2026-01-01 - A simple start

It was a fantastic start of the new year in the island of cephalonia where we currently are. The sun was shining, but it was still cold,so i took the chance to go for a quick shore dive. A lot of things in my equipment need a generous rehaul, like new bungies on my dive computer, some adjustments on my BCD and more. I went to the south of the island where lost in the tiny streets of an unknown village, i met another car with a guy that proceeded to ask me if i know where the person with the rocket is (?). I didn't want to brush off such an amazing question so i proceeded to learn that indeed there is someone who used to work at NASA and that he has built a human sized model of some rocket in his backyard in that tiny village. The guy left by exclaiming happily that we have everything in this island. indeed.

As usual i had failed to check the wind direction, and that place was kinda sketchy for a solo dive due to the surf, so i went back to a more shielded beach that i knew better called gradakia. That place is full of shore caverns (sadly none that i have checked yet goes too far back) and monk seals inhabit some of them. A couple of days ago i saw two of them playing in the water from high up on the hill as i was running. The dive was uneventful and unfishful since i didn't see shit. the visibility was quite busted due to a storm on the 31st. i went over some pleasant poseidonia oceanica grass fields, a lot of them having young fresh offshoots. At some point since i had a pretty good idea that i don't have a good idea of exactly where i am, i decided to surface and take a quick peek (i was only at -10m or so according to my trusty CRESSI Leonardo that i had purchased in 2013 and has seem 1k+ dives). When my watch showed confidently 0m, my eyes where still insisting that there was no surface right at that precise depth ;). i had to ascend 4 or 5 more meters to hit the surface. i thought how nice, and i appreciated that the little computer decided to inform me of its heisenberg ways at such an easy and shallow dive and not in anything more spicy. Probably some gunk or salt accumulation on the sensor? Will try some stuff and report back. Hope you all have a wonderful new year.