Okay, let’s jump right into it. Today, I did my very fist dive in The Netherlands. And also the very fist dive in something different than sea or ocean. And also the very first dive where water temperature at the bottom dropped to 8 degrees. Why have I decided to do such a fucked up thing you may ask? Well, honestly… The Hague is not the most natural habitat for me so I really try to make it my own through hobbies. Which has been working out quite well. Apart from yoga, which is a new thing, I invested some small change into the bike and I obviously run, workout and shit like that. Now, diving is one of my absolute favorite activities. I’m pretty sure I’ve never invested as much money into an activity as I have into diving. All those hours, days, weeks, months, years, training sessions, courses, gear, certifications… After moving out from Tenerife, I knew that the days of regular diving might have been over but I also hoped that at some point in my life, I’d have a chance to do this a bit more often again. A while back, I started researching diving options here and to my surprise, I found a diving center that organizes local dives on weekly basis. First, I thought they do sea. Which seemed pretty fucking difficult because although there’s sea all around, it’s rather shallow and super sandy. Not greatest diving conditions. I was also quite certain that whoever dives here, has to dive in a dry suit. I know people in Tenerife that would not dive without one at temperature around 18 degrees. Well, after calling the center back from Brno, I learned that they do lakes and that pretty much everyone dives in wet suits. So I packed my gear and moved it all here. Now, I was not all the way excited about this whole project. I really wanted to make this work but knowing that surface water temperature is about 14 degrees and down at the bottom it’s way worse… I was preparing myself for a possibility of trembling within 5 minutes and canceling the dive in 10. Anyways, I figured that unless you try, there’s no way of knowing. Yesterday, I rented a car for 24 hours and drove to the dive shop to get my tank and some weights. Driving in the Hague is a bit confusing. Speed limits are all over the place and not really intuitive (sometimes you get 50 in the area where you could swear it should be 20, sometimes you get 30 at a four-lane road, many times people go way faster…). Parking zones are a nightmare to navigate through but I think I managed and I hope I won’t receive any fines in the upcoming days. Okay, back to diving. The people in the shop are super friendly and nice. Got what I needed and this morning, I was on my way to the Oostvoornse lake. The water is a bit salty there as it’s right next to the sea but much less than anything I’d had experience with. My biggest worry was obviously the temperature. I ended up diving with one fellow instructor and an open water diver and very soon it was clear, I’d be fine. I felt deep appreciation towards my gear. Of course it felt cold but it did not really get into uncomfortable cold. The dive itself was a bit “meh”. Shit visibility, not much life… A small wreck, tho. We got about 15 meters deep and we stayed that for approximately 45 minutes. Since the goal was to survive this and to enjoy this enough to want to repeat it, I consider this thing a major success, tho. I had some good talks, met some cool people… And if things go well, next time I might get a ride so I don’t have to rent a fucking car every time I want to do this. I’m really really happy about this.
What else. Last week, on one of my evening bike rides, one of the strings in my front wheel popped out. Later, I learned that those string are called spokes. For the record, I still don’t know what the fuck they are called in my mother tongue. Anyways, I do have a basic set of tools at home but unfortunately not the ones I needed to fix this this. So I ended up taking it to the bikes shop. 45 EUR out of the window. I also paid for another year of my professional PADI DAN diving insurance (100+ EUR) and then I got the car and shit… Been treating myself this week.
I also started watching the second season of Andor. I am not a hardcore Star Wars fan but I believe I’ve seen a big chunk of the franchise. I don’t really remember most to be honest. And lately, I feel I sometimes wanna watch something lighter than news. Anyways, I think it’s safe to say Andor is by far the most complex and arguably one of the best projects ever produced in that universe. It’s really impressive. I’m halfway through and I’ve been enjoying it a lot.
So yeah, there you have it. It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon so I’m thinking about getting the bike and going for a bit of a ride. Weather has been hit and miss lately but it is getting nicer. Last Monday, we spent the whole evening at a beach bar. It’s moving. I hope you guys are doing great. Keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!
Highlights:
- Diving.
- Driving.
- Andor.
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