Location: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Hello, everyone that is tuning in for the blog today. The peaceful morning was shattered by the Reveille bugle call of the Army. I had to run a boot camp wake-up for the activities planned for the day. Fortunately, we did not have to hear the multitude of ship’s horns going off, signaling the start of the race from Gran Canaria to Saint Lucia. Who knows, maybe if we are fast enough, Vela might have a chance of passing some of the boats on their way across. Breakfast was quick, consisting of cereal, quick conversation, and a quick scramble to gather all of our dive gear. Head chef Skylar and his team prepared all of the fix-ins for a BLT picnic lunch at the dive camp. After the MacGyver dinghy service onto the dock, dive gear and the gang loaded up for the trip over to the dive center near Playa del Cabron.
Playa del Cabron is a protected marine reserve on the southeast side of the island that requires us to hire local dive guides in order to dive there. Due to how big our group was, we were split into two teams which consisted of snorkeling and diving. The morning snorkel group that I was a part of joined our guide Peter on the quick stroll down to the waterfront. After chatting with Peter for a bit, I discovered that he is a retired Royal Navy officer that works part-time at the dive shop while he finishes his house in the mountains. Peter originally started coming to the Canaries around eight years ago as his job in the navy had him working in West Africa, and it was easier to come to the Canaries while on leave. Anyway, snorkel group Alpha spent an hour swimming around the rocky reef just outside of the marine reserve. Many colorful fish and other sea life were discovered, along with some impromptu bodysurfing, but the best was yet to come.
After a quick afternoon tea and picnic lunch, snorkel group Alpha became dive group Beta. Kits were assembled, trucks were loaded, and the group made their way into the marine reserve. Upon arrival, the group quickly donned all of their kits and quickly made their way down to the water. Once the final checks were completed, we started our descent down to around 40 feet. The bottom was a mixture of sandy flats, smaller reefs, and a rock shelf with smaller caves. Highlights of the sights seen included multiple cuttlefish, small flounder/other bottom fish, sea horses, and smaller reef fish. We were down for right around 45 minutes before coming back up to the surface. Big thanks to Carolyn for some cool underwater shots. Once finished, it was a quick ride back to the base to pack up our kit and make our way back to the boat. On the bus ride back, it struck me how diverse the island’s ecosystems were. Leaving the relatively tropical beachfront and marina gave way to relatively flat areas for greenhouses, wind and solar farms, and some smaller towns. Continuing even farther up, the island’s mountains may not have had snow most of the year, but they still get cold throughout most of the year. Being from Florida, I am definitely still getting used to seeing such different climates, elevations, and land conditions in such a small area, especially in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
Once back onboard, the group jumped into a quick Oceanography lesson with Sam after having some time to use shore facilities to freshen up. After a quick check-in with Calum and Sam about the day’s events and updates to the schedule, everyone was given the opportunity to have dinner onshore. I elected to stay behind to keep an eye on the boat, where I got to chat with a boat crew that would become our next-door neighbor for the remainder of our time in Gran Canaria. Should be a good time to help them get on the dock next to Vela tomorrow.
Shoutout to Calum for bringing me back food from one of the restaurants. Tomorrow will be a rare sleep-late day, followed by some light classwork and a review for the upcoming NavMaster exam. All in all, a very enjoyable and successful day all around. Big thanks to all of the staff at Davy Jones Diving for an amazing scuba experience and hospitality.
To my family and friends tuning in, hope you are doing well and that the Halloween celebrations went well. To everyone else, thanks for reading, and hope that you are having a great day. All of us on Vela are excited for the next few days in the Canaries and our prep for the big crossing over to Saint Vincent.