WAOW Liveaboard in Indonesia - Newsletter

Welcome to our January 2017 Newsletter

Happy New Year 2017 !!!

For the New Year of 2017, the team at WAOW would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones all the best. We also hope that at some stage in 2017 your year may be punctuated by a beautiful voyage with magic under water moments. In addition, we would like to thank you for your loyalty and we hope to see you on the deck of WAOW soon for more adventures.

After some recent great cruises in Raja Ampat, and around the area of Misool, we are currently on the way to Cenderawasih Bay, to admire amongst others, the great concentration of Whale Sharks. A festival awaits us.

For this first newsletter of the year we have some good news about the reefs of Misool, plus an appointment for the upcoming dive show in Paris. In addition, we have some news on a recent December meet up with the builder of Waow in Bali, and finally some opportunities to take advantage of some Early Bird and Last Minute specials.

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Dive Exhibition - PARIS

From January 6 to 9, the 19 ^th edition of the " Salon de la Plongee" will be held at the "Parc des Exposition de la Porte De Versailles" (15th "arrondissement").

Michel, Julia and Stephane will be happy to welcome you on Stand number D05 . We hope you will be numerous.

Show specials will be offered during the show!

For more information on the show (access, program etc....) please click on the image.

Andrew sails on to new horizons

It is with a head full of memories and shared emotions over the last 8 years of our great adventure, from the construction to the operations of Waow, that we would like to salute the departure of our Director, Andrew Laughlin, certainly for new adventures.

One cycle finishes, others will follow. This is life.

Andrew has always been, until today, the man for the situation, with his courage, knowledge and all his energy put towards the success of our project. He is also the crazy one who said "yes" to my proposition without hesitation. We were certainly, at that moment there, a little naïve, both of us together. I also believe neither of us would regret this crazy bet we made. On the contrary, we are both proud and have reason to be.

Julia and Gerard join me in a big THANK YOU to you Andrew. Fair winds to the sailor that you are, and my best wishes for the success of you and your family in your new projects.

Michel Deville

FESPO Show - Zürich
Obtain Free Entry

The FESPO dive exhibition will be held from January 26-29 in Messe, Zurich. You will find loads of ideas for both your holidays and leisure activities.

Committed to the show, you will find our team ready to welcome you on stand 6.023. Show specials will be offered during the show!

Thinking of coming? Get your free entry by connecting to the shows website and indicate the following promotional code:

Promo Code: f175efs4j

Stand Number: 6.023

Simply confirm and print your ticket and you are all ready to go.

Please note: This offer is limited to 2 free tickets per email address registered.

Meeting, memories and emotions!

It has been for a long time that I have spoken of him, almost every day that I talk about WAOW. Incredible really, and I had a bad conscience, because we had not seen each other since the first cruise that we did in April 2012. But he, without any problems with it, reminded me precisely that it was actually when we put the masts in in 2011 that we saw each other last.

Well there he was, on a recent visit to Bali, far from his home in Sulawesi. Congratulations, hugs, teary faces (mostly me) and wry smiles of old accomplices, we shared many unforgettable moments together in the past.

His name is Hadji, and he is a genius in the construction of the Pinisi, Indonesian wooden ships. Hadji, slight in stature and quite reserved, is so proud to state that WAOW is the biggest and most beautiful boat he has ever built.

With Hadji we lived some pretty major challenges. Don't forget that he found himself in jail due to jealousy and political corruption. But, 7 months later, it was also he that convinced the gods in which he believes to bless the sacred path of the boat he wanted to build. It is with he that we had the pleasure to watch grow the somewhat crazy yet majestic project. He, that we could ask the impossible, such as an enormous and different shaped hull, and that he would provide.

In any case, it was only with him, the man of all the solutions, to take control of the unconscious dream of the occidental that I am.

A dream that all of those carried by Waow to the Seas of Indonesia may share in nowadays.

So yes, thank you Hadji. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And when I say from the bottom of my heart I know that you understand what that means.

Michel Deville

Misool - Miracles Exist.

We hear so often such bad news about the future of our seas. How nice it is to be able to share some good news this time.

In 2005, under the name of the "Yayasan Misool Baseftin (YMB)" sponsored by the Misool Eco Resort, the Misool Liveaboard Partnership (of which WAOW is a member), divers, government and non-government support, a zone around the area of Misool was created of total protection based on the following:

· A lease arrangement with the local communities to ban industrial fishing and shark finning.

· The hiring of Rangers, the provisions of equipment needed year round.

· Obtaining from the Raja Ampat Government the classification of the zone as an official reserve for the mantas and sharks.

From 2007, Mark Allen, zoologist and marine biologist from the Murdoch University in Perth, was given the responsibility to document a first estimation of the biomass, species numbers and quantity within the zone. The second estimation, made in 2013, has recently been published. He claims that the biomass has increased by 250% and the number of sharks has increased 25 fold.

This proves that when we want to, we can. This also takes into consideration that the locals may still continue to fish for their own requirements yet are compensated for not taking anything that would be classified as commercial. It is also to the advantage of the tourist-divers, to maintain the beauty of their passion, by both using good diving practices and contributing financially to this project.

In December 2016, I personally had the pleasure to dive in this zone and noted the amazing reality of this conservation, in particular on one dive where I had the impression to swim thru the entire marine catalogue, both in quantity and diversity. This reminded me of an experience in the Philippines more than 30 years ago. In a zone restricted to 30 X 200 meters, an American had obtained, from the chief of the Cabilao Island, the total ban on fishing and diving. In an initial stage it was a bit of a war between the authorities and the fishermen but after only two years it was the fishermen that requested a second exclusion zone. They had finally realized the advantages for their fishing in the zones bordering the initial exclusion zone. This really does go to show that if we leave it alone, nature has the possibility of powerful regeneration and it is a benefit to all if we can accept this, and learn to live and respect it.

Michel Deville

In this Issue

Dive Exhibition - PARIS

Bye Bye Andrew!

FESPO Show - Zürich

Meeting, memories and emotions!

Misool - Miracles Exist

Specials & Last Minute