Wendy Northway
As the season is on the home straight, yet another weekend is blown out owing to the weather. We’d planned on going to Pwllheli but once again we found ourselves heading up the M6, Capernwray bound.
Our newest member Chris Ashbrook was looking forward to doing his first open water dive, young gun Gareth was a last minute addition and Andy wanted to get his shiny new drysuit wet! I had to do a quick weight check as my suit was in repair and taking a trip down Memory Boulevard; I’d borrowed back my old suit but had no idea what weighting I used to use. Having enough lead I then repeated the exercise with Chris. Once happy he had enough to get him down we then made our way to the 2m platform and descended. I think Chris was initially spooked by the trout which came between us as we carried out our drills but quickly came at ease when he realised they were not killer squids from the deep! Once finished the drills we headed off for a pleasure dive but descending that little bit deeper, Chris had a few problems with his ears that is so common with first time divers. We ascended then gently went down again taking time and not forcing. With this approach he was comfortable and we headed off towards the 6m platform where who should we find but the rest of the gang! Such was the crowd of VRSAC, we couldn’t actually get on! Ariel and Sarah were fin pivoting like pin fivoters; Steve, Andy and Gareth were doing likewise and just as A&S left, pilot and purser Paul and Alan arrived after their mammoth circumnavigation of the shallows. Top marks to Alan who managed to find his way around the place without a motorway to follow ;o)
Back at base we dekitted and Sarah was baptised as a true diver – she was soaked through! In vain, Alan spread her undersuit over the top of his car, but we quickly came to the conclusion that this was never going to work. A fine rain had taken hold and we wanted to minimise our surface interval to get out of the wet (oh the joys of having a dry drysuit!)
Second dive and we had a turnaround of pairings. Steve took Chris for fine tuning of buoyancy, I took Andy for his second open water lesson and Ariel took Paul and Alan for some sports diver drills. Sarah was very keen to do a second dive but with her undersuit soaking she would have had no thermal insulation thus decided to skip the dive for the warmth of the car. Gareth also stood down as he developed a headache.
Me and Andy opted for a step entry and surface swim to the 2m platform on the left hand side of the quarry. We figured it would be quieter there as I believe the whole of the northwest diving fraternity had descended on the training area this morning. At the platform we conducted the drills for OW2. These went well however I figured his fins must have been breaking the surface with his colossal height as he did his inversion drill! Following successful exercises we then headed off in search of the Cessna. Here I must make a confession. I forgot to scribble down any bearings for points of interest. Luckily we saw The Answer en route so I made a mental note of it for the return journey, then following the contours we happened across the African Queen. Three cheers for pilotage! We carried on along the perimeter of the quarry passing the entrance point a little to ascend to the 6m platform on the right where we enjoyed a safety stop in an aquarium of trout and perch. Both of us were mesmerised as they swam back and to. Meanwhile Ariel, Paul and Alan also went towards the Cessna (so much for it being quieter here!) where Alan successfully completed his Sport’s Diver rescue scenario. Very interestingly they discovered they needed to adapt their technique for lifting using Paul’s jacket. Paul’s BCD has 2 buttons on the pocket for inflate/deflate. Usually when lifting on a jacket, the rescuer secures the casualty’s arm on his shoulder to allow for suit venting. With Paul, this would have to be done with the opposite arm in order to ensure a lock. This highlights differences in kit configurations and how we must be alert for adaptations that may be required. I think this is healthy and do not subscribe to the DIR philosophy. It is also the reason why I enjoy diving with different buddies – the constant need to think about their kit and how it would affect me. Complacency can lead to lax habits!
Steve took Chris for an enjoyable pleasure dive, sneaking in a few buoyancy exercises. Both returned happy, if not one of them slightly wet! The repairs on Steve’s leaking suit had been a partial success – I think a return to the dive shop was on order!
Alan was restricted by flying the following day thus called it a day – he’d had 2 good dives so was happy, Andy also packed his kit away and headed home. After a long week away from his family he plumped for man points which left 4 fit and eager divers! OK, eager divers as we hobbled down to the waterfront! Ariel took Chris in this time. Chris was very lucky as he managed to dive with a good variety of divers today. This final dive Ariel tutored him successful through the second open water lesson and was most impressed with his skills, commenting that he was almost surprised that this was his first open water dive! Well done Chris – a sound diver in the making!
I let Paul navigate towards the gnome garden which didn’t quite go to plan! We got to the plane and after Paul handed out tempting snacks to his club class passengers (oh have I used that joke before – sorry!) we headed off on our bearing. I’m not sure if we started from the wrong place but we hit a wall before getting to the dive bell thus I reckoned we were on the wrong track. The line of travel on the compass on my new (pink) console was configured for a left hand whereas my contents gauge comes over my right shoulder, thus I got very confused and was no help whatsoever. Another learning point, good job this wasn’t on a dive where the finding of the wreck was imperative – I have the luxury of changing this over before using in earnest. It also socks one in the eye for DIR again! Change of plan we went back to the horses, leaving the elusive gnome garden for another day. En route we passed over a laptop and both of us had the same idea – check for updates on facebook!
An enjoyable and most successful day was had by all. Gareth, Alan and Chris had several drills signed off, Chris was able to put many months of pool work into practise, Andy got his new suit wet and I stacked up another 3 dives to my target number for this year! Thanks to all who made it a most enjoyable day!
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