Everything ocean related, with a special focus on scuba diving the rich coastal waters of Cape Town, South Africa.
Hi divers
No dives planned
Hope you’re all settling into 2020 and feeling strong.
The good diving weather window this weekend is short: Saturday morning, and Long Beach is probably the best bang for your buck. I’m booked up on Saturday, but if you must dive, that’s your best option.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
No dives planned
Student dives over the last week have been reasonably good, with 5-6 metre visibility inshore. The visibility remains good, and in fact has improved with the unseasonal north westerly wind. The downside is a 5 metre, 16 second period swell. We won’t plan dives in this as the surge is often harsh.
Keep an eye out for weekday dives during the next week or two – we’ll publicise in this newsletter, on facebook, and via whatsapp. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and safe holiday season.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
Sunday: 8.30 am False Bay dives from Simons Town jetty
The weather over False Bay has changed for the better today. The seemingly endless south easter is taking a break and some wind from the west or northwest will pretty up False Bay over the next day or two.
By Sunday I am sure the conditions will be great. Meet on the Simons Town jetty at 8.15 am to load up and leave by 8.30 am. Site choice will be made on the move. I am keen to do a double tanker but am open to suggestions.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
Pool sessions!
This weekend I have pool sessions planned, so we won’t be getting salty. But the weather looks quite good if you do plan to head out. Saturday is probably the best day for diving as there is a slight chance of rain on Sunday. If you’re in town, remember that it’s the Blisters for Bread walk around Green Point on Sunday, which might cause a bit of traffic.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
No diving
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.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
No dives planned
False Bay is not exactly horrid at the moment, but nor is it spectacular. There has been a few weather systems one after the other so if you must dive, take a drive and look around before deciding where to get into the water. Windmill and Long Beach should be diveable and Sunday would be the better day of the two. Expect some surge. I have no dives planned.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
No diving
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.
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.
Shark Spotters is part-funded by the City of Cape Town and the Save Our Seas Foundation, and the rest comes from public donations. The Shark Spotters provide beach safety, a world-first environmentally friendly shark exclusion net at Fish Hoek beach, conduct educational programs at local schools, and conduct shark research in and around False Bay.
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.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
No diving
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
Hi divers
Sunday: Shore dives at Windmill or A Frame
Wildly different forecasts for this weekend make me inclined to go with the safest option, namely Sunday, as the best dive day. I have students to dive so will be shore diving, most likely from Windmill or A Frame, as when I checked earlier this week, the “stay out of the water” sign remains at Long Beach.
regards
Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/
Diving is addictive!
To subscribe to receive this newsletter by email, use the form on this page!
If the article I shared earlier this week made you want to learn more about the 2015 sinking of El Faro, an American cargo ship, this book is for you.
Using the 26 hours of voice recordings recovered from the ship’s deep water resting place after a prolonged search, Rachel Slade is able to reconstruct, in detail, the final voyage of El Faro. Slade also attended the hearings on the sinking held by the US Coast Guard, and interviewed the family and friends of El Faro‘s crew. The result is a detailed and illuminating investigative work that explains the disaster more comprehensively than simply to say that the ship sailed into a hurricane and sank. Slade also emphasises the humanity, connections and personalities of the captain and crew, who otherwise might be lost in the telling as statistics of loss.
The official explanations, and absence of any assumption of culpability for the tragedy, are enraging and frustrating, but illustrate the insidious pressure to take risks that commercial mariners may experience from ship owners and operators. This dynamic plays out at all scales. Even as a small business owner, Tony is sometimes asked to launch his boat in conditions that he deems unsafe. A client may put their own financial gain ahead of the safety of the divers, or of my husband. The risk of such a venture is entirely with the captain and others on the vessel, while the decision-maker (and financial beneficiary of the decision) sits ashore in safety like General Melchett sending his troops to their doom.
Slade’s book is a gripping read, accurately and comprehensively reported, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in maritime drama. It is also of particular interest given that warming oceans will give rise to more storms like Jaoquin, and our ability to forecast their movements with accuracy will, to an increasing degree, impact captains’ ability to keep themselves, their crew and their cargo out of harm’s way.
Do not confuse this book with Into a Raging Sea, the excellent book about South Africa’s National Sea Rescue Institute.
Get Into The Raging Sea here (US), here (UK) or here (South Africa).
