Sunday: Meeting at 9.00 am on the Simon’s Town jetty for boat dives (20-30 metres’ depth for Advanced divers)
Weekend conditions look decent. I have both Open Water students and Advanced students to certify, so I will tentatively plan shore dives at Long Beachon Saturday at 8.30 am, to be home in time for the rain…
And boat dives for Sunday at 9.00 am on the Simon’s Town jetty. Sunday’s dives will be in the 20-30 metre range as there is some swell, so we will hide from the surge at depth.
Baboon on the beach at Platboom near Cape Point
Water
I hope you’re still exerting yourself and thinking independently and responsibly about your own future water security. Here’s this week’s Wednesday Water File from the WWF, which deals with South Africa’s water sources.
Sunday: Boat dives… which side of the peninsula to be confirmed!
Both Saturday and Sunday have fairly decent weather forecasts. The question will be whether the visibility is better in False Bay or Hout Bay. I will go with diving on Sunday, doing two launches. The first will be for Advanced students, second for Open Water divers. I will decide tomorrow late afternoon where to go. Shout if you’re keen to dive.
Ark Rock
Water
The WWF’s Wednesday Water File this week is about carrying on our water saving ways, even though the situation for the rest of the year has apparently improved (or, an election looms large). There are some great “dry hygiene” tips to help you to keep under the 50 litres per person per day limit. Read all of them here.
Citizen scientists unite!
Are you interested in how you can contribute to science as an ordinary citizen? We’ve shared some local ideas here and here… And now there’s a Citizen Science Fair taking place at Kirstenbosch on 14-15 April. Here’s a link to the event on facebook. Learn about how you can get involved in adding to scientific knowledge, which enables better conservation management decisions and protection of the biodiversity around us. I’ll remind you again of this event closer to the time.
There is little doubt that both Saturday and Sunday will be good for diving. It may be better in the cold Atlantic on Saturday and the warmer, green False Bay on Sunday. At a guess I would say Saturday is likely to be the better of the two but both days should deliver some nice visibility.
I have a bunch of Open Water and Advanced students to qualify so sites will be chosen based on who can dive, and when. Let me know if you are keen to join us.
Desalination plant site at Strandfontein
Water!
This week’s Wednesday Water File is extremely interesting: all about desalination. Read it here.
Saturday: Launching from False Bay Yacht Club at 8am for a Smitswinkel Bay wreck / at 10.30 am for cowsharks
African penguin at Boulders
I’m launching early on Saturday for a student dive to one of the Smitswinkel Bay wrecks, and at 10.30 am for (most likely) cowsharks. They’ve been spotted by a couple of reliable witnesses this week!
The boat is already almost full, but if you’d like a spot let me know as soon as possible. We may also be able to go out on Sunday – let me know if you’d like to dive.
Sunday and Monday: Boat dives (location to be decided)
Last weekend we did some boating in Table Bay as a support boat for the Robben Island to Big Bay Freedom Swim. The remnants of the swell on Thursday and Friday was enough to give the swimmers a sizeable challenge with strong currents, choppy surface conditions and very cold patches of water.
Colin swimming across Table Bay
The swell climbed from under 2 metres to a little over 5 metres this morning. This means diving tomorrow is pretty much out, as is diving on Saturday (thanks also to the Two Oceans Marathon). The swell drops off during the day on Saturday so both Sunday and Monday should deliver some reasonable diving conditions.
It is difficult to say whether Hout Bay or False Bay would be better on Sunday and Monday, but I will make that decision late on Saturday afternoon. I have Open Water and Advanced Open Water students so one day is likely to include a deep dive to more than 18 metres.
If you are keen to dive on Sunday or Monday, let me know and I’ll schedule you in!
The weekend forecast looks mostly like it is going to be a cool – or rather cold – water dive weekend. There is a fair amount of swell on Saturday, too much for my liking. Sunday has less swell and a little less wind. Hout Bay will most likely be the best option as the wind is fairly strong south easterly which is not all that pleasant in False Bay.
View towards Simons Town from Glencairn
It will again be an early start as I have both Open Water and Advanced students, so we will likely meet at 7.00 am at the slipway in Hout Bay. Text me if you are diving.
