Gildy 18th Feb and frozen hands.

Little Pete · February 19th, 2006, 01:05 PM

Righto, about time I did a trip report.

Yesterday I was at Gildenburgh with my university BSAC ckub but met up with Dianne (DCC), Jonathon, Marianne (MJH) and Rich Walker.

Lovely weather up the surface in the sun. Some chill in the air but it was so nice we didn't really notice much at all. Much kit fettling was going on as Marianne had her new Halcyon Eclipse MC, Dianne a new Evolve MC and Jon was trying out Rich's twins.

My club gave me a few teases about abandoning them for my 'dark side' friends but things were all good. Dianne and I headed into the water before the others as they were still harness adjusting. I have to say that it was some of the coldest water I've been in (4 degrees both dives). We started running some trim and such practise on the shallow 6m platform.
Dianne showed me a great trick for checking your trim that Rich later told me he had started to use to help people get a feel for trim. From what I could see you lie on the platform (in proper position) then you move to just above it and start to fin. You are so close that you can feel your knees nudge if they drop which helps a lot for knowing how you are.
Anyway that carried on and we did the basic 3 (no way were masks going to be filled or come off in that water

) and Dianne pointed out how my trim had slipped somewhat

. Needless to say I told her later about the special angle trim practise I was doing.....:p

We gave up on the dive at about 30 mins and tried to launch off SMBs. It's a lot harder to do when you honestly cannot feel your fingers and are trying to fiddle with snaps and double enders. Eventually made it back to the surface for hot choc and tea (thankyou VERY much Rich).

In between dives I got to experience the joys of Gildy customer service and logical pricing structure. With 50 bar of 32% I thought I may as well get a 40% fill in the twins (after the final dive I could then top up with air to get around 30% or so). Since the pricing went up to 40% in one band this looked good. The lady then tried to put it in the '40% and over' band......to which I indicated that in that case a 39.5% fill would be more than adequate, I don't need 40%

In the end after much grumbling (apparently the nitrox guy came into the shop moaning that someone wanted 39% :D ) and the longest filling time ever they gave me 40% anyway.........

Anyway dive 2 involved one of the guys from my uni club (the others had binned it for being too cold). I borrowed Rich's Explorer Pro 14 and lent my Salvo to the club guy so we could have some light comms. Dianne was trying out her Hydrotech dry gloves which she didn't seem too impressed with but I'll leave it to her to give the verdict.

Neat dive around the circuit. The vis had really really gone mucky so the lights were hugely appreciated. One of the best examples was Dianne giving me a side to side attention signal from 10m away (line astern formation) to which I hustled back thinking about donating. Turns out she was just telling me she was cold (I was as well and the hands were going numb) so carried on until the next upline and did our ascent.
Frankly I fell in love with the 18w and the huge canister really isn't an issue once in water......ohhh the temptation. I quite liked the thumb hole but since I only have little hands I can just grab the Goodman on normal lights. It was interesting to compare the three lights; the 10w was fine for signalling when you were looking at it but the beam reach just wasn't there in the same way. The Halcyon 18 and Di's new salvo 18 were of comparable brightness but the Salvo beam was a lot whiter. Having said that I think Rich's bulb is quite an old one so it may be that it's just gone that way over time. It would be nice to see the new Halcyon reflector in action.

Anyway after 38 mins we surfaced with numb hands and shivering but were again greeted by hot choc from Rich (that man is just far too nice). A small kit exchange later (Dianne was after my Eclipse wing) and some more chit chat and we rounded off the day.

So, it was a really nice day and it was great to meet up with people again. Rich gets big kudos for being such a nice chappy and lending/selling us so much gear, Dianne for being my buddy twice despite my past record, Marianne for taking so many digs about her kit with such good humour and Jonathon for getting in for a second dive having had a partial flood on the first

Little Pete · February 19th, 2006, 01:37 PM

Sorry just to add to the above report, I've decided to sell of my Aladin Prime dive computer since I don't really feel I'm using it and could do with the money more.

It's fairly new (6 months probably), in fairly good nick, has about 80 dives on it and I can put in an Infra red USB connector to go with it if needed (plus the download software).

Firstly, is there anyone here interested (long shot I know :D )? If not would anyone have a good suggestion of a price to look for (£220ish new) as ebay has not been too fruitful for example prices. I was thinking around £150.

