The second day of the dive festival dawned grey and cloudy, with a north westerly wind blowing. This flattens the sea in False Bay, but it was quite strong and made for some slightly choppy surface conditions.
The dives in the middle of the day were almost blown (and rained) out by a squall that swept down False Bay like a banshee. Several boatloads of intrepid divers ventured out, and were rewarded with good visibility and even some rays of sun breaking through the clouds. One of the divers who went down to Batsata Maze around 1130 told me he know knows how the seamen on Deadliest Catch feel! At the dive control desk, I was receiving the skippers’ lists of who had been on their boat. Some of them were returned pristine and dry, while others looked worthy of conservation in a museum.
By the third dive session, beginning around lunchtime, things had cleared up considerably.
The prize giving was held at 5pm, and was very well attended. An impressive array of prizes were offered, and there were some very happy divers after the event! The efforts of the photo competition have been published on the CTDF facebook page, as well as the names of the other prize winners. The sponsors donated very generously, making this aspect of the festival very rewarding to the participants. One or two lucky individuals won more than one prize… Lucky is probably not the right word – in order to win prizes, you have to make the effort of entering the competitions, and these folk certainly did that!
After prizegiving, Bellville Underwater Club served chicken potjie, and many divers lingered over the hot meal. I went home and slept like the dead.
Now that this event has passed, I am enjoying having free time to spend as I wish, sleeping a lot, and trying to rid my body of the excess of cortisol that has built up steadily since March. Also, unpacking the boxes at home (we moved house a week before the festival). The festival will be a bi-annual event, with the next one in 2014. I hope to do a dive or two at the next one, and enter some competitions!
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