np251
Contributor
Ive been a regular, if not exactly prolific, Monterey diver for the past several years, starting off using a drysuit and BP/W set-up- since thats what I used back home in Scotland. Id look at all the wetsuit wearing divers and tell myself that there was no way I was getting into that water without my drysuit and warm undies. I told this to myself even though I really knew deep down inside that my poorly fitting drysuit with its too big feet and its slow valve just wasnt getting the job done. There was no way I was getting in that water with a wetsuit. No way.
This past weekend, I just did the best series of dives in my Monterey career, effortless hour-long pleasure dives that I just couldnt get enough of. We went out and back to metridium fields along the pipe twice, hung out at the kelp forests, explored the wall. Just hovering still (ish) over a tube anenome, watching a rainbow nudi stalk the worm patch. All in a 7mm wetsuit and 3mm hooded vest.
About 6 weeks ago I got back from a day of diving thoroughly depressed after another wet, cold, overly time-consuming drysuit dive. This time it was the boots. I had been looking forward to Essentials but had to cancel due to other unrelated matters and I was ready to throw it all in until tax rebate 2011-when I could get myself a real drysuit. On the ride home, pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I just wasnt going to get a good season of diving done with my current suit and wist-fully daydreaming about a TLS-350.
However, turns out that was also the day my girlfriend decided she wanted to take the plunge and book her open water class, leaving me in the position of justifying why I was about to quit. She pointed out that SHE would be wetsuit diving in Monterey and loads of other people dive Monterey in wetsuits. She had a point, and I mulled it over or a couple of days, thinking I guess one or two cold dives are better than none. Besides, I couldnt really espouse the virtues of how awesome Monterey was for diving and then not dive. Plus, leveling the playing field by getting into a wetsuit only seemed like the chivalrous thing to do. Then I realized that I couldnt even remember the last dive I had that I really fully enjoyed, since my DS was leaving me cold, tired and sore after every diving day. By the middle of the next week, I was looking for wetsuits for the two of us and got some pretty amazing deals.
This past weekend, she had her open water class (passed with flying colours) and I managed to join her for some diving on Sunday afternoon and Monday. The dives, like I mentioned, where just fantastic. Not once during the entire series of dives did I feel even remotely less than warm. Water temp along the pipes and at metridium fields was 51oF- we had a 50 mins dive and were both warm throughout. Certainly a lot warmer than ive been in the 30 or so dives previous when my DS started its issues. I was able to drop a lot of weight- 20 pounds less than in my DS- making the walk up and down the beach far more manageable. I can don my rig and reach my valve by myself- my restrictive DS made it a struggle- but now im kitted up in 10 minutes compared to the 30-40 it took before. The whole thing is just far more enjoyable.
I guess I got sucked into thinking that the equipment made the dive and going without a drysuit was just asking for a series of cold, un-enjoyable, near-hypothermic chores instead of the fantastic, stress-free adventures I actually got. Frankly, I just didnt feel like diving anymore. Now, I am really excited to be getting out there and exploring these underwater treasures that are our local sites, like I should have been doing a lot more often this past year. Now, armed with my brand new buddy and my toasty wetsuit- i feel re-invigorated!!
See you out there soon
This past weekend, I just did the best series of dives in my Monterey career, effortless hour-long pleasure dives that I just couldnt get enough of. We went out and back to metridium fields along the pipe twice, hung out at the kelp forests, explored the wall. Just hovering still (ish) over a tube anenome, watching a rainbow nudi stalk the worm patch. All in a 7mm wetsuit and 3mm hooded vest.
About 6 weeks ago I got back from a day of diving thoroughly depressed after another wet, cold, overly time-consuming drysuit dive. This time it was the boots. I had been looking forward to Essentials but had to cancel due to other unrelated matters and I was ready to throw it all in until tax rebate 2011-when I could get myself a real drysuit. On the ride home, pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I just wasnt going to get a good season of diving done with my current suit and wist-fully daydreaming about a TLS-350.
However, turns out that was also the day my girlfriend decided she wanted to take the plunge and book her open water class, leaving me in the position of justifying why I was about to quit. She pointed out that SHE would be wetsuit diving in Monterey and loads of other people dive Monterey in wetsuits. She had a point, and I mulled it over or a couple of days, thinking I guess one or two cold dives are better than none. Besides, I couldnt really espouse the virtues of how awesome Monterey was for diving and then not dive. Plus, leveling the playing field by getting into a wetsuit only seemed like the chivalrous thing to do. Then I realized that I couldnt even remember the last dive I had that I really fully enjoyed, since my DS was leaving me cold, tired and sore after every diving day. By the middle of the next week, I was looking for wetsuits for the two of us and got some pretty amazing deals.
This past weekend, she had her open water class (passed with flying colours) and I managed to join her for some diving on Sunday afternoon and Monday. The dives, like I mentioned, where just fantastic. Not once during the entire series of dives did I feel even remotely less than warm. Water temp along the pipes and at metridium fields was 51oF- we had a 50 mins dive and were both warm throughout. Certainly a lot warmer than ive been in the 30 or so dives previous when my DS started its issues. I was able to drop a lot of weight- 20 pounds less than in my DS- making the walk up and down the beach far more manageable. I can don my rig and reach my valve by myself- my restrictive DS made it a struggle- but now im kitted up in 10 minutes compared to the 30-40 it took before. The whole thing is just far more enjoyable.
I guess I got sucked into thinking that the equipment made the dive and going without a drysuit was just asking for a series of cold, un-enjoyable, near-hypothermic chores instead of the fantastic, stress-free adventures I actually got. Frankly, I just didnt feel like diving anymore. Now, I am really excited to be getting out there and exploring these underwater treasures that are our local sites, like I should have been doing a lot more often this past year. Now, armed with my brand new buddy and my toasty wetsuit- i feel re-invigorated!!
See you out there soon
