(text to come, needed webadress for pic)

annodykbåt

Originally uploaded by LindaNormark

This is a set with photos of of our old boat that’s för sale.
Här finns en länk till setet med foton på vår gamla rib som är till salu.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindanormark/sets/72157623801975149/

Länk till annonsen på blocket
Link to ad (swedish) on blocket

http://www.blocket.se/goteborg/Zodiac_550_Pro_Open__00_27068863.htm

Watching a show about Loch Ness today got me thinking of our dive there and pictures we took and my thread in Plurk got me to decide to share photos and my dive-log / novel over that day. Novel I say since i always take everything with in my loggs, not just the divestuff Since most of it already where in my dive-log i just let google translate it from swedish and repaired the worst of gibberish that led to and added what little missing.

Photos taken by Anders and edited a bit by me.

Dive No: 52, Picnic Site 1, Loch Ness, Dores, Scotland

Had decided to do a cult-dive on Anders 100:th dive, and try to play with photo shop to make a fejk-pic of Nessie to have fun with family and friends with. Ok maybe not with tiny-cousin since it might be “liittle” bit inappropriate to make him afraid of monsters in the water So, now started the hunt for a suitably cheap plastNessie. *Wroom* oups, there we passed the first society of at least 3 houses, next perhaps?

After a lot of ifs and buts we began to wonder if it even was possible to find a land-dive site easily anywhere on the “tourist side” (30 m high edges sloping down with 60? Degrees?) And secondly, if we were able to get hold of our toy, ie if there were more communities: -) Well, we managed to find a Nessie in the “big” the village of Drumnadrochit, where the temple of the pier was closed to the public, would have been extraordinary cult/fun otherwise . The village actually seemd to exist of some few houses and the rest was extreme tourist traps. Now remained only to manage to come down to the water and as it turned out we had to drive to the other side of the lake to find that…

Traffic-danger! After a lot of stopping to check out potential places we finally found a picnic site / large car park at the tourist path by the lake with reasonable sloping (reasonable as in “we miiiight just survive going up and down if we take our small bottles and..have some luck!) path with a fence to hold on to for at least a bit. Of course it started to rain, just as we started to make us ready, but as the purified Scottland-travelers we were by then we knew that it was only to wait about a 1 / 2 hours and we would get different weather and we could always fix the camera inside the car while waiting.

Then went out and began to kit up and by that obviously put other drivers in shock (no, no bare skin). Saw all the cars åtminståne slow down considerably, mostly with very large eyes and surprised eyes and some people in great need of an exorcism like the woman who turned her head 180 degrees, I promise and a driver that had to slowly drive into the parking lot rubbing his eyes to really look if he saw what he thought he saw. Do not think they were accustomed to people who spontaneously stopping to do a land-dive there, especially not if not in a dive-club .. *lol*

Mission!
Went into the water and realized that this was rapid deepening and just a short distance from the beach Anders signaled he’d found a suitable place to go down. I went down some meters outside of him. This because I still shamefully have a tendency to turn around a lot and did not want to accidentaly kicking or end up sitting in Anders lap once down. What met me under the surface was therefore a what i felt like a pitch-black darkness… Boy! Did that make me wish i’d gone down with lamp lightned!

Guess that made me swallow more than a few bars within seconds and I had one hand on each inflator (west and drysuit) in order not to go down too quickly. Almost immediately it became much darker and as I went down, very gently and slowly, I could not first believe in depth-gauge which told me I was only 75 cm below the surface but where Anders, smartly enough not gone down over the edge but at about 1.8 m , it was much brighter (se first pic above. second pic from 2.5-3 m deph at limit of darkness told about further down). So, Get used to darknes and so fast to a place there at rockslope where we tested a variety of ways to shoot our Nessie on, some pics that we tried to be serious with and some we just joked around with before we realized that we needed some of the darker, darker waters and my weaker light placed right for photo, not for me to see…

“HEELP! I’m…”

“…drowning!!!”

“But..In the deep dark no-one can hear you scream…Muahaaa!!”

“Where are the HID boys?”
Slid down over the steep edge and around 3 m deph the visibilitty got better but there we almost got a knife-edge of where water turned dark fast (se first pics). Followed a log down to have something to squeeze because here it quickly became even darker and already at 3-4 m light was needed as soon as we’d photographed! At stoneslopes end at 6 meters, I began to wonder if it had not been a good idea to have a couple of “close-knit, extremely competent whatever happened, and especially good at boyancy” HID-guys to hide behind and get a free ride behind by holding on to their bottles (I weighs nothing in water, I prooomise!) to look up a bit so just enough from behind

“This is dark..VERY dark!”

“But..kind of cozy now when i’ve gotten used to it!”

