Anchor Bay - dive three

The sun was still shining bright in the sky as we made our final descent into the waters of Anchor Bay.

This time, the exercise was to perform an emergency ascent.

"You know, for those situations, should you run out of air."

This, I must say was trickier than it sounds.

Task:

• Ascend to the surface.
• Exhale while swimming up.
• Blow up your BCD vest manually once on the surface.
• Perform during a medium current.

First, I didn't actually realize how long time it takes to swim up, even if this was only at 11 meters. Then on top of this, you have to keep exhaling on your way up, at a pace that is fast enough to ensure your lungs don't get ruptured by the expanding air, but at the same time slow enough for the air to last you all the way up.
I must admit, even though I thought it would be easy, I had to try it a few times to get it right.

First attempt, I ended up accidentally inhaling a bit of water - struck by a minor panic and grabbed for the instructor's spare regulator.

"Alright, safe, nerves are back under control - let's go again!"

This time, I made it up. But - completely out of air. Exhaled a bit too fast. Ending up hitting the surface, grasping for air - getting some in but due to the waves, a bit of water as well.

"Two seconds, three - stability. I keep afloat."

"Next step, get more air and inflate the BCD. But remember not to inhale any of the air that may possibly be in there!"

Taking a few breaths, I managed to get it inflated and finally floating in the water. Now was the first time I could breathe properly, without having to worry about water.

This whole scenario took perhaps about 10-20 seconds - but it felt waaaay longer. You start reacting very instinctively when you're out of air...and instinctive may not always be the best way.

"Good thing it was a part of the exercise, as next time the reactions and feelings were different!"

Once all was said and done, we continued our exploration of the bottom - just to make a stop at a small rock formation.

I thought to myself, what is this?

That's when our instructor moved one of the stones and two tiny eyes stuck up through the hole. Just looking at us. Turning from one person to the other.

Then suddenly - a tentacle comes out and grabs the stone that was moved. Holds it and pulls it back to the rock formation.

At this point, I could imagine there being a speech bubble saying: "This one is mine, thank you!"

I may dare to say that it even looked - cute.

"Yeah, I went there!"

 

Yeah, it was a small octopus who took shelter during the sunlight, waiting for the sun to set and the water turn darker.

We decided to leave it alone to rest. After all, we were there to watch, not to disrupt the marine life.

Following this incident, I decided to pay even more attention to the bottom. That's when the crazy fishes seemed to appear. Some were moving along the bottom. Some were flat, manta-style while others were apparently sliding along the bottom on their side.

"To be honest, I'm just intrigued as you as to why they would do that! :o"

 Fishes that really didn't care about us.

Jellyfish in various colours.

Then we also stumbled upon this amazing thing.

It is awesome because of the way it looks.

A small shell, moving slowly along the bottom of the sea. The instructor picked it up, just as he did, we could see the pincers disappearing into the shell.

After holding it for a moment, we could see the pincers come back out and so did the head. Was incredible to see something like this up close, in reality, instead of an aquarium.

After putting the shell back on the bottom, we kept looking at it for a few minutes - seeing what would happen - and it did happen!

The crab got the legs out and - with speed unexpected from such a small creature, in water to boot - it ran off, stirring up a small cloud of sand behind it.

I chuckled to myself and we continued swimming.

Then I saw it, there it was! Just looking at me, poking for my attention. A white and red sea shell, reflecting the light through the water. As if it was calling me in, like a siren's song.

"I'll take that, it will be my souvenir from this!"

Once again, we came out to the streamy part and we had to cross the current to get back to the jetty.

I don't know if it was the tiredness, the CO2 build-up from three consecutive dives or just my eyes, but I could swear that the bottom was moving back and forth beneath me, not that we were moving forward. Think "corky house" attraction in a theme park. (Lustiga huset in Swedish)

But in the end - we made it back.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what an OWD-certified diver may look like!

Anchor Bay dives one and two

Dive one:

Gear up, weights on and take a giant stride from the jetty, into the water. Even directly at the jetty, it was already three meters deep and there was no risk of hitting bottom when jumping in - even with the 25kg extra that I was wearing.
After a few basic exercises, we decided to take a swim around the bay, where we found out where the name comes from. Quite simply, at the bottom of the bay, there is a 2x2 meter anchor which has over the years been overgrown with vegetation and now hosts a bit of marine life.

After a short swim, we returned back to the jetty, climbed up and changed our tanks.
No rest, underwater exploration awaited!


