Yep, after the first dive I was ready for burning it, though I did become proficient at forward rolls (that's the natural gymnast in me
)
I was expecting it to be different to a wetsuit even expecting the floaty feet, but there was absolutely no way I could stay upright when stationary. I held onto the side of a boat and tried to force my feet back down, which resulted in me hanging on upside down! But some spring straps on the fins seems to have made all the difference.
Second dive was much better, the feet stayed where they should be and I was back to doing perfectly executed chinooks
even managed to ditch a couple of KG with only 30bar in the tank and with a bit more practice I expect to ditch even more.
By the third dive I was more comfortable and had to play swimming on my side, headspins, but it all went nipples north when I tried backstroke at 3m
I ended up going up a bit, feet filled with air and I broke the surface fins first
I even took the camera in with me, but nothing worth seeing I'm afraid.
People say I am mad for diving in a wetsuit but I can tell you that I was no warmer during the dive, in fact I was possibly colder in the seaskin with arctics at 12C compared to the semidry in 7C. On the surface I had the opposite problem, in the wetsuit I either keep it on between dives and get chilly, or I take it off, get dry and then have to put it back on when it's cold and wet. Yesterday I was sweating my knackers off between dives.
The big advantage for me with the drysuit is that with the wetsuit I need all the lead to get down, but once the suit compresses I am vastly overweighted, but with the drysuit I am correctly weighted at the surface and at the bottom.
I still think that when the water (and air) temp improves I will go back to the wetsuit, it's easier, less bulky, more flexible and more comfortable and if I only use it in the warmer months when the over jacket is not required, I need less lead and am better trimmed.
Anyway, where's the video of me near the tank?
Arfie