The day started with a sterling demonstration of my lack of team awareness. Sitting in my car staring at the Argyll Caravan Park slip on my left I convinced myself no-one else had arrived and phoned Iain who, it turned out, was standing about three metres to my right! In my defence, Iain's wife Cat had seen me sitting in my car but decided I wasn't a diver as she couldn't see any kit in my little Fiesta. Looking at the amount of kit they'd brought I could see why.
Lots of kit!
We introduced ourselves and after a short wait to see if anyone else turned up (nobody did) we cracked on. John asked what I wanted to see and I suggested correctly setting up a backplate with one-piece harness, trim and reaching valves. He agreed and we retired to a handy bench in the shade to chat about the principles involved. It was a good job it was shady spot because the sun was beginning to burn off the early mist and I was soon sweating in my undersuit and drysuit.
John (on the left) and Iain
Firstly we had a look at my existing backplate and harness. Now, I've got a break in my harness and I fully expected to receive a severe ribbing because of it. But, John and Iain aren't like that at all, they readily accepted my comment that I had tried a one-piece harness, struggled to remove it and, since I wasn't trained in its correct use, compromised by putting in a clip. But, as John pointed out, they would show me how to get out of the one piece-harness easily and then I wouldn't need to compromise with a quick-release break.
Whilst I suited up John brought over a brand-new Halcyon backplate and harness for me to borrow for the day. We chatted whilst he expertly showed me how the straps should be adjusted to fit me and my suit and the D-rings (there are only three on a GUE rig) positioned so that your own body guides your hand to where they are.
With the harness adjusted it was a simple matter to bolt it onto my twin twelves and I was ready to go for a quick dip off the slip.
Caravan park slip
Once in the water however, things began to wrong for me. My trim was hopeless, for some reason I kept pitching forward and this had the effect of physically pushing me forward. If I relaxed and remained absolutely still I would still move all over the place, continually bumping into Iain and John as they demonstrated the valve drill. Once the demo was over it was my turn but with my trim to hell it was difficult and for some reason I just couldn't get a good grip on my left post, even though I've never usually had a problem. After watching me struggle for a minute or two John called a halt and then demonstrated using a spool and an orally inflated dSMB. This was impressive both in the skill displayed in remaining still and horizontal throughout and in the simplicity of the equipment. With a spool there is just nothing that can jam or catch and, with the orally inflated buoy, no faffing about with regulators. The oral inflator has a further advantage, as you blow out into the marker your buoyancy doesn't change at all until you replace your regulator in your mouth and take another breath, at which point the buoy can be on its way to the surface. Very slick!
We surfaced and I was pleased, at least in my own mind, that I managed to ascend at the same rate as Iain and John without too much yo-yoing. After a quick chat on the surface we nipped back down. This time my trim was much better and I managed to reach my left post. Then John and Iain did some practice of their own skills for a forthcoming cave diving trip to France, they juggled three stage cylinders between them.
Try juggling these!
We then surfaced and headed ashore where the proof of the pudding in removing the one-piece harness was to be found. To be honest, at this point I struggled, the harness kept snagging on my gauges and it took a little assistance from Davieg, who had just arrived at the caravan park, to wriggle out. But despite this it had been significantly easier than my previous attempts prior to knowing the knack.
After a chat and a bite to eat Davie and I went back into the water to practice. This time my trim was much better and I found reaching my posts relatively easy, I even fired off my dSMB on a spool without any drama but the big epiphany was getting out of the harness after the dive. I removed my gauges and gave the harness the secret handshake. To my amazement the shoulder strap just popped off, this was so unexpected I nearly fell over as I hadn't shifted my weight to allow for the sudden swinging of my cylinders on one shoulder. It might have been a fluke and I'll continue to practice but it showed me that it can be an extremely easy process.
Whilst Davie and I had been diving Iain and John had taken Iain's mum for a dive but not before they'd carefully 'adapted' her kit to the GUE standard for single cylinder diving and given her a backplate and wing to try. She came back all smiles and it looked as if her brand-new conventional BCD was heading back to the shop.
In summary; this was just a taster of the GUE way of diving, not really a formal training event, but even with that caveat I learned a lot, not only about diving but also about what nice people GUE divers like Iain, John and Cat are. I was expecting a bit of a beasting over my kit and my skills but nothing could have been further from the truth and I'd like to thank Iain and John for putting all the time and effort in to run this event. Hopefully there might be another run in Loch Fyne in the future or even a Fundamentals course.
John; relieved to have survived diving with me. 
Iain and his, now assimilated, mum.