Diving, Finally

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9 July 2011 Almoinha

Well, I managed to get diving on Thursday. So, everyone join in and sing to the tune of "Sound of Music"...My gills are alive, I finally went diving, yada, yada, yada

I arrived at the Anthia Diving Center and started to get my gear sorted out and to try on the semi-dry suit that I would need. I discussed the amount of lead I would need for the suit I was going to use. I chose to use a 12 liter tank as it was the smaller of the choices and proceeded to put everything together.

The shop is about 100 meters from the dock where the boat was tied up. So, we loaded our gear onto large wire flats, something like Home Depot has, and headed of to the dock. We all loaded our gear into the 6.8 meter rigid bottom inflatable and in no time were at the first dive site.

As there were two new divers on board, we dropped the instructor and his charges on the beach and went to our dive site of the morning. Our site was to be a wreck just off the point of Cabo Espichel. The visibility was about 8 meters, the temperature of the water was somewhere around 17°C and there was no current to speak of. While there was nothing spectacular, I did see an octopus and a large eel hiding in the tangled mess. After around 40 minutes at 23 meters depth, we ended the dive and headed back to pick up the new divers from the beach.

Due to the time involved in the trip, it was around 13.30 when we managed to get back to the dive shop. Next to the dive shop is a small kiosk that sells simple sandwiches, coffee, beer etc. So, after rinsing gear and hanging it to dry, everyone sat down to lunch. We were not going to be making a second dive for the day so beer was in order. In the end, I got a lift back to my apartment and was offered a ride back to the shop in the morning for another dive. Thanks Amélie!

The second day of diving was with a smaller group. We had 7 divers, 1 instructor and a boat captain on the first day, there were only three divers and a boat captain today. The dive site was called the Maternity Ward in Portuguese, was not that deep, 18 meters or so but it was cold. No, let me restate that, it was COLD. There. Even my dive buddy in a dry suit decided it was cold. Our guess is that it was around 14°C. After 50 minutes, we ended the dive and headed back to the shop. The process of cleaning up, hanging things to dry and having lunch was repeated. Thanks god for the hot shower available!

As it happens, the owner of the shop has his personal dry suit for sale. And, I am in the market... Looks like I may be buying his slightly used (5 or so dives) Santi eSpace dry suit soon. I will take the heavy dry suit undergarmet I bought from Mike Greuter with me, if they ever arrive with the rest of my household, and trying the suit on. Then I will have to dive through the winter!

Next up, we have house guests for a few days and then we rent a car for two weeks to travel around, look at cars to buy and houses to either rent or buy.

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Comments

[Kathy Hanselka]

Diving, Finally
OH MY!!!! Really enjoy your travelogue and commentary. A way to see a part of the world without leaving the desk. Sounds wonderful. Still on our agenda. Tell me about the land that is "perfect". Is it going to work out?

[Wesley]

Brrrr
With those temps you might need a hot water suit in the winter!!! Have fun touring.