Well, the jinx is well and truly broken. Three times was a treat. Perfect weather, virtually no current, good vis (a bit green), made for a very very nice dive.
Saw lots, buddied up with Manny the man who pointed out lots of life that I would have otherwise missed. an electric ray was a highlight, lots of bait fish, scorpion and common devil firefish, an eel (not sure which one) and a natal wrasse. An excellent dive and even got some reasonable photos.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Whither the weather
2nd day of dives cancelled due to wind and unsettled conditions. Heard there is a cyclone off Madagascar that is heading to Mozambique through the straits so the whole east coast may develop bad vis....bummer!
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
5 dives in a week!
Hi, my name is DurbanDiver101 and I'm a diveaholic, its been 2 days since my last dive.....
Followed up Sundays two dives with another dive to Chains/Nevs Ledge on the 7th. Good dive, hopeless safety stop. Somehow one integrated weight pocket fell out of my BCD, it was still attached but dangling so it threw my weight all over the place, couldn't hover. On top of that, with all the shenanigans trying to stay at 5m (I also miss weighted myself, took out 2kg instead of just 1) my nitrox tank was virtually empty so I was even more buoyant!
Took the boys for dives on Saturday. Vis was ok but it was a bit surgey with a current so 1st dive with son no1 to Birthdays was ok, although we ascended early since he had a headache (stop skip breathing!!) then 2nd dive with son no 2 had to be to the more sheltered Limestones. Its not a great reef but still quite a lot of life to view and son no 2 enjoyed so thats fine!
Followed up Sundays two dives with another dive to Chains/Nevs Ledge on the 7th. Good dive, hopeless safety stop. Somehow one integrated weight pocket fell out of my BCD, it was still attached but dangling so it threw my weight all over the place, couldn't hover. On top of that, with all the shenanigans trying to stay at 5m (I also miss weighted myself, took out 2kg instead of just 1) my nitrox tank was virtually empty so I was even more buoyant!
Took the boys for dives on Saturday. Vis was ok but it was a bit surgey with a current so 1st dive with son no1 to Birthdays was ok, although we ascended early since he had a headache (stop skip breathing!!) then 2nd dive with son no 2 had to be to the more sheltered Limestones. Its not a great reef but still quite a lot of life to view and son no 2 enjoyed so thats fine!
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Normal service has been resumed
SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY
Perhaps it was a tad ambitious after having a panic attack and an aborted dive due to vis but I decided to book on a double tank dive to Coopers Wreck.....
Well, the current was reasonably strong and as I tried to swim and descend towards the anchor line I just moved further away from it! The boat came back and collected three of us who failed to descend, tried again but by the time I grabbed the rope I was finished, just breathing too hard to descend.
Sat it out on the boat but soon another diver emerged, vis was not good. The rest of the group finished the dive but the 2nd descent was cancelled.
So, dive no 3 in a row failed.
We tried a small wreck further out to sea where the water seemed clearer and it was ok. The Hawthorne is a small 1800's wooden wreck sitting in the sand. A reasonable amount of life around the boat but the important thing for me was to descend successfully and get over this mental block.
My heart was beating hard and my hands were trembling for the 1st 5 mins. There was quite a surge which periodically made the wreck a sandstorm but overall an enjoyable dive AND, had a very good safety stop with a good horizontal profile. I like the aluminium 11 litre nitrox tanks.
Durban Diver is back on track!
Perhaps it was a tad ambitious after having a panic attack and an aborted dive due to vis but I decided to book on a double tank dive to Coopers Wreck.....
Well, the current was reasonably strong and as I tried to swim and descend towards the anchor line I just moved further away from it! The boat came back and collected three of us who failed to descend, tried again but by the time I grabbed the rope I was finished, just breathing too hard to descend.
Sat it out on the boat but soon another diver emerged, vis was not good. The rest of the group finished the dive but the 2nd descent was cancelled.
So, dive no 3 in a row failed.
We tried a small wreck further out to sea where the water seemed clearer and it was ok. The Hawthorne is a small 1800's wooden wreck sitting in the sand. A reasonable amount of life around the boat but the important thing for me was to descend successfully and get over this mental block.
My heart was beating hard and my hands were trembling for the 1st 5 mins. There was quite a surge which periodically made the wreck a sandstorm but overall an enjoyable dive AND, had a very good safety stop with a good horizontal profile. I like the aluminium 11 litre nitrox tanks.
Durban Diver is back on track!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)