Winter Drysuit Training

 Ah, the west coast in winter. As a snowboarder, just looking at that mountain of powder makes me say "I really want to see whats 50feet underwater by that yellow buoy!" So this weekend we got our first taste of wintery open water diving with dry suits. The water averaged 5-7 degrees and for added fun we each wore 40lbs of extra weight.

 Though entirely fashionable for day-to-day wear as you can see, the drysuit also has a bonus feature of locking a pocket of air around your body underwater which not only keeps you dry but helps keep you warm as well. Despite this, Kathryn got very chilled after her first dive and skipped the second one because the shivering would not stop, so its time to get a layer or two of thermal underwear for the next dip.

 Below, our instructor Paul emerges from the deep with George. In both dives we saw lingcod, crabs, anenomes, nudibranches (Kathryn loves these), decorator crabs, perch, sea cucumbers, and a plethora of unknown fishes. In the second wreck, there was an amazing tour through an intentionally sunken ship which is forming an artificial reef and covered in white plumous anenomes.

I know the internet is a fan of "pics or it didn't happen" but we don't yet have a camera which can stand going down to 50+ feet. The several atmospheres of extra pressure would crush anything we have. We're likely to get Kathryn a gopro once they have a proper underwater option and I am on the fence about an expensive housing for my DSRL setup since I really like the control it gives. We are quite taken with this sport and will likely have one or the other in place for more dives by the summer at the latest.