“Stupid camera”
Once again, having drawn a few extra bars of air, I calmed myself down and discovered that it was really quite cozy actually! Then Anders looks at me with a questioning face and signals “up” and “something is wrong” and seems to point to me so when he repeats it I thought it was due to my recently stressed look and my fear of the dark so I signal that I’m ok but he insists and since it’s not a sign to ignore and it’s after all easy to go down again so..

Goes up, a bit over irritated, and learns that his arm for the camera-flashes broken by so just to trudge up with the camera in his arms like a baby. Anders offers to go down again after since we both lounged for this dive but I declined because I feel well a bit hungry and tired and we both agree that it probably was an idea to get some food before it was too late. So, quickly scrable up the slope or, as it feels like mountainclimbing.. (o please don’t let anyone see us, this looks patetic, like babies learning how to walk!)  and pack gear to go for a hunt for food. And yes, if you guessed that also took awhile to find you’re correct, had to go all the way back to village we started from! And after all that climbing and wobbly rocks, guess what we found on backside on the inn, 100 m from our B&B? Yepp! A nice beach with fast slooping bottom, a dream to dived from! *doh* Oh well, it still felt amazing to actually have DIVED LOCH NESS!, JIPPIE!!! and even if short so did we had lots of fun!

What it also contained was some filming device looking stuff, weired.. But who cares, i want food! Once fed the most wonderful meal, wine and whisky our super-nice waitress, that got to know what we’ve done when asking how come we where wet and so cold, ask embarrased if we would mind some company? Was a bunch of Nessie-monster hunters that she told and they would love to ask us about what we’ve seen down under. Off cause we accepted and got to know they’ve sat up a device to film automatic if anything moved over surface and had a good time. Afterward though we regretted even more not checking the Inn out first, just think how fun it would have been if us visable under surface, with bubbles would have caused a new Nessie-roumor! Yes, we miscievous! *lol*

Oh, and the food and choices and place was something i’d expected in a smaller town at least and absolutly not in this tiny place with just, as we where told, 100 persons living, kids included! Photo from window of our B&B at one end of village and there you almost can see the end of it!

Those who know me some might have heard me joke of That we now could buy a more serious boat when we finally gotten a permanent boat-place. It was just joking, promise! Had no real meaning in it but…

(Backgroundstory)

Some years ago father in law was supposted to go on a longed for years international car-meeting to meet owners of legendary car but got sick so he couldn’t join the rest of us. On trip back we all got silly and joked endless of what he would comfort himself with and voted for a classic car renovation object he didn’t have room for. So, when he met us arriving we directly asked “What have you comforted yourself with, a new car? (lol) ” and he looked at wife embassad and said a low “yes..” That of cause became a fun family aknedokte.

So.. Going to boat show me and hubby joked about what if we would get inspired from that and by a boat, even if had no intention to do so since we doubted we would find a boat fitting all our dreams in one, well unless we robbed some banks to afford a special building ;-/ I mean, we dreamed of a boat 1/ small enough to fit our boatplace and winterstorage. 2/ Capable of going as well as both fast and “crawling” 3/ Cabin with place for sleeping, a table with sit-place, weel, small stove, cooler and toilet. 4/ One we actually could afford without selling home. 5/ One we BOTH loved 6/ One good for BOTH diving and vacating! I did mention all this was supposted to be in SMALL boat did I not..? Absolutely no big wishes..o no.. *lol*

But, walking around aimless a boat caught my eye and I went inside for peaking on fun and fell absolutely in love with it! In love as a girl in earliest teen for “That cuuuuute guy i would DIIIEE if he said hi” way, with pink boatshaped hearts in eyes. Don’t know if it was my telling or hubby also liked what he saw but we ended up both checking it out and getting showed it by guy from yeard that built it? and that sure didn’t dampened our love.

We where veeery close to buying it on spot but managed to decide to check economic and send out boat knowledgeble father in law to check it out tomorrow but..no promises i won’t yell.. “We bought it!” in some days *lol*

P.s… First walking 8 h on congrete floor on work and then hours an boat show/boat fair…my feets bleeds! But, it was fun!

Ingredients for 2 portions :

* Yellow onion, 1 small or half a large

* 1-2 clefts of garlic

* 1/2 a pepper

* Oil for frying

* 1-2 tsk chili powder

* 1 tablespoon tomato puree

* A hint of meatbroth (can be skipped for true vegetarian)

* Vegetable stock

* 150 gram (1/2-1/3 can) crushed tomatos

* 2 teaspoons (10 millilitre) of brown sugar/Farin sugar

* 2 millilitre/ 2 kryddmått salt

* A tablespoon of beans dressing

* Half a can (ca 130 gram) of kidneybeans in chili dressing, I used mark Go Green’s.

How to :

1/ Chop onion, garlic and pepper and fry in oil in a pan.

2/ Add all EXCEPT beans themself and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on sizes of chopped vegetables.

