wouldn’t hold up our more experienced group. This was a much more relaxing dive. Noticed many more different types of coral but still not a lot of color. Lots of different and colorful fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, etc. Still struggling with achieving neutral buoyancy but had better luck controlling my ascent and made my safety stop. Had 500 psi at the end.
Dive# 18 to Paradiso off Mai Jima Considered adding 3 pounds but am glad I didn’t. Super relaxing dive. Had time to look around a lot more. So many different types of coral but basically the same as Dive 17, I just got to observe more of it. Attempted to work on neutral buoyancy while DiveMasters worked with students but still was unable to achieve.....it was better, but not completely neutral. Again controlled my ascent and made safety stop. Had 700 psi at the end. Practice is really paying off. Before you know it I’ll like our first group with longer bottom time. I can’t wait for the day when these logs are more about what I’m seeing than my technical difficulties.