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Never to Old!

The guest blogger this month is our very own Ailsa ‘Granny’ Pearce. Ailsa has worked in the diving business in Lanzarote for many years and made lots of friends along the way.

It is easy to see how passionate Ailsa is about Lanzarote both on land and under the sea.She always joins us on  PADI Womens Dive Day and  Ocean Clean Up Dives to keep our beautiful play ground a clean and healthy enviroment.

Ailsa now dives for fun and is such an ambassador for the sport. All our divers love chatting with  her, Granny’s stories are always the best!

Photo’s courtesy of Ailsa’s dive buddies , Marie Hanson and John Rayner.

NEVER TOO OLD!

Yesterday, I was driving towards the beautiful Ajache Mountains in Lanzarote on my way to Puerto Calero marina.I was struck by the breath taking views, Los Lobos Island, Fuerteventura beaches, glistening and seductive, and the mountains themselves basking in the midday sun.For the last 15 years I have revelled in the joys of life in Lanzarote, and with the stunning vista facing me on my drive I reflected on how fortunate I was to end up here.

 

My life has led me down many paths, and a lot of them via my sport, but the one thing I’d always wanted to do but never had, was to scuba dive! Like many, the quotes and magical films of Jacques Cousteau, Lloyd Bridges, Hans and Lottie Hass, had fired my imagination. A sequence of circumstances led me to begin my dream at the ripe old age of 59. Ridiculous, said some, a new hobby at your age should be knitting or painting! But undaunted I wanted to have a go!

That was the beginning of a new life for me! A new world of wonder, a new outlook on our messed up world and a new meaning to my whole being began!

So, and as not to bore you, I set off to learn to dive. I was anxious to become competent and self sufficient as am very competitive (sporty background) and need to be totally comfortable in what is an alien environment to air breathing man! I just loved it, actually feeling more at home under the waves than above and still do! It was the start of an incredible journey, one I am still enjoying!

 

I had a couple of blips when I had to remain above water for a few weeks, which delayed my goal of 2000 dives in 10 years but I achieved it in the end, albeit with a few extra weeks needed to complete!

So, the purpose of this ditty, for those intrigued, is to say that whatever your dreams may be, they are possible, just hold on to them and go for it! Age is NO barrier! Live the dream, dive the dream, I did and still do!

If your dream is to see the hidden underwater world, Island Water Sports is a good place to begin! You will receive informed and inspiring instruction measured to your individual progress and understanding, because, this is a sport where insufficient training and knowledge can be life threatening, so tailored teaching is essential.

All Island Watersports dives are carried out in small groups, whether it’s your first dive or your 1000th.

 

Right!!! Off you go!!!! I’m driving past my beautiful mountains again, on my way to…..?  Yes!!! Of course!!! To get my gills wet!! You are never too old to try something new!

 

Ocean Clean Up Dive – Ocean Rescue

  

At Island Watersports Lanzarote we take our responsibility to the enviroment very seriously and carry out Ocean Rescue, clean up dives every few months. We do our best to keep the beautiful Atlantic Ocean around Lanzarote as clear of rubbish and plastic as possible. Scuba diving in Lanzarote is a very popular sport and the area around Puerto Del Carmen boasts some of the best dive sites on the island.

Our last Ocean clean up dive of the year was a great success. We targeted the area of Black Beach in Puerto Del Carmen where we collected 5 full bags of plastic, drink cans and other debris from along the harbour wall, over the arena to the drop off.

During the dive our divers took great care to ensure that no sea life was actually living in the cans and bottles we removed, they did have to relocate a few baby octopus.

Check out our facebook page for all the great pictures (full album on flickr) and keep following us  for details of our  next Ocean Clean Up dive, all certified divers are welcome to join us and we supply tanks and weights for FREE.

Finally, a huge thank you our wonderful scuba diving volunteers, Ocean Heroes, John, Ailsa, Ian, Michael and Iain, a fantastic job guys, well done!