Frostbitten balls of steel!!

**jb2cool** · January 30th, 2006, 05:35 PM

Yes, i was at Vobster on Sunday (Yesterday) and yes, i was wearing a semi-dry.

The first dive wasn't too bad, a little cold once the water had soaked through the suit but them warmed up to a reasonable temperature. The surface interval was ok also (Left suit on and jacket over top

). 2nd dive however was a little cool and after coming out from that it was 'bastard cold'. People kept walking past giving my sympathetic looks.

Thanks to Howard Payne for filling my gloves with warm water (At least that's what he said it was) before sticking them on for the second dive, it made it much more bearable.

All in all it was a nice trip. My first trip to Vobster and my first dive with Sterny, MJH and Howard.

Thanks guys.

Sterny · January 30th, 2006, 06:37 PM

Yup! A great day out and some good dives had by all (I think I was the only one to do three?! :D). Chuffin' freezin by the end of dive 3 though

, in a 5mm neoprene drysuit, Arctics and another thin fleece layer. But I don't think I was anywhere as cold as some of the others!

Some really good things came out of those dives - in general I felt we stayed together well as a group, and communication underwater was pretty good (we weren't doing anything very difficult after all!). Everyone had reasonable buoyancy, though not perfect, and everyone had some trim issues, but nothing too major. I definitely learned that we need to spend a little more of our time looking at our buddies to see what's going on with them. Jason - for someone with so few dives you looked very good in the water (I wish I had been as good when I was that new!), keep up the good work! Solid and competant dives from Howard and Marianne from what I could see, hopefully useful sessions, and more swimthroughs in one day than I've done in a long time!

There was one thing that I'd like to debrief with you guys, but if we get a chance to do that in the pub that would be cool! Before we went home Marianne suggested beers in London sometime soon, which I think's a great idea. How about next weekend?

For myself, overall, I was really pleased with the day. I had three good dives, some fun pre-planned S-Drills with Paul on our first dive (a bit scruffy but no dramas and the OOG diver got gas fast all three times). I had my neatest SMB deployment yet, though still a bit too slow and I'm not getting enough gas into it. Deploying from 10m I feel compelled to let it go after I've put in enough gas to only 1/3 fill it at the surface, it was okay. Also pleased to get in some steady back kicking (though I'm quite head-up when I do it, so have to work on that) and I'm getting better at venting my drysuit properly on ascent. It's getting easier!

Looking forward to the next one guys. Are any of you signing up to the YD icebreakers gig for Saturday 25th Feb?

SoB · January 30th, 2006, 06:42 PM

Great to hear you had a good time and sorry I couldn't meet you - I swapped to Saturday to meet Clare and some Tech-1 possible groupies and like you froze bits I didn't know I had.

If you're doing anymore DIR style dives and getting together let me know.

All the best,
Simon

Helen · January 30th, 2006, 06:46 PM

Glad to see someone else was just as mad as me. I freedived in the North Sea off St Abbs on saturday and sunday in my 5mm semi. It was a tad chilly, but managed over an hour both days :D Us northern birds are hard you know

**Howard Payne** · January 30th, 2006, 06:47 PM

It was warm - but it wasn't water mate :D

K Ripley · January 31st, 2006, 04:45 AM

You guys need to start throwing up pics for the rest of us.

**jb2cool** · January 31st, 2006, 08:40 AM

got a few on my girlfriends camera, just need to get tem developed (Yes, it was on film, not digital)

January 30th, 2006, 05:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
jb2cool(Offline) Padawan learner Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire Posts: 797	Frostbitten balls of steel!! Yes, i was at Vobster on Sunday (Yesterday) and yes, i was wearing a semi-dry. The first dive wasn't too bad, a little cold once the water had soaked through the suit but them warmed up to a reasonable temperature. The surface interval was ok also (Left suit on and jacket over top ). 2nd dive however was a little cool and after coming out from that it was 'bastard cold'. People kept walking past giving my sympathetic looks. Thanks to Howard Payne for filling my gloves with warm water (At least that's what he said it was) before sticking them on for the second dive, it made it much more bearable. All in all it was a nice trip. My first trip to Vobster and my first dive with Sterny, MJH and Howard. Thanks guys. __________________ http://jb2cool.bulldoghome.com Last edited by jb2cool; January 30th, 2006 at 06:06 PM.

January 30th, 2006, 06:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sterny(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The limpid tropical lagoons of Ealing, West London Posts: 550	Yup! A great day out and some good dives had by all (I think I was the only one to do three?! :D). Chuffin' freezin by the end of dive 3 though , in a 5mm neoprene drysuit, Arctics and another thin fleece layer. But I don't think I was anywhere as cold as some of the others! Some really good things came out of those dives - in general I felt we stayed together well as a group, and communication underwater was pretty good (we weren't doing anything very difficult after all!). Everyone had reasonable buoyancy, though not perfect, and everyone had some trim issues, but nothing too major. I definitely learned that we need to spend a little more of our time looking at our buddies to see what's going on with them. Jason - for someone with so few dives you looked very good in the water (I wish I had been as good when I was that new!), keep up the good work! Solid and competant dives from Howard and Marianne from what I could see, hopefully useful sessions, and more swimthroughs in one day than I've done in a long time! There was one thing that I'd like to debrief with you guys, but if we get a chance to do that in the pub that would be cool! Before we went home Marianne suggested beers in London sometime soon, which I think's a great idea. How about next weekend? For myself, overall, I was really pleased with the day. I had three good dives, some fun pre-planned S-Drills with Paul on our first dive (a bit scruffy but no dramas and the OOG diver got gas fast all three times). I had my neatest SMB deployment yet, though still a bit too slow and I'm not getting enough gas into it. Deploying from 10m I feel compelled to let it go after I've put in enough gas to only 1/3 fill it at the surface, it was okay. Also pleased to get in some steady back kicking (though I'm quite head-up when I do it, so have to work on that) and I'm getting better at venting my drysuit properly on ascent. It's getting easier! Looking forward to the next one guys. Are any of you signing up to the YD icebreakers gig for Saturday 25th Feb? Last edited by Sterny; January 30th, 2006 at 06:38 PM. Reason: Can't spell

January 30th, 2006, 06:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
SoB(Offline) Be nice or the SMB gets it.... Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Caterham (province of Thailand) Posts: 48	Get together Great to hear you had a good time and sorry I couldn't meet you - I swapped to Saturday to meet Clare and some Tech-1 possible groupies and like you froze bits I didn't know I had. If you're doing anymore DIR style dives and getting together let me know. All the best, Simon

January 30th, 2006, 06:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
Helen(Offline) "Like a diver... only shorter" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Scapa Flow, Orkney Posts: 101	Glad to see someone else was just as mad as me. I freedived in the North Sea off St Abbs on saturday and sunday in my 5mm semi. It was a tad chilly, but managed over an hour both days :D Us northern birds are hard you know __________________ You can dive any way you want to. Just don't expect me to be down there with you....

January 30th, 2006, 06:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
Howard Payne(Offline) Strokey Dokily Doo Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,202	It was warm - but it wasn't water mate :D __________________ The Foxturd Chimp

January 31st, 2006, 04:45 AM	#6 (permalink)
K Ripley(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 43	You guys need to start throwing up pics for the rest of us.

January 31st, 2006, 08:40 AM	#7 (permalink)
jb2cool(Offline) Padawan learner Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire Posts: 797	got a few on my girlfriends camera, just need to get tem developed (Yes, it was on film, not digital) __________________ http://jb2cool.bulldoghome.com