Friday, July 25, 2008

Sealine, Qatar 22-7-2008

Ok, while the greater majority of qatar's population was slaving away behind their desks, doing the 9-6 daily grind that is work, Bobby, two others, and myself were out slaying fish. i say slaying because there is no other way to describe it.
our day started at 6:30am, where we met up in what was once nothing but a small pearl-diving village that has grown to city of sorts. we met at 6:30 infront of the local Hardee's (yummy ) and i put my gear in his Suburban, as we needed to do a little off-roading to get to our spot.

at around 8:00 we were parking on a beach, and by 8:15 the four of us were in the water.
the first thing that hit me was a wave of HOT water. its was 33celcius, and except for the occasional cold current, it stayed that way.
the viz was about 30m. at certain points i could see the fish on the bottom perfectly from the surface, a good 10meters above.
the swim out was not very pleasant, and by the second reef, my ankles were already skinned. but the fish, oh my god the fish had no fear, and their size was way beyond my expectations as im used to having to shoot small half kg specimens like the ones that you commonly encounter in Dubai.

but i guess that being forced to shoot small fish from a shore dive makes you aim better, and im happy to say that i missed only twice, with one of those misses being a good shot that didnt have the required penetration because i was 30cm too far away.

overall, we swam about 8 kilometers, and my legs still ache, but i would do it again, busted ankles and everything
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket
Photobucket