We seem set for a week of pleasant conditions. That rates as a good early Christmas present in my book. On Saturday and Sunday we will launch from Simon’s Town early to finish a few Advanced and Nitrox courses.
On Monday we will do shore dives to continue with Open Water courses, and the rest of the week will be for fun diving. Let me know where you want to go and when you’re free, and I will see if we can make it happen.
The much beloved Danes in the pool
Stuck for Christmas presents? Check out our 2015 gift guide. It’s still pretty fresh, but to it I would add Into a Raging Sea, by Andrew Ingram and Tony Weaver, commemorating 50 years of the NSRI. Available at all good bookshops!
Today we took a load of surfers out to Dungeons. Amongst them were a few first timers at Dungeons and the happy cheers and bear hugs when they caught their first serious Dungeons roller was a sight worth seeing. Dungeons is a spectacular sight so if you haven’t been there do so at least once in your life.
A surfer at Dungeons
Back to diving… We dived the Atlantic last weekend. Maori Bay was cold and clean-ish. Visibility was around 10 metres but then the temperature was also in the single digits. Die Josie was a lot cleaner and just as cold.
Returning to the jetty in Simons Town
On Sunday we dived in False Bay – doing Search and Recovery for an Advanced course in 2 m visibility makes it a little more realistic!
This weekend
Well… There is swell and wind in the forecast. The swell was not all that noticeable in False Bay today but was very surf-worthy at Dungeons and Muizenberg today. The wind is forecast at around 30 km/h for both days and for students doing their first boat dives I think it’s not that good an idea. So I have no launches planned for this weekend.
Saturday and/or Sunday: Boat dives in the ocean, probably… For an explanation of why so vague, read on!
We seem to be in a zone of poor weekend diving conditions. The weekdays offer some options but most local divers need weekends condition because of inconveniences like their jobs! This week has offered several decent days midweek and a gloomy weekend outlook. Saturday has more wind than Sunday but Sunday has more swell than Saturday… What to do?
There is currently a 4 metre swell in the Atlantic that will have some effect on Hout Bay. I have a backlog of Open Water and Advanced students needing boat dives, not to mention a bunch of regular divers all chomping at the bit so I am going to plan for both days but sadly it will again be a matter of making a decision on the morning. This involves a quick drive down to Smitswinkel Bay or alternatively a trip up Chapmans peak to take a look before deciding. For students, we would like good surface conditions and good visibility, for purposes of safety and enjoyment. There is no room for compromise here. If you can handle a short notice YES or NO to a dive as yet unplanned, then text me to book.
Seal says: this is my good side
Mozambique trip
Clare has been in touch with those of you who have expressed an interest in joining us from 28 June to 4 July for five days of diving in Ponta do Ouro. Please let me know if you haven’t heard from her and we’ll get some information to you as soon as possible. For more about the diving in Southern Mozambique, check here and here.
DAN Day
The next DAN day is at False Bay Underwater Club on Saturday 28 February, from 2-5pm. DAN is an organisation that provides top up medical and evacuation cover to divers, as well as medical information, and a host of other services. They host sessions of lectures and slideshows by industry specialists, on all sorts of diving topics (often safety and medically-related), two or three times a year. The afternoon time slot of the one on 28 February means that you can dive in the morning and still attend! There is some more information here. These events are always extremely informative and highly recommended.
We had fantastic diving in freezing cold water in False Bay on Friday for the Advanced course currently on the go. It was a real shock to feel 11 degree water in False Bay at the height of summer – by the time we got to the top of the beach we were hot again! By Saturday morning, a spectacular green plankton bloom reduced the visibility back to low single digits.
Hout Bay today
This week, despite there having been so much south east wind that our cats have struggled to stand upright, the Atlantic is not as clean as you might expect. I took these photos from the top of Chapman’s Peak around midday and you can see the patchy brown spots. More south easter tomorrow may improve the conditions in the Atlantic, however a 3 metre, 15 second swell rolls in tomorrow evening, so I think there will be too much surge for comfortable diving. The wind goes westerly at midday on Saturday and the swell drops so I reckon Sunday will be the best day for a dive, and we will launch from Simon’s Town jetty at 9.00 and 11.30.
