iNick. Living the dream.

Costa Missions Vid

Back from Costa Rica.  32 GBs of pictures and video.  Here’s one thing I made with some of it.  More pics and words to come.  Hopefully this will speak for itself.

Scott Free Diving

The past just over 3 months working about the motoryacht Scott Free (157′ Christensen) has been for sure a “once in a lifetimer”.

The following is a slideshow from some of our dives during a charter with a family. We brought along Divemaster Dave Ochs of Aqua Safari Adventures (this man knows his stuff and LOVES the ocean) to lead the dives. There were 9 total diving guests, 3 adults, and 6 children, and so I was asked to go along as a dive assistant. I gladly accepted. We did a +100 ft depth dive (my first triple-digit depth, and most of theirs)some great drift dives, one that was over a full mile of drifting, and I got to carry a Hawaiian sling around as one of the fathers was very much wary of sharks. It made me feel like a real man.

Working on a private yacht is an experience hard to replace with much else; waking up on a boat anchored between Johnny Depp and Oprah’s Bahama islands, spending my afternoon pulling kids on a jetski, working with Aussies and Kiwis, washing down the boat jammin out to 80’s hits, and of course being paid to dive the Caribbean. We took a direct hit by lightning while tied off on the docks at Atlantis, and while I knew I was only working the boat a few months to save for Cali, this caused my job to be eliminated to counter costs of repairs. Extremely grateful for the few months, time for what’s next. I’ll try to throw a few other SF pics up soon.

2 Truths and a Lie.

1. Sometimes when it’s quiet i’ll just pop a DVD in to listen to the 30 second menu music loop over and over again, I never get tired of it.
2. The previous statement is a lie and you just should move on to the next one, which happens to now be forced to inherently be a truth.
3. You should really consider donating towards my Costa Rica missions trip online at https://www.friendssharing.com/Default.aspx?TabId=276&CUID=5986. I need your support.

Windy Gap

Just got back from an awesome week with our kids at Young Life’s Windy Gap in Weaverville, NC … just outside of Asheville. Great times going crazy all over the camp and a definite bittersweet week as it was my last with Young Life Palm Beach County (at least for awhile, right Justin ;-) We had tons of fun, some great talks about how much God loves and wants us to be His, and plenty of reflection over the past five years of ministry and what is next in my life. More reflections later perhaps, I am back on Scott Free for a charter over the next 12 days and we throw off lines in about 2 hours to head to Harbor Island. I think i’ll have internet. If not — see you guys in July.

Modern Technology

Spoiler notice: Geeky post… just scroll down and look at the pictures of the shiny Jeep if you don’t speak geek.

So I’m essentially marooned here in the Bahamas while we sort things out after being struck directly by lightning on the yacht — and had a video deadline back in the states.  The client was Chick-Fil-A, and I shot with them the day before leaving for the Bahamas for two weeks.  My intentions were to edit on the boat and be back in time deliver DVDs the day before they wanted it for it’s first presentation.  First off, it is impressive enough to me that I can be fluently editing HD footage with just my Macbook Pro laptop and extremely small and portable 1 Terabyte external harddrive (That’s 1000 GB’s for those of you playing along at home.) while I rock back and forth in my tiny quarters on the boat.  After being delayed by the strike, I was able to compress a 5 minute video small enough to send for client approval, which I FTP’ed wirelessly to up my server via marina wi-fi (all for free), made some final tweaks for them, and just recompressed and uploaded a high quality quicktime movie (only 45 MB) which they will show tomorrow in West Palm Beach, FL.  Earlier today I did a video chat through Skype with my Dad (also a free modern service), had a international conference call (not so free), and sent multiple emails from my iPhone while sitting outside, without incurring any international fees.  Anyway, I’ve been impressed with what technology has enabled my nerdy self to accomplish out here.  As Scott Dailey would say:  There’s two types of people in this world:  Geeks, and people who work for Geeks.  Hoping to be the former.

Another Host Our Coast Video

I’ve been watching plenty of Host Our Coast App Vids in anticipation for finding out who they will interview and choose, and really the only other video I’ve been impressed with was done by a friend of mine, Matt Adams.  Full Sail grad who is pretty handy with his Panasonic HVX (very similar camera to my HMC-150)  Matt went for the artsy angle while I tried to entertain, and got some great shots of our area.  Definitely worth watching.  Hoping the Host is one of the two of us!

Big Green Boat?

