Some of My Favorites; The CrewMar 13, 2012
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| Gansbaai, (pronounced hansbaai with the H sounding as if you have something caught in your throat), has 8 shops that provide guests and visitors with cage diving with the great white shark experience. I am associated with White Shark Projects as a volunteer, but today because our group was so large, I got to ride on Shark Lady's boat. With a different crew and different way of doing things it was interesting. This is what they do when there is a very large group, other shop will take part of the group. Most of the boats here allow for 20 passengers and 5 crew members. Lance the diver master on that boat was stinkin' hilarious! We had a second group on both boats going out but I just barely missed jumping on to the White Shark Projects 2nd boat trip because as we were coming in (On Shark Lady), they were headed back out. I have to say the crew on the Shark Lady's boat was great.... but I have become attached to my crew and my boat with White Shark Projects. So with that being said I thought I would tell you a little bit about my favorite crew: Grant and Gerald are the dive masters that are on the WSP crew. They drive the boat and direct guests on the proper way to dive in the cage. Sometimes their comments crack me up. "What are you doing looking down at, the shark is out in front of you! Did you come to see your great white hand or the great white sharks?" They are super skilled seaman, and each has an interesting story. For instance, Grant use to be a paramedic. I don't know much about Gerald but I really haven't gotten to speak to him much, seems slightly reserved but super cool. Frank is the marine biologist/ volunteer coordinator on board. He knows his sharks! I am learning a LOT from him. He is the spitting image of what comes to mind when you think of a surfer dude. He is super cool and he is the one that teaches us all about the sharks and lets us get experience with fin IDing and basically counting and identifying the sharks. He also helps with capturing the experience for the guests with the video camera so they can take it home with them. Andy is one of the sweetest guys I have ever met, and super fun! He is an English fellow hailing from London, who loves to get tid bits of information from me about Disney. Andy is the one that mostly does the videos for the guests, Frank does it when Andy is off. Mandla and Maoli are the guys that are the muscle behind a lot of the duties on the boat. It's kind of funny too because they are some of the smallest/skinniest guys I have ever met. It is always a team effort but they are the ones that throw the bait line, maintain the chum line and get the cage on and off the boat. These 2 guys are freaking HILARIOUS!! Mandla, when he tells a story and he laughs, you can't help but laugh with him. VENEZUELA! Maoli is a crazy guy who loves reggie music. I love joking around with Maoli and also saying his name because it is so fun to say! (MAH- OH- LEE)! :) These guys are both easy going and just fun to be around and also helpful. All of these guys working together is like a well oiled machine, it is awesome to see how fast and efficient things get done. As volunteers Manon and I help with all that stuff but sometimes it feels like we get in the way a bit. It is super fun but is definitely hard work. They make us feel like part of the team, like part of the family. |
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