Saturday
Two dives today. Need time to get the nitrogen out of my body before flying. The dives couldn’t be more different. The first dive this morning was supposed to be a bit of a search and recovery. A couple lost their camera yesterday. Lost it over a deep spot so no one could go back down to look. We offered to help with the search this morning.
We got in the water and started down. When I could see the bottom I could see just how fast the current was moving. Then I saw my buddy and the guide start kicking for the reef. I followed. I was kicking hard and breathing hard. For the first five minutes of the dive all I kept thinking was, “Don’t loose sight of the others, get to the reef and get low.” All this after hitting about 32 meters and heading up.
I finally got to the reef and could relax a bit and enjoy the ride. We were flying! There was no way we were going to find the camera. Even if we did, no way to stop. At least I had stopped sucking air.
Eventually we got to about 12 meters and the current slowed enough for a look around. Ran into a lovely turtle intent on his breakfast.
I was glad to be in that situation with experienced divers and glad that I was able to stay calm and remember my training. It was an exciting wake-up.
Second dive was on the Bio-rocks on Gili T. Last year a workshop was held there to train people on the Bio-rock, what they are, how they work and how to build them. Our 9th grade students work on them during project week.
During the workshop some artists were brought in to design some special designs. We saw a gigantic dolphin structure and a massive manta ray structure. All the coral is thriving. We also happened to luck into an amazing amount of nudibranches. There were several I had never seen before, Just beautiful.
It was a long (75 minutes), slow, relaxing way to end my diving on Gili Air. As I was sailing back to the dive shop, gazing over the sea, I was thinking about the Viking ancestry that is mine. I could feel it flowing through my veins. I’m good on the sea. I need to be there more often, if not always.
How about that current? The dropped camera was probably kilometers away. The owner must have thought hopeful about finding it, but when they felt the current themselves, they certainly gave up up quickly.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to find an activity on the sea that is you. Keep the activity such a part of you Dana.
All the best for this great holiday.
mjh
Hi Ms. Schwartzkopf!
ReplyDeleteWhat are nudibranches?
I wish I were there! But I first need to get the license thing! Daddy says he'll join the course/lessons on diving with me although he already has one! I started to like swimming in the ocean when I was snorkeling in 'Playa Muerta', it means dead beach in Spanish! We took a boat to the island from Santa Marta, it was amazing!! I also remember having a little multi-colored fish swim and stare at me about 2.5cm away from eye-level! When I was walking in the beach, I thought I saw a blue plastic-bag so I tried to pick it up but when I was bending down to reach it, I realized it was a beautiful trumpet-fish!! It had been swimming near the shore! I also remember swimming and my Dad telling us to get out of the water because he had seen a giant barracuda, they like shiny stuff and there was a big amount of people with the 'bling' while swimming!!
What was freaky, was that I saw this sword and from it came a red glow!! If I had known how to go underwater without drowning, I would have gotten it!! I also saw a sock stuck in a coral!!!
Hope you enjoyed it!!
Val =D
Oh, one last thing, GO VIKINGS!!
ReplyDeleteValentina