Odessa. Early morning. Full calm, no clouds in the sky. Me and my dad at sea.
We put on masks and tubes and are preparing to swim for about fifty meters from the shore behind mussels, which settled on the remains of the metal structure of the long-destroyed pier. The seagulls shout loudly. The air is filled with fresh sea smell.
Near the coastline, gently swim over the stones. The more depth becomes, the more interesting it is to observe the rays of sunlight, which permeate through the water column. A huge dome of jellyfish swims past with long lilac tentacles. It's easy and pleasant to swim, because there are no waves.
Slowly approaching the rusty metal skeletons, which are like peaks peep out of the darkness, from where the rays do not have enough strength to get. At the very end, the remains of the pier appear on the surface of the water. They are completely overgrown with seaweed and mussels. In some places you can stand on them or even sit on them.
I really like to watch through the glass of the mask for how the colorful shrimps are swarming, as floating, fluttering, small flat jellyfish with iridescent holographic lines along the contour of the body. This is very beautiful, if you look closely at these unusual creatures.
The pope wore dense gloves and tore mussels, collecting them in a large tight package. Mussels are huge, they densely packed rusty pillars and "hunting" for them is not a big deal, the main thing is to ensure that you do not injure your hands.
At this time I just sit on one of the upcoming pillars and enjoy the beautiful view of the sea. There is no one around, only you can hear the dad breathing through the tube, a little immersed in the water. Overhead, flying gulls fly, tearing the air with their cries. The higher the sun rises, the deeper his rays penetrate the sea, but I still do not see the bottom. I am overwhelmed by a special feeling of freedom and heady joy. I have never so deeply and far not swam, for me this is a great achievement. Slowly the package with mussels is filled, and we decide to sail to the shore. We have many more things planned for today.
We came to the house, which was rented, packed the catch in the refrigerator and began to gather to go to the city.
From Chernomorki to the railway station, it took about fifty minutes to drive in the stuffy minibus. At the station we meet my friend Natasha, who on this day travels in Odessa, we leave her things in the storage room and decide, will go to Langeron beach, so that those few hours she has between the trains she could hold at sea. The tram stopped in front of the Vera Inberus lane, along which we go to the descent to Lanzheron. The staircase is old, long, in some places the steps are broken, but we overcome them with enthusiasm.
On the beach a lot of people - the height of the holiday season. But we also had plenty of room. Natasha is delighted, she was not at sea yet this year. She swims with great pleasure, however, she refuses to swim with the mask to the breakwater. And my dad and I swim far and deep again. Almost at the breakwater itself we saw on the bottom two large, about half-meter-long fish, I do not know exactly what breed. The breakwater also overgrew with algae, as well as those columns to which we swam in the morning. I again admire shrimps, jellyfish and flocks of fish that live here. Dad found a huge crab the size of a fist, caught it and shows it to me. I asked him to return the crab to the place so we did not hurt him. As I later learned, crabs are listed in the Red Book.
I emerge from the water and sit on the breakwater plate, and my father floats along it, continuing to examine the marine inhabitants. At that moment, I hear the most beautiful music, which sounds, as if quite near. Strange, because the shore is very far ... Then I understand that this music comes from the dolphinarium, where the program is taking place.
Time quickly flies, and we understand that we need to return to Natasha. We talked with her for another hour, and my father took her upstairs and put him on the tram so that she could get to the station and take her train.
As soon as Dad returned to my beach, a few drops fell from the sky. It seems that nothing foreshadowed the rain, but a small drizzle began. We packed up our clothes, changed our clothes and started to get up from the beach. Literally for some ten minutes the drizzle began to turn into a heavy rain, rapidly turning into a downpour. People on the beach in a panic began to grab things and children and run away from the sand.
At this moment we stood up and stood under a tree near the terrace of the cafe-restaurant. Realizing that the rain was serious and we did not have time to climb the stairs, we decided to wait out the weather in a cafe. And rightly so, because only we sat on the sofa at a table in the center of the terrace, where rain drops hardly reached, he passed into a powerful shower, which was just a solid wall poured very close by. I did not see anything behind this gray shroud, neither the sea nor the trees. We were cut off by a solid wall, it seemed like from the whole world. It became cold, and I happily wrapped myself in a woolen blanket, which was on our couch. At that time a waiter came up to us, and my dad ordered tea for him to keep warm and fish baked in foil.
So we sat through this element. By the way, I tried the dorado for the first time in my life and I really liked it. After staying there for about two hours, when the rain finally stopped and the sun came out, we climbed up and boarded a minibus to get to Chernomorka. It was starting to get dark, the people in the shuttle bus were quite a lot, but we managed to sit on the front seats on the same level as the driver, he had a stove (probably also a little bit cold from the rain) and I with pleasure warmed my feet, wet when we went up Stairs from Lanzheron.
We drove through the evening city, in which the lights flickered gently.
It was a long day filled with events, emotions and new impressions.
He remained in my memory the way I tried to tell you now.
Thanks a lot to those who read!
May there be many days in your life that will remain beautiful and kind in your memory !!!