It is a tough situation we find ourselves in, and it has been hard to watch other countries go through a meltdown that I hope we can avoid here in South Africa.
Diving is safe providing you know who you are diving with, use all your own equipment and give your dive buddies a wide berth. In diver training this is not an option, and practicing social distancing on a dive boat is equally difficult.
Sadly in the interest of safety, for both you and I, we will take a break from diving for a short time. We will continue the newsletter weekly and return to training, diving and boat launches as soon as it is safe.
DAN Europe and DAN Southern Africa have issued statements about dive gear and dive travel – worth a read.
Baden Powell drive from the air
During these unusual times, remember that the outdoors, enjoyed at a safe distance from anyone you don’t share a home with, can provide both enjoyment and some mental health rejuvenation. Snorkeling in a tidal pool, or a walk on the beach, can help with that cabin fever.
I’ve got students in the pool on Saturday, and Sunday looks too windy for dives, so we’ll have to wait to get in some salt water until conditions improve.
Turtle time
It’s the start of that time of year when turtles strand on the beaches of the Western Cape. What to do if you find one? Don’t throw it back into the sea. The Two Oceans Aquarium explains how you should proceed. Read more here.
I’m shore diving students on Saturday morning at Long Beach, starting crisply with the dawn (ok, close enough). There’s a good gap in the wind, but to take advantage we need to be up with the birds.
Olifantsbos at Cape Point
Beach clean and Trash Bash
Two for your diaries:
The Beach Co-Op’s first new moon clean at Surfers Corner is this Saturday at 9.00am – details here
The Two Oceans Aquarium’s first Trash Bash of the year is at Rondevlei Nature Reserve the following Saturday, 1 February – details here. Maybe we’ll see a hippo…
Things are looking good for a weekend of decent diving without too much swell or wind. Based on the forecast I think Saturday will be better for shore dives and Sunday (which has a longer period swell) will be the best day for the boat.
On Saturday we will be at Long Beach at 9.00 am. On Sunday we will meet in the car park at False Bay Yacht Club at 9.00 am. I am out on the boat tomorrow so I will have a better idea of the visibility and will choose Sunday’s sites accordingly. There are students on the boat so the depth will not be greater 18 metres.
Olifantsbos on a calm evening
Diversnight organisers reported a total of 1,780 participating divers from around the world. Thanks again to all who were part of this event in Cape Town two weekends ago!
Scuba Professional: Insights into Sport Diver Training and Operations – Simon Pridmore
Have you ever wanted to run away and become a scuba instructor? Have you been intoxicated by promises of a lifestyle of tousled, barefoot, beach-based freedom from the rat race? Have you passed your instructor training course and are trying to decide what to do next? Or are you already a dive professional, perhaps looking to solidify your dive business, diversify your income streams, or branch out in the dive industry?
Scuba Professional
This is the final, and possibly most important, book in Simon Pridmore’s scuba trilogy (the other two are Scuba Fundamental and Scuba Confidential). Like the other two, it has much to offer – this time, to dive professionals and wannabe dive professionals.
Some of the topics Pridmore discusses are hard truths, such as the fact that becoming a scuba instructor is less about diving than about teaching. A person who doesn’t feel a vocation to teach should probably look for employment elsewhere in the dive industry rather than trying to attain instructor status. He devotes a whole section to teaching issues, many of which will be extremely useful to new instructors looking to move quickly up the learning curve.
An often overlooked feature of the dive industry is that there are many people who make a living from diving, but not by teaching students. Pridmore includes an incredibly helpful chapter in which he interviews several such dive professionals about their jobs, including a gear distributor, a photojournalist, a liveaboard cruise director, and a dive travel specialist. All of these professions include many of the positive aspects of the dive industry, and should provide inspiration for anyone who is keen on the underwater world but doesn’t necessarily feel the urge to teach.
For owners of dive businesses such as dive shops, charters or small training operations, Pridmore has much advice gleaned from running his own dive centre on the island of Guam. Many of his recommendations seem like common sense to anyone who has paid attention to the cycle of boom and bust that seems to characterise the dive industry in some locations, but they are hard-won insights that likely are only obvious after the fact. Unsurprisingly (perhaps?) several relate to safety considerations and gear maintenance. Many of the recommendations Pridmore provides are illustrates with anecdotes describing how he arrived at his viewpoint.
