Cold!
The sea was too rough on Saturday to go out for a dive in it. Therefore I was sent out to Capernwray yesterday morning to do the open water dive part of my Dry Suit course. The plan was to do two dives at this site to complete the course. During the two dives, we would go over skills that will be required to complete the course. We had to prove that we could control our bouyancy then there was the remove and replace equipment while wearing the wetsuit.
The first dive we were to show that we could control our bouyancy. The second dive we would remove and replace our equipment (weight belt and bouyancy jacket with tank).
Getting the car loaded up very early on Saturday morning, there were a few snowflakes coming down out of the still dark sky. It was an indicator of the temperature. It was 6 am when I got on the road and the thermometer in the car said -1 C.
When I got to the dive site at 9 am, the snow was still coming down in sporadic flakes. The instructor, the other student and I went over the brief for the first dive, got the kit on and walked down to the dive site. It is much more difficult to get fins on when you've got a big old dry suit on with that huge padded undersuit as well. Bending over wasn't the easiest thing. If somebody drops her glove, she has to be a wimp and ask somebody else to pick it up for her.
The water was a balmy 5 C. There could very easily been little chunks of ice floating about in there. Getting into water that cold, I didn't do that "gasp and swear" that one normally does when jumping into cold water. I was very well protected by all the gear. The only part of me that wasn't protected was a little bit on my face that the mask and hood didn't cover. I had too much weight on me during that first dive. I had about 13 kilos of lead on the weight belt. I sank too fast with that much weight. Good thing I didn't blow my ears out. The fact that I was overweighted made it a bit more difficult to get my bouyancy correct for the skills that we were doing. We managed the skills in the end and went off for a quick swim. The trout in this quarry are beautiful.
Coming out after the first dive is when I got really cold. When I took my diving hood and gloves off, I was then standing outside in the cold with a wet head and hands.
There was a short break on the shore and we reviewed what we would be doing in the second dive. This dive was to be a bit more involved. We got the wet diving gear back on and jumped in. I was a lot less warm at the start of this second dive.
It turned out that both of my dive companions, the other student and the instructor, were having difficulties with their suits. The other student couldn't get his suit to inflate and the instructor couldn't get his suit to vent extra air. Because of these problems, we surfaced and decided to just go over skills.
I started to have problems myself. I was getting too cold. I wasn't as warm as I should have been at the start of the second dive. My right calf was starting to cramp up a bit. I stretched it out to stop the cramp and started removing my weight belt. It came off just fine after being temporarily wedged between my body and the tank in the back. Getting the darned thing back on was another thing. I got the weight belt back to the position where it could be buckled and I couldn't buckle it. About then my right arm started to cramp. I had to tell the instructor that I was going to have to leave the water. I was making my way back toward the shore and BOTH my legs started to cramp. One arm and two legs! Good thing I was getting out because this stopped being fun.
I got out, got the gear off and started lugging it back to the dive centre's van. I had carried my full tank down with no problem. Now that my muscles were cold and tired, I really struggled to get it all back to the van. I had to make three trips. The weight belt alone was one trip. I didn't want to drag it on the ground because it is a new one. The tank, though it now had less air in it, was very heavy. I had to stop every few yards. Thankfully, even though I was just 15 yards from the van, some kind soul helped me the rest of the way with it. Where was he 40 yards ago?
As soon as my dive gear was safely next to the dive van, I went to get out of the wet stuff. The faster I got warm and dry, the faster I would feel better.
Soon I was in warm dry clothes and had everything stowed properly, I went over to get myself a bowl of soup and a mug of tea and write up the dives in my log book. I was wishing for an older, more battered log book with more dives logged in it than my grand total of 10 dives.
I had a soaky bath when I got home. The kind of bath where you think that the wallpaper might peel off if you don't get out and vent the bathroom. I had a sore neck and shoulders when I went to bed and they're still a bit stiff today, but I'll live.
I do know that because the second dive was aborted, I haven't finished the course yet. The instructor has said that I can go back to finish the skills in a local swimming pool. I can do that on Thursday nights or Sunday mornings in a pool near them. Perhaps if we had done the more fiddly remove and replace gear skills on the first dive, I might have fared better.
