images by Adriano Morettin
City Seahorse, Inc. - July 13, 2009
This newsletter contains:
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2008 Photo Contest Winner
- 2009-2010 Photo/Video Trips
- Tom Collier Photo Gallery
- Project Mikel - Thank YOU!
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| Nov 2008 Raja Ampat Trip images by Adriano Morettin |
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| Split Image - Over/Under Pier |
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| Misool Area - Through the Surface |
Congratulations Adriano!
Adriano Morettin, Trieste, Italy is the 1st prize winner in the 2008 SMY Ondina Photo Contest with his Raja Ampat photo series entitled "Two Worlds Fusion" by the competition judges.
The contest was judged at the end of April while I was out in Raja Ampat on an Ondina trip, so I'm very late with my congratulations this year.
Adriano was a joy to have aboard our trip. A very talented photographer with a keen eye for beauty and composition, he often came up from a dive shouting about the fabulous creatures and scenes he had seen. When asked about his goals before the trip Andriano wrote:
"...my goals are to take no usual photos of usual creatures, but extraordinary photos of special creatures in particular situations..."
"I need to make the maximum dives possible during the cruise to take the best photos possible in long quiet dives, without strong current, without nagging guides. Most important are the guides that should find and show to me the most creatures possible."
We did our best to give Adriano what he needed for his photos (as we do for all divers on our trips) ... the results were amazing! While divers on that trip, including Adriano, indicated that their favorite type of photography is macro, they came back with breathtaking wide angle images.
Adriano does not currently have an online gallery. When he does, I'll include a link in a future newsletter.
The image of the pier also won International photo competitions in Rome, Venice, Turkey and DEEP INDONESIA.
View larger images and photos from previous years winning photos at
www.cityseahorse.com/photo-contest-winners.html
The competition is open to all guests on SMY Ondina trips each year. Only photos taken during an Ondina cruise can be entered. Adriano's prize is a free dive cruise on SMY Ondina. He will be taking his free trip next week!
2008 is the 5th year we chartered SMY Ondina and the 5th year guests on our special charters took top honors in the photo contest!
email us at tours@cityseahorse.com.
 Tom Collier's photos from his first trip to Raja Ampat with City Seahorse, Nov. 2008 are featured in this newsletter. |
 Mating Cuttlefish at Aljui |
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 & 2010 Trips!
I still have a few spaces available on these trips.
Oct 29-Nov 10, 2009: FULL
Nov 12 -23, 2009: 3 spaces available, $3755 +
Nov 26-Dec 7, 2009 : 3 spaces available $3755 +
Nov 11-22, 2010: $3755 +
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Both trips are $3755 per person +
These are our special trips, limited to 12 divers with many extras.
A guaranteed single cabin is available on Nov 12-23 (extra cost).
We had many happy divers on the April/May trips. On the Sorong-Halmahera-Lembeh trip we managed more open deck days and dives that I thought possible. I can't possibly write anything better than Marianne from the May 8-20 trip wrote to some dive mailing lists:
"I don't think I will ever be able to match the trip we took over the past three weeks.
Maybe. I have doubts though. Serious doubts.....
After our rainforest trek, we packed up and headed out of Jakarta to
Sorong to catch our liveaboard boat through Raja Ampat, Misool, and up
to Lembeh.
I have to say that diving in Raja Ampat exceeded all my exceptionally high expectations. I don't know how I held my regulator in my mouth on some of those initial dives since my jaw was dropping in disbelief at the sheer amount of life. I have never seen anything like it anywhere: not in Belize, Fiji, or even in Bali. It was just unbelievable. We saw an enormous amount of species in just the first few days. Unfortunately, I don't think anything will ever be able to compare. How do you do two days of diving and see Wobbegong sharks, epaulet sharks, eels, seahorses, turtles, banded pipefish, cuttlefish, lionfish, crocodilefish, anemonefish, shrimps, crabs, nudibranchs, flatworms, robust ghost pipefish, sea snakes, and countless species of fish? It was mind boggling to see it all. Sometimes the dives were a kaleidoscope of color with soft coral, hard coral, fish, and crinoids in every imaginable color. We even had the fortune to see both hard coral and soft coral spawning. Fricking AWESOME!!!"
USA divers: note that some great fares are available today from LAX or SFO to Indonesia for much less than previous years. Today's price $834 including taxes.
The US dollar is very low making these trips quite a lot less expensive than trips priced in euros.
More info on these trips at http://www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
Contact tours@cityseahorse.com ASAP for more info.
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| Nov 2008 Raja Ampat Trip images by Tom Collier |
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| Check Tom's site |
Tom Collier
Tom and Kay Collier dived with us for the first time in Nov. 2008.
Tom is president of HUPS, the Houston Underwater Photographic Society, where he has (or is?) also Dive Trip Coordinator so it was a little intimidating to have Tom on the trip with his housed Canon 40D!
Kay was a new photographer who came with a Canon G9 for the first time on this trip. Kay really got into taking photos and I have to say that the time I spent spotting photo ops for Kay was the most enjoyable of my own trip. We found great little critters just right for her camera. She got really nice images that I was hoping would turn up at tpix.com. Tom??
Visit Tom's 2008 gallery at:
http://www.tpixs.com/rajaampat/index.html
Assuming I can get permission, the next newsletter will have images and links to new galleries from David Kramer and Phil Sokol. BTW, Congratuations to Phil.. a new father not long after he returned home from the trip!
email us at tours@cityseahorse.com.
In my April newsletter I wrote about our friend and Papuan guide, Mikel, who had storm damage to his house followed closely by a stroke in February.
A number of divers donated money to help Mikel with his expenses while he could not work and to rebuild his home. This is in progress.
While I was in Sorong between trips in May, I enlisted Norberto to help me see what we could do for Mikel. We planned a trip over to assess the damage to the house. Captain Alan volunteered to come help us.
We looked over the situation and made a plan, including a list of materials needed to repair the damage and make a house where Mikel and his children could one again live together.
I took a few snapshots of the house, the planning and the shopping. They are online at
http://www.cityseahorse.com/mikel/
Thank YOU! to all the very generous divers who sent a donation during rough economic times to help with this project. Mikel was really depressed, things were looking hopeless to him in April. But this project restored hope to him and I think soon he may be back to nearly normal. We plan for the house to soon be better than before.
I had enough money to cover the expenses for necessary materials, but still need a few hundred dollars to pay for construction help. If you would like to donate something to this project click the link below. Please also include a note (by email) for Mikel.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3684787
2009 Liveaboard Trips
There are spaces still available on the SMY Ondina 2009 "normal" trips. The schedule is here:
http://www.cityseahorse.com/indonesia-liveaboard-schedule.php.
Contact me for individual or group bookings for 2009 or to start planning for your group for 2010. I have the 2010 schedule, just slow to get it online. Please email me if you are looking for a trip in 2010.
Please note that I will not be able to assist with travel arrangements if your trip is booked directly with the ship or if you are using a trip voucher.
If you do not want to receive news and trip notices like this, remove your address from our list by using the Unsubscribe info at the bottom of this note.
Happy Diving!
DebF
Deborah Fugitt, City Seahorse, Inc. tours@cityseahorse.com
6387B Camp Bowie, #308, Ft. Worth, Tx. 76116
Phone: (817) 626-0636
www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
www.cityseahorse.com/indonesia-liveaboard-schedule.php