3/ Add the beans and simmer another minute.

Serve with sour cream mixed with a little guacemoule to rice or couscous or in tortilla bread. breads can also be made to crisps by roasting in owen in 200 degrees celsius for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Link to original recipe in swedish

… you do not have wet dreams about the cute guy in the dry suit, but the nice dry suit on the guy

… to win a two-week luxury trip to Paris, all inclusive, and asking “can you dive there?”

… You complain over that a beautiful dress costs 495: – but without blinking pays 2500: – for an undersuit that makes you look like a michiline-man.

… we believe that every conversation about bottles is about bottles is about dive-bottles.

… assuming that all non-diver to understand what you’re talking about when talking about bottles

… the most expensive garment you own is dry suit

… the second-most expensive garment you own is a undersuit.

… you go on boat show in the spring and fantasize about which of the boats that are suitable to re-build to a dive boat / sink as to to get a new exciting wreck.

… you walk like a damned spirit in the auto parts store / Clas Ohlson to find the ultimate solution to attach the battery pack on the plate.

… VISA card is permanently in diving shops.

… someone talking about latex and you don’t associate it to the latest erotic fair.

… You sits in the closet and sniff at your jetfins when not dived in a while.

… You clear out and throw away fully usable clothing from closets to make room for all divestuff.

… You says no to best non-diving friend’s wedding because you’ve booked a diving expeditions on that day.

… discussing the quality of rubber gloves, but to work as a dishwasher.

… You know you’ve dived to deep when airbubbles from breathing sinks..

… You need your 100 % oxygene-tank even on land.

From old forum-thread (with some of my own words mixed in) from 2002 about that divers might get less blood in brain and therefore risks getting minimal brain damage.

Theory one: Gender balance

Fact 1: There are more male divers than female divers.

Fact 2: Divers like and strives for big apparatus/things.

Fact 3: Divers have as much blood as the next man.

Fact 4: A male diver can get a hard on just by seeing a calm ocean on a sunny day.

Conclusion: Big things/apparatus + not much blood + often hard on => brain damage, so easy to understand, completely natural!

Another theory followed that one:

Slow thinking due to brain damage causes panic to come slower. That’s why experienced divers handle panic situations better, they’ve dived so much they’ve gotten so brain damaged that they are to slow in thought to panic!

Protest against theory about diving causing minimal brain damage:

You’re probably already brain damaged if you start diving. I mean, considering what stuff weights, how many hours used to take care of it and transport to and from for just short time diving and what it costs you gotta be mad even to consider the thought. Like, what normal person would thousands for a flash-light for example!

Saturday 25/7 -09

The sun was shining and i started to feel restless after a period of sickness so i suggested to Anders that we would go and check Anno (our rib-boat) after extreme raining. Little did i believe he would feel well enough to wanna take a trip out but to my surprise he suggested that instead of just checking boat, jippie!

Since he just wanted to make sure new streaming computor work first I started to run around packing, making sure that it wouldn’t be to late for us to go out. So, soon enough i’d packed all stuff we needed and some more. Before i packed food and sleep-stuff we called PIL to know if they was gonna be out so we could sleep in their boat and not the attic. thought it could be a good idea not to bring unnecessary food and bed-dressing on a small boat But no, they where just gonna be out some hours more. so all it was and food for grill needing to get bought. Hmmm.. Some mussels and white wine sounded good.. Do i need to say that this thought led to a 2 hour long marathon beetween fish-stores, just to find to little to share with PIL and for dinner for us..? Subborn? Who? Me!?

Approximately 15.30 Anno is packed and we, Linda and Anders, leave Tångudden to go to Brustholmarna.

Sunny, slightly windy and some waves but not to bad on ocean. I get to steer out of the harbour. When giving some gas the boat feels very heavy, strange.. we do after all have a automatic waterpump.. When waves start to feel a bit bumpy i leave over for Anders to steer. Halfway there engine suddenly dies! And yes, typical enough just before surge hits us, perfect timing.. A fast dash to get anchor out (ouch, we’ve packed stupid, my leg..) but before its ready engine starts again, good! That was a bit to exciting.. A calm trip after that and greetings when we, at around

16:00 arrives to Brustholmarna, Hambolts bridge,

where i get food in order in cooler and Anders and FIL pump out water by hand and find the problem. Sooner or later bacon-burgers are on grill and we sits on Troll-bridge, watching sun glitter on water, with beer and rose’-wine in hand. Well, that’s all but FIL who’s driving and suddenly tries to convince MIL to leave, with longing eyes on wine.. It was his idea after all, not hers, to not sleep over Burger tasted wonderful! To bad they where a bit to filling..where’s the begging dogs when you need them!? Now we managed to eat to much instead. I was the missing dogs fault! Promise!