Thanks

**DCC** · February 19th, 2006, 03:22 PM

..........after an extremely frosty start from North Norfolk, hub's car (which I had moved all my gear into the night before, from the Landcruiser, so he could load that up with stuff for his trip) showed 1 degree on the temp thingy. Unfortunately that is all it did do, as it then refused point blank to start. Which meant I had to re-load all the gear back into the Landcruiser and what fun that was. Made good time to Gildy (sadly), and bagged a prime spot in the car park, next to the ladies toilets (u/s) and even though it was the most camoflaged spot in Gildy, the DIR brigade knew straight where to head!
Marianne arrived next with Jonathan (both looking as if they enjoyed early starts) then Rich (car bottoming out with the goodies) and Pete - with a group from 'Care in the Community' with wetsuits FFS!
So as you can tell, we made a pretty catholic group. Interestingly enough, the most experienced & talented diver, chose not to dive that day - what does that tell you? Was it the water temperature, the goose shit, the possibility of avian flu contagion - we don't know, but it probably was a good call.

Anyway, the dives went exactly as Pete described them and we both had a good time - including a superb (read adequate) shutdown by me....

. Pete is slightly at a disadvantage as he has to perform all his skills finning backwards as I advance unwaveringly toward him as I don't have that skill just yet. (Apparently a finger on my forhead would work as well, but with his lovely new torch, he doesn't have the luxury of a spare finger)......he could of course just hit me with the torch, but he doesn't want to dent it

The dry gloves referred to did just that - they kept my hands dry. Still after the numbness kicked in, they soon burnt with cold, a phenomenon, and I didn't even think of shutdowns. I am hoping my hands will grow into them, as they are a little on the large side...no I don't, I will just toss them gently into the Cupboard of Shame.....

Thanks for not telling anyone that I actually managed to fall out of the bus - the Evolve dumps air much more easily than the Dive-Rong - I love it to bits already (must go easy on the dumping in future though).......

Anyway, after what did turn out to be a fun day, the race was on to return the car to hubs. Which meant unloading it immediately on arrival - unheard of for me when freshwater diving is involved. A new record for had been set for gear carried for two small dives - two twin-sets, three wings, three back-plates, an adaptor, the gear box, tool kit, picnic basket (true)...........with of course the stuff I actually used - and joy of joys the security lights stopped working, the other car was blocking the drive from the morning so too much lugging around in the mud was involved altogether....and I still had the washing up from the morning to do - the dry gloves may come in handy after all!
I love winter diving me......

Dianne

A note to any neighbours who may be reading this - if I am running about with armfuls of stuff, it means I am busy. If I am wearing Xerotherm Artics and UGGS, the weather is cold and I am losing my body heat. It is not a good time to engage me in conversation about sofa upholstery - or anything else for that matter. If the moon is still out, it means don't engage me in any conversation whatever. I don't do mornings.

MJH · February 19th, 2006, 10:40 PM

Great trip report Pete.

You are right - it was a really nice day especially as the sun shone for the first time this year.

And thanks for being my cylinder bitch Pete. Can't believe you got my fill for me. How lazy was that? LOL

Jonathan I really enjoyed diving with you and thanks for the photos.

And thanks Rich for spending hours sorting my new kit out for me. I'll buy gear from you anytime just to get that level of after sales service.

*Rich Walker* · February 19th, 2006, 11:05 PM

Hi Guys,

It was a good day out, even though I didn't get to dive. I hope you enjoy playing with all your new toys!

Rich

*JohnKendall* · February 20th, 2006, 10:16 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Rich Walker)

Hi Guys,

It was a good day out, even though I didn't get to dive. I hope you enjoy playing with all your new toys!

Rich

Not divng in Guildy is often considered a bonus.

J

Little Pete · February 20th, 2006, 12:25 PM

John, given the frozen hands issues that came up with me I'm looking at a pair of drygloves. Have you got any good recommendations for the best gloves to suit the Polar Bears ring system? I saw the Nordic Blue one they sell but didn't get a chance to try it out.

cheers.

*JohnKendall* · February 20th, 2006, 02:30 PM

I've not yet tried drygloves on my suit, but will be attempting to fit them before wednesday.

I got a pair of naked gloves from Bacons Dozen, I think they were about £3. I'm then going to use a pair of cheap thinsulate wooly gloves from the market ( I think these might have cost £3.50)

HTH
J

Jonathan · February 21st, 2006, 10:17 PM

Cheers guys it was good to catch up with you again. And Rich thanks a million for letting me try out some kit and answering all my inane questions!

