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It was with much glee that I sprang out of bed at 6.30 to meet up with a work colleague.
Not really.
It was with much sleepiness and grumpy feeling that I lumbered out of bed and fell into the shower. I cursed by work colleague for wanting to meet up so he could "follow me to the dive site" but moved into the kitchen for my morning protein fix.
Meeting up with Alberto, we headed off to Oysterhaven, both cars laden with two 12L tanks and all of our gear. Being first on site, I called the Club Secretary to make sure we had found the correct part of Oysterhaven and were reassured we were there.
Gearing up, I found the LDS had given me two A-Clamp cylinders which weren't interchangeable () so had to swap with Alberto. However, he'd lost some air in the car and was down to 200bar already... great.
The rib arrived and all six of us clambered on board with the plan to head out to Black Head and then back for the second tank and a nice surface interval.
The weather was clear and the trip out took about 45 minutes, bouncing along nicely. I'd never been on a rib before so was quite excited about rolling in off the side. Climbing out would be a different kettle of fish but sure, I was game for anything!
Arriving at site, the skipper gave us a briefing and it was decided that I would be in the first three to enter the water, diving a trio. Myself, Alberto and an instructor who would lead the dive.
I sat gingerly on the edge, got the green light from the skipper and (for some daft reason) closed my eyes and rolled back...
It was nice. I liked it. I signalled I was ok and grouped up with the other two lads. We dropped down to 18 meters and I immediately noticed the cold. I'd opted to go for just my undersuit and my good ol' Flexia but it was definitely a bit nippy. My air seemed to be going down pretty sharpish too and 15 minutes in and I was down to about 150 bar. We pottered around and I got a signal from the Instructor, Mark, that his compass was on the fritz. He indicated that I'd be guiding us North West from now on... "great, low air, and now I have to navigate..."
Viz was pretty low, about 3 metres but there were no really strong currents and we saw a dogfish and quite a few crabs kicking off with each other. At 29 minutes, I called the dive as my air was really getting too low and we ascended safely. Then came the really fun part...
We swam up alongside the rib and removed our weights and gear. I grabbed the side, and heaved my 98kilos up and with the help of the crew, did a great beached whale impression. However, in the process, I heard "FIN!" and then a flash as Mark flew past me and into the sea! One of my fins had snapped off and Mark lept in to get it before the sea claimed it. I was really grateful when he emerged with it as he saved the second dive (and about €90!) .
We returned back to shore and changed tanks. The second dive was out to the Sovereign Isles and to check out the wreck of the "Nelly" - or rather, the engine block! There were quite a few seals around but sadly, whilst they enjoyed watching us from the rocks, they didn't fancy getting in for a play so we made do with a 12m dive and some more fighting crabs. Air was again going down a bit too rapidly, and then all of a sudden, Alberto is waving frantically at me like a man possessed. I look at Mark and signed "WTF?" to which he just indicated "don't worry - it's all good" and we head off. We swam down one side and caught a lovely current that give us a nice drift, but coming back was really tough. I signalled to Mark that I was knackered! All this despite going to the gym 5 times a week - minimum! At 30 minutes, we call the dive - I'm at 80 bar which is still a bit low and go through beached whale part all over again (this time, the fin is strapped on tight!).
It was great to get back into the water and, as it turns out, I had a leak from my first stage which was what Alberto had spotted and was flapping at me about. I'll need to get it checked before the next trip but think it might have been me rushing to get setup and not connecting up properly.
At least it explained my bobbins air consumption though...
ATB
calski
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