We crossed the equator today. Actually we probably flew across it on our trip here, but that hardly counts. We forewent the traditional maritime ceremony for first-time crossers, involving (Rod tells us) flour, tar and Neptune, god of the sea. Instead, in modern day fashion, we opted to record The Event for posterity by taking photographs. Note in these two photos, taken a split second apart, the first reads latitude 0.00.000N and the next 0.00.000S.

Mike and I went diving later in the day in the same general location, unsurprisingly known as The Equator Islands, and with any luck we swam over the equator a second time. Without GPS underwater it’s much harder to verify our exact position, but in the interest of a good story we’ll say we pulled it off. The dive site was well worth it regardless, hard corals flourishing and teeming with fish.

Diving Raja Ampat is more challenging than what we are used to. The same strong currents that bring so much life to these seas need to be taken into consideration when diving. As a result we have added a new piece of gear to our dive kit called a reef hook. It consists of a length of cord line with a snap hook on one end for attaching to the diver’s BCD vest, and tied on the other end is a large fishhook, the pointy end blunted to avoid inadvertent mishaps involving sharp objects in close proximity to inflatable BCDs, inflatable dinghies, and of course fingers and other body parts.

The idea being, as the current sweeps one along, to snag the hook into the reef, thus snagging the diver as well, putting on the brakes and offering a respite to catch a breath and view the scenery and the fish schooling where (naturally) the current is strongest. Of course everyone in the dive party needs to be on the same page strategy wise or some will be hooked in place while the rest sweep past on a drift dive.

My BCD, the only one on AVATAR without pockets, handicaps me. Two hands are required to manage the camera in its bulky underwater housing, leaving zero hands free for managing extras like reef hooks and dive lights. Trying to take a photograph is also a challenge as I am swept past my subject while trying to hold focus and composition in the viewfinder.

I have worn out two of my oldest bathing suits, and usually three or four more are drying at one time, as we are in and out of the water so frequently between diving, snorkeling and kayaking. I’ve dropped a couple of extra pounds as well. Somewhere I read that scuba diving burns about 400 calories per hour, a good weight-loss technique!