It's winter! What more can I say? Look at how Squirt responded when asked if he wanted to dive at the bridge. Carrie and I entered the sixty-nine degree water with twenty feet of vis for a sunny afternoon dive. I am trying to learn how to stay trim with my steel doubles and drysuit. I am having a tough time. So for those of you who struggle from time to time, know that even those of us who dive often struggle, too. Figuring out this trim thing in this rig is going to take a great deal of practice, I'm afraid. Carrie watches me so I don't get into too much trouble as I frustratingly try to keep my head from diving into the sand. At least I was warm! After a 55 minute run time Carrie was chilled in her 5mm wetsuit, but she had a container with several shells so she didn't mind the cold so much. One benefit of having my head inches away from a nose dive for 55 minutes was that I saw a 1" to 2" bandtail searobin who demonstrated its wariness of the struggling sea monster by displaying its gorgeous tiny wings. What a treat (I needed it at that point). I'm hoping the east wind for the next several days is going to bring us some warmer water. I have several students next week and it appears they will be wearing two 3mm wetsuits. Offshore yesterday the water temperature at 75' was sixty-four. As divemaster yesterday I was glad I was diving dry because several of the divers were undaunted by the temperature. I'm getting more and more like Squirt when it comes to the cold. Get in the water (with lots of exposure protection!), Ham
