And so it came to pass that Mr Paul of the Spence did come forth and say…..
“We Shall dive…. And it shall be good”
Saturday 9th March 2024, 3 plucky divers did set forth on a chilly pilgrimage to Cromhall Quarry for what was supposed to be a completion of Ocean Diver for Amy and a first dive/ refresher for Simon after an extended break.
“Plan the dive, Dive the plan” is the mantra often heard in the realms of the SVSAC dive meetings.
This mantra is, as a rule, not to be deviated from.
Here comes Simon, Sports diver from the historical records of the club, back into the fold after a period of time, a long long period of time to throw the sacred mantra out the window and re-write it.
The plan:
Kit up
Get wet
Drills aplenty
Fin Fin dive dive
Get Out
Coffee
Repeat.
In theory all was going to go…. Swimmingly!!
Amy, Paul and Simon kitted up, buddy checked and prepared to enter the less than warm waters of the quarry. A mere 8 degrees is, ok cold, but there is no cold just the wrong climatic protection!
OK signals exchanged, thumbs down to signal decent and …… that’s where the plan took a sharp turn to the left and legged it across the surface of the water.
Paul and Amy slipped below the surface in flurry of expelled air, Simon on the other hand…. not so much. Simon’s expectations of once more becoming the reincarnation of Jacques Cousteau flounder on the surface.
Those who are familiar with Simon are well aware that he is not a svelte and streamlined shape. Being more of a robust construction he thought sinking in said body of water would be easy. And hereby lies the problem. Apparently the newly acquired neoprene diving suit combined with Simon’s ample provision of naturally occurring thermal insulation made Simon extremely buoyant.
Paul and Amy appeared on the surface to find out where diver number 3 had got to, as he appeared to be missing all the fun they were having at the bottom of the cold and murky quarry.
After Simon explained the situation, on his inability to actually “dive”, Paul did the dive leader thing and trudged back to the beach to collect more lead for the weighting of Simon. Poor Amy was left watching this getting colder by the ever passing minutes. Following a number of trips to shore Simon took pity on Amy and decided to bow out of the first dive so Amy could finish the parts required for completion of her Ocean Diver.
Simon returned to the shore to re-evaluate his hobby choices and sip coffee alone whilst Paul and Amy did the “look at us, we know how much weight we need to dive” thing.
Once Paul & Amy surfaced and exited the water it was drinks all round and a chance for Paul and Amy to find the circulation that had apparently decided to find warmer climes, having abandoned their fingers and faces.
Well done Amy for a successful completion of the Ocean diver syllabus, ever onward towards Advanced Ocean Diver, then Sports Diver and beyond.
With Amy not participating in the second dive Paul and Simon kitted up again, buddy checked again and the dynamic duo set off. With a total of 18kg of lead enabling Simon to slip beneath the surface and enter the world of……. well murky depths of a former quarry, but hey its a start. After a short bimble through the depths an eventful days diving came to an end.
So after a few hours spent with Paul and Amy and a cold quarry, lessons were learnt, weighting was finalised and qualifications were achieved. Roll on the next one, with maybe a sea dive, what with salt water being a little bit more floaty than fresh.
