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Today marks exactly 1 year since I took my first tentative breaths from the loop, I can vividly remember the mixture of trepidation, excitement and exhilaration as I fought my way down to 6m at Capenwray, hideously over weighted, significantly task loaded, with only a meagre appreciation of what was required of me and my dated KISS which probably harks back to the late 90's early 2000's.
The first dive was with an attentive buddy on OC looking on a little bemused as I added more and more weight to finally leave the surface behind, he suffered a suit leak on that dive and bowed out before the second, I wanted more time and so began what has largely been a solo journey back to the type of diving I had been prevented from doing all those years ago.
Inevitably its been a bit of a roller coaster, initially every slight or significant nuance becomes the harbinger of a flood or co2 hit in your head, I can still feel the hot flushes of adrenaline and doom that would periodically wash over me when my breathing cycle was poor or shallow, the disappointment of finding small amounts of water in the canister, finally accepting that the heavy drogue of the original Sherwood BOV was obsolete with perishable parts that could not be sourced, the ever, increasing investment in all the "stuff" that I considered essential either for life support or comfort.
Gradually through iterations of kit configuration, education, live testing, and steady evolutions of dives my comfort and confidence grew, and I have been able to steadily build up a portfolio of dive experiences from the tunnels at Hodge, the easily accessed and seemingly benign wrecks of Mull and Oban, and deeper forays onto the historical hulks of NE Scotland with decompression obligations, limited viz and running tides.
The playing field has changed, since last I stepped on to it, there are fewer hard boats, solo divers are welcome mostly anywhere on charters, deep air is dead, re-breathers outnumber doubles and mostly everyone is as old or older than me.
As alluded to previously though it has been an almost exclusively solo affair and without a sound board alongside you experiencing similar issues or using the same gear, being there before, during and after a dive it has been challenging sometimes, and as a result I have relied on all your collective knowledge and experience to assist in making the trip, and for that I am very grateful. Some of my questions have resulted in divisive threads, some have been daft, others speculative or challenging of the accepted order. Each thread though has helped in my understanding of the process and complexities of re-breather SCUBA and 21st diving generally.
I was planning a dive today but the obligatory winter head cold had other plans...
I am still not the finished article (far from it) so bear with me for the year ahead.
The first dive was with an attentive buddy on OC looking on a little bemused as I added more and more weight to finally leave the surface behind, he suffered a suit leak on that dive and bowed out before the second, I wanted more time and so began what has largely been a solo journey back to the type of diving I had been prevented from doing all those years ago.
Inevitably its been a bit of a roller coaster, initially every slight or significant nuance becomes the harbinger of a flood or co2 hit in your head, I can still feel the hot flushes of adrenaline and doom that would periodically wash over me when my breathing cycle was poor or shallow, the disappointment of finding small amounts of water in the canister, finally accepting that the heavy drogue of the original Sherwood BOV was obsolete with perishable parts that could not be sourced, the ever, increasing investment in all the "stuff" that I considered essential either for life support or comfort.
Gradually through iterations of kit configuration, education, live testing, and steady evolutions of dives my comfort and confidence grew, and I have been able to steadily build up a portfolio of dive experiences from the tunnels at Hodge, the easily accessed and seemingly benign wrecks of Mull and Oban, and deeper forays onto the historical hulks of NE Scotland with decompression obligations, limited viz and running tides.
The playing field has changed, since last I stepped on to it, there are fewer hard boats, solo divers are welcome mostly anywhere on charters, deep air is dead, re-breathers outnumber doubles and mostly everyone is as old or older than me.
As alluded to previously though it has been an almost exclusively solo affair and without a sound board alongside you experiencing similar issues or using the same gear, being there before, during and after a dive it has been challenging sometimes, and as a result I have relied on all your collective knowledge and experience to assist in making the trip, and for that I am very grateful. Some of my questions have resulted in divisive threads, some have been daft, others speculative or challenging of the accepted order. Each thread though has helped in my understanding of the process and complexities of re-breather SCUBA and 21st diving generally.
I was planning a dive today but the obligatory winter head cold had other plans...
I am still not the finished article (far from it) so bear with me for the year ahead.
Oh and the smaller orifice. 
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