When we got back to the house at around 5 o'clock I was determined to finish my mock draft before it started at 2 o'clock am (because of the 6 hour time difference). I did end up finished with about 4 hours to spare. 10 o'clock slowly crawled to 2 o'clock as the Sport Center Draft Special was, like all pregame shows, really boring. Everyone else had gone to bed by 11 only after they ridiculed me for being a stupid American obsessed with a stupid sport.
Day one of the draft was pretty solid. The Jets picked Muhammad Wilkerson, A Defensive Lineman from Temple. He filled a pressing need and was great value at pick 30. My mock draft was sub-par as I only got 5 right in the first round. In my defense, many teams reached on players because they could not find a trade partner to trade down with. There is a lot more to talk about but it is not the purpose of this blog (maybe I'll make another one).
The draft ended at about 5:45 in the morning and I had to be up at 8 as that was the only time that Will could take us back to the library. Thankfully, I had already finished alphabetizing the novels. We now had to liven up the library and so we started to paint. (the paint was donated by a local hardware store). The other three volunteers are very artistic so I was primary the masking tape guy.
That evening, Caine and Sammy had were scheduled to help Roxy sell surfing stuff at one of the local markets in Muizenberg. Rosie and I met up with them at about 7:30. The market had live music and good food and gave off a really chill, easy-living vibe. The market closed by about 10 and I was home at 10:30 ready for day two of the draft to start at 12 midnight.
The draft went pretty well. The Jets didn't have a second round pick but they grabbed Kenrick Ellis in the third round - a massive 6-4 346 lb nose tackle with major upside. Unfortunately, I didn't actually see the pick because the cab picked me up at 3:45 in the morning to take me to Mowbray. The cab got lost on the way but once we got there, I met up with Elsha and five of her friends at 4:30. The shuttle for shark cage diving, arrived at 4:40.
The reason why they picked us up at this ungodly hour was because we were going to Gansbaai, a two hour drive from Cape Town.
I don't remember sleeping on the shuttle but it was pitch black outside and the two hours seemed to go by really quickly. When we got there at around 6:30, we were given a solid breakfast and the safety speech from the skipper. We were geared up and on the boat by 7:15.
It was only a 20 minute boat ride to to Dire Island- also known as shark alley. It was a long 20 minutes, however, as the swells were massive and when we arrived one person had already vomited. It was actually worse when the boat stopped. We just went up and down with no momentum. Thankfully, the swells calm down a little bit as the morning went on. I didn't get too sick as I just kept my eyes on the horizon.
My experience here was vastly different than the one I had in False Bay. First off there were 15 people on the boat (minus the crew) and the cage held 5 people instead instead 2. Further, you weren't given a snorkel. Instead, we held onto the top of the cage. When a shark approached, the crew yelled "down" and you grabbed one of the bars and threw yourself into the water and viewed the shark. This was a huge difference because your head, shoulders and, most importantly, your hands were out of the freezing cold water most of the time. The biggest difference however, was the sharks!
Within 5 minutes of chumming the water with tuna stuffs, our fist shark approached. The first group of 5 quickly put on their wet suits and goggles and went into the water. I was in the second group of 5. In addition to the chumming the water, the crew baited the shark with a tuna head that they threw about 15 yards in front of the cage. As the shark approached the tuna head, they hanked it toward the boat and the shark accelerated toward the cage. The shark hung around for about 10 minutes circling the bait and striking for it a number of times.
After he left, another, slightly smaller, shark approached and made the same behavior. I had seen this before from the boat before and was very eager to get in the water and finally see the damn shark while in the cage. The skipper finally took the first wave out and I quickly got my wet suit on and got into the water.
The second shark had abandoned our boat and so we were in the water with no shark (an all too familiar experience). I instantly noticed that the water was very clear. In fact, It felt like I could see 20 to 25 yards in the water. Within two minutes our third shark approached and oh my god they are massive beautiful creatures. This guy hung around us for 20 minutes and after the first 10 was joined by another one. They were both circling the boat and going after the tuna head. At times, they were 2 or three feet away from the cage. They were extremely active as they thrashed around.directly in front of us. At times, they would dive down into the deep and come into sight again completely vertical. They did not breach out out of the water though. Our last minute in, the shark actually got the tuna head and wrestled it out of the rope. As it thrashed and twisted 5 feet away I was just in awe at its power and jaws.
