I was talking to Sean the other day, (he is one of our new Divemaster Interns and is from Jersey – the channel islands Jersey, part of the United Kingdom, NOT Jersey as in the New Jersey Turnpike) about what we think about when we dive. You wouldn’t believe the things that go through my mind when I’m diving… Well, if you have read enough of my blogs then perhaps you have some idea of the absurd that I come up with!

One of the things that I love about diving is that it is a time where I am truly alone. Sure, diving is a social sport. We always go with buddies, we laugh and make jokes together on the boat. We constantly watch out for each other, to make sure we are safe and close by. That is all true, but at the same time as we are doing this, we are totally alone. This is how I feel anyway. And I like it. To be left alone in my thoughts.

Sometimes I think about a problem I’m having and sometimes I have completely random thoughts; “Where would I go if I could travel in time? The future or the past?” “What if I could create an Olympic sport out of racing underwater with no fins on?” “What do fish think about all day?”

Or, when I am diving I get Sally business head on. I try to really figure out the right direction that the business should go in. Should we get another boat? Should we do a deal with the cruise ships? I think about budgets and advertising and scheduling and emails I need to do.

Then, there are those wonderful zen moments, when I think about absolutely nothing.

What do you think about?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am also thinking of the diving (time, depth, NDL etc), what I’m looking at, the safety of everyone, how cool it would be if a giant squid appeared or something like that… but I can think about those things simultaneously as I’m thinking my more abstract or personal thoughts.

In fact, I was talking to Chris the other day about thinking in general (not just underwater but also top side), and for me, I have this running commentary that sort of goes on in my brain all the time (it would drive Chris and Stuart crazy if they could hear it ). I was under the impression that this was true for everyone, but apparently it isn’t, as Chris doesn’t think this way at all.

For example, I will see something and I will think “That’s funny, that guy over there is being really funny. I wonder if Chris will think that it is funny too. Should I tell him? He doesn’t have the same sense of humor that I do, not really, so he probably won’t think that it is funny. Yeah… I’m not going to tell him. Yeah… I probably will tell him anyway.”

Chris said that he just sees something, laughs and then tells me about it.

Anyway… enough about all that nonsense. Chris went out this morning to dive Chris’ Reef and fix the mooring. Also had a nice dive at the same time, then a drift on the back of Creole Rock. It was a Spanish boat this morning, with Carlos, Andres, Santiago and Fernando. Carlos lost his camera at Creole Rock, which I feel slightly responsible for because one of my latest posts on Facebook was “Ever lost anything underwater?” To which one reply was “My ex-husband on a drift dive. Unfortunately he turned up again :-/” which really made me laugh. Then, next thing I know, Carlos lost his camera… anyway. It is a quiet afternoon now, so I’m off to work on the website!

(Sally wrote this blog )

The diving, I’m good at. Driving the boat, pretty good at that too! Answering email, I also get an “A” for this. Selling items in my shop, not doing such a great job at this .

The thing is, I’m not really a sales person, and I don’t really know what I should sell. Things that seem like such a good idea at first just aren’t selling. For example, I sent away for 25 Octopus Diving calendars, which are filled with some of my favorite underwater photos in Saint Martin. They are really pretty and are currently for sale in the shop. I thought as it was the beginning of the year, calendars is something that people buy. I also thought they may make nice sticking stuffers for Christmas. Guess how many I have sold! Go, guess! One. I have sold one in about a month. Pathetic. I was so despondent about it that I even gave one away the other day to a really nice mum of one of our divers. A Christmas present, I said. I just felt like I needed to shift them. Perhaps they are too expensive – $15, but after printing costs and shipping, that really is only a small mark up.

I also commissioned a local artist from Saba, Jo Bean (who I talked about in on of my previous blogs), to make some Octopus Diving pendants, and purchased from here some other really beautiful necklaces. Each one is hand made and individual. I think they are so cool! What do you think?

This is just one of the pendants, but there are many. Also, she makes these adorable little turtle beads.

Chris even made me this wonderful display area for them to be mounted on. Guess how many of these I have sold. Guess. Go on… four. Well, that isn’t really true. I took one (so I kind of bought it from myself. I gave myself a price that I couldn’t resist). Here is the one that I bought.

