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!
We dived Long Beach today in surge, strong current and lousy visibility. It is full moon and we have had some swell but I was hoping it would be ok – it wasn’t.
Weekend conditions do not look ideal for recreational (fun!) diving. Better luck next week I hope.
Rock lobster munching a sea jelly
Date to diarise
There’s a talk on South Africa’s inshore marine resources, with special reference to West Coast rock lobster stocks, happening on Wednesday 18 October under the auspices of Kommetjie Environmental Awareness Group. It starts at 7.30pm at Kommetjie Christian Church. There’s a blurb with more info here. It should be an extremely interesting event, and I’d particularly encourage you to attend if you are a keen crayfisher in season…
We have just returned from Sodwana, where we did a few eventful warm water dives with Coral Divers. If you haven’t been to Sodwana you should add it to your diving bucket list, for the colourful, vibrant reefs and good visibility. Highly recommended.
A barred rubberlips at Pinnacles
Local diving is not looking too promising for this weekend. A strong south easterly wind arrives on Friday night and departs on Sunday night. This is not really ideal for diving False Bay. Hout Bay is currently green and swelly, and will need several days to clean up.
My recommendation – if you must get wet – is that you consider diving in the I&J Oceans Exhibit in the Two Oceans Aquarium (blog post about this coming on Monday) and see the loggerhead turtle, Yoshi. She is to be released later in the year – read more here.
Into a Raging Sea: Great South African Rescues – Tony Weaver & Andrew Ingram
I insensitively packed this book for Tony to read while we were aboard MSC Sinfonia for the BirdLife cruise we took in April. It’s a rip-roaring read about various rescues that the NSRI has been involved with over the years, but – perhaps unsurprisingly – Tony wasn’t keen to read about maritime disasters (even ones that ended well) while we were at sea.
One of the things I loved about this book was that it reveals the men and women behind the daring, often dangerous rescues. The rescuers are allowed to recount the events they experienced, using their own words, and this is revealing. These rescuers are not usually lionised by the general public or, as a rule, afforded prolonged media attention, and neither does this book glamorise them or romanticise their achievements. The challenge of the rescues – and occasional raw fear felt by the rescuers – are vividly portrayed. The writing is beautifully matter of fact, without downplaying the seamanship, strength of character and perseverance required to do this (unpaid) work.
It reminded me fondly of the “drama in real life” stories that I used to devour from the pages of the Readers Digest magazines my grandmother used to bring whenever she came to visit. There are many, short chapters, each one offering its own little catharsis. The rescues span South Africa’s coastline, as well as a few other locations, and not all of them are maritime disasters.
Proceeds of this book support the NSRI. Get a copy for yourself, and all your friends. It will entertain anyone who loves a good story of heroism and adventure, and it will encourage anyone who’s feeling jaded about humanity’s capacity for good. It’s an excellent read.
You can find a copy on Loot if you’re in South Africa, otherwise here or here.
False Bay has been on and off this week. The swell is not wicked but it’s there and noticeable. The weekend does not look terrible, but we will leave the choice of diving or not up to you… We are heading north in search of warmer water. We are back in town next week Friday and will be ready to dive.
Sunday: Boat dives or Long Beach dives, depending on conditions
We seem to have fallen into a weekday diving zone where conditions are good for a few days during the week and then the weekend comes and the wheels fall off.
There is a lot of swell and wind in the forecast as well as some abrupt wind direction changes. This all makes for “look before you go” type planning that hardly works well. Saturday is definitely out. Sunday will depend on how bad Saturday is, and we will make the call on Sunday morning.
Langebaan lagoon
As a last resort we may opt for a Long Beach dive as it is somewhat sheltered.
Diversnight
We got the date wrong last week. (It’s correct here.) Diversnight is on Saturday 4 November this year. Diarise!
Sunday: Double tank dive in the ocean, location to be confirmed
What to say about the weekend? Saturday looks way too windy for my liking. Sunday is almost windless, however some swell and the howling south easterly wind all of the previous night might not leave False Bay very pleasant.
It is not inconceivable that Hout Bay cleans up… but last weekend was similar conditions and the Atlantic stayed green. I will launch on Sunday for a double tank dive, destination unknown and launch site to be confirmed late on Saturday. You know the drill if you want to come along!
Spring flowers in the West Coast National Park
For your diary
Diversnight this year is on Saturday 4 November. For those that don’t know it is an annual event, held worldwide, with the aim of getting as many people underwater at 8.17 pm (2017 – get it?) on the evening of the first Saturday of November. All of the many locations worldwide send in numbers and a bunch of Norwegian enthusiasts collate it all. Join us!
Seagull saying hello at MelkbosstrandIt’s a weekend with conditions that make choosing between the Atlantic and False Bay a bit difficult. There is 20+ km/h south easterly wind on Friday and Saturday, with a lot less for Sunday. The Atlantic will be cleaner than False Bay, but the swell in the forecast, if it arrives and is 4 metres as predicted, will make it unpleasant on that side.
Despite these odds I think I will stick my neck out and plan for Hout Bay on Sunday at 9.30 am, and confirm the plans late on Saturday afternoon. Most likely sites will be Die Josie and either the Sentinel or the wreck of SS Maori. Let me know if you’re keen.
Demystifying Groundwater – a talk
On Tuesday 5 September there’s a talk at Kommetjie Primary School at 7.30pm. The speaker is Dr Ricky Murray, a hydrologist, and he will talk about all things related to groundwater. This issue should interest anyone who has a borehole, as well as others who have heard of the plans to drill into the Table Mountain aquifer as a last-minute half baked attempt to relieve the water crisis that Cape Town is experiencing. Entrance fee R50 (including a beverage).
Here’s a link to the facebook event with all the details.
Saturday & Sunday: Deciding the day before whether conditions will permit a dive or two!
There has been a south south westerly swell over the last two days. False Bay does not like the southerly component, and prefers a westerly swell. The weather sites also can’t agree on the wind direction, and resolving the variation in the forecasts is fairly crucial to determining whether False Bay will be diveable.
This doesn’t mean its all doom and gloom. It means we will decide by 4.00 pmon Friday afternoon if we are launching on Saturday, and the same applies for Sunday. If you’d like to be on said launches, let me know and I’ll keep you informed.
Seahorse at Shark Alley
This week seems like a good time to dust off our protocol for diving with sevengill cowsharks. Let me just say that we didn’t have to use any imagination to come up with some of the things in the code.
For ocean nerds
On Wednesday 30 August, Nick Sloane, the South African salvage master who orchestrated the parbuckling of the Costa Concordia cruise ship wreck, is speaking at the Iziko South African Museum at 6 pm. He is a world-class salvor and it’s a fairly rare opportunity to hear him speak. Tickets are R30 if you’re not a friend of the museum (in the formal sense).
It is not really the time of year where the though of diving from Hout Bay would come up! Particularly as Chapmans Peak is closed at the moment, after rockfalls. This week there has been mostly south easterly wind so parts of the Atlantic are actually as clean/green as False Bay. The temperature recorded at the CSIR buoy off Kommetjie has dropped from 16 degrees to 11 degrees in the last 48 hours.
Toss in a little rain, some weird wind and a little swell and suddenly the question of where to go takes on a life of its own. I think the best bet will be to dive on Saturday, really early, in False Bay somewhere. I will take a look tomorrow late afternoon just in case somewhere else shows promise, and confirm details by 6.00 pm. Let me know if you’re available.
