Mousha Island

Last week I went to Mousha Island with some other people in the wardroom. It was great! We went snorkeling and scuba diving in the morning, ate some lunch at the clubhouse, and then hung out on the beach in the afternoon. It was a very relaxing trip and it was nice to get away from Djibouti for a bit. Mousha Island is only a 15 minute boat ride from the Djibouti harbor.

Scuba diving was really cool but a bit freaky at first. If you’ve never been before it is difficult to stick your head under water and trust that you’re still going to have air when you take a breath. The cool part was that it was just like those dreams where you can breathe under water, but it wasn’t a dream. When I go snorkeling, I usually end up sucking in some sea water when I breathe through the tube and then I have to stick my head above water gagging and spitting to get the water out. That isn’t quite as easy to do when you are scuba diving, which can be a cause for concern. This realization occurred to me shortly after I submerged my head below the water. I quickly moved back up to the surface where there was plenty of air. The instructor that was swimming with me asked what was wrong and I told him I was just freaked out. He gave me a moment to calm down and then we went back underwater.

We got to check out a lot of coral reef and some really cool looking fish. Before we left the boat the instructors told us to be careful where we kick our fins because the coral is very fragile and it will die if it gets kicked. So I didn’t kick most of the time I was in the water. The instructor had his hand on my air tank and he just guided me around the coral. It was really neat. If you ever end up in Djibouti, you should definitely check out Mousha Island. J

Moustache March

Well, here we are again at the 3^rd month of the year, March. Or as some like to call it, “Moustache March”. A time when young Naval Officers (perhaps other branches as well) decide to have a little fun and see who can grow the best looking moustache by the end of the month. I usually don’t participate in such activities, especially since my wife is not fond of “the stache” but I decided to partake in the fun this year. There are a number of junior officers from NMCB 7 as well as some other people on camp participating. With a little more than a week left, my moustache is looking pretty good. Not quite as good as the seasoned veteran and our skipper, CAPT Finn, but it’s coming along nicely.

Disc golf

The base is working on putting in a disc golf course here on base. Last week I went out and practiced with some other guys. The shops are working on manufacturing the goals, but in the meantime we have flags posted where the goals will go. We were going to go out on the course and practice throwing to the flags, but apparently the construction that is going on has destroyed or displaced some of the flags, so instead of throwing to the flags, we just threw the discs around on the turf field. It was fun. I guess there is a Professional Disk Golf Association (PDGA) website that lists where all the disc golf courses are. Once our course is established, we’re going to submit it to the PDGA and we will be the 1^st and only disc golf course in Africa. Pretty cool, huh?