Why Are People Drawn To The Ocean?

After 2.5 years on my project with Ingram Micro, it finally wrapped up this month.  The bulk of my professional experience with BackOffice and the majority of my international travel opportunities happened while I was on this project.  I lived in Santiago, Chile, for a few months and got to go to Argentina while I was there.  I then skipped over to Belgium and made multiple trips up to Holland to visit friends.  Then came my amazing 10 months in Australia plus a short trip to Fiji before I 'temporarily' moved to California a year ago.

Choices, choices...

Since the client would no longer pay for my rent in California and I still had a Georgia license, I had to make a choice: move back to Atlanta (I just rented out my house there so I would have to find a new place), stay in California or go back overseas.  The early leaders were returning to Australia or staying in California, but it all depended on where my next project would be located.

I did some initial investigation on my options in Australia and Singapore, but I was told that I would need to give a 2 year commitment for visa purposes if I were to go back.  I loved my time there, but putting that long of a time frame without making it permanent made me anxious.  I mean, if I decided that I was going to live in Australia forever then I would be willing to make the move. As great as it was, I don't know if I could do that.  I started exclusively focusing on west coast US projects and planned to 'settle' in California for now.

As I was making these plans, my company highlighted two projects where they wanted me to be staffed.  The first was a short term gig in New Jersey where I would be the lead.  The cross-country travel would be unfortunate but bearable.  The next project was long term (3 years) and was located in Connecticut.  It provided me with a lot of opportunities professionally, but crossing the country every week?  I must be crazy.

Wave 2 by Jessica Harms

I could always just live in Atlanta, NYC or somewhere else on the east coast to ease the travel.  There is something about living on the beach that draws me in.  It goes without saying that surfing is the #1 passion in my life, but it's not just that.  I bought one of Jessica's paintings back in 2008 - a couple of years before I ever got hooked on the sport.  I have always been drawn to water - maybe we all are.  Think about all of the big cities that are in harbors or bodies of water.  Yes, part of that is because they were transportation hubs.  But there is something else... the balance between awesome power and serenity is amazing.

After living by the ocean for the past few years, I don't think I can leave it.  I've had this conversation multiple times with different people that feel the same way - it's something that is hard to explain unless you've experienced it yourself.  Plus there's this girl out here...

Aquabumps

Soon after I came back from Australia I signed up for Aquabumps daily emails picturing Bondi and the nearby beaches, beachgoers, surfers and sunrises.

Eugene, or 'Uge' as he signs off on most emails, has been featured in a documentary of his daily routine. Sign up for the emails - his photos are amazing. And if you're anywhere near Sydney, stop by his gallery and buy a print.

Check out the video and a few choice images below.

Swellshots

Over the past few weeks I have been doing research on cameras and underwater housings. After the disposable underwater cameras on my trips to Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef produced (the expected) poor quality photos - I didn't even post them because they were so bad - I decided to make the jump to a better camera.

I have been using a point-and-shoot Kodak for the past few years on all of my travels and I wanted to upgrade to a DSLR.  I went to Beach Cities Scuba, the local dive shop in Newport Beach, to get some more information.  A really knowledgeable guy named Chob was their camera expert and he filled me in on all of the details.  Even if I went with the lowest level Canon (the Rebel T2i), when you add the lens(es), housing, flash and other accessories, I was looking at spending $7,000 at the very least.

The new rig

Because of the costs I started looking at "prosumer" cameras (designed with the serious amateur in mind).  Chob steered me toward the Canon Powershot G12 digital camera, Fisheye FIX G12 underwater housing and Sea & Sea YS-110a flash.  That's the one I went with and I've been pretty happy so far.


I'm still surfing a lot but have been taking time out to practice with the camera in the water.  There are many more things to take into account with this camera - aperture, white balance, ISO, shutter speed.  It makes it even tougher to adjust these controls with the knobs of the housing... and then you have to take the waves into account.  If you don't watch out you'll be slammed by a wave while you're trying to change something.  I went out the first time without any tether and just help the camera with my hands.  I quickly realized that wasn't a good idea when I had to swim out of a weak rip current so I bought a wrist leash just in case I had to let go of the rig.


The first day I went out and shot some body boarders one of them asked me how much it would cost to get prints of him.  I hadn't even thought of that, but maybe I can make my money back.  I realized that I needed a name that people would remember (like Aquabumps), so I came up with SwellShots.  I'm hoping to add more to the linked Picasa album as I spend more time in the water.  Make sure to save it as a bookmark!

Why am I doing all of this?  I have a month off from work because the project got extended.  There is a big gap in the month of May and they asked me to go on leave to save money on the budget.  I started researching surf camps and vacations and found one called Morro Negrito.  It's a full week of surfing and nothing else.  I'm going to extend it another week to see the rest of the country, though I haven't figured out the details yet.  I already got the flight (with points) and put the deposit down for the week.

But back to the photos... here are a few of the best pics I've taken so far.