Woke up early as i was looking forward to join the DOP diving team and start a new adventure with them ... had a quick breakfast ... and around 8.30am prepared to leave the house ...
As i started the walk to the harbour i realised it was raining ... fantastic ... so the walk turned into a struggle not to get drenched as i was in flipflops and bermudas ... but nature was kind enough to drizzle for the longer stretch of the walk and at least i didn't need to wear my mask which i carried with me this morning.
Some 10mins before 9am i was at the DOP diving section and found the technician who prepares stuff and drives the rib there ... he barely speaks English but managed to communicate in some way. Told him that Joao Monteiro asked me to be here at 9am ... and from his reaction i realised that 9am was a very flexible meeting target ... and in fact around 9.30am the others started to arrive. With every arrival we shake hands and give a Bom Dia welcome ... which is good as you start feeling part of the team. One of them offered me one of his semi-dry suits, used a DOP BCD and Regs, Joao's extra boots, and a pair of fins ... i was sorted ... found a hood ... and had my own mask.
So basically my plan was to stay out of the way and blend in as smoothly as possible ... causing no problem to anyone ... creating no issues like needing assistance or being a burden.
Loading/unloading of the pickup and preparing the rib to leave was a joint effort ... so i was pleased that they allowed me to help and they appreciated my help ... which made them realise i was not new to a rib.
As we made our way to Monte de Guia the rain started hitting us hard as the wintery weather made the whole experience fantastically beautiful ... even though i was crippled on the rib holding on to one side by the boatman as the rough sea was doing its best to topple us over, raining all over ... but obviously its not a problem as we wer in suits ready to dive ... and wearing masks as the dropping rain felt like needles and pins on the face especially on the eyes.
As we swerved around the black monstrous volcanic thingy the seas calmed a bit as we made our way to the spot to do the job. We went past the spot where i dived with Tiago ... so was pleased that i'll be diving at a new spot.
As the boatman stopped the rib all started to done their kit ... it was something i wanted to check whether they do it on the rib or in the water ... well i could do both but wanted to conform with their method ... i assisted a couple of them as they grabbed other stuff they needed to do the job ... basically blue sheets of plastic around 1m by 1m ... these will be fixed to the rock using nails right over any areas they find the presence of this growing seaweed that is taking over the bottom of the ocean thereby killing all other vegetation as it blocks the sunlight. We have the same problem in the Meditteranean but with a different species of Caulerpa ... but which has taken over even the seabed in Malta.
As we descended two groups took off looking for Caulerpa communities and this was no difficult task as i could see the first group spreading the blue sheet over a rock, nailing it using steel nails and hammers, and as soon as they had it pinned down they introduced small cylindrical tubes containing Copper Sulphate (CuSO4) which apparently burns the Caulerpa and destroys it. This chemical known in Maltese as Kupru is not new to me as i remember my dad using it to get octopus out of holes ... basically it irritates the animals eyes (even ours if we had someone push it in our eyes) and forces it out of the hole ... to a worse option ... on my dad's hook. The issue as far as i'm concerned that as soon as the CuSO4 dissolves in the water it goes all over the place ... true that they're using sheets to keep it concentrated on the spot but it was visible that much of it was being released to the open sea ... not that it would damage much as it would quickly get diluted.
After a couple of spreading, nailing, dissolving and closing the sheet the teams get seperated ... each diver doing his thing thereby getting the job done faster as they had a limited number of sheets ... so i quickly joined the eldest member who seemed to have extensible experience in the team and which all others looked up at ... and assisted him do the same job. He didn't mind and could see that he was explaining stuff to me and sort of tutoring ... i didn't mind as long as he was happy. After we had finished one area we took off and found another colony and worked on it. At one point i say one diver point at a big grouper who was descending towards the bottom but close to where my buddy had found a spot to threat ... so off i descended around 25m to assist him keeping both eyes open for the grouper. As i held the sheet from one side to tighten it up i looked around on the sandy bottom and took me 2 seconds to adjust to the resting grouper some 2m away from us, curiously looking at us banging on the rock. It must have been 1.5m long, beautifully bulging mouth and big round eyes ... so elegantly calm puffing away. I signalled to my buddy about the presence behind us and he was surprised too to see this fantastic animal watching us. As was about to close the task we were at i could freely crawl towards the grouper which allowed me as close as 1m as we had a head-to-head encounter ... bit more closer ... as usual me bothering the crap out of sea life ... and she (or probably he) quickly gave me the shoulder and majestically finned away.
