Aliwal Shoal, South Africa, 28 May 2002 - 4 June 2002

[Skindiver]

Not the long line clips fault

Hi griff.

It was not the fault of the long line clip, though you must watch that the loop in the boingy line, if dynema, is not too big else it can catch on the hook looking part of the long line clip and slide down and out really easy.

What i did was attach my float line to the long line clip on my buoy with a C shaped clip, of type where you press the springy double wire side in and it snaps back into place under its own tension. ( usually used as a belt lanyard clip).
Trouble is as i found out that the C shaped clip easily snaps open again when twisted upside-down and challenged to open at its mouth by the thin wire side of the long line clip. Obviously the bad combination of clips went through accelerated escape permutations in the surf during the shore entry till it got it right and .... the rest is history.
Its clear that i wasnt holding onto my gun for a few brief moments whilst i dove under yet another dumper trusting my belt clip to keep it handy for a while. Once loose from the bouy the line just ran out of my belt clip.


Skin.

 

[The Fury]

Morning all!

Me and two of my buddies are going to be in Durban from 4th July until 4th August. We will be doing SCUBA, snorkelling, freediving, sightseeing, visiting relatives and maybe safari as well.

Can anyone recommend any goo spots for snorkelling/freediving? We will be staying at seafever lodge on the Aliwal shoal for the first two weeks and then moving between umkomaas, Carrington heights and pinetown for the second two weeks.

Also, I've been told that there has never been a recorded incident of shark attack on a SCUBA diver in the area. I'm sure the same is not true of surfers so if we do any surfing it will be in netted areas.
Question: What about shark attacks on snorkellers? Does the amount of time spent on the surface make us prone to attack from sharks for the same reason as surfers i.e. mistaken for a seal or some other typical shark snack?

One last thing, if anyone in durban area fancies hooking up with 3 English buddies for snorkelling/freediving/SCUBA, let me know!

Hope to hear from you soon!