Diving at the Delph

Today saw the first dive of January, and indeed 2010, for Vale Royal Sub Aqua Club.  Although it was planned that we go to the River Lune, due to the recent amount of good weather, or lack thereof, it was decided that the Delph would be a safer option for the brave few divers, being James, Ernie and Clive, that were still eager to brave the cold waters of the quarries during winter time.  And when I say cold, I really mean cold.  It was barely over a week ago when the Delph saw ice diving for the first time in years, and it didn't feel like the temperature had increased a great deal since then, with the water hovering around a not so toasty 4 degrees.

After making our way to the dive site, we kitted up after somewhat of a delay when booking in, and prepared ourselves for the chilling waters awaiting us.  After making a few last minute additions to Clive's weight belt, we began our first dive of the day.  It was at this point, just after I had submerged, that I asked myself "Why am I doing this?  Is this my idea of fun?", due to the throbbing ice-cream head ache that soon arrived.  However, the initial pains and silent screams quickly faded away, making way for what turned out to be quite a pleasant dive.

Pilotage and navigation were the focuses of the dive.  All was going well until I realised that there is probably only one armoured car in the Delph, rather than two identical ones, and that we have gone round in a circle.  However, thanks to a little nudge in the right direction from Ernie, we found our way back in the end.

After dekitting, we had lunch, and a nice hot cup of tea in the cafe, and started to prepare ourselves for dive number two.  With navigation now sorted out, we headed back down to the water for our second dive.  After Clive had the joys of spring fin straps explained to him by Ernie, we began our second and last dive of the day.

Now that I had reaslised that heading North East "or there abouts" wasn't quite accurate enough to be particularly helpful, we successfully made our way across the quarry without any of us becoming disorientated.  However, due to some teething difficulties with Clive's weighting and buoyancy systems, the dive encountered a premature end, and we surfaced after around quarter of an hour of down time.  Before exiting the water, Clive did a buoyancy check by the steps, which helped him to sort out his weighting. 

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day for everyone there, and was well worth facing the cold to experience.

 

The more the merrier, so come along and join us next time at the next dive weekend, due to take place on February the 6th/7th, which will entail dives at the Delph/Capernwray, then on to Manchester for shopping at the Trafford Center and sky diving or skiing!

JS