For Want of a Dry Suit in a Wet Sea

See! I have a little shovel,
I also have a pail,
And I have a little sailboat
That has a tiny sail.
I take them to the beach with me
But always do forget
To play with them, because you see
I’m busy getting wet
~Anonymous~
Wet does not quite describe the amount of water in my drysuit, but I will get back to that.

Today started off a little shaky and before it was done my drysuit, computer, regulator and reel will have thrown temper tantrums, and yet it was still a stellar day on and under the water.

As I checked my tanks to see which I was taking with me, my first stage began blowing air. Jeez, its 5AM and I can barely think much less figure out what is wrong. I toss the reg set along with a spare in my milk crate and will deal with it at the boat.

I am diving the Lady Godiver with Howard R. and Francis O’Gorman today, it has been a while and I am looking forward to it. Howard has been busy, as a fresh coat of paint covers most of the boat……even the head…..put in specially for me by the way….and I quickly am loaded onboard.

As I show Francis my regulator dilemma, the first and second stage blows clear off of my tank. Old school guys, gotta love ‘em, nothing riles them. He just picks up the pieces, looks a minute and repairs it before we even leave the dock.

We are on our way and the day looks promising. The skies are clear and ever so gentle rolling swells move occaisionally beneath us. Howard said this was going to be the best day of the week and it is looking like he is right.

Our destination is the Chappara and I have been on here before, a 249 foot freighter sunk by a German U-Boat mine in 84 feet of water.

Francis ties us in and I roll over the side to see what the ocean has to offer today. The water is green but clear and as I reach the bottom I have a solid 15 foot of visibility and 66 degree water temps. My computer is in a total frenzy and not accepting any O2 information. It will be making a trip back to Dive Rite, but for now, it joins me on the bottom, beeping its little heart out, along with Howards spare computer and my bottom timer. I can feel some water still coming in my newly patched wrist seal and make a note to check it when I get back on board. Back up computers and warm water make quick work of these annoyances and I am truly enjoying a most relaxing dive.

As I take a look around, there are many small sea bass and black fish swimming about and schools of cunner pass by. Those curious little nippy fish are right with me as I look in the nooks and crannies poking about and poking them as well. There are several ropes laying about to follow but no abandoned anchors attached to them and a lone large sinker is rescued. In a narrow shelter just beyond the tie in (there is always one at the tie in!) I spy some antennae and a flash of crustacean claw. I spend the rest of my dive playing cat and mouse with him but to no avail. I will be giving his whereabouts to the next diver down and expect to see him joining us onboard shortly thereafter.

I am joined by an array of jellyfish on my hang and spend the time looking about. Near the surface, visibility is easily 30 feet and the time passes quickly. Hmmm...Looks like he painted the bottom of the boat too. I am a little slow but make my way up the ladder only stopping to hand off my weights before climbing over the transom.

For Dive #2 we head for the Yellow Flag and after a few passes the anchor is dropped and Francis goes on down to tie us in. My computer is still beeping non-stop and Howard keeps looking around for the culprit. He offers to toss the thing overboard, but I decline. I have located yet another hole in my wrist seal that I missed and wrap a few layers of duct tape around it before jumping in. As I begin to descend the line I come across Francis and he signals me to go back up. The visibility here is nil and he is calling it.

We climb back on board and head back for the San Saba, another freighter sunk in 75 fsw by mines from the German U-Boat 117 in 1918.

Francis has opted not to go in for a third time and that leaves me to tie in. How cool is that, my first tie in! I dropped over the side with my ever beeping computer to keep me company and head on down. At the anchor I am greeted with the site of it nicely wedged in a tall piece of the wreckage and very little for me to do. My first tie in is simple and a success. Woo Hoo! The water is still green but the viz has dropped to 8-10 feet and I tie off my reel before looking about.

The fish are slightly larger and more plentiful here. As I look about I don’t see any signs of lobster but I am a bit distracted. Despite the duct tape I am taking on so much water I can feel it traveling back and forth in my suit as I swim and my reel is sticking every 5 or 10 feet making progress frustrating. I decide to head for the surface and rewinding my reel is tedious but I manage to get it all wrapped in before moving up the line.

I am better on the ladder now and clamour over the transom without help or removing any weights and as I remove my suit and pour the buckets of water from within, Howard comments that there was enough water to maintain sealife in there. I HAVE to get these wrist seals replaced. After my report Howard heads on down, gun in hand, to look about and pull the hook.

While he is down I rewind my reel, which of course flows smoothly now, and change into my last dry clothes. As Howard surfaces, with fish on the stringer we contemplate the warm weather and water and a great day out.

We have on board fish, lobster, and a small artifact or two collected by our resident scavenger. The water is clear, flat and warm. The day warm and sunny. The company stellar…..hey I had the full attention of two great guys gearing me up and throwing me overboard. What more could you want. A dry drysuit maybe….and that dang computer to stop beeping…..but not much more.