The good news was that tomorrow I can board
a dive boat for two dives in the morning.
They promised a perfect diving spot in the
sea, so I can checkout the new diving gear.
This fits perfect in our plan, so we can
easily drive in the afternoon to Sydney,
some 4 hours driving. Next morning the
divemaster said he watched the sea. Diving
was this morning expected to be marginal.
Bad visibility, high waves. Still we decided
to go, but four divers chickened out. The
small boat jumped over the waves and hit the
water sometimes violent. Before we were at
the dive spot, I start feeling the first
signs of seasickness, so eyes fixed on the
horizon or coast is the best remedy. The
high waves were tricky, if you stayed close
to the boat you might have been smashed
against it. So going down as soon as
possible was the advice. But there it was
even worse, the current was very strong, you
had to fight for every meter. And my new
regulator seemed not to deliver enough air.
In the murky dark water we still could see
interesting fish, if they passed very close.
We should stay close together, as the by the
bad visibility there was a risk to loose the
buddy. And without gloves hanging on to
rocks and seaweed is no fun either. So I was
glad to be back again at the surface.
But even if the circumstances were far from
ideal, it was an interesting and challenging
experience. That's part of diving as well.
The second dive I skipped and the other
divers were happy to go back as well. Now I
understand completely why all the dive
centres in the north did not dive in the
past week.
