or: It’s Diving Time!

We were able to open the dive centre again this week and take some of our local clients out for a dive. I’m not the only one that’s missed diving!

After eating and drinking our way through lockdown, perhaps a little more than what we usually would consume, the opportunity to be weightless was welcomed.

What was challenging though is that due to the extra layers of neoprene required (it’s now winter here so the water temperature is a little on the chilly side for those that live here regularly or are use to warmer waters). The extra layers means that rather than sinking, you float. When diving, this is not ideal.

To counteract this, we put weights on either by wearing a weight belt with the lead threaded through (we have it in 1kg or 2kg increments) or in our integrated weight pockets which fit neatly into our jackets which we all wear (these can be inflated and deflated to make sure you’re sitting where you want to be in the water. This is why they are called Buoyancy Control Devices – BCDs).

Layering in thicker wetsuits also makes movement on land a little harder than usual. Rather than my arms hanging by my sides, they are stuck out to the side in a similar way to a bodybuilder with PLS (permanent lat spread) and no way of bringing them in closer.

When I’m on the boat, I then need to put my fins on without being able to bend and then my jacket (that’s the easy part as I’m seated).

Once all kitted up and have given my team and briefing about the dive that we’re about to do, we all sit on the edge of the boat, do a countdown and roll in backward. This is one of the best sensations around. The key is to relax and breathe. Your regulator is in your mouth and the jacket is inflated so it’s not possible to sink and you will automatically bob back up to the surface. It’s great.

So here I am with my layered neoprene (I should stress that my layering is in no way a normal activity for a standard recreational diver. It’s just those of us that dive regularly and feel the cold that do something similar and even then, I’ll be the first to acknowledge that I’m at the extreme end of this), on the edge of the boat.

And at this point, I feel like I weigh about a tonne. At least. Perhaps even more. I feel like an elephant.

And then I roll in.

Ahhh bliss….

I bob back up to the surface and check to see where my divers are so we can descend together.

Then the ocean starts to seep through the first layer of my neoprene, then the second, then my thermal layer, then my skins (this is like a rash guard). This serves three purposes. It reminds me I’m alive, and residual feelings of sleepiness leave me and it starts to go around my body to provide the protective layer that will conduct the heat and keep me warm by being trapped against all my layers.

And then it’s time to descend so I let air out of my jacket and the weights take over.

I breathe out.

And I’m on my way down.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

It’s the only way to descend with so many layers!

And already I can see fish.

I’m at one of my favourite dive sites so the first ones I usually see are Sargent majors and then I start to see various wrasse. Then parrotfish. It’s like they are all coming out to say hello.

I add air to my jacket along the way to slow my descent and so I don’t touch the bottom.

I’m now weightless.

I can move in three dimensional space.

I look up and can see the ocean’s surface, gently moving in the breeze. The bubbles from my breath dancing their way up to burst on the surface in an explosion of joy. Well, that’s what I imagine they’re doing. Unless you’re being eaten underwater or can’t find a partner, I imagine everything is happy. How could it not be when it’s so beautiful there? The colours, the quiet except for the crunching of the parrotfish on corals, sometimes turtles scraping algae off rocks, the occasional dolphins chatting, a whale on occasion and some other fish singing out to each other. It’s not a church after all – they need to communicate!

And here we are on our way to greet all our old friends and explore again.

It’s awesome.

And everything is happy.

Since all the times I’ve dived this week have been with experienced divers and we have quite small groups, each dive has been at least one hour so I’ve been able to stop in places and observe cleaning stations, fish fighting and defending territories, breeding activities and watched a few octopuses and turtles too.

It’s great.

Even when it’s cold.

Back to the dive centre and I’m chatting with people I haven’t seen in three months. We’ve covered a wide variety of topics from the political through to those relating to the ocean, families and travel.

We’ve all missed the interaction so people are hanging around longer than usual.

I’m back.

In one of my many happy places.

 

Thanks to Fatboy Slim for the title to this post.