It’s funny to me that I should even have to describe this bloody fiasco. I haven’t dived since the Conception, Memorial Day 2019. I went in for back surgery in July of 2019, with a solid year of healing and no diving. I write this as I have been given the go-ahead as long as I don’t overload myself. Right.
Shelli did manage to get a Bandito boat dive out of Tacoma with gal-pal Claire while I recuperated. But that has been it for both of us as of this writing. Our early April Socorro dive trip got canceled in mid-March due to this “pandemic thing”, so naturally we were both bummed. And relieved we did not get stuck down south due to travel restrictions. As I write this and I watch MRKA turn sideways, I wonder if we stayed on the wrong side of the border. Baffles the crap out of me that wearing a mask became a choice or political thing. We like to call the “scared-of-science” Kens and Karens, who oppose wearing masks in public venues, the Free-dumb. It’s not about choice or government control, it’s about respect for your fellow humans. That’s all. You still get to keep your guns… idiot.
<steps off the soapbox>
BTW, sorry if your name is actually Ken or Karen. You’ll be okay. As long as you don’t ask for the manager.
So we had this awesome two week adventure planned for Raja Ampat, Indonesia in February 2021. We’d like to say this is happening. One week on a beautiful wooden sailing ship/dive boat called the Coralia, and a week after that at Papua Explorers Eco-Dive resort. We had the best rooms on the boat and were excited to dive the heart of the Coral Triangle with a bunch of friends. For two weeks, in-country! We haven’t had a two week vacation since 2000. It takes a solid 2.5 days to get to this place and 2 days to get back to the Mighty PDX. This is the trip of a lifetime. If we died on the way back, we’d be okay with it. Probably. On the way there, not so much.
Anyway, all is in limbo thanks to MRKA being awesome and #1 in COVID cases. (We fucking rock!) And, bonus, we’ve been banned from most nations on Earth. (America. Not Ingo & Shelli – we are awesome!) It’s a sort of xenophobic poetic justice – “You don’t want our immigrants or ‘fugees, we don’t need your stinkin’ tourists!” I’d like to personally thank the leaders of the “Hold My Beer” states of Arizona, Texas and Florida for keeping the dream alive. OMG! There’s that damn soapbox again. Clumsy me!
We are hoping desperately that we get a vaccine or a solid treatment that works, so we can all move forward again. Otherwise this post will be entitled, 2020-2021– The Lost Years. We worry about each and every one of our friends* and hope that you stay safe and healthy and walk away from this unscathed. People who won’t wear masks… go ahead, roll the dice. But stay the hell away from us.
*Friends – people we like and care about. It’s time for a juicy rationalization right about now, isn’t it?