It’s not really necessary to say much about this innovative technique for testing a mask for leaks, save that you should hold tight to the boat and ensure that there isn’t someone with a camera standing nearby!
Handy hints: Checking for leaks
Category: Handy Hints
Handy hints: Winter boating
Do you remember what it’s like to dive in winter in Cape Town? Do you remember the freezing, spray-soaked boat rides to and from the dive site, buffeted by icy winds and pock-marked by blinding spray?
Here are three alternate solutions to the problem of freezing, bullet-like spray. Take your pick!
Handy hints: Baboon whispering
In order to become a baboon whisperer, a profound relationship has to be established between you and your furry compadres. How you do this is up to you, but Gerard met with great success after sacrificing (involuntarily) a tupperware full of the chocolate chip cookies his wife had lovingly baked for him.
You can see from the following sequence of images that the relationship between a baboon whisperer and a baboon can be a close and enduring one – much like that between a father and his son.
Handy hints: Making friends with baboons
Move over, Dale Carnegie. Gerard is here. In order to make friends with a baboon, you need only two things: hubris, and a tupperware container full of Mariaan’s chocolate chip cookies.
Gerard’s friendship with this large male baboon from the Miller’s Point troupe was hard won, yet enduring (more on that in a follow up post).
Unfortunately Mariaan’s little blue tupperware was less enduring, and did not withstand having its lid ripped open by giant baboon fangs.
(Seriously, feeding baboons creates big problems for both us – humans – and them. There are cases, like this one, where they are simply too quick and too wily to outwit, but do not give them food on purpose. They are wild animals, and feeding them is NOT COOL. Do you hear me, tourists?)
Handy hints: Indoor compressor maintenance
Service day on the compressor came round a few weeks ago but sadly it was pouring with rain so doing this outside was out of the question. The best solution in such a situation is:
- You must WAIT until your wife has left for work..(very important step)
- Bring the work table and the compressor, with oils, filters, tools etc. and spread them out in the lounge.
- Avoid the couch… (especially if it is white)
- Now you have a clean sterile environment in which to service a safety-critical item of the compressor.
Footnote
It is very important to make sure the wife has left because should you drop the container of drying agent on the floor (see below) you could possibly end up in trouble.
Handy hints: Keeping limber between dives
In Malta we had the privilege of diving with several Russian divers, and Sergey our Divemaster was also Russian. They were extremely impressive in the water – precise, no wasted movements, and demonstrating exemplary buoyancy skills. Unfortunately their English was only slightly better than our Russian, so we had to rely on hand signals (and Sergey’s interpretations) to communicate.
A couple of them also demonstrated some exemplary ballet/yoga skills, which were whipped out like clockwork between dives, despite still being clad in 5 millimetres of inflexible neoprene. I wonder whether maintaining a good in-wetsuit stretching regimen during the surface intervals wasn’t part of their secret diving mojo!
These pictures were taken at Cirkewwa before and between dives on the Rozi and P29.
Handy hints: Laundry
Requirements
- something that needs to be washed
- a longish piece of rope
- a boat (very important)
Sometimes we do boat dives from Long Beach. The slipway at Miller’s Point, the usual launch site for False Bay boat charters, can be a nightmare when the small area is inundated with fishing boats.
When BlueFlash boat charter pick divers up at Long Beach there is a mat on the beach for us to place our gear. By the end of the day this mat is full of sand so an easy way to wash it is to do so in the sea. All you need ia a long rope and of course a boat… Drag it into deep water, let it self-rinse and haul it onto the boat… Anyone can do it!
Handy hints: Snorkel technique
Note that the snorkel is worn on the right hand side of the mask in these images; this is incorrect, and it should be on the left. Because your regulator is worn over your right shoulder, the snorkel is usually on the opposite side.
Wearing a snorkel on land is not recommended unless you are highly trained, as Kate is.
Handy Hints: Hiding in plain sight
After a skills training session at the pool, Kate took some time out in the sun on the grass, giving rise to a veritable Where’s Wally scenario!
Handy hints: Looking good on the boat
Let it be said that I was warm – very warm – despite Grant’s notoriously fast boat driving, wind chill and having just completed a deep dive in 12 degree water while wearing a wetsuit. The fact that I looked like a “jellybean” (thanks Tinus!) or “the Michelin man” (thanks husband!) and that EVERYONE on the boat was laughing at me is neither here nor there. Diving is not a sport for the image-conscious…