The past two weeks I’ve been in the Bahamas onboard M/Y Scott Free as a deckhand (pictures to come soon!) and one the things I like (while a bit ironic on a boat which is entirely an extravagant luxury and indulgence, and burns TONS of fuel)is that there is a stress to be as green as we can.  We rarely use paper towels, plates, and never styrofoam, employ the publix reusable grocery bags, and turn off any lights and electronics when they are not in use.  But we consume, as my Kiwi bosun would say, “heaps” of plastic water bottles every day.  And as anyone who has ever been camping before certainly observes, the same is true of boating: We sure do produce a lot of trash in a day.  It’s my role to take it out, and I was reminded of an article I read that changed the way I looked at those little plastic bottles  by just how many I see in the “rubbish” every day.  I looked up some facts from it, and it’s surprising:

“The Pacific Institute, an independent think tank that specializes in development, environment and security, estimates that “the energy used for pumping and processing, transportation, and refrigeration, brings the annual fossil fuel footprint of bottled water consumption in the United States to more than 50 million barrels of oil, equivalent-enough to run 3 million cars for one year.”

Just for bottled water.  Something most of us could do away with by buying a $10 Nalgene bottle and holding it up to the tap a couple times a day.  Or even just refilling one of the 5 you’d drink that day.

So I’ve written my name on a Solo cup, and I’m doing my part?  But it’s made me realize something else.  About every “green” change we’ve made on this boat, benefits us.  No paper towels or paper products means less purchase expenses in the long run.  Turning off lights cuts down on the power bill.  Even stopping using bottled water (which isn’t hard, and would have a large long term impact).  But when it comes to making a sacrifice for change… dare I say, owning a smaller more reasonable vessel, well does anyone do these things?  There’s a new shade of green these days, and it’s fairly selfish.

Raise up a child, in the Jeep he should drive….

MY grandmother loves to dig out old photos and show them off to me when I’m home (I’m amazed that every time I stop by — she has found more of our childhood.) Here’s one of my favorites she dusted off:

That’s me at the helm, and my older brother Josh riding shotgun. And of course, as most of you know, years later, I would own the same one, just a little bigger.  No top, no doors, no problem.

I actually still wear flannel on occassion too.  Just no overalls.  And I’m glad my head doesn’t come out of the top.  Love my Jeep, but may be parting with it soon for something with better gas mileage, and where I can lock my video equipment up.  Never had childhood play time with a Volvo though.

Craig Wood.

About 2 weeks ago, as many of you know, I was home for the funeral of Craig Wood, one of my Young Life leaders when I was in high school and close friend. Craig’s whole life he has been subject to a disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, essentially meaning his skin both outside and in is extremely fragile, given to tearing and large blisters. He wore bandages on his hands, elbows, and knees, along with his mid-section. But anyone who ever had the chance to meet Craig immediately saw something — Craig was never focused on his own pain or suffering, and had unbelievable faith and trust in God’s control over his life’s path, no matter where it would lead him. He gave of himself to caring for others and seeing that they knew of the God he trusted in so much, through Young Life, his church, and speaking. Craig told me once he had calculated in his 24 short years he had been able to share his story with over 10,000 people.

Craig was certainly the closest person to me I’ve ever lost, but the passing of Craig was something we all naturally expected sooner than later, being in and out of hospitals often, even more so over the past 2 years. As my grandfather put it, Craig was “on borrowed time.” He had been given multiple countdowns throughout his life — From not being supposed to make it past 1, to 9, and so on. I, thankfully, got the chance to visit Craig in the hospital not even 2 months before he passed.

His funeral was held at my home church, Eagle’s Nest, and had probably over 400 in attendance, with many more who were only able to pass through during the viewing. Testimonies of his life and impact were shared by men well into their 50’s, of how a young teenager of unwavering trust, full of life, affected them. Prett Dyer told the story of taking Craig out to surf for the first time and how Craig rode 7 waves, all the way to shore. (For reference, it took me weeks to do that.) His older brother Brandon finished, bringing up great memories like Craig’s “random acts of poultry” (pranks involving the full body chicken suit he bought on eBay), but spoke beautifully of the life Craig lived and how he did not see himself as a victim to anything, but someone who had been given the gift of life and was set on doing the most with it. It was a true celebration of his life, and as the ceremony closed, my grandfather, sitting right behind me, whispered in my ear, “We should be clapping.” And just like that, he started. The room filled with applause, and some tears, thankful for Craig and the chance to know him.

He certainly had an impact with me, and not just the way I now cannot rightly complain about pain or suffering I think I experience — but on the way I want to make the most of every day. Life is short, and Craig knew this all too well. We love and miss you Craiger.

The following is the video Danny Tribbitt put a great deal into assembling, with the help of my brother JT. They did a great job. The video clips are all from a short documentary I shot about Craig back in 2005. I may upload that someday. There are some great memories here, and great quotes from Craig, and if you had the pleasure of meeting him, take the time to watch and remember.

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Cape Henlopen State Park / BP & Home Brew albums

Was looking through some pics I took on a trip back home last August of Cape Henlopen State Park and my old Beach Patrol, and doing a home brew with friend Luke Dickinson, who works for Dogfish Head right in my home town of Milton.

Man, I love these places. If you are fortunate enough to live near the beach, please don’t let them over-build and commercialize it. Enjoy.

For full albums, and a few more, check out http://picasaweb.google.com/nicksammons.