Same Stuff

So not much has been going on. I have since finished the IDC and have just been working around the dive shop. I don't get to go on to many dives, but mostly clean and organize the shop. I also am in charge of getting the boats loaded in the morning and getting the ready to be launched. It is not that much fun when you know that you will not be out on them for that day. Last week we had several groups of divers, with around 8 people in all. They were a great group and it was fun getting to know them. I did get to lead a few groups for about two days. On the very first dive, my computer gave out and would only show the low battery sign, nothing else. It made no sense that it had enough battery power to display this message but not enough to show me important stuff like my depth and dive time. It was slightly frustrating. I managed to get a new battery later that day and as I went to change it I managed to break off a piece of the computer. It could not work without this piece and I thought for sure I would end up having to buy a new computer. However, I found some electrical tape and somehow worked out a way to get the computer working again. I don't know how long it will last, but as long as it is working for now. I hope that it lasts long enough for the IE.
One of the dive sites that I did get to dive on was the Croatian Blue Hole. It was pretty amazing. It was a large cavern that had two large holes in the roof that allowed light to penetrate. It was quite a sight and hopefully I will be able to go back and spend more time there. The cavern is in the side of a large wall that goes down to about 150 feet and all along the sides of the wall are huge sea fans and red branching coral. It is so gorgeous. The water is finally starting to get warmer, but only on the first 20 feet. Once you get farther down you hit a thermocline. The crazy thing is that you can see the thermocline before you feel it. Sitting in the water is a slightly hazy line and you know that as soon as you hit this line the temperature plummets. I like to float just above this line.

I haven't seen any great water life. Lots of octopus, a few lobsters, and tons of nudibranchs. There are plenty of fish and everything, but they are not so abundant that you take notice, nor are they quite the lookers. I was talking to Bobby (the boss) and he was telling me how there used to be so much more here to see. They used to have seals, but they were hunted to extinction. He also started telling me about the sharks and everything. Supposedly, there are quite a few great whites in the area (their breeding ground is off the coast of Italy). He also went on to say that one of the largest great whites (the one Jaws was based on) was seen and caught on one of the neighboring islands. Then he informed me that last year his boat captain had a 5 meter white swim under his boat and that only one island over a free diver lost his leg to one. I am just slightly on edge now whenever I enter the water.
Not much else though. We are still waiting for the season to really start. They are guessing that no one is going on vacation until the World Cup is over. Supposedly as soon as that tournament ends business really picks up. Of course this is after I have finished (and hopefully passed) the IE. I am not sure I will be ready to instruct as many people as they say are going to show up. We will see.