Tour of the islands (1 of 2)

[Year count 177]  Aaaaaand, we're ready for a tour of Galucca's islands and waters, and waters :) Splitting this in two post as I couldn't stop myself from producing pictures :-)

Here's the map - nothing fancy pansy, and mostly made to help me remembering stuff :-)



The green names are land, the blue is water, and yellow lines show the most busy boat routes. The yellow dots are docks for houseboats, and the orange dots show where there are mooring posts (not really understanding how they work though, so I added them mostly for the "coasty" impression :-)

The red numbers are diving areas - the number is the skill required. Only 3 are done yet, and we'll sink down to just one...

As you can see, the water area is a rather big part of Galucca. Good for the locals now that boats and diving areas have arrived! This little tour will be very simple - we'll go by boat around Ucca Island, going clock wise, starting just before the old Fortress Port that you have seen long ago. Hm... okay, we're starting just above the Island word on the map, heading right (which is of course East)



Our guide is ready! You probably don't know him, but you heard about his folks. His name is Altos Dipperwell, son of the former priest of Church of Similius. Altos believes in those green bars, but he didn't want to become a monk and then a priest. Instead he is now managing the Old Town Market. He lives at Pettonta Heights, neighbour to the Seylouse family.

Hm... a rather foggy morning, we ordered a sunny day, we better wait for that delivery.



Get seated, here we go! On your right hand, you now see Turmington Dock. Long ago Admiral Turmington resided in the blue house on Ucca Island, then his ship rested right here.



It's a pretty fashionable dock, attracting richer locals, housing the finer boats. The houseboat is not private though, it's an exclusive lounge called Club Admiral. There you can eat, drink and relax on the sun deck, and occasionally the boat will leave its dock.



Then, we're passing the old Fortress Port. There is still a subway station, but the tunnel is filled with seawater long ago. Nobody lives out here these days, but with boats that might change.

The white houseboat over there is named Mathilda, but I think it's vacant.

On the second picture above you can just about see the red diving area mark. This is next to the old Fortress Port, and this spot is good for scuba newbies. Red number 2 on map.



This diving area is very plain. Sharks are never seen here, and the area is open and easy to navigate. The 3 rocks are positioned just under the red mark, making it easier for newbies to know where they are. Although the sea life is nothing spectacular (nothing spawned yet doesn't help much either, :-) ) the ground is full of old parts from ships, bottles and mugs thrown out from boats during generations. Quite interesting to new members of the scuba club, to find i.e. a chair with 3 legs.



Next we're passing a very dangerous spot, on the map you will see the red number 8. Several huge underwater rocks make this route quite risky, especially to bigger boats. Over the years many ships sank here. After the fortress moved to Old Town, smugglers would spend the day here in Ucca Bay, where they couldn't be seen from the town, and after dark they sailed up to town - but ack, those rocks stopped most of them! :scared: We're not going down there, we're simply not skilled enough...

On second picture above, you see the Dragon! In old days, Galuccians thought a dragon was resting out there, even when they stopped believing in dragons, nobody sat foot on that steep island.

To be continued in next post...