Safety First and DMT Resuce

As many of you know, the Coconut Tree Divers motto has always been "Safety First".  We always have oxygen and first aid kits on the boat and in the shop, we check in between dives with our VHF radio and we make up a dive roster sheet for each outgoing boat.  In addition to this, Captains Carl and Fred (who stay on the boat to watch bubbles whilst the divers are down) are EFR certified.

We have made some new additions to our safety equipment, mostly thanks to generous donations from EMT Rich Young from Saskatchewan.  We now have two back boards (longspine boards), complete with full straps and neck supports, as well as neck braces.  Only one of two working AEDs (Automatic External Defibrilators) in West End is now at Coconut Tree (Tree is working on the display cabinet - thanks to Rich's suggestion).  We also restocked on Epi Pens, for use in case of severe allergic reactions; one for each first aid kit and a stock in the dive shop.  A trauma kit with miscellaneous items is also on its way by cargo.

Check out a few photos in our gallery from our latest training session with Rich where we covered backboard use and transportation with an initial trauma assessment.  Included are also extracts from today's PADI Divemaster Trainee Rescue Assessment Exercises with Chef Marco, ScubaMax and Canadian Cole.

Trauma Assessment.  Saskatchewan Rich is the one with the coffee cup

log roll and head support

In-water rescue breaths

Surfacing the unresponsive diver

Half Moon Bay Weather Report

Overcast, enough rain to clog up the softball field yet again.  4 Dives out today.

Last but not Least

Don't forget about our CTD Shades photo contest

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Paul Repka- Computer Genius or Beach Bum??

The story of Paul Repka begins on a sunny afternoon after a long day of diving, when a bald, bearded, biker-looking old guy walked onto the deck of CTD. As Will, our resident Course Director greeted him, all of the DMTs started wondering who this person was, who looked so completely out of place at a Dive Shop. Soon it was known he was to join the ranks of the DMT's, and so would become part of our little family.

Paul Repka. Old, biker-looking, bald and bearded..

Everyone suddenly had a question for him.

"Are you a biker?", "How old are you?", "Are you insane?"

As it turns out, Paul was just a regular suburban man, Milwaukee born and raised, (or Mwaukeeee, as he calls his home town), who decided to take a break from his consulting firm and spend a month or two in the pristine beaches of Roatan. A computer nerd who plays hockey, likes to fish, drinks like a fish, and in his free time he loves jetting off to somewhere in the Caribbean to dive, usually accompanied by his lovely wife, Peg. (sorry ladies, he's taken)

Paul and Peg, out in the blue.

He was not an amateur diver, being already certified as a PADI Rescue Diver, and now he was looking to Go Pro. But being a DMT wasn't going to cramp his style. First thing he did was to find the coolest house in West End and establish a home base. He then proceeded to throw a couple of parties there, which turned him into everybody’s best friend from the start. He was a great DMT, working as hard, and most of the times harder than everyone else to make sure things ran smoothly around the shop. A great and fun diver, he was ready to act whenever a customer needed anything, from spare weights to friendly advice.

Receiving his diploma from Will
after completing the IDC

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Paul was a man on a mission, and he planned to get as much out of the vacation as he could. In a short time he had a spear fishing license, and a Side mount certification. Pretty soon he decided he would start his IDC and get certified as an instructor. After a lot of hard work with Will, he aced his Instructor exams and was officially certified. He then proceeded to pop his cherry here at CTD and certified his first two Open Water Divers!

Repka and his first two Open Water Students

Three months after he arrived on Roatan, Paul was now a Dive Instructor, a known personality around the bars in West End, and all-round beach bum. After being declared mentally insane by his wife, he packed his bags and made his way back home, throwing a huge going away party that lasted for about a week.

A night on the town for P, Repka

A really cool guy, we all learned something from Paul and he learned something from all of us.

Everyone at CTD will miss him and hope he eventually convinces his wife of moving down here.


Here are some things the Staff at CTD had to say about Paul:

“Paul is  hilarious and a great lionfish hunting buddy”

Even underwater he never lost his groove

“Paul is the inventor of a new Side-Plop Open Water Entry, the Repka”

“Pauuuul??? Is always good for a laugh and provoked mask clearing practice a little too often”

At Sundowner's Beach Bar, where he spent most of his time.

“We will miss that Salope”

“Pauuuul? Obnoxious but funny, so he gets away with it and we love him”

Dinner party at Paul's

“Paul was a great person to have around the shop, always ready to help with a smile and a joke. Love You”

“Paul was the most beautiful Yaba Ding Ding Queen we’ve ever seen”

After seeing this photo, Peg (Paul's wife) started worrying about
his mental health and decided
he should get back to the real world

Meet Notmy!

The new SCT (Shop Cat Trainee)

Notmy has been hanging around the shop for six weeks now.  Whenever she peeped out from under Cindy’s deck, PJ would frighten her away and yell “it’s not my effing cat” (hence the name). We finally coaxed her out from under the deck with the promise of spaghetti meatballs.

Sunglasses? Notmy is Notsure!

She has some sharp little fangs

It took us two weeks to convince PJ she’s a keeper. Now they are best friends.

Hobbies include: Drinking milk, befriending customers in return for food, Stalking PJ around the shop, fighting with Boomer (Steve Vincent’s puppy), playing with ropes, and cleaning herself.

We will get her diving soon; we’re just looking for the right wet suit!

If you have the regulator and wet suit we’re looking for please mail to:

Notmy Effing Cat

Under the deck

Cindy’s Place

Roatan, Honduras C.A.

In other shop news, Mark Walch has joined us from Austria to start his PADI Divemaster training. He was last here in June 2011 when he completed his PADI Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response, Rescue, and Nitrox certifications.  He hopes to find a Sea walnut (a type of comb jelly) in the upcoming weeks.

Chef Marco, underwater croissant maker

Zach Durden has joined us from Florida to complete his PADI Open Water to Instructor certifications (zero to hero!).  He dove for the first time on Saturday and loved it.

Diego (left) with Zack ("scarface") on second confined dive

Our boat Potlicker will be at the dry dock next week for some love, attention, and a new coat of paint. Don’t panic, we will still be diving off our other boat Wish U Were Here.  The water is still warm (29°C/ 84°F) so come join us for some more awesome diving!

by Kaela Watkins