Home / 2. Trip Reports / “Perfecting Mask Clearing” by Madeline Erkkila
Skirts in Scuba, June 2009 with Yukon Charters
Much to Tara’s disgust, I have been putting off writing this trip report for a month.
There are several reasons for this, with the main one being this was my first ocean dive and to be honest I was so terrified/amazed/excited the entire time that I don’t remember much at all.
After several attempts to talk my way out of writing this, I have concluded that Tara is not going to let me get away with it and I should just write this bloody thing!
So here goes…
Joining the AA
I had been looking forward to this trip for a whole month, having completed my open water in the lake due to bad weather; this trip was going to be my first ocean dive.
Tara and I had decided to get away early on Friday and head up to Tutukaka, after a morning of absent minded work and annoying my colleagues by continuous bursts of excitement, I packed up the car and headed to Tara’s house.
Not wanting to loose my keys while we loaded her gear into the car I put them in the ignition, after loading almost ALL of Tara’s gear in the boot, BLEEP, my little car alarmed itself with EVERYTHING tightly secure inside.
After several failed attempts to get into the car, including trying a piece of wire from Tara’s garden, we came to the conclusion that it was time to join the AA.
By now I’m a member of the AA, $160 poorer and we are two hours behind schedule on our early getaway.
After keeping Tara chatting the whole way up to Tutukaka to avoid her singing, we eventually arrived, checked in to the motel and went straight to Noel and Jo’s place – Yukon Headquarters.
This was the first time I had met Noel and Jo, but I’d heard great things and I was not disappointed – what fantastic people they both are, so easygoing and hospitable.
The rest of the crew arrived over the next few hours and we headed back to the motel for an early night.
I could not sleep. I was so anxious and excited the butterflies in my stomach would not settle. I gave up at 5am and mucked around on my phone until it was time to get up.
After an essential coffee and bagel at Schnappa Rock and an even more essential seasick pill we loaded up the boat and headed out.
As the name suggests, this was a girl’s trip however boys were allowed provided they wore a skirt and they did not disappoint, with Francois even appearing in lime green lycra attire!
We arrived at our first dive spot, Matt’s Crack, apparently one that is not often dived due to it’s exposure but given the beautiful day we were lucky enough to visit this site.
I had a leak in my tank on the first descent and dropped 50bar in three minutes so headed back to the boat for new tank and dive buddies Tara and Alex continued their descents.
With a new tank in tow, Divemaster Kent took me down to meet up with Tara and Alex.
Divers in Matts Crack / Photograph by Tara Sutherland
I was absolutely blown away by what I saw down there; I couldn’t get over the visibility and the amount of aquatic life.
Kent and I met up with Tara and Alex at the entrance to the Crack, we swapped dive buddies and Tara and I headed into the Crack.
At first it was awesome, I was concentrating on my breath and buoyancy and pretending to look at whatever Tara pointed out.
Along with this being my first ocean dive it was also my first time in dry suit and I think I put too much air into it, anyway much to my horror I started to rise to the surface and I panicked a bit.
A grab of Tara’s fin and the reef (sorry reef) and Tara managed to straighten me out.
After this we headed out of the Crack and I spent the rest of the dive squeezing Tara’s hand every time I rose a centimeter or two in fear of a repeat experience.
After surfacing, I recovered with a beautiful lunch prepared by Jo, the minestrone soup was to die for and worked well to warm me up and calm me down.
Then it was off to the second dive spot of the day, Blue Maomao Arch. I’m not going to lie, I did not want to get back in for this second dive.
The first dive had given me a bit of a fright and I wasn’t too keen on experiencing that again. However, knowing that both Tara and my own internal willpower would ensure that I did make this dive, I slowly started suiting up.
With a couple of extra weights and two very understanding dive buddies, Tara and Juliet, I stepped over for round two.
This dive was completely different – it was fantastic!
Juliet and I in Blue Maomao Arch / Photograph by Tara Sutherland
I felt so much more confident and even remember some of things Tara pointed out.
We saw a moray eel, heaps of nudibranchs – don’t ask me what kind, but I remember they were colourful and cute – and a school of Blue Maomao that watched us from above with intrigue.
We swam out to the opening at the end of the arch and slowly made our way back.
This dive was awesome and I spent a lot time clearing my mask from all the smiles that kept appearing on my face.
Back on board we drank our fair share of bubbles and headed back to Tutukaka for a debrief at the Fishing Club.
This was such a fantastic trip and I would like to say a huge thank you to Tara, Alex, Noel and Jo for putting together such a great weekend.
