Things I Have Learnt From Scuba

Free Divers are FIT!

The first no fins, no suit freedive through the Arch, a 30m long tunnel connecting Dahab’s Blue Hole to the Red Sea at a depth of 55m.

If you go to the post, there is a lot of “Not possible” going on, disregarding the fact that William holds the Constant Weight Without Fins record. This is an AIDA free-diving discipline in which the free-diver descends and ascends by swimming without the use of fins* or without pulling on the rope or changing his ballast; only a single hold of the rope to stop the descent and to start the ascent is allowed.

Constant weight without fins is the depth discipline of freediving that is most challenging, because of the physical effort needed to swim without assistance.

* Another thing I learned – never call Fins FLIPPERS. Big no-no. I have stopped that, but I still say Wet Suit when I mean Dry Suit.

If you like the music, it.s by FC Kahuna. Full video below.

A link to William’s profile on Vertical Blue.

A Husband Went a’Hunting

See what happens when a man goes underwater.  Unfortunately, I discovered I do not like scallops.  Give me an oyster any day, thanks!

Next time, I may try steaming them with ginger and garlic.

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Things living with a Diver has shown Me

Husband wears the big knife strapped to his thigh.  The smaller knife is tucked away (in a similar holder to the big knife) near his chin.  He also has a net cutter, which I haven’t yet got a picture of.  The knives click into the holders, so they do not fall out when underwater.  One of Husband’s greatest fears is of getting tangled up in rope / fishing line / net / seaweed and watching his air gradually run out.  It happens.  Hence the (very very sharp) knives we have in our understairs cupboard. 

Once he forgot to remove them after diving and went walking round Swanage in his dry suit with the knives still strapped to his body.  Good job he didn’t meet a pernickity policeman!

Yes.  A torch underwater.  This is now Husband’s second torch.  He now has one that lights up the sky sea, and decided to discharge the battery of this one, now a spare, completely.  However, torches used by divers do get very hot if they are not in cold water.  Hence, a sink with a bucket full of water with a torch in.  I did think I was cracking up when I found it, unexpectedly, when I went to empty the dishwasher…

Underwater Halloween Pictures!

This is an underwater camera with double flash.  Not an alien.  Honest.  Husband has a flash for his underwater camera, but this made it droop…

He has now given up underwater flash photography (and not just because of feelings of inadequacy!) because it takes too much concentration and his desire is to enjoy diving and for others to enjoy diving with hims as a partner.  But the FinePix 11 takes extremely good underwater photographs without bothering with a flash (see the Halloween pic) albeit a little green.

 

No-Brainer?

Husband is looking to buy a pony.

Not the hoofed, lets go for a ride sort.

This pony is a spare air supply, smaller than the main one, that Scuba Divers have as an emergency supply.

Now, this comes as a cylinder, a First Stage regulator, and a (I’m assuming the name here) Second Stage regulator.  The regulators are needed to bring the air in the cylinder down from highly pressured to 1 bar – lots easier to breath that way – and it is done in two stages.

Husband’s last diving weekend, down to Poole, was cancelled (too much weather, as you can see from the Magic Seaweed site), so he saved £150.00* (petrol / gas, boat hire fee, accommodation, food, drink…) so he though “Yay – I’ll put that save money towards a new pony” and starts checking on-line sites.

Finds one pony set for £199 – good regulators, plus cylinder and clamps.

The no-brainer bit about this is that every other scuba gear site has the first stage regulator for this set costing £200 or more – then you have to pay extra for the cylinder and other bits.

How do they do this?

* And he hasn’t saved that much anyway, as he has gone to Stoney (purposely flooded quarry mostly used for training) which has cost him £50 ish!

And I thought he was good at maths!

 

Husband’s Latest Adventure

Husband is a scuba diver, qualified as a BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club) Sports Diver.  He is a self-confessed diving obsessive, going on diving trips on both Mother’s Day and our 20th Wedding Anniversary, and most weekends in between.  Not a problem to me, as I quite like the time (and the bed!) to myself.

He recently returned from a club dive trip to Gozo – two dives every day and as much diving chat as a diving obsessive could want.

All goes well, fun is had by all, and then the last day arrives.  Just the one dive, and then hang out stuff to dry and time for a drink.

No one, at this point, has seen how much Husband can drink.  The most anyone has seen him imbibe is a pint after the weekly Club meeting, and two glasses of wine at the Club BBQ.  They have no idea of just how much he can put away and still remain standing!

So – He begins drinking at midday with his meal, drinks away the afternoon, has a small nap, drinks with dinner – and then they go to a bar…

Where the drinking continues.  It is beer he is drinking, it is just so much of it…

At 2am he calls a halt – he still has to pack after all, and doesn’t want to miss his plane.  So he trots off, packs, gets a cab with B (who is known for his drinking and has not let the side down).

“Look”, says B, “there’s the others, just getting into the lift.  Let’s catch up with them!”

So they hotfoot it to the lift and shove in a hand, successfully stopping it, and jump in.  Whoops – lift is full, gives a sort of judder, and refuses to move until large drunk people have left.  Which they do, with sheepish grins and wobbliness, and Husband & B decide to take the stairs and meet the others at – yes you’ve guessed it – the bar.
Where they wait, and wait, and have another drink, and wait some more.

“Must have decided not to hang round with us drunks – lestsh have another one!”

Next thing they know, there are AB and the rest, looming over them and looking quite dishevelled.

After Husband & B had got out of the lift, and gone up the stairs, the lift doors had closed – and the lift stayed where it was.  It stayed and it stayed and it stayed.  They called, they banged the doors, they pressed the alarm button, someone had a panic attack – but it stayed and stayed – and they were, well, I think cross does not begin to cover it.

The Day You Broke the Bloody Lift is now the latest addition to club lore.

My Real Treasure

Fetched from The Depths

For those who asked, here is a picture of my "treasure trove", the bracelet Husband found whilst diving of the coast of Gozo.  Real silver (hallmarked) but don't know about the charn.  And hey – if it is yours – sorry – salvage rules apply to items found 30 metres down.

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