Remembering a Friend
Chomed, RIP, you will be missed

By Tim Rock

A lot of sad people are going to have nice stories to tell about a longtime Yap dive guide who passed away while fishing on Wednesday, March 14. Chomed, “The King of Rumung”, always had a smile and a twinkle in his eye, it seemed. He loved to dive and loved to do things for divers. He could find odd, tiny critters with ease. And other sunken stuff too. He and I had a joke about his camera supply business. It seemed every time I dived with him, he found some camera
bit sitting on the reef or wedged into the corals that had fallen off some diver’s camera. And I usually bought what he found or bartered for the price of a beer or two!

He loved challenges and projects and would gladly help with some photo test or critter search. He was always a great extra set of eyes underwater, thinking like a photographer and being alert to show me a photo opportunity, whether it be a manta or a sea moth. I enjoyed his tales about his home island of Rumung. His fishing stories. His jokes.

I guess maybe it is fitting he died while fishing. He loved the sea and I am sure the dolphins now have his soul out there in the ocean. I’m not sure where I’m going to get my camera bits from now on. But I’ll always have fond memories of a wonderful guy I shared the ocean with in Yap for a couple of decades. Next time I’m in Yap, I’ll look for you out there in the blue!

TR