Dive two:

Gear on, buddy check done and another stride into the water!
This time we performed basic compass navigation exercises and go around the bay area along the bottom.
A this time, it had gotten windy, causing waves and additional streams. It made it slightly more challenging to swim but at the same time it was good to experience and to learn how to properly move in streamy waters.
Before it could get any worse, we decided to dive into one of the underwater caves, just so that we could experience it.

"Oh boy, was that an experience, alright!"

We saw the cave entrance. It was dark, as if the darkness from inside was slowly trying to reach out and swallow all the light.
We swam towards it. Into the darkness.
The further inside we got, I could notice how the light quickly faded. Even just moving 10-20 centimeters made the lack of light very noticable. But we continued and it gradually became darker.
A few seconds later, I could barely see my instructor in front of me. He was less than a meter ahead.

All I could see was the instructor's tank. That little bit of silvery surface upon which light from outside the cave entrance was reflected.
The tank looked as if it had stopped, then it started to ascend.

"I followed - keeping my hands right above my head, bracing for impact from any ceiling I might hit."

That's when I hit it - the surface.
We had come up inside an air pocket in the cave. It was pitch black all around me, but I still looked around - hoping to see any small source of light - and I found it. A little bit of light was still shining in through the cave entrance behind me. I could see the colours out there, a few colours a the bottom - but inside the cave, it was completely dark.

I heard my instructor say something about regulators, but not exactly what it was. General assumption being that you can take it out and breath normally, I decided to do so.

Mistaaaaaaaaaaaaake!

The air was thick, humid, but somehow it was also very, very dry at the same time. It hit me that this air has most likely been in this cave for several months - if not years.

"Quickly, regulator back into mouth and start breathing tank air again!"

I looked around the cave once again and I could see a light. It was coming closer. Then suddenly, it hit the surface approximately 5 meters away from me and illuminated the whole chamber. 

The light was a group of more experienced divers who had been further inside the cave, apparently entered from the other side - but it was a 5-10 minute swim through it and thus nothing we should be doing at this point as we had already used half our air at this point.

It was not a very big chamber we were in, perhaps 2 meters between surface and ceiling, but it still looked incredible because of the natural stone formations and the fact that there was normally no light here. 

Having never been in an underwater cave before, I decided to class this experience as very cool due to the initial excitement and the way the light just seemed to disappear.

Swimming out of the cave, I felt a bit of relief. It was nice to see the light again and be able to use your eyes properly.

On our way back, the current had gotten stronger. We had to cross the stream completely and swim back on the other side of the bay, otherwise it would have taken a lot longer time to get back - or a lot more effort. But in the end, we made it back!

Continue reading - dive three.

Diving!

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been down here in the middle of the Mediterranean sea - on a small island known as Malta.
The island isn't very big and you can go around it all within a day.
However, there is lots and lots of heat, water and diving sites!

So, what's the story so far?









This is what we woke up to - every day!

 

But apart from that, we have been diving.

The week started off with a few hours of theory to get to know the gear and the safety, which then quickly turned into practice on the second day!

The first few dives were in a quite confined environment, despite being in the ocean. The area just outside that stone wall is considered shallow, 6 meters - which is still deeper than most indoor swimming pools, where no boat traffic is allowed.

For our second day, we decided to head out to the north-western part of Malta - a little place called Anchor Bay.

As you can see to the left, there is a stone jetty shooting out from the shore to break the waves and keep the bay calm.

You can also see that it has been destroyed on several locations. This picture is only showing half of it.

Parts of the jetty is also sloping into the sea.

Why is that necessary? 

Well, I'm glad you asked!

This is the inside of the jetty.

The houses on the other side of the bay are a part of the Popeye Village.

This is the set that was made for the recording of the 1980s live-action Popeye movie!

"Yeah, a bit before my time, but still!"

Once the movie was finished, it was decided that there was no need to destroy the village. It was better left as it is and turned into a tourist attraction.

Now that you know the area, let's talk diving!

Dive one and two

Dive three

On the horizon – vacation!

Yes, it is vacation time again. This time, it has taken me down to the salty Mediterranean sea and the sunny island of Malta.

It was a very randomly selected trip.

“Just the way I like it!”

To be honest, I had no plans of going here until I met up with some old school friends on my last trip to Sweden. So we got this crazy idea of going down to Malta and get ourselves the diving certificates (Open Water Diving) sorted. After all, this is something you can build upon over time – and seeing the underwater world with your own eyes is something very special.

Aside from the obvious workout that scuba diving brings ("apparently it’s around 800 calories per hour") there will be another challenge: Food.

