Diving with Twins 3

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Go to: Diving with Twins - 1, Diving with Twins - 2, Diving with Twins - 3

The alarm went off at 03:00 that must mean it's time to go to Stoney Cove again, it's Saturday morning and I've made a few more modifications to my kit configuration. My new regs had arrived during the week and were now set up accordingly, the twinning bands were moved further up the cylinders and the harness was adjusted - yet again.
Cate and I would be diving with Keith and Mark - Cate was diving for the hell of it, I was gaining further experience with the twinset, Keith had some shiny new Quattros (moving on from splits) and Mark was building up his dive log and skills.
The big difference for me is that this time I'm in a semi-dry + shortie so my movement is less restricted than if I'd been wearing my drysuit.
We were in the water for 08:45 - I felt a little chilly at first but once the water heated up against my skin all was fine.
A quick weight check then off we go... no not quite one of our group was under-weighted, another over-weighted so following a redistribution of lead we were ready.
Off to the Nautilus, checks all round - everybody's fine so down to the Wessex. Further checks at the bottom - we're all still fine so over to the Stanegarth. In, through, around and over, gas checks - still good, over to the bus. Back up the road via the Viscount cockpit to the APC for some off-gassing in the shallows where we saw one pike under the APC followed by at least five more amongst the reeds. We returned past the APC, under the bus stop and exited at the steps. A good dive was had by all - my equipment felt comfortable, I could reach all of my valves comfortably and my buoyancy felt spot on...
Practise makes perfect.

Dive 2 of the day saw us following the 7m shelf around and past the blockhouse to the Galleon(!). A quick bimble around the shelf then down to 16m to follow the wall back when Keith felt cramp strike (blade fins require more effort than splits) - no drama, a quick rub (on his leg!), a gentle ascent and follow the shelf back again.
The twins felt fine, I felt fine... I think I'm getting there. We'll see what happens when the drysuit returns and if I can still reach the isolation manifold and cylinder valves. If that goes fine then all that remains is to begin tailoring and customising the rig to get everything 'just right'... and of course - practise, practise, practise!

Go to: Diving with Twins - 1, Diving with Twins - 2, Diving with Twins - 3