February 19th, 2006, 01:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Little Pete(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 509	Gildy 18th Feb and frozen hands. Righto, about time I did a trip report. Yesterday I was at Gildenburgh with my university BSAC ckub but met up with Dianne (DCC), Jonathon, Marianne (MJH) and Rich Walker. Lovely weather up the surface in the sun. Some chill in the air but it was so nice we didn't really notice much at all. Much kit fettling was going on as Marianne had her new Halcyon Eclipse MC, Dianne a new Evolve MC and Jon was trying out Rich's twins. My club gave me a few teases about abandoning them for my 'dark side' friends but things were all good. Dianne and I headed into the water before the others as they were still harness adjusting. I have to say that it was some of the coldest water I've been in (4 degrees both dives). We started running some trim and such practise on the shallow 6m platform. Dianne showed me a great trick for checking your trim that Rich later told me he had started to use to help people get a feel for trim. From what I could see you lie on the platform (in proper position) then you move to just above it and start to fin. You are so close that you can feel your knees nudge if they drop which helps a lot for knowing how you are. Anyway that carried on and we did the basic 3 (no way were masks going to be filled or come off in that water ) and Dianne pointed out how my trim had slipped somewhat . Needless to say I told her later about the special angle trim practise I was doing.....:p We gave up on the dive at about 30 mins and tried to launch off SMBs. It's a lot harder to do when you honestly cannot feel your fingers and are trying to fiddle with snaps and double enders. Eventually made it back to the surface for hot choc and tea (thankyou VERY much Rich). In between dives I got to experience the joys of Gildy customer service and logical pricing structure. With 50 bar of 32% I thought I may as well get a 40% fill in the twins (after the final dive I could then top up with air to get around 30% or so). Since the pricing went up to 40% in one band this looked good. The lady then tried to put it in the '40% and over' band......to which I indicated that in that case a 39.5% fill would be more than adequate, I don't need 40% In the end after much grumbling (apparently the nitrox guy came into the shop moaning that someone wanted 39% :D ) and the longest filling time ever they gave me 40% anyway......... Anyway dive 2 involved one of the guys from my uni club (the others had binned it for being too cold). I borrowed Rich's Explorer Pro 14 and lent my Salvo to the club guy so we could have some light comms. Dianne was trying out her Hydrotech dry gloves which she didn't seem too impressed with but I'll leave it to her to give the verdict. Neat dive around the circuit. The vis had really really gone mucky so the lights were hugely appreciated. One of the best examples was Dianne giving me a side to side attention signal from 10m away (line astern formation) to which I hustled back thinking about donating. Turns out she was just telling me she was cold (I was as well and the hands were going numb) so carried on until the next upline and did our ascent. Frankly I fell in love with the 18w and the huge canister really isn't an issue once in water......ohhh the temptation. I quite liked the thumb hole but since I only have little hands I can just grab the Goodman on normal lights. It was interesting to compare the three lights; the 10w was fine for signalling when you were looking at it but the beam reach just wasn't there in the same way. The Halcyon 18 and Di's new salvo 18 were of comparable brightness but the Salvo beam was a lot whiter. Having said that I think Rich's bulb is quite an old one so it may be that it's just gone that way over time. It would be nice to see the new Halcyon reflector in action. Anyway after 38 mins we surfaced with numb hands and shivering but were again greeted by hot choc from Rich (that man is just far too nice). A small kit exchange later (Dianne was after my Eclipse wing) and some more chit chat and we rounded off the day. So, it was a really nice day and it was great to meet up with people again. Rich gets big kudos for being such a nice chappy and lending/selling us so much gear, Dianne for being my buddy twice despite my past record, Marianne for taking so many digs about her kit with such good humour and Jonathon for getting in for a second dive having had a partial flood on the first

