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Craig
de Wit can trace his ancestors back to a Dutch pirate in the 11th century
who drowned when his ship was sunk off the Hook of Holland by the Royal
Navy. Other ancestors, from the better side of the family, were admirals.
Generations  of
them were seafarers, so Craig is not too surprised to find himself operator
of the "Golden Dawn", an elegant 24-metre liveaboard base in Port Moresby.
Craig grew up in Papua New Guinea and studied electrical engineering in
Australia and was set for a career with Telecom. With a promotion on offer
after two years with Telecom in Sydney, Craig took a holiday in Papua
New Guinea to visit his parents who had been working there since 1952
- and stayed. The "yuppie" lifestyle did not satisfy, adventure called
and Craig went to sea. He crewed boats on delivery voyages, obtained valuable
sea time and eventually his Captains ticket. While travelling, he kept
an eye out for a suitable vessel to start a family business and keeping
with tradition. This resulted in the purchase of "Unity", a fast twin
screw multi functional vessel ideally suited for piracy. His dream of
emulating his famous ancestor (without getting sunk) was quickly shattered,
however, with the "Unity" being in constant demand for wild party-cruises
in Port Moresby harbour and treasure hunting with the "Gold Syndicate"
looking for the famed "India Maru" reported to be carrying 150 tons of
gold and wrecked off Wewak during World War II. As with most treasure
hunts nothing was discovered and it was hydrographic survey and oil rig
tender charters that made the business prosper.
It was during this period that Craig realised he didn't really want to
be a pirate, but something far less reputable a diver. He felt there was
a great opportunity for a liveaboard dive boat to explore the fantastic
Papua New Guinea Coral Sea reef ... known as Eastern Fields, a 90 nautical
mile cruise out of Port Moresby. Few had dived there but reports of big
fishes and the adventure of unexplored reefs were irresistible. This reef
is not  affected
by cyclones like Australian Coral, sea reefs and is much easier to get
to - just an overnight cruise away. So a search for another boat suitable
for liveaboard diving was started. The boat was found in Sydney in 1991,
a seldom used and luxurious rich mans toy. It was renamed the Golden Dawn
and fitted out for divers. Stabilisers, both dynamic and static, along
with compressors, air conditioning, GPS navigation systems freezers and
two inflatable dive tenders were added. Local divers were used as "guinea
pigs" to make exploratory cruises to Eastern Fields to find the top dive
sites. Satisfied that the operation was up to standard, Craig started
attracting international divers in 1993. He now has a worldwide reputation
for providing excellent adventures for experienced divers and particularly
underwater photographers. Golden Dawn runs seasons around Papua New Guinea,
Eastern Fields cruises take place in the fine weather slots October -
January and April- May with January-March spent out of Tufi and July-
October in Northern' Papua New Guinea. He employs a permanent  crew
of a chef and 7nationals and hosts many of the cruises personally.
Craig is an avid underwater photographer, he has an enthusiastic good
humoured approach to life and is a great mate to dive with. Stories that
he made me walk the plank are totally false:
.......... Bob Halstead
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