Once again, I find myself at a touristy location, where I would love to taste the good restaurant food and the Maltese cuisine. I would also hate to give up the social factor and ditch my mates when it comes to food. Thus, a solution has to be found, a solution to sustain the low calorie intake, without giving up too much of the good life.

On the bright side, it seems that I managed to do this so far. I do not feel heavier, apart from when I am wearing 25kg extra, during a dive. :p


I have kept a small food log, together with the exercise that I have been performing. Once I am back and it is time to do the hindsight again, I will publish the food of this vacation and we shall see what the effects of it has been. ^^

You can expect the next post to be a bit more in-depth about the visit, as I am currently on a very...ehm, improvised internet setup. :D

Changes, changes - challenges!

What would a new month be without any additional challenges, without something that blindsides you at 2 o'clock on a saturday afternoon?

"My guess would be: still, or perhaps even: boring."

As of recent, I have had another major change happening in my life, aside from what can be associated with this challenge.
A few months back, I decided to leave the job I had in order to seek something new and develop myself further.

"What's better for that than jumping in, head first into something unknown? ^^"

On top of that, I also decided to leave Cork and move on to a bigger city that would still hold opportunities, both professionally and socially - Dublin.
With such a move, come a lot of changes.
One of them is that I had to quit the gym, which I had gotten quite accustomed to. I knew which quirk the different machines had and which times I should go in order to avoid the waiting times.
Switching gyms can be such a hassle, but as much as I am a fan of comfort, 2½ hours travel is perhaps counter-productive if you just want to visit the gym. :p
Thus, my next goal up here will be to locate a decent gym that is close enough, in order to pick up my regular workouts again.

"I mean, I am already starting to feel how some muscles are starting to relax. 

But, but, but....I want to keep the shape!!!!"

On the bright side, I have managed to find myself a nice band-aid-solution for the time being.
While walking around the area here, I found that there was a park nearby. Yeah, a real park with cut grass, playgrounds and a pond with swans. In addition, they also have some outdoor workout stations where you work with your own body weight as counters, so nothing too heavy. It's also about the same size as the Fitzgerald Park down in Cork, so it's excellent for running in.
Yeah, you got that right, I picked up jogging.


I'm a little surprised at how good it feels and how tiring it is. I thought that my hard workouts on the cross-step would prepare me for the running - but oh how I was wrong. Even though both exercises focus on your legs, different muscles are being used in a different motion. Weight is distributed differently.
So far, I have been out running for 4 days, each time lasting around an hour. (Including the stops at the various outdoor work-out stations for 5-10 minutes to change the rhythm and catch my breath.)

So far it feels good and productive. I feel that my legs are getting the workout they need - and surprisingly enough - my stomach. (Due to the workout stations and the posture when running)
It is good stuff!!


(But don't ask me how far or how fast I run, so far it has just been in a jogging tempo, but once I can do the whole round without feeling exhausted, it will be time to step it up.)

The returning!

Wow, it seems that a lot has happened in the past months and the time to write something has just passed me by. It has been really crazy with all the travels and the moving. Feels like my mini-challenge for this month will be to keep up the writing while on vacation. ^^
Though, the good news is that I have not given up on it! Not yet. It's not over yet!

So to quickly bring you guys up to speed, this is the current situation:

End of April: 127 kg

It did stop there for a while during April because of the vacation time.
When you're in a tourist resort, healthy food is not always readily available, so it turned out to be a lot more bread during that month.
At the same time, the appetite increased due to the heavy exercise, that is Snowboarding.
Then also, at the same time, I must admit that I did give into some of the sweeter things in life, as I did visit home - where all the memories took over and I gave in to nostalgia as it was a short trip.
More details will be added retrospectively, as I had some posts written up but not yet published.

End of May:  121 kg

 In May, I returned to Ireland, to an apartement of a friend where I was temporarily staying.

With this, I also returned to my gym routine.

Though at this point, I decided to make a small alternation to my diet - just to see where that would take me.

I started looking into how much calories I eat per day.

Sure, it may make it slightly less fun - but at the same time I decided to loosen the rules on carbs and sugars.

Thus, for the whole month, I chose to count calories and see how I would feel by that. It was normally not a problem to keep the numbers under 2000. Coupled up with the workout, this seems to have gotten very effective.

Though more details on this will also appear in an upcoming post over the next few days. ^^

In the end, this is looking quite good so far. According to my calculations, I was supposed to be at 120.5 kg at the end of may. Being 0.5 kg off from the target makes me feel good about the mission, but it's not over yet. 

Never give up.

Never give in. 

It's not over yet.