A useful Christmas present from 2007
30 October 2010 | Curacao
Benno
THE HOOKAH!
Sometime in 2007, Sid from "Paradise", a retired copper from L.A., introduced me to something very beautiful while we were in Porlamar, Margarita, Venezuela, a hooker. This really helped me a lot to relief some pressure. Oh, sorry folks, I just spelled this wrong. I meant Hookah, which is some diving apparatus consisting of an air compressor for breathable air, a 60 ft long yellow air hose and a mouth piece, which divers call a second stage for breathing in and out air. Most boats, while sitting in the water of a marina or at anchor, will experience organic growths of algae, grass, barnacles, or even shells on the underwater part. Especially the propeller and shaft can look like a reef after a while. This growth can render the propeller useless. Before going on a journey, the skipper generally dives down, checks out the stuff and maybe cleans it. This is my job (Benno). Free diving without air supply and cleaning the size of a boat like Diesel Duck is quite an exercise and a hard job. So when Sid back in 2007 let me use his Hookah to clean DD's propeller and shaft, I got hooked and wanted one too. Marlene had a Hookah shipped to St. Thomas for me as a Christmas present.