At least I know one thing. I can only manage one cold water dive per day. I am not overly sure I like winter diving. I certainly won't be doing it again in a big hurry.
The first dive we were to show that we could control our bouyancy. The second dive we would remove and replace our equipment (weight belt and bouyancy jacket with tank).
Getting the car loaded up very early on Saturday morning, there were a few snowflakes coming down out of the still dark sky. It was an indicator of the temperature. It was 6 am when I got on the road and the thermometer in the car said -1 C.
When I got to the dive site at 9 am, the snow was still coming down in sporadic flakes. The instructor, the other student and I went over the brief for the first dive, got the kit on and walked down to the dive site. It is much more difficult to get fins on when you've got a big old dry suit on with that huge padded undersuit as well. Bending over wasn't the easiest thing. If somebody drops her glove, she has to be a wimp and ask somebody else to pick it up for her.
The water was a balmy 5 C. There could very easily been little chunks of ice floating about in there. Getting into water that cold, I didn't do that "gasp and swear" that one normally does when jumping into cold water. I was very well protected by all the gear. The only part of me that wasn't protected was a little bit on my face that the mask and hood didn't cover. I had too much weight on me during that first dive. I had about 13 kilos of lead on the weight belt. I sank too fast with that much weight. Good thing I didn't blow my ears out. The fact that I was overweighted made it a bit more difficult to get my bouyancy correct for the skills that we were doing. We managed the skills in the end and went off for a quick swim. The trout in this quarry are beautiful.
Coming out after the first dive is when I got really cold. When I took my diving hood and gloves off, I was then standing outside in the cold with a wet head and hands.
There was a short break on the shore and we reviewed what we would be doing in the second dive. This dive was to be a bit more involved. We got the wet diving gear back on and jumped in. I was a lot less warm at the start of this second dive.
It turned out that both of my dive companions, the other student and the instructor, were having difficulties with their suits. The other student couldn't get his suit to inflate and the instructor couldn't get his suit to vent extra air. Because of these problems, we surfaced and decided to just go over skills.
I started to have problems myself. I was getting too cold. I wasn't as warm as I should have been at the start of the second dive. My right calf was starting to cramp up a bit. I stretched it out to stop the cramp and started removing my weight belt. It came off just fine after being temporarily wedged between my body and the tank in the back. Getting the darned thing back on was another thing. I got the weight belt back to the position where it could be buckled and I couldn't buckle it. About then my right arm started to cramp. I had to tell the instructor that I was going to have to leave the water. I was making my way back toward the shore and BOTH my legs started to cramp. One arm and two legs! Good thing I was getting out because this stopped being fun.
I got out, got the gear off and started lugging it back to the dive centre's van. I had carried my full tank down with no problem. Now that my muscles were cold and tired, I really struggled to get it all back to the van. I had to make three trips. The weight belt alone was one trip. I didn't want to drag it on the ground because it is a new one. The tank, though it now had less air in it, was very heavy. I had to stop every few yards. Thankfully, even though I was just 15 yards from the van, some kind soul helped me the rest of the way with it. Where was he 40 yards ago?
As soon as my dive gear was safely next to the dive van, I went to get out of the wet stuff. The faster I got warm and dry, the faster I would feel better.
Soon I was in warm dry clothes and had everything stowed properly, I went over to get myself a bowl of soup and a mug of tea and write up the dives in my log book. I was wishing for an older, more battered log book with more dives logged in it than my grand total of 10 dives.
I had a soaky bath when I got home. The kind of bath where you think that the wallpaper might peel off if you don't get out and vent the bathroom. I had a sore neck and shoulders when I went to bed and they're still a bit stiff today, but I'll live.
I do know that because the second dive was aborted, I haven't finished the course yet. The instructor has said that I can go back to finish the skills in a local swimming pool. I can do that on Thursday nights or Sunday mornings in a pool near them. Perhaps if we had done the more fiddly remove and replace gear skills on the first dive, I might have fared better.
At least I know one thing. I can only manage one cold water dive per day. I am not overly sure I like winter diving. I certainly won't be doing it again in a big hurry.
posted by Peggy @ 5:09 AM
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