As we made out ascent close to rocky volcanic formations i could notice the surface being fearcefully pierced from above by heavy rain ... the boatman must be drenched by now ... poor guy.
We got to the surface ... normal procedure ... hand the weights ... hand and assist the cylinder ... and keep the fins to assist the laborious climb onto the rib without a ladder ... done gracefully.
As we made our way back to the harbour there was plenty of talk about the tasks but more than anything about the massive grouper we encountered ... they seemed pleased that i enjoyed it ... so all went fine.
At the jetty we took only the basic stuff like cylinders and empty bags that held the CuSO4 pods ... leaving all the other equipment on the boat for the afternoon dive. Its very safe here on the island and people tend to trust all ...something which is admirable and desirable.
As we got to the dept we quickly pushed our empty cylinders in the compressor room, rinsed our stuff and changed into dry clothes ... it was past 11am and so I decided to walk back to the new building and check my email ... only to leave around 2pm to be back at the diving section around 2.30pm
Much the same routine was done as the same team prepared for the 2nd dive today ... we were less loaded as much of the gear was on the rib ... so we quickly got going to do the same thing as usually they remove some of the sheets placed the previous day, but today as its going to be a deeper dive they will continue spreadng sheets.
As we descended at a different spot once again the same situation ended up where i could assist the same buddy for a number of sheet laying ... at one point he handed over the hammer to me so i continue fixing the sheet so that he could release and strategically place the pods under the sheet ... in this was we finished the job even faster as the coordinated effort worked fine.
As we finished all our sheets, we assisted the others to finish off their sheets and then started our decompression as we were at 41m on the deepest point. As we ascended in the blue away from the rocks we could see big Acciol swimming past to the excitement of the other divers and myself but which gave away their passion as a couple of them could be see making the harpoon point & trigger gesture ... pfffffff
The climb to the rib and the trip back was just like the first and when we got to the jetty we rinsed all the stuff right there and emptied the rib of all the kit onto the pickup. Now this pickup as i forgot to mention during the first dive is a 2-door open box pickup ... so we all sit at the back on the sides holding on as the driver made his way to and from the jetty ... during this process, apart from raining, they were saluting/shouting/teasing all of their friends and companions all over the harbour ... so its like a big happy pickup with 5 guys in semi-suits as we obviously already started stripping, moving and cheering ... hilarious
As i said goodbye to all they asked me if i will join them again and definitely told them that i will be back tomorrow or some other day this week ... and made my way home for some deserved dinner as it was close to 5pm ... the plan was to have some spaghetti and then walk to the department and back after dinner.
Needless to say my pasta al dente with pesto sauce was delicious ... don't have cheese on top but this time i have pepper which i borrowed from a restaurant ... small sachets of pepper i mean not a whole bottle.
Walking to the department ... checking email ... and back home was useful in more than one way. First of all the obvious digestive process works better over a walk and secondly Joao had emailed me that Norberto (the guy i went whale spotting with) was going to Princess Alice Seamount to dive with Mantas tomorrow at 7am ... at a reduced price for DOP and friends.
As I walked back i decided to go with Norberto only if the price was €100 or less ... the normal price for tourists is €200 but i did not want to spend more than €100. So i decided to set the alarm to 6am and be at the harbour by 7am ...ask him the price ... and if i dont go i will walk to the dept and at 9am go diving with the DOP team just the same ... sorted.
Arrived home ... prepared some tea ... 2 biscuits ... 1 gum ... and off to some TV and sleep.
Its been a long and busy day ... i shouldn't have problems sleeping even though my shoulder was bothering me from too much pulling on the rib not to fall off ... but eventually i fell asleep ...
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