The Our World Underwater Rolex Scholarship is not just all about diving. By travelling to unique and often remote places all around the globe, as a scholar, you may find yourself landing right in the middle of some exceptional circumstances.
On my way back from the Raja Ampat islands in Indonesia, I found myself sheltering on a small island as a wild storm passed. I stood on the beach next to the captain assessing the damage on the small dingy which had suffered a large crack through the fiberglass in the rough sea conditions. It sounded like the captain seemed optimistic we could make it to our destination, but communication was challenging and it was often difficult to determine what was really going on.
The palm tree’s rustled in the gusty wind which was now blowing strongly at least 30 knots as the captain passed me his phone. This was my first communication to the outside world for several weeks, and to my surprise the patchy and faint voice on the other end explained that I had a flight booked which was leaving at 11am the next day. The catch was, if I didn’t make it to that flight there were no flights available for at least a week because everyone was leaving for Ramadan, and I would be stuck in the less than desirable city of Sorong.
The storm eventually passed and as the sun set we arrived at my halfway point of Waisai. I was about five hours late for the daily ferry which we were aiming to catch, which meant trying to organize a private boat to get me back to Sorong in time for my flight. After inspecting several boats and making a few serious meetings with captains, I had arranged a 5am departure for the ‘2 hour journey in good weather’.
In the morning it was up to me to get the ball rolling, or nothing would have happened. I woke up the captain and took my bags down to the boat. As the first light emerged, I sat there staring at the boat which was completely beached on the muddy bank. I patiently waited for the tide to rise as the captain fetched petrol for our trip. By 6:30am I was sitting on the boat with all of my equipment behind me wrapped in a giant tarp, by 7am and with the assistance of a new set of spark plugs we were on our way.
I felt ambitious but remained positive, there was no looking back from here. From my position sitting in this small and wobbly long boat, the waves gradually started to feel more intimidating the further from shore we travelled. It felt as though we had been underway at least an hour when I was passed a phone by the captain and through broken translations it sounded like he wanted to turn around and head back to Waisai. I glanced to my watch, we had only been gone 20 minutes and at that point I was given the opportunity to retreat… we continued.
Over the following hours we hit several huge waves front on, each time forcing a wall of water directly over the boat. The captain’s first mate had one responsibility, bailing out water, and after hitting these big waves he was working his little bucket overtime to drain the half full boat. By this stage I was concerned that my equipment was in danger, and my electronics may already be ruined. I couldn’t see any land, each wave was a new challenge. Time stood still as I kept glancing down to my watch to try and work out if I was going to make it. I’ve never looked at my watch so frequently, but each time seeing the Rolex logo was a comforting reminder of what this experience was all about.
After a marathon 3 hours and 45 minutes of being slammed violently against the hard wooden floor of the boat, the waters of the Sorong harbor brought a smile to my somewhat disheartened face. I may have missed my flight, but I knew that I had tried my best and made it back to land safely. A taxi greeted me at the pier and I curiously unwrapped the tarp expecting the worst. To my surprise, everything was bone dry.
I raced into the airport still dripping wet from head to toe. I looked up at the screen to see my flight was still boarding. Unfortunately I was about ten minutes too late. Well, being stuck in Sorong now wasn’t going to feel so bad because at least I gave it my best shot. Luckily, with late cancellation I managed to leave Sorong the next day and when that flight finally took off I really felt that I was able to get the full West Papua experience and one I will never forget.
Thanks to my captain’s remarkable tarp-wrapping skills, you can check out some short video’s I made during my time in Raja Ampat on my YouTube channel and blog. To learn more about the scholarship program, including how to apply for the 2014 scholarships, check out the OWUSS website.
