Dives/Mergulhos

Thanks CH!

Well these last days where past mostly at Sea, getting our work done as best as possible; and as for me, getting used to the FL tech.s of diving that are quite different from the ones we use in Europe or Portugal.
B (Captain), and are highly experienced divers who have shared some of their knowledge and from whom i have a lot to learn from.

Until i have my camera´s battery charger back from Sea & Sea (the company who sells UW gear), i cannot post photos from the dives at this point; will have to wait for our Team Mates to share some of theirs.
Since dives have been done in Teams of two and Solo (B), fortunately we where lucky enough to have some lobsters for dinner! /
Estes últimos dias tem sido praticamente todos passados no Mar com mergulhos consecutivos a trabalhar no fundo; também momentos de aprendizagem contínua uma vez que a forma como mergulham por estes lados ser bastante dif. da que é usualmente utiliada na Europa ou PT.
B & W, são mergulhadores com muita experiência com quem tenho tido a oportunidade de aprender bastante e adaptar-me a forma como se mergluha por estes lados, principalmente tendo em conta a Corrente do Golfo do México, que é bastante dif da que temos em terras Lusitanas; a corrente não é tão brusca, mas é forte de uma forma diferente e acima de tudo constante. Bem, várias diferenças em diversos aspectos...:); Qaunto a fotos-sub, só poderei enviar quando o raio da Sea & Sea (companhia que vende as camaras UW) me enviar o carregador da bateria; até lá, só fotos de telemovel, e algumas que ros vão sendo cedidas pelos membros da Equipa.
Como os mergulhos tem vindo a ser feitos em parelhas felizmente alguém (B) teve a feliz ideia de apanhar umas lagostas para o nosso jantar!

Prep. 2 dive / Prep. para mergulhar

These iron peaces will be essential for placing bottom receivers to track Shark movement; tomorrow we will start deploying these moorings. All NITROX.

Esas peças metálicas, são essenciais para a colocação dos receptores que registaram as movimentações dos tubarões. Amanhã será o dia 1 destes trabalhos; basicamente terão de ser cravadas no fundo/pedra; um trabalho "leve" que vai requerer NITROX e não rebreathers pelo esforço acrescido que teremos no fundo.

Diving: Scuba Club: Rebreathers

The rebreather´s...



Rough Sea conditions, ended up as a bailout; The Cap. of the Boat, or actually Susie decided to abort since it would be hard to see the divers in the water + hard to get back on the boat with no dangers added to it.
As condições de Mar, não tem sido das mais favoráveis, e portanto o mergulho foi abortado; vagas consideraveis poderiam por em causa a segurança dos mergulhadores presentes, quer em termos da sua visualização na superficie, como na subida de volta para o barco. Acreditem ou não, o Mar aqui também lhe dá e bem:)

Not happy with this situation, i asked JD to go for a short dive in shallow murky waters just on the docks. the brownish waters has some similarity to PT waters on winter time...:)

C was kind enough to accept being my dive buddy on this "dive"; we were hardly able to see each other, + lack of ballast + my leeking rebreather made us come back shortly; but at least, i got wet!


Como seria de esperar, já não estava bastante ansioso para "ir à agua"; assim sendo, após ter tido confirmação do comandante e instructor de mergulho (JD) consegui ir parar à doca do Scuba club, para finalmente poder sentir o Mar. As fotos não mentem, e como é possivel ver, neste caso e por ser uma zona estuarina, a cor acastanhada era bastante semelhante à coloração das nossas àguas durante o inverno!:)
No caso concreto a C, aceitou ser a minha dive buddy, mas seja como for, praticamente não nos conseguiamos ver debaixo de àgua; isso e o raio da válvula do rebreather que ainda não foi substituida (falta em stock), tornaram este mergulho muito curto; seja como for, fui à àgua!

O trabalho continua/We keep on workin´

BP, has a lot of motivation, a perfectionist in many ways, always willing to teach and help.
Someone i look up to at this point for his dedication and spirit.

Portugal: Bandeira e Hino /Portugal: Flag and Anthem

Hino Nacional/ National Anthem:

Hino Nacional (Por...

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A partir deste momento, todos os post´s serão escritos em Português e Inglês; (apesar da universalidade da lingua inglesa)

Altough english is almost an universal language, from this moment on all the posts on this blog will be written on both languages.

DDR Rebreathers: mechanical failures

Yesterday, my 2nd stage wasn´t working properly:
Today my purge valve wasn´t working properly... it seems that even yesterday it wasn´t working that well to, today it was unlble to pass on the security positive procedure; kept leeking..

Even so, we went off to Sea, knowing that i would be doing a short dive, with my eyes glued to the gauge (the thing that tells you the ammount of breedable air mixture that you have left)
The Boat went off to Sea, and after passing the last buoy, the bail out decision was made; to Strong waves..so 1 dive aborted even so.

From those who know me better, mostly in the water, you know that i cannot stand too much time without getting in the water...so... there i was asking the Capt. to make a short dive, some place where it would be safe enough even if the visibil wasn´t that good.
Low tide...so... when we hit the docs, S was kind enough to indulge me and was my buddy on a dive that lasted...15 mins max. Visibil was 1 feet at most, and in some places lower. So that´s not a place you want to be playing around with a rebreather.
Well at least i got wet!

Palm Beach HammerHeads Club Meeting

A great Club Meeting that i had a chance to be part of!

I was able to present our TGV ("Bullet train" cocktail) to the HammerHeads who where willing to try it..Not many..guess why!:)

Jagermeister; now this is a nice drink that i was also familiar with, but very hard to find in PT.

A note to Oscar and Rui back in PT: this is the drink that our local fishermen gladly shared when we were off to Sea. Remember?:)...

Boat Ride : Freshwater: Iguanas

Thanks to SJ, i was kidnapped for about 1h, and we went for a Great ride on the canal.

this iguana has about 1 meter in lenght; there are several around here, as well as other lizards, and spiders.

A beautiful diversity of bird species!

Around the canal, everybody has their own boat close to their backdoor; even cop´s run on jet ski´s:)

I´d like to thank SJ & SA for their hospitality!

Rebreathers

DDRebreather

JC from the ScubaClub

This cannister is what recicles our air; converts CO2 to O2; there are several procedures and security checks that have to made before going into the water.