Bay Diving Newsletter #36 October 2008 - In the Nick of Time

“It is almost worthwhile to be cheated; people's little frauds have an interest which more than repays what they cost us”
- Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931

You didn't really think last months newsletter was the last you would receive. Did you? We did.

Contract was signed and promises were made. Contents of house were packed and relocated, accounts closed off, notifications sent, celebrations had, personal items removed from the restaurant, comprehensive files written on the minutest detail of running the place, and most significantly, lives were planned. And then Louis Baartman did not pay. He sent his family and staff up to live in our house and be served our food, he had us pay for his taxis, he had us pay several thousand dollars on his behalf in order to acquire new property adjacent to the lodge, and then did not pay for any of that either. He signed his emails with Bay Diving details, received deposits for accommodation booked here and sent a rude letter to Kingsley Holgate's group telling them to remove their goods from 'his' property. He told us to give him the business and he would pay some time later.

What were we thinking? He does not deserve to take over our lodge and reputation. He hasn't yet earned the right to be rude to our friends and clients. He does not represent anything that we have strived to achieve and we are so sorry that we almost let it happen. He wanted to make the place a type of timeshare with a Padi resort and bring jetskis in! And he says it is unnatural for a human to have their head underwater... To all our valued and respected guests, our sincere apologies. And to ourselves, a sharp slap around the ears, that rings and rings and says "listen to your instincts, do your homework, and never, never assume. Anything". And don't you worry about us going new age and doing the forgive and forget thing. Like Arthur always says, "I'm more Old Testament. An eye for an eye."

So there you have it. The place is back on the market, but this time we will be more careful about who we offer it to. Having kicked off the glorious glow of freedom that was tugging on our Speedos, we are back to ordering Tbones, planning Christmas (potjie, what else) and having tea parties with the Labour department. We are lucky enough to have Samuel on board as our new chef. Trained at a 5 star hotel in Maputo, it took him a day or two to adjust to our superior level of cuisine and service and discard the silly notion of the client always being right, and he has proved to be louco enough to fit in here. If you can't find him in the kitchen, look atop the watertank for someone waving a cell phone wired to a bamboo pole antenna searching for signal. Oh, and he's French, well his grandfather is. So we're halving the portions and doubling the price.

For us to hire a dive instructor is like appointing a godmother for your child. You need to trust that person to have the best interests of your offspring in mind, and to believe that she will continue to develop your prodigy as you would have. In our case the child is the dive school, our reefs and our reputation, and quite a demanding brat it is. The first dive instructor hired in over four years, after the previous disastrous attempts, lived up to every cliché in the industry. Deep is cool, Safe is for sissies. He focused more on servicing all the girls than the gear and logged almost as many lies as Louis. He's gone, with his tail between his legs and has been replaced by Wayne, a dive instructor representing the new South African organisation called ISDA International Scuba Diving Association www.isda.co.za which was developed as a reaction to the general decline in standards of dive training around the world. We met the directors in February and share their opinions on what the ethics of scuba diving should be. Hopefully from a small start we can help to bring about some changes for the better. Less about buying stuff and more about developing the right heart and mind for travelling around underwater.

Quirimbas 2009 - The first plans have been made for April and May next year. We will sail Ietermagog up north and conduct sail charters of four to six days over a period of two months, exploring and diving the archipelago. Complete adventure. Email for details. Will post schedules a bit later.

Best regards from Arthur and Sarah. Still.

And Jock, Fella, Tsotsi, Pippi, Spooky, Mullet and Felix

And the flies. Its mango season.

Arthur Telephone: +258 82 5116925 / 82 3042908
Satellite phone: 881631546816
(send a free short message to this number via www.iridium.com otherwise standard costs apply for satellite calls)
Email: waterworks.moz(at)gmail.com
hearn.sarah(at)gmail.com