A whole section is devoted to developing a culture of safety in diving, something that featured in Scuba Confidential as well. It can be difficult to discuss dive safety and it seems to me that the industry doesn’t even try. None of the professional member forums I’ve attended, presented by training agency employees with access to incident reports, statistics and trends, has ever addressed dive safety directly. It would be tremendously helpful for instructors and divemasters to know that, for example (I’m making what follows up to make a point) most potential dive accidents happen on dive two of the Open Water course, during mask remove and replace, or during regulator recovery. Because instructors are obliged to report such incidents, training agencies know all about them.
Finally, the future of the dive industry comes under the spotlight, with a discussion of rebreathers (are they the future?) and the likely origin of the next wave of scuba diving students and tourists (Pridmore reckons, China). I was surprisingly moved (for a book about being a dive professional) by the chapter about dive tourism businesses, which concludes with the insistence that the only way a dive business in a remote, exotic location will flourish, is by involving the local community, training them to work in all levels of the business, and spreading a message of conservation that includes the people who live in the paradise in question. This kind of cultural sensitivity has not been the norm in many places, but where it is, the results are special.
Scuba Fundamental: Start Diving the Right Way – Simon Pridmore
When I first learned how to dive, all I wanted was to find books about scuba diving that were relevant to my stage of knowledge and skill, so that I could learn more (my learning style is by reading). Unfortunately at that time the only books about scuba diving in South Africa that I could find were absolute rubbish (fortunately the situation has improved immeasurably – here’s a quality example). I wish I’d had this book to hand, but it was only published last year, so sorry for me.
Scuba Fundamental
I read it anyway, with my jaded old eyes. It isn’t specific to South Africa, but it’s written for people who are contemplating learning to dive, who are busy learning, or who are still early in their diving careers. Many of the topics that Simon Pridmore covers are ones that Tony and I tried to deal with in the early days of this blog. He is eminently sensible, and writes from a position of deep, international experience in the dive industry.
If you’re thinking of learning to dive, are busy with your course, have done fewer than 30 dives, or are just seeking some direction in the early stages of your love affair with scuba diving, consider this guide. If you have a friend or family member you’d like to start a conversation with about diving, or would like to buy a dive course for but can’t afford it, this book is an excellent starting point. I found myself agreeing out loud with the author’s observations more times than I can count.
Get it here (South Africa), here (US) or here (UK).
Sunday: Boat dives from Simon’s Town at 9.00 am and 11.30 am (maximum depth 18 metres)
Filing station on Vaxholm
We are back from a vacation and the one thing, of many, that stood out as something that we could really use in False Bay, was a filling station. Not one for cars – we have those – but a real marine filling station that boats can approach from the water. The one in the picture is on the island of Vaxholm in the Stockholm archipelago.
Word is that the visibility is in False Bay has been decent. Not much wind or swell are in the forecast for Sunday so that’s the day we plan to dive.
Both dives (at 9.00 am and 11.30 am) will be to a maximum depth of 18 metres and most likely around Roman Rock, as I have students to qualify. Let me know if you want to join us.
Sunday: Boat dives (max 18 metres) at 9.00 am and 11.30 am from Simons Town jetty
Simon’s Town boating on a windless day
It is the time of year where False Bay is mostly good, clean and a little bit cooler. Providing the usual winter swells don’t hammer us, the conditions are good. Sunday looks to be the better day for us, so we plan to launch at 9.00 and 11.30 am from False Bay Yacht Club. Both sites will be a maximum depth of 18 metres as I have students to qualify.
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!
A long period 3 metre swell arrives tomorrow, drops on Saturday and then builds again on Sunday. I am planning two launches early on Saturday morning as I have several students to certify. We will meet in the car park at False Bay Yacht Club at 8.00 am. Destination unknown and weather dependent. If you’re keen on a magical mystery tour, drop me an email, text or Whatsapp.
Maritime archaeologist John Gribble is speaking at the auditorium of the South African Astronomical Observatory on Wednesday 17 August, 4.30 for 5.00 pm. His talk is entitled “From Shipwrecks to Hand Axes: An Introduction to South Africa’s Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage” and is described as follows:
South Africa’s maritime and underwater cultural heritage is surprisingly diverse and extremely rich. Although shipwrecks are the most obvious elements of this rich heritage resource, there are a range of pre-colonial maritime heritage resources that are less well known. This talk will introduce South Africa’s maritime and underwater cultural heritage, highlight the archaeological importance of this resource, and touch on a few examples of interesting, local historical wrecks.
There is no need to book, the event is free to the public.
