Of all my dive buddies the one person I've dived with most frequently and consistently for a period of time was the Zookeeper. She's now moved to a new life on a rural island on the West Coast of Scotland. I'm a pragmatic sort of person, so I don't miss people, but I do notice their absence. For example, since I stopped diving regularly with the Zookeeper my breathing rate underwater has typically increased by around a third.
Typically with the Zookeeper I breathed around 16 litres per minute and it wasn't unheard of for me to drop down to the 14 point somethings. My last dive was 19 l/m - considerably lower than my last 10-20 dives - which was at least below 20 l/m. So perhaps I've reached a new turning point.
I suppose, you come to trust people underwater. You trust their experience, their training and get used to their habits. For me, a creature of particular habit, I like that, I find it comfortable. This chopping and changing buddies will in the long run probably make me a better diver, but for now I'm eating air in a similar fashion to the way I eat Nutella.
