I recently got my hands on the Uemis Zurich SDA dive computer, and I decided to write a small review on it. The SDA is one of the latest crop of dive computers, which feature the latest display technology. The SDA features a color OLED display, a solar panel for recharging, system-independent synchronisation, multi-gas capabilities, bi-direction communication beteen SDA’s and hoseless air integration. There will be an (optional) trimix update in the near future.

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…since I last posted here. I Guess twitter makes you lazy.

Since my last entry I’ve been to Egypt again, and did an ice dive when Maarsseveen was frozen over. Will be going to the UK next week, and for another two weeks of Egypt a week or so after that.

Been a while since I last posted here :D.

I recently returned from a week long diving trip to Marsa Shagra, Egypt, with Reinout and Jeroen. The divesite is run by Red Sea Diving Safari, and is a combination of regular stone buildings and accomodations, and tents. We opted for tents this time around.

When we arrived it was already dark. The transfer from the airport to the village was relaxed, and after we arrived we were first shown towards the restaurant. In the restaurant they serve 3 buffet-style meals a day, all of which were very good, as we learned over the week. After dinner, we checked in, and were guided to our tents.

The tents were relatively simple affairs, but plenty for our needs. Due to their light constructions, they ventilate well, so they cool down quite quickly at night. Night time temperatures were around 30 degrees C.

The next morning we had a checkout dive, and the diving could begin. The way RSDS works is that you buy a diving package, typically for the whole week. Included in the package is unlimited air and lead, unlimited (unguided) dives on the house reef, free use of the zodiac service on the house reef, and two truck dives a day to nearby dive sites along the coast. There’s also a few excursions to other sites like Elphinstone and Dolphin House, at extra costs.

The house reef is stunning, and seems to be very intact, although admittedly I’m hardly an expert. We did one truckdive to Abu Dabbab, but with the house reef being as great as it was, we didn’t feel that was necessary. We typically did 3 dives a day, including a night dive. While we did venture deeper once or twice, we rarely went below 15m.

One extra excursion we made was to Abu Ghusun. This is 90 minute drive by bus, which showed the countryside in detail. Impressive desert, and lots of garbage along the road. The main sight of Abu Ghusun is the Hamadi wreck, a small coaster that carried plastic pellets. The pellets can be found all over the beach. The wreck is covered in he hard and soft corals, and bottoms out at around 18m, so it’s a fairly easy dive for any diver. We made two dives there (and discovered that a wet wetsuit is surprisingly comfy in the desert sun), then had lunch at a restaurant in a nearby mangrove national park.

We saw a lot of beautiful fish, sharks, turtles, squid, murays, lionfish and much much more. The week went by way too fast. I will definately be returning here :D.

Marieke, one of the divers from my diving club, asked if anybody was interested in joining her, on short notice, on a dive in the Oosterschelde, to check out the mating Sepias (or Cuttlefish).

Based on intel from other divers, we tried our luck at the Zeelandbrug divesite. High tide was at roughly 12:15, so we entered the water at 11:45. We swam around for a bit, and saw lots of life, like nudibranches,various crustaceans, but no sepias. We followed a hunch, and went a bit deeper. At about 12 meters, we found them: a sizable group of sepias (accompanied by an equally sizable group of divers :P). We spent the rest of the dive studying these magnificent animals. They were completely relaxed about the divers, mating with and fighting other sepias, but ignoring the divers completely. Many swam past within hands reach. Marieke took pictures and movies, will upload them when I have them.

After we returned to shore, we warmed up in the sun, and decided we wanted to to another dive, so we dove to the Den Osse divesite in the Grevelingen.  Getting to the point where we actually started the dive turned out to be a bit exciting. First, fully dressed in 70 lbs worth of gear, I lost my balance and went down. Luckily the only damage was my ego, as I felt it coming, and went through my knees and rolled. The second exciting part happened when I entered the water.

I dive in a drysuit. It keeps the water out though tight seals for your hands and head, and you enter the suit through a large, watertight zipper in the back. Somewhere down the line I forgot to ask my buddy to close that zipper. So, when I entered the water, I had this chilly sensation (normal), followed immediately by a cold and wet sensation (not normal :P). I figured out immediately what the problem was, climbed out of the water again, got out of my gear, drained as much water as I could, closed the zipper, and got my gear back on. Luckily my thermal suit actually works pretty well when wet, so while not completely comfy, I wasn’t cold for the rest of the dive. The rest of the dive was uneventful, with plenty to see.

These two dives also fulfilled my  requirements for the CMAS 2* diving certification, so that’s over and done with as well :D.

After a long but uneventful flight (saw Madagaskar 2,  Quantum of Solace and Yogisha X no Kenshin), I arrived at Portland, my point of entry. Customs and immigration went a lot quicker than expected, I was through before some US citizens that left the plane at the same time. Portland is a fairly new, and not too large airport. Free WiFi, and plenty of seats with power sockets. The pilots of the small jet (Bombardier LRJ700 operated by Horizon Air) where a funny lot. “We appologize for the temperature inside the aircraft. The thingy that normally keeps us cool on the ground is broken. This also starts our engines, so they brought in another thingy to do that. This is the LOUD thing you hear outside.” “In Sacramento we’ll have a quick pitstop to exchange passengers, fuel up, change tires, and hopefully get a new cabin crew”  “Jessica and… and… and… the brownhaired one, takeoff positions please”

Sacramento airport looked crap after Portland. It could do with a facelift. Got picked up by the SuperShuttle van, and was dropped off at the hotel. The suite is a nice 2 room one.

Had a good walk around this morning. A few things come to mind. Things are built big here. A lot is built cheaply, or at least cheap looking. Americans love oversize cars. I knew this, of course, but actually seeing that every third car is huge is different.

Having been inspired by Lyanna and Morningtide, a books list

Reading:

Empress (Godspeaker Trilogy, part 1) - Karen Miller

Read:

The Neutronium Alchemist (Night’s Dawn Trilogy, part 2) - Peter F Hamilton
The Naked God (Night’s Dawn Trilogy, part 3) - Peter F. Hamilton
The Silent Miaow: A Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats - Paul Gallico
Kushiel’s Justice - Jacqueline Carey
A Quantum Murder - Peter F. Hamilton
The Nano Flower - Peter F. Hamilton

Pages: 4471

I bought myself a new car: A ‘98 Fiat Barchetta

The postcrossing cards are starting to come in, too. So far I have received 2 cards from Finland, one from the UK and one from Norway.

Something I picked up from Lyanna, and seemed fun to do, is postcrossing. It’s essentially an adress database which gives out random snailmail addresses to members, who then send a postcard to that address. A tally is being kept, and the engine behind it tries to balance sent and received cards.

So far I’ve sent out 5 cards, to Taiwan, the USA, Poland, Germany and Finland. Finding actual postcards is a challenge these days…