February 19th, 2006, 03:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
DCC(Offline) Marine interior decorator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Norfolk, England Posts: 135	The report continues......... ..........after an extremely frosty start from North Norfolk, hub's car (which I had moved all my gear into the night before, from the Landcruiser, so he could load that up with stuff for his trip) showed 1 degree on the temp thingy. Unfortunately that is all it did do, as it then refused point blank to start. Which meant I had to re-load all the gear back into the Landcruiser and what fun that was. Made good time to Gildy (sadly), and bagged a prime spot in the car park, next to the ladies toilets (u/s) and even though it was the most camoflaged spot in Gildy, the DIR brigade knew straight where to head! Marianne arrived next with Jonathan (both looking as if they enjoyed early starts) then Rich (car bottoming out with the goodies) and Pete - with a group from 'Care in the Community' with wetsuits FFS! So as you can tell, we made a pretty catholic group. Interestingly enough, the most experienced & talented diver, chose not to dive that day - what does that tell you? Was it the water temperature, the goose shit, the possibility of avian flu contagion - we don't know, but it probably was a good call. Anyway, the dives went exactly as Pete described them and we both had a good time - including a superb (read adequate) shutdown by me.... . Pete is slightly at a disadvantage as he has to perform all his skills finning backwards as I advance unwaveringly toward him as I don't have that skill just yet. (Apparently a finger on my forhead would work as well, but with his lovely new torch, he doesn't have the luxury of a spare finger)......he could of course just hit me with the torch, but he doesn't want to dent it The dry gloves referred to did just that - they kept my hands dry. Still after the numbness kicked in, they soon burnt with cold, a phenomenon, and I didn't even think of shutdowns. I am hoping my hands will grow into them, as they are a little on the large side...no I don't, I will just toss them gently into the Cupboard of Shame..... Thanks for not telling anyone that I actually managed to fall out of the bus - the Evolve dumps air much more easily than the Dive-Rong - I love it to bits already (must go easy on the dumping in future though)....... Anyway, after what did turn out to be a fun day, the race was on to return the car to hubs. Which meant unloading it immediately on arrival - unheard of for me when freshwater diving is involved. A new record for had been set for gear carried for two small dives - two twin-sets, three wings, three back-plates, an adaptor, the gear box, tool kit, picnic basket (true)...........with of course the stuff I actually used - and joy of joys the security lights stopped working, the other car was blocking the drive from the morning so too much lugging around in the mud was involved altogether....and I still had the washing up from the morning to do - the dry gloves may come in handy after all! I love winter diving me...... Dianne A note to any neighbours who may be reading this - if I am running about with armfuls of stuff, it means I am busy. If I am wearing Xerotherm Artics and UGGS, the weather is cold and I am losing my body heat. It is not a good time to engage me in conversation about sofa upholstery - or anything else for that matter. If the moon is still out, it means don't engage me in any conversation whatever. I don't do mornings.

February 19th, 2006, 11:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
Rich Walker(Offline) GUE Instructor Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sheffield Posts: 300	Hi Guys, It was a good day out, even though I didn't get to dive. I hope you enjoy playing with all your new toys! Rich __________________ Education, Equipment, Experience GUE training with Rich Walker

February 20th, 2006, 10:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
JohnKendall(Offline) GUE Instructor/DIRX Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 1,100	Quote: (Originally Posted by Rich Walker) Hi Guys, It was a good day out, even though I didn't get to dive. I hope you enjoy playing with all your new toys! Rich Not divng in Guildy is often considered a bonus. J __________________ John Kendall http://www.guetraining.com/ GUE Instruction, Santi and Halcyon Equipment NEW - Online Santi Shop

February 20th, 2006, 02:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
JohnKendall(Offline) GUE Instructor/DIRX Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 1,100	I've not yet tried drygloves on my suit, but will be attempting to fit them before wednesday. I got a pair of naked gloves from Bacons Dozen, I think they were about £3. I'm then going to use a pair of cheap thinsulate wooly gloves from the market ( I think these might have cost £3.50) HTH J __________________ John Kendall http://www.guetraining.com/ GUE Instruction, Santi and Halcyon Equipment NEW - Online Santi Shop

February 19th, 2006, 01:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Little Pete(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 509	Sorry just to add to the above report, I've decided to sell of my Aladin Prime dive computer since I don't really feel I'm using it and could do with the money more. It's fairly new (6 months probably), in fairly good nick, has about 80 dives on it and I can put in an Infra red USB connector to go with it if needed (plus the download software). Firstly, is there anyone here interested (long shot I know :D )? If not would anyone have a good suggestion of a price to look for (£220ish new) as ebay has not been too fruitful for example prices. I was thinking around £150. Thanks

February 19th, 2006, 10:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
MJH(Offline) Mask? Oh yes, I thought it was cold.... Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Orpington, Kent Posts: 389	Great trip report Pete. You are right - it was a really nice day especially as the sun shone for the first time this year. And thanks for being my cylinder bitch Pete. Can't believe you got my fill for me. How lazy was that? LOL Jonathan I really enjoyed diving with you and thanks for the photos. And thanks Rich for spending hours sorting my new kit out for me. I'll buy gear from you anytime just to get that level of after sales service.

February 20th, 2006, 12:25 PM	#7 (permalink)
Little Pete(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 509	John, given the frozen hands issues that came up with me I'm looking at a pair of drygloves. Have you got any good recommendations for the best gloves to suit the Polar Bears ring system? I saw the Nordic Blue one they sell but didn't get a chance to try it out. cheers.

February 21st, 2006, 10:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
Jonathan(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 215	Cheers guys it was good to catch up with you again. And Rich thanks a million for letting me try out some kit and answering all my inane questions!