The Learn to Dive Today blog is moving!

Hello readers! Exciting news – the location of our blog is moving. We’ve developed beyond the (wonderful) shared hosting environment of wordpress.com and have recently set up a wordpress.org (self-hosted) blog account. You can find it here: www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/ Our email subscribers should not notice a change – you’re all still subscribed to the blog and […]

Posted on: 22 December 2011 | 1:06 am

Suunto D6 dive computer

I’ve been using the Suunto D6 dive computer for about eight months now, having finally got my grubby paws on it just after returning from our last trip to Sodwana. I think it’s about time I write a little review of it, because Suunto have just released the D6i and before you know it my […]

Posted on: 20 December 2011 | 11:20 pm

New gloves (again)!

It seems like yesterday that I was proudly waving about a new pair of blue Seac Sub gloves. Something like 120 dives later, and they’re in quite bad shape… Some of the fingers have punched through, and the seams along the side of my wrist split recently. Boat diving off a rubber duck, towing a […]

Posted on: 19 December 2011 | 11:28 pm

Bookshelf: The Living Shores of Southern Africa

The Living Shores of Southern Africa – George & Margo Branch It took me a while to get my hands on a copy of this classic volume by Margo and George Branch, with photography by Anthony Bannister. It was a staple in the classroom of every biology teacher I ever had, and occupies pride of […]

Posted on: 18 December 2011 | 10:58 pm

Sea life: Starfish at leisure

I do not presume – not for one moment – to read the mind of a starfish, but these individuals seem to be living the good life. I think we can all be inspired by their capacity to relax into whatever situation they find themselves in. Most of these specimens were found at A Frame […]

Posted on: 17 December 2011 | 11:26 pm

Bookshelf: Poseidon’s Steed

Poseidon’s Steed – Helen Scales Poseidon’s Steed is marine biologist Helen Scales’ first book; its subject is the seahorse. The book is short – I read it in less than half a day whilst convalescing with a cold – but packed with everything that is interesting about seahorses. I am well acquainted with the pull […]

Posted on: 16 December 2011 | 10:47 pm

Friday poem: The Shark

A far cry from Denise Levertov! The Shark – Ogden Nash How many scientists have written The shark is gentle as a kitten! Yet this I know about the shark: His bite is worser than his bark.

Posted on: 15 December 2011 | 11:12 pm

Newsletter: Dry week

Hi all Clare and I are in Gaborone, I have not dived in a week and have no idea of the dive conditions from the last week, therefore no newsletter this week. We leave for home tomorrow and get diving instantly: pool and ocean dives on Saturday, ocean and boat dives on Sunday plus a […]

Posted on: 15 December 2011 | 1:33 pm

Handy hints: Baboon whispering

In order to become a baboon whisperer, a profound relationship has to be established between you and your furry compadres. How you do this is up to you, but Gerard met with great success after sacrificing (involuntarily) a tupperware full of the chocolate chip cookies his wife had lovingly baked for him. You can see […]

Posted on: 13 December 2011 | 11:15 pm

Handy hints: Making friends with baboons

Move over, Dale Carnegie. Gerard is here. In order to make friends with a baboon, you need only two things: hubris, and a tupperware container full of Mariaan’s chocolate chip cookies. Gerard’s friendship with this large male baboon from the Miller’s Point troupe was hard won, yet enduring (more on that in a follow up […]

Posted on: 12 December 2011 | 11:03 pm

Bookshelf: Time Bandit

Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World’s Deadliest Jobs – Andy & Johnathan Hillstrand with Malcolm MacPherson I read this book on the plane home from Europe, on my Kindle. Time Bandit is the name of the Hillstrand brothers’ crab fishing vessel, made famous by the Discovery Channel series Deadliest […]

Posted on: 11 December 2011 | 11:11 pm

Documentary: Blue Holes – Diving the Labyrinth

Cecil, cave diver to be (he probably is one by now thanks to Buks Potgieter of IANTD) lent us this National Geographic production. It’s just under an hour long, and recounts an expedition to seven of the blue holes in the Bahamas. A blue hole is a kind of vertical cave, roughly circular. They often […]

Posted on: 10 December 2011 | 11:13 pm

Dive gear maintenance: Booties

Booties are hard to get dry and even after an entire day in the sun they can still feel damp inside. After a good day of diving I soak them for a few hours in detergent, rinse them with the hose and then pour in a good dose of Dettol or Savlon, swirl this around […]

Posted on: 10 December 2011 | 12:33 am

Friday poem: The Porpoise

The Porpoise – Ogden Nash I kind of like the playful porpoise, A healthy mind in a healthy corpus. He and his cousin, the playful dolphin, Why they like swimmin like I like golphin.

Posted on: 8 December 2011 | 11:11 pm

Newsletter: Christmas is coming

Hi divers Weather, hmm, this time of year it is a tussle between the Atlantic and False Bay with the Atlantic winning more often than not. We decided not to dive last Saturday as I felt the conditions unsuitable for newish divers. Those that braved these conditions (see the picture below) were rewarded with 8 […]

Posted on: 8 December 2011 | 12:09 pm

Bookshelf: Cousteau’s Great White Shark

Cousteau’s Great White Shark – Jean-Michel Cousteau Jean-Michel Cousteau is one of the sons of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and, like most of the family, he has continued ocean advocacy work and capitalised handsomely on his illustrious forebear’s name. This can be observed from the (entirely unnecessary) inclusion of “Cousteau” in the book’s title. The book is […]

Posted on: 7 December 2011 | 11:28 pm

Sea life: Root-mouthed sea jelly

We had a huge number of sea jellies in False Bay at the start of the summer – the usual compass and box jellies, and then some other very large visitors whom I hadn’t met before. Root mouthed sea jellies (Rhizostoma pulmo, formerly known as R. octopus, and called barrel sea jellies, sea mushroom jellies, […]

Posted on: 6 December 2011 | 11:27 pm

Handy hints: Indoor compressor maintenance

Service day on the compressor came round a few weeks ago but sadly it was pouring with rain so doing this outside was out of the question. The best solution in such a situation is: You must WAIT until your wife has left for work..(very important step) Bring the work table and the compressor, with […]

Posted on: 5 December 2011 | 10:43 pm

Guest post: Kate’s IDC

Many of the divers who regularly dive with me will know Kate, who came out to South Africa for two months in late 2010 to qualify as a Divemaster. She had never dived before when she arrived, and I took her through a full Zero to Hero course, including 60 dives to meet the requirements […]

Posted on: 4 December 2011 | 11:00 pm

Christmas gift guide 2011

It’s that time of year again. I trust you are all feeling suitably festive. Here’s our annual (well, second so far) Christmas gift guide. Use it/don’t use it… Books For the reader, you could check out our book reviews, arranged by topic: Conservation Dive travel Diving adventures Diving history Diving science and physiology Extreme diving […]

Posted on: 3 December 2011 | 11:44 pm