Sorry if the photo is a little blurry, but I took the photo myself! Isa, one of our new instructors who I should really tell you all about, bought one and then I sold two the first day I put them on the shelf. But since then, no one has wanted any!

There are also dive necklaces with the dive flag which I thought would be really nice for divers to get, but I haven’t sold any of those. I gave one to Stuart, one to Isa and one to Karl (our other new instructor) but they don’t even wear them

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself.

I also had all these Octopus Diving stickers made and some magnets too. They are on the shelf right next to a little sign that says “Stickers and Magnets $3 each” but people just keep taking them thinking that they are free! Then it is embarrassing when I have to stop them.

“Ummmm, those aren’t actually free. Yeah… Ummmm…. Sorry about that… They are actually $3 each.”

I’m sure I’ve seen stickers for sale in other diving centers, and they aren’t free either!

Ok, I’ve just been skyped by my dad, so I’ve got to go. I shall ask his advice on the subject.

Oh… If you want a necklace, just ask. Or a calendar, they are going on sale for 20% off shortly!

Sally wrote this blog

This is just a quick post to show you our latest article in Destination Magazine. For those of you that have come to St. Martin you may have received a complementary copy of Destination Magazine on the flight on the way here.

Well… last year we had a small article in the magazine with a small advertisement, but this year when we contacted the editor she said if I could write a longer article she would give us a larger advertisement. So, I did. The theme of the 2012 Destination is looking at things from a new perspective. So I wrote about looking at the ocean a different way (i.e. from below )!

Here is the article. I cut it out and then scanned it. I hope it is big enough for everyone to read. You have to click on the link… Enjoy
Octopus in Destination

Sally wrote this blog

So, the other day I received a package from PADI (The Professional Association of Diving Instructors). Now, normally I know when PADI is sending us a package. I have ordered some teaching materials, or some log books, or a couple of posters or something. This time I had no idea.

The package was about 2 feet by 1.5 feet and only a few inches thick. Very strange. It had actually arrived a couple days before, but I was out diving and Stu put it in the back room at the dive shop. When I found it I eagerly opened it and inside was a framed certificate. Intriguing…. I thought.

The first thing I noticed was the word “Excellence” and I thought to myself “that’s pretty excellent.” Upon even further inspection I read all the words.

“Certificate of Recognition for

EXCELLENCE

Awarded to

OCTOPUS DIVING

For the 2011 PADI Americas

Diver Retention Award

Given the 1st Day of November, 2011″

Took a long time for it to get to me if they awarded it on the 1st of November.

Anyway… I was extremely pleased but a little confused. What the heck is “Diver Retention”? It sounds like some kind of genetic disorder at first. Luckily it was accompanied by a letter from PADI, from no one other than the Executive of PADI Americas.

Apparently Octopus Diving was selected as one of only three diving centers nominees for the PADI Americas and PADI Canada 2011 PADI Member Recognition Awards. This means that out of all the PADI diving centers in America, Canada and the Caribbean we were selected for the particular DIVER RETENTION AWARD.

This award “Recognizes retail and resort members that have shown continuing education certification growth over the previous year, followed PADI Standards and philosophy, and implemented innovative diver retention strategies.”

Phew, still not sure what that means, but it’s freakin’ cool! My translation of this is that we not only certified divers as Open Water Divers, but those same divers came back to do their Advanced Open Water with us, or their Enriched Air Specialty Certification, or their Rescue. What it means is that our divers, Octopus Diving divers, keep coming back to us.

It is only a piece of paper, (although nicely framed), but it means a lot to us. We work so hard, we try to provide the best education for our divers as possible, and we also try to keep our relationships with our divers strong, so that they do come back and dive again with us. Plus, do you have any idea how many diving centers there are in Canada, the USA and the Caribbean? Lots. Lots and lots and lots. So for us to be in the top three (although we didn’t make the top top) is pretty great!

Anyway, big pat on the back for us, and thanks to all of you, our RETAINED DIVERS!

(Sally wrote this blog )