The forecast for 30-40 km/h winds persists into the weekend. It’s very likely that the Atlantic will be clean – it looks clean already – but the amount of wind is just too much. Sorry (for you and me)!
The conditions for the weekend do not really look that great. Because of the strong south easter, if anything the Atlantic is most likely to be a better choice, but probably rough.
The boat is currently wheel-less and is hanging on a set of slings while the trailer is in for a revamp. All things being equal it should be back and ready by next weekend, and we’ll hold thumbs for obliging conditions.
There is not much doubt that the best option for weekend diving activities will need to be from Oceana Powerboat Club in Granger Bay. The next two days of southeasterly wind should clean things up there after the really insane (almost 9 metre) swell that passed through last night.
The swell, if it lingers at 3 metres won’t be great so I will decide late on Saturday whether we launch or not. The water temperature is currently around 16 degrees so some cleaning by the wind is still required.
Octopus at the Two Oceans Aquarium
Diversnight
One more reminder to put Saturday 2 November in your diaries. The dive clubs are hosting this year, and it’s going to be a great event with lucky draw prizes, the works. Here’s the facebook event. Not sure what Diversnight is? Read this.
No diving The weekend is too windy for good diving, with strong south easterly winds starting on Friday evening. We won’t be diving, but I’ve got a boat launch tomorrow and I’ll share the conditions on facebook.
Jellies at the aquarium in Dubai Mall
Worth your time
New Moon beach clean
This Saturday at 9am is the monthly new moon beach cleanup at Surfers Corner, run by The Beach Co-Op. Event details (facebook) here.
Shark Night
As part of this year’s Shark and Ray Symposium, there’s a public event on Tuesday 8 October at the Two Oceans Aquarium that’s ALL ABOUT SHARKS. Looks awesome. Get more info and tickets here.
Talking Trash
As part of First Thursdays, on the evening of 3 October there will be a series of short talks about how waste is managed in Cape Town, the social, environmental and economic impacts of waste, and some strategies Capetonians can implement to better assist the City of Cape Town in its sustainability and resilience journey. The event is in central town, and is just one hour long. Find details here.
We won’t be diving this weekend, and there won’t be a newsletter (or diving) next week, but we’ll be back in business after the public holiday on Heritage Day (24 September). This weekend, Saturday looks good, and Sunday ok for diving.
I launched for divers on Tuesday, and they had fairly good conditions (5-6 metre visibility at Sherwood Forest and Castle Pinnacles) but the surface conditions deteriorated as the day progressed and the wind picked up.
Bioluminescence at Fish Hoek beach
This past weekend, helped by the south easter and then the heat, a thick red tide got caught in Fish Hoek bay and as a result we were treated to some incredible bioluminescence (caused by a type of plankton that fluoresces when disturbed by wave action) on Saturday evening.
This occurs at least a couple of times a year, usually in spring and autumn, on this side of False Bay (and it often makes its way around to the Kogel Bay area on the eastern shore). It is an incredible sight to see. There’s a little video here (pardon the screaming – the beach was packed and the people were excited).
It is still winter – time for lots of swell, and sometimes odd wind directions. There is all of that this weekend, with too many “maybes” at play to make a diving plan. Hout Bay may work on Sunday but the same could be said for False Bay. I don’t think the odds are too good so we have nothing planned.
Given the time of year, the large swells we are having are not all that unusual. Neither is the odd day or two of south easterly wind. Friday and Saturday feature both these gremlins, so conditions won’t really be great. Sunday’s forecast is a little rosier, however I doubt the visibility will have recovered and the surge will still be a lingering factor. This weekend my choice is to stay home.
The weather forecast predicts that we are soon to be lashed with 50 km/h winds, a 7 metre swell, and no small amount of rain. It seldom is as bad as the forecasts claim, however the swell size and direction will hammer False Bay. Despite Sunday’s weather looking peachy, I don’t think the ocean will be, so we will plan for a dry weekend… It is winter after all.
Shark Spotting at Fish Hoek beach
Shark Spotters supporters program
We are proud to announce that we have signed on as official supporters of Shark Spotters. We are Silver partners, and for larger businesses there are higher levels of support on offer. (We are hoping to encourage some of the other dive centres to consider supporting Shark Spotters, too…) Individuals can also sign on to the supporters program, or donate in many different ways.
We’ll write a blog post with more information soon – but in the mean time, we’re very happy to be contributing to the important work of Shark Spotters. If you’d like to as well, visit their website to find out how to lend your support, or drop me an email and I’ll connect you with the right people.
We have had extraordinary diving conditions in False Bay this past two weeks, with up to 20 metre visibility (and correspondingly chilly water) on some days. The conditions on Wednesday got a bit rough, and the wind and big swell that rolled in were a challenge.
But weekend conditions look very good. I won’t be launching, but if you do get a chance to dive, you should take it!
A submarine and Roman Rock in the distance
I listened in awe to the radio chatter on Wednesday while the NSRI searched for two small boats, calling on their boats from Gordons Bay, Hout Bay and Simons Town, and even helicopter support. Read all about it here.
The weekend is filled with neither fantastic nor terrible conditions – there’s some wind, a little swell, and very little sun. I plan to launch from Simon’s Town jetty, on Sunday, once I have seen Saturday’s sea state. Want to dive? You know what to do.
