Our day
Awakenings
Our day starts at 6.30 am with a quick breakfast, a cursive look on today's plan and a final check of all the equipment and paperwork we are supposed to carry.
At 6:45 pick up Joana and then either drive or travel by train to Lagos. During our one and an half hour trip we discuss today's plan, see if anything needs a second look, what are the todays goals, between news from other projects and the latest gossip.
At 6:45 pick up Joana and then either drive or travel by train to Lagos. During our one and an half hour trip we discuss today's plan, see if anything needs a second look, what are the todays goals, between news from other projects and the latest gossip.
Meanwhile Chris has awaken in Lagos and started setting up the logistics of the day. That includes preparing food packs for all the team members, checking the first aid kit, the O2 tank. Then between coffee and tank fills, checking and rechecking weather, she loads the truck with everyone's equipment, spares and backups. Afterwards starts her drive towards the marine, usually after an sms from Tiago and Joana when they pass Portimão.
At the marina
Arriving at the Marina de Lagos around 9:00, the member meet, sometimes a forth element, a volunteer of the day, arrives and together we have a quick cofee, while Chris informs the weather conditions and we debate which targets to work.
It is time.
Starts a chaotic dance, while every member rushes to set up the equipment, load the Marina's cart with all the equipment and takes it all down to Papa léguas our project's dive boat and Chris' baby,
Usually someone notices Tiago's misplaced car keys, or diving glove, or whatever he had in his hand that he left on top of the car before going down to the marina.
It is time.
Starts a chaotic dance, while every member rushes to set up the equipment, load the Marina's cart with all the equipment and takes it all down to Papa léguas our project's dive boat and Chris' baby,
Usually someone notices Tiago's misplaced car keys, or diving glove, or whatever he had in his hand that he left on top of the car before going down to the marina.
Whom stated that "Two bodies can not occupy the same space at the same time", never met Chris. Somehow, four people, four diving equipment, a box of archaeological material, food and water for the day, coats, emergency kits, and an assortment of small things (phones, wallets, keys,etc) gets loaded into Papa Léguas while Tiago does all his GPS calibration procedures.
Decisions, decisions
After a short trip in the channel, the bay of Lagos opens up to us. Now he decided in the master plan which site to go. Even with all our planing it is up to Neptune where we end up. Chris looks to the bay, analyses the waves, wind and expected visibility, than give us her toughs on the matter. Joana looks at the master list and chooses two of them. A quick trip - there is a reason to Papa-Léguas (Roadrunner) name to the boat - we anchor and start our pre-dive safety check (the project follows strict Scientific Diving Practices). Time to underwater.
You can see what we discover or work in our Blog.
You can see what we discover or work in our Blog.
Back at the harbour
Boat and equipment gets washed and a very tired crew goes towards one of the many amenities at Lagos Marina, the hot showers. Afterwards, a more relaxed team goes to one of the many pubs our coffee places in Marina de Lagos, reason to enjoy a quick snack while checking e-mails, doing some of the paperwork and posting the day's results in our facebooks and blogs. Between our only beer of the day, we discuss what we saw, laugh of the mistakes and sketch.
Tiago's inseparable companion gets all the data into the Quantum GIS of the project, the photos into the archives, and updates the mission database.
Tiago's inseparable companion gets all the data into the Quantum GIS of the project, the photos into the archives, and updates the mission database.
Our base
At the base, equipment gets cleaned, repaired and prepared for the next day. Dinner is a work meal, and we eat while discuss tomorrows plan, finish the paperwork, get it scanned and duplicated and log the finds. Follows the days accounting.
Eleven o'clock, the team worked through is 17 hour's work day.
Sleeping bags are placed upon the floor, or two very tired individuals drive home, arriving at one in the morning to their houses.
Knowing two things.....
One - the alarm will ring at 6:30
Two - more discoveries await.
Eleven o'clock, the team worked through is 17 hour's work day.
Sleeping bags are placed upon the floor, or two very tired individuals drive home, arriving at one in the morning to their houses.
Knowing two things.....
One - the alarm will ring at 6:30
Two - more discoveries await.