Took us a while to manage to move after that but after a while luggage was sorted and we had claimed our space and beds in attic and lucky that since it later came a couple that also had planned to sleep there, but we where first! Of cause we offered to share space with them and the use of the less nice beds, we’re neither heartless or greedy and they where also members, but they choose the sofa downstairs. When we got to know them they proved to wonderful persons, nice with nice one’s closer to our age in the club!

Ok, we where on an island with 5 places to swim so natrually the bikini went on and the hunt for a break from burning jellyfish so we could get into water started and to our pride we managed not to get burned! I had brought fins, mask and snorkel to snorkel in vain since the rain not only had ruined vizibility but also made water temperature drop…at lot.. Brrrrr! What to do when freezing? Drinking wine and chatt with people of cause! Only wine for getting warm, i prooooomise! Had a great time sitting on Troll-bridge, chatting, eating mussels we cooked and drinking wine, and then some more wine, while nature painted sky with an amazing sun-set, wish i could have captured that one!

Sunday 26/7 -09

Woke up, a bit hung over by some funny reason, after a misersable night with loads of waking ups due to freezing and feeling like in a wind-tunnel. Oh, yes, now i saw that it was a hole at both sides of the bed and with that wind-direction it had blowed through! But, dressed and got out in sun where it was warm and nice and got a lovely surprice in form of a cup coffee from our friends, what a good way to start the day! Sooner or later we sat on islands hill, eating a late breakfast while enjoying a idyllic postcard over archipelago view, lovely! Almost as nice as when i earlier was trying to wake to life while sitting in outhouse that almost hangs over cliff and has a window in the door straight out to archipelago, that’s what i call a nice view! Oh, and yes, i do kind of invites to sitting long..not always that good

So, some chatting with the rest of the members, a walk over rocks and by the lovely flowering meadow ad then playing tug-of-war with the cute tiny dog Zäta that came bounching a’ la’  “Playmates! I found playmates! Jippi! The must wanna play with me!” Who can resist such happy eyes? Not us so playing with her and her knot-ball we did! When it was time to leave she happerly followed us while trying to convinc us to play some more “Look, here’s the ball,  I dingle string so you can get it easy! Oh, perhaps you can’t see it? No problem! I run and stop before you!” She didn’t jump into boat with us but she did dropp the ball on the side of bridge for us to take..with big begging eyes.. When that didn’t work she laid on higher part of the bridge with sad eyes, making a last try to convince us to play by dropping knot ball that..fell in the water! Oh did she whimper and beg “P..Ple…Pleeeeaaase save my ball!” so save it we did.

13:20 Linda and Anders left Brustholmarna to go back to Tångudden.

No incidents this time and Anno sure felt lighter! Only excitement was the HUGE swells from “The aweful ferry” that leaves swells even after it’s out of sight, the joy of no warning, you gotta love it..Not that we didn’t see swells in time butthat doesn’t make them any more fun. But, what was fun was the wave-bumpig on the smaller ones!

13:43 arrives at Tångudden.

This trip-time was more normal and what a great weekend-trip we’ve had!

Oh, forgot, photos taken by Bo Arnholm and they might have been better if my fixing hadn’t failed..

oh nr 2, if you bring mousepointer over photos it should /hopefully) give more explaining text..Please do, that tells a lot extra!

Anyhow, some more photos:

Breakwater with bath-ladder

Archipelago

Woke up in dawn due to someone at the hotel couldn’t see the difference between a pillow and a rock and by that started the “truth” that “The swede’s are always first at breakfast”.

Today we could go go-carting but we all choose to wander around town sightseeing, photoing castle and castle-wall and shop some.

A lot of people dressed in running clothes and funny hats was all over town so we also got to see the start of what have been called Castle-run?

MIL and I found a stall selling only a few 1-5 of every cloth and drooled over the same dress but lucky enough we have total different body-shapes and realized she couldn’t wear it. Tried it on and loved it, a dress allowing boobs and not the perfect length for me! Almost died when i saw the price but got as present, Thanks my sweet MIL for making me one of 3 persons owning that model!

Soon it was time for the lunch with the rest and the “Oh my god, ist it possible to turn or even fit a car here and didn’t this sign say unsuitable for cars”-rally! Such roads combined with an un-concentrated driver (Followed in car of a co-swede) in an unfamiliar car while trying to guess what quiz-masters twisted mind meant with clues made the rally..interesting.. so the wine to dinner was needed

Would I go to an NTPR-rally again if this hadn’t been the last? Oh yes! A bit scary but gave such sights and was oh so fun!

Some more photos from Caernafon :

Clock on castle wall vault

Street in Caernafon

Beautiful (and pretty usual) balcony and castle

Flowers in wall

Two keels are a good idea in low-tide

Some more photos from rally :

Water and mountain-view from low stone-bridge

Hill-view

Cute cottage “out in now-where”