LIDS

It's that time of the year again when every one seems to head for the London International Dive show rather than go diving..........ah well.

I raced up to Excel after seeing the rugby team I coach at under 12 level taking a thumping to find Kirstie, Gill, Colin, Graham and Jamie-Lee already propping up the bar and quickly made up for the fact that I had missed out on a beer after the match.

It seemed like a good show this year despite the economic gloom and as always there were lots of people with newly acquired gear. I of course did the opposite in so far as I took my existing gear to O Three by pre-agreement so that they can take it away and repair tie leaks. Meanwhile Kirstie ordered new dry suit and wet suits so she can look grand on the trip to the Red Sea this week. I am so jealous they are all going to have such a great time while I am stuck in the UK working my socks off.

Arriving late I sadly missed a couple of the lectures that I would actually liked to have caught but in reality the thing I really wanted to see was the presentation made to Lauren following her outstanding efforts in recent buoyancy competition. I am told that nobody knows quite what prize she has won for her performance as it is in the post. Once again though I am bound to say how thrilled I was to see her do so well and beat so many more qualified and experienced divers.

Wandering around the show it seems very difficult not to bump into a series of people that you know and it is always good to catch up and find out what people are up to. Overall though I managed to resist buying anything including a new strobe but there is now a growing shopping list and I really do feel the urge to go back to the Caribbean.

First 2009 trip to Stoney Cove

Our first trip up to Stoney Cove happened last weekend and we seem to have hit the right weekend for the weather. Always planned as a DM and trainee DM weekend we did manage to have James along in his new O Three drysuit to undertake his Open Water and Drysuit course.

Saturday was surprisingly quiet for Stoney Cove with plenty of space in the car park but a quick look at the water suggested that the visibility was likely to be poor. So it proved to be putting paid to my plans of capturing some good photographs of the Pike along the banks beyond the bunkhouse.

Having warned James that it would all be rather cold I was pleased to discover that it was actually a toasty 5 degrees in the water. But the visibility really was not good so if you are planning to get up there soon be warned as it will only get worse as the weather warms up.

The first days diving was absolutely fine with James performing well and the usual pleasant sausage and egg baps. Sunday morning was a different story as I jumped in to immediately realise from the needling cold that I was getting wet. Now I will be very honest here I actually really like my O Three, but I don't like being wet.

The experience made for a cold and tiring day though all the dives and exercises went well.
On Monday morning I did of course ring O Three and once again was impressed with their response and understanding. I have every confidence that I will have a my suit back ready to keep me dry for the rest of the season.

Back on Track

Back to writing the blog......................
The Orca Days blog was moved to the web page and it can't have gone entirely unnoticed that it just stopped being updated. This was largely a case of the mind was willing but the flesh wasn't. So after a failed sojourn we are now back to the original blog site where I have the ability to both write and post photos without also sorts of problems occurring that I seemed in capable to do anything about.