Obviously, when you see the sharks you don't get nearly as cold and I wasn't even shivering when I got out of the water. When we got out The action didn't stop, as a four and then a fifth shark approached and it was an absolute frenzy. Dorsal fins were all over the boat and there was so much activity it wasn't clear where you were supposed to look. The crew was screaming "Down right" and "Down left" to the third group and if they had followed all of the crew's instructions they would have had no time to breathe.
After another half hour or so, the first group was in the water again. The shark action stayed continuous and sharks were now bumping and crashing into the cage. I stayed in my wet suit just in case I had another opportunity to get in the water and when group two was called again I immediately volunteered to get in there. This was the last wave to go in as there were about 5 other boats in the water and we seemed to be hogging all the sharks. I got in the water and instantly noticed that the water had dropped a half a degree. Within ten minutes, everyone in group two was shivering and shaking but what was the point of leaving the water when we were raising anchor in another ten minutes. We "suffered through" though as we were constantly throwing ourselves into the water and watching these massive, submarine-like, creatures. At one point, the crew member jerked the bait towards the boat and the shark completely followed it and swam into the cage. He didn't get hurt but his nose was literally in the cage directly infront of me, less than a foot away. He became increasingly agitated and was thrashing around. It was the first moment that I was genuinely terrified. I sure I was safe in the cage but part of the shark was in the cage!
This happened once more but this time the shark had its jaws completely open and I could see its layers of jagged teeth and its cavernous mouth. Sharks continued to swim right by the cage and right before the skipper told us to get into boat, one shark breached the water. It wasn't a complete breach but everything except its tail was out of the water- it was like something out of Planet Earth. I remember following it as flashed through the water vertically, came out of the water and then crash back into the sea.
In total, we saw seven different white sharks. When we got back to the building, we got a small lunch and a quick shower and were on the road by about 11:30. Despite being completely exhausted I was still unable to sleep on the shuttle home. Once in Mowbray, I took the train back to Fish Hoek and arrived back at the house by about 3:00.
I chose not take many pictures nor did I by the DVD that the photographer on board made. I did this for two reasons. The first was that I wanted to enjoy the experience and take it all in, instead of obsessing about the camera and taking a pic of every shark. The second was that the DVD was a ridiculous 350 rand and I feel as though the story is more gripping without a visual aid.
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| Where we went |
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| Dawn |
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| Our boat |
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| The water was so clear...look at the guy! |
There was no down time for rest though as Will was picking us up for the rugby match at 4 o'clock. Will was joined by Roxy and two of their friends so the car was very squished for the 40 minute car ride to the stadium. After having a drink and face painting ourselves for the Cape Town Stormers or the Durban Sharks (ironic) we went into the stadium at 6:30 for the match that started at 7:10.
Aside from the actual game, the experience felt very American. We did the wave as well as many other American cheers. There were also cheerleaders, concession stands, and the stadium was covered with familiar advertisements.
One difference was that you couldn't bring beer bottles into the stadium even if you bought it there. This was a precaution against people throwing bottles at other fans and on the field.
In terms of the game itself, it was pretty cool. It is a lot like American football without the forward pass or set downs. It is such a physical game. The brutal hits and collisions are definitely what the fans love. The Stormers dominated the game and beat the Sharks 32 to 12.
After the game, it was about 9 o'clock but instead of going back to Fish Hoek we went to a pizza place and had a leisurely late dinner. By the time we reached the pizza place I was just about ready to fall over in exhaustion. I didn't even eat anything because I was told to eat before we left. I just sat there, glazed eyed, ready to sleep as soon as I was horizontal. We got back to the house at 12o'clock. Finally, after being awake 62 hours of the past 64 ,I fell asleep.
I got up 14 and half hours later at 2:30 in the afternoon. It has been a very chilled day. Tomorrow, instead of going to school. Will, spontaneously scheduled Rosie and me tickets to swim with seals in in Hout Bay.
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| After getting me into a headlock, Sammy and Rosie gave me the most face paint out over everyone even though I was the least invested into the teams. The" S" is for Stormers |
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| This guy did push-ups as his warm-up |
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| I'd say the stadium sat about 50 thousands |
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| Cheerleaders |
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| Caine and me at half time |
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