The capital again... Photo-video-report from Fort Zbarż

Diving in Zielonka, diving in Fort Zbarż, then again in the Fort, then Zielonka. And now, on Sunday 8 June 2014, Fort Zbarż again. Again with GEPN. How much can one do? Well, you can, you can, and you even want to! The weather is good, there will be a large group of people, some good friends and some from outside GEPN. So I throw my equipment in the car, agree with my family that I will be back before lunch and set off to dive. Thirty minutes later I’m at the dive site. This is a very serious advantage for those divers who have to combine their passion with a non-diving family life.

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An elegant car park filled to the brim with cars of… divers. I rub my eyes in astonishment. Is it possible? So many people willing to come? Could it be that the popularity of the group is growing? Was it a lucky coincidence that people did not have time to go out of town? Or maybe there is something in the capital’s bodies of water that can attract a self-respecting, decent Polish diver, who won’t wade into any puddle?

Puddles are puddles, but there is no need to turn your nose up at the capital’s surroundings – there is something for every diver. For the “overhead” fans we have ECP, for the rushes – Zielonka, and Fort is a mix of all and in addition right by Okęcie, in the middle of the city.

I had concerns about the visibility. It’s not a big body of water. It rains a bit and then it gets really messy. The rains have been very frequent lately, there was barely a day’s break in the precipitation. My last two visits to the Fort were not particularly successful. I looked at the piles of equipment, at the crowds of divers.

Mother of God, I hope we don’t get a queue of disappointed divers complaining about the body of water we invited them to. Kamil “Jakuza” Jaczyński, the cause of all the fuss, is already around. There are some old friends, some new faces, some newcomers in our ranks and in diving.

Discussing the water area, some important information (we don’t go under the arcade without a helmet!), a commemorative group photo and we get dressed. The chairman of the neighbouring allotment garden appears. I, accustomed to being chased away (because such strangely dressed people entering the water is certainly a harbinger of trouble), am surprised by his positive interest. I answer the obligatory set of questions: yes, you can see something underwater, yes, it’s cool, yes, there is a fish and a decent one.

Also joining the company is Adam Wasiak from FreeFrog.TV. We will be on “TV”! Hooray! Adam is filming, Kamil is filming. Kamil is in his element, he is talkative and speaks to the point.

But it’s time to get in the water…

Adam jumps in to shoot material for the film, Kamil goes to new, unexplored regions. I have people with me who are not familiar with the basin. One of them wants to look under the arcades. So I lead the way along the barracks. Every now and then we come across divers. Holy moly! It must be Zakrzówek! I’ve never seen such crowds in such a small tank.

Divers beside us, divers crossing our path, divers in front of us, behind us. And since the reservoir can’t compare to Zakrzówek in terms of size, the water got muddy pretty fast and every now and then we entered the zero visibility zone. I regret that I didn’t do as Kamil did and went to explore the unexplored area – the part under the viaduct.

However, I came out of the water satisfied. I saw that people liked it. This is not Hancza, this is not Egypt, this is not Piechcin. But here we have a reservoir on the spot, an attractive reservoir, a lot of things to see under water, in addition, the natural circumstances are charming.

After coming out of the water, all faces are cheerful and mouths are satisfied. No one comes to complain. Even many anglers do not complain that we scare the fish away. We are also happy that our group is growing, that people notice that it is possible to dive in the vicinity of the capital.

Our on-duty Ecep Team, regulars of the flooded foundations of the Pruszków power plant, also stopped by for a while. At the same time as we started the game in the Fort, they were diving in the ECP. Also not far away, and here you go – a tank just right for experienced divers familiar with overhead diving procedures.

I myself am already starting to dream about diving in ECP, but I still feel that I am not that good in the art of diving yet, nor do I have the right equipment to start discovering the charms of ECP. The time will come.

I would like to invite you to the next GEPN dives, this coming Sunday in Zielonka, a big GEPN event under the slogan ‘Safe and clean in Zielonka’. Zielonka is a good training ground for experienced and very beginner divers. As time permits, I will definitely go there.

More information, videos and photos can be found on: diving.co.uk i gepn.pl