Swimming Lessons

I've decided to teach Melville's Moby Dick next semester with Homer's Odyssey and Shakespeare's Hamlet. I'm looking forward to helping my students swim with leviathans.

*See also this blog entry from last spring: http://mattduckworthunderwater.blogspot.com/2010/05/postcard-melvilles-practical-tattooing.html

Fool's Luck

I can be an awfully clumsy man at times, and in this case, I was stretching the injured muscles in my neck and shoulder by swinging my right arm about. I wasn't really thinking about which room I was in or what was hanging on the walls; I was focused on the pain and the painful relief that arm-swinging was providing. Twisting, pulling, stretching, swinging . . . .

CRASH!

"Mermaid's Misfortune" or "Lucky Break" are two alternative captions I considered.

The mermaid had a tail, though with this break her net is more visible, more to the fore. So, there's the luck, for me at least. Her spirit still seems strong.

I regret breaking this piece, the clumsiness and folly involved, as I should. At least it's only clay.

Huntress with Net: sculpture mix; nutmeg, sea foam, & transparent brown glazes; copper wire.

Booklist: English 1A Fall 2011

Susan Casey's The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks;

Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work;

Laurence Gonzales' Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why;

Tom Kendrick's Bluewater Gold Rush: The Odyssey of a California Sea Urchin Diver;

William Langewiesche's The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime;

and

Philbrook's In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.

Also, a good college-level dictionary.

Plus selected essays and chapters from Ebbesmeyer & Scigliano, Whitty, Wells, Steinbeck, and others as well as selected videos on sharks, marine mammals, abalone and urchin diving, and related local material. (Perhaps Steinbeck and Hemingway on writing too.)

Summer planning will be fun.

P.S. All those subtitles look a bit daunting, don't they? Or, those subtitles combine with the titles to draw you in, draw you closer!

Here's the list again, but just with the basic titles:

The Devil's Teeth

Shop Class as Soulcraft

Deep Survival

Bluewater Gold Rush

The Outlaw Sea

In the Heart of the Sea

Kem Nunn's The Dogs of Winter: Favorite Moments (1)

Harmon looked at him, then laughed. "I got to tell you, Doc. I always have admired your lack of judgment."

"Well," Fletcher said. "I suppose every man wants to be admired, as he gets on in life."

"Come on, Doc. I'm on your side. You must know Peters wanted to send someone else. You know why I made 'em send you, don't you?"

Fletcher supposed the answer would be forthcoming.

"Take a look around you, homes. Sonny's gone. Robbie's gone." Harmon laughed once more. There was nothing mean-spirited about it. It was just the way you laugh, sometimes, when you see a thing for what it is. "Take a look at who's still here. These other pissants . . . " He looked toward the sea, dismissing them with a wave of the hand. "All they care about is the check."

"A check would be nice," Fletcher said.

Drew Harmon just looked at him. "Shit, Doc, you wouldn't know what to do with a check if you had one, and neither would I."

Kem Nunn, The Dogs of Winter, page 327.

Blue Lumpy Water

I like the blues here, the textures.

Wish I had a dive trip in the offing.

Next weekend, maybe.

PG Surf's Up

Saturday afternoon, April 2, 2011.

Low tide at Lover's Point.

Amphibious

Monterey Bay: April 2, 2011.

Wolf Waters

Scattered images from Sunday, April 3, 2011. The rocks and swell; dive partners; and another self-portrait #49.

Point Lobos, Carmel, CA: too much swell, too little visibility. Just up the coast at Carmel River Beach, four free divers had to be rescued. Discretion is the better part of valor, as they say.

Above you can see the swell hitting the point, though we were sheltered in the cove, easing our way into the water from the boat ramp. In the two shots of the surf hitting the rocks, I like how the waves seem to come from different directions. (Or, beautiful from any direction, any angle.)

We didn't even think about heading out there, but hoped to move off the boat ramp, drop down, and explore. Even in that modest hope, we were stymied as the visibility was less than three feet. Hold you hand out at arm's length, and you couldn't quite see your hand. That bad. Wiser heads no doubt expected the sheer murk due to all that swell, but we'd hoped for better conditions since the swell had been coming down. No luck. We bagged the dive and headed back to shore. Frustrating, yes, but also good practice.

Other divers claimed that visibility improved to 10 or even 20 feet further out, but we had already derigged and unsuited by the time they reported back. (I almost said "we'd defrocked," but that's just frustration talking.) Perhaps visibility would have been improved further out in the soup, but the dense murk promised little for a lot of energy. Still: what if, what if? Lobos is one of best spots on the Central Coast for heightened visibility. Cold water, too, from the undersea canyons, but such waters often bring greater range of vision too.

Seaside Phat Burger chicken combo pleased me and consoled me. Maybe we didn't get a full dive in, but we suited up, got wet, meant well, and ate well too.

Next time, you know?

Temptation in Blue and White

Point Lobos, Carmel, CA: Sunday, April 3, 2011.

Wouldn't it be cool to swim out there in all that?

I didn't; I'm older and wiser.

But I wanted to.

Maybe on the kayak?

No, with the fins. Just the fins.

Next time. Sure.

Blue Sky Day

One That Got Away

My favorite watershot out in the surfzone last Saturday. I kept out of the surfers' way, but I enjoyed the breaking waves just as much in my own fashion. I was free diving amidst some good energy, and even after an hour I was just beginning to get cold.

Apparently, I'd missed the ground swell and had to make due with mere wind swell. "You should have been here earlier . . . ." Actually, I chatted with one local who had good things to share about the currents and conditions. I appreciated that and how he was encouraging his daughter in her surfing.

Classic shots capture the approaching wave, but I like watching the back of a wave too.