New Frontiers - 17/01/2020

Well, my new Mares XR Extreme Undersuit arrived. I sent a buddy to collect it for me from Aquatron. I had planned to dive in it slightly earlier than I did, but in the end Craig and I chose to dive an undocumented dive site on the western side of Loch Fyne.

The site was far less important than the dive. I set my self up with a thin baselayer and put on my new Starfleet uniform then my drysuit. I deliberately did not use my Mares XR Heated Vest. I wanted to see how I'd fair in just the undersuit.

The site was near the mouth of a river so it was always going to be cool at this time of year, but at 8c for most of the dive it wasn't too bad.

We headed down the muddy slope roughly descending at a rate of one metre per minute. Maxing out at around 30m, we turned and headed back at the same rate, stopping at 5m for a safety stop in cooler 6c water.

I emerged cool, but far warmer than I otherwise would of expected. By comparison, my buddy was physically shaking. So it must of worked.

Previously I've used Fourth Element arctics which I don't think is an entirely fair comparison. a better comparison would be the hard to find Arctic Expedition one piece, but I can say that I was far warmer in the new Mares suit.

Likes

• Deep hand warmer pockets
• Left and right catheter holes (useful depending what way you *coughs* tuck)
• Comfortable low collar 
• Nice length sleeves that match the drysuit
• Smooth material for ease of pulling on your drysuit
• Compared to my old suit it's a one piece which means the top doesn't ride up

Dislikes

• My only dislike is that it is bulkier around the calves and than my previous undersuit, but those who don't skip leg day may appreciate the extra capacity

Verdict

👍👍👍👍👍

As for the dive?

A feast of firework anemones and highland dancer nudibranchs, but not much else to report. I won't be rushing back.

Pachycerianthus Multiplicatus

Pleurobranchus Membranaceus

In the shop

Kitting up

Climbing the Walls - 23/09/2018

When my local dive shop arranged a Mares Try Dive Day at Caolasnacon I was always going to be on it like sonnet.

I had wanted to try out a few different things - which in the end I didn't, but a number of my club members did. Examples include:

• the Mares goodman torch strap
• the Mares heated vest
• a Mares single tank wing

However, a suit leak on a wee training dive around the wall with a trainee meant that I chose to spend much of the day trying to dry out my suit and undersuit for an evening dive with Mares UK Sales Manager and his buddy.

Jester was accompanying me as we to Kentallan Wall for the first time in darkness. When we went, Jester and I promised very little. "Perhaps some nudibranch's and ray. No guarantees."

However, between the two of us Jester and I knocked it out the park. 

• Thornback ray
• Curled octopus 
• Sepiola Atlantica
• Nudibranch's

Oh, and let's not forget my magnificent navigation. 

Curled Octopus

Thornback Ray

Caolasnacon

Sepiola Atlantica

Northern Sunstar

Nudi

Nudi

Total Eclipse of the Loch - 02/11/2014

A rare free Sunday gave me the opportunity head up to St Cats, Loch Fyne with Captain Al, TDFKAMF, the Vice President and Van der Brett. It took a little longer than usual to get there as the quickest road was still shut due to landslips (fortunately, it was open by the time way came back). 

We were the first people to arrive at the site, but a small group arrived from Splash Sports and a couple of guys from Bo'ness Sub Aqua Club. In addition, en route I'd spotted my own dive club diving a Twin Piers, Loch Long. I took the right course of action as I later heard that the visibility at the site was rotten.

By way of contrast, our visibility was terrible in the first few metres, but increased to around five below six metres. However, it was pitch black so it felt like we did two night dives as though it were a total eclipse of the loch. There was a nice array of life about on both dives. Life included:

• nudibranchs
• pollock
• cod
• scorpion fish
• pipefish

Emerging from the first dive boasting about the things we saw we started joking about a range of improbable spots (hammerheads, turtles, humpback whales etc). Which gave Van der Brett the opportunity to tell us about the time a encountered a great white shark while teaching in South Africa. When asked what he did he explained in great details that he tried not to look like a seal. There is a valuable lesson in there somewhere.

In dive 2 I took the opportunity to dive down to around 38m - a new depth record for me. This also allowed me to test the deco functionality of my Mares Matrix. It worked an absolute treat. Taking me to safety stops at 12m and 3m. The next test is to start using it with Nitrox.

That said, the best moment of the two dives was when TDFKAMF was a attack by an angry Yarrell's Blenny. Apparently, it was provoked by another inconsiderate diver!

However, the highlight of the day came when we returned to Aquatron at the tail end of their sale weekend and as well as my fills and usual banter I also got myself a bargain on a super sweet new Fourth Element Thermocline top as well as bumping into the Mermaid! Add to all this the fact that I recovered my lost Arctic sock (misplaced at the A-Frames on Thursday) and I'd say it was pretty darn good! Happy days.

Sealoch Anemone

Nudi

Squat Lobster

Cod

Greater Pipefish

Scorpionfish

Scorpionfish

Wrasse Never Sleeps - 07/08/2014

The Zookeeper and I had heard of a 20m vis report at the Caves, Loch Long. Even if it wasn't going to be that good there was still the potential for an excellent dive. So, after work, we headed up for an evening dip. At the site we encountered a couple of friendly fisherman visiting from Royston Vasey.

Test driving a new Mares Matrix computer, we kitted up headed down to 24m. The visibility was good, and getting better the deeper we went. Perhaps not 20m, but certainly around 15m.

As we swam along we encountered a load of lobsters and edible crabs in the cracks and nooks of the rock faces. At one point a lion's mane jellyfish flubbed by.

On the turn we found more lobsters, some even posed for photos.Then came the large ballan and cuckoo wrasse - quite a lot of them.

The final twist on the dive was an edible crab trapped in fishing line. Naturally, the Zookeeper took pity on it and began cutting it free. However, unlike some others which are quite happy to be freed, this one took quite a liking to nipping her fingers. I won't lie, it was moderately amusing to watch.

In short, extraordinary vis and a fun evening. Although, photos were limited after both the Zookeeper and I developed camera issues.

Lobster by the Zookeeper

Me midwater by the Zookeeper

Sea squirts

Plumose anemones

I'll Tell You What Really Bugs Me - 23/03/2014

On Facebook I 'like' Mares, Scubapro and Fourth Element. I like many of their products in real life too.

For example, I own:

• a Mares Abyss Navy Regulator
• a Scubapro Mk17 Regulator
• a Mares Dragon BCD
• a Fourth Element Arctic Undersuit
• Scubapro Seawing Nova fins
• Fourth Element Thermocline stuff

I also like hoods by Waterproof and my Oceanic Shadow mask, but I'll tell you what really bugs me are the string of professional film makers, professional divers and 'explorers' who endorse these products. When buying a product I'm not interested in 'celebrity' endorsements. I'm interested in how cost effective/efficient/comfortable/useful is it going to be for me?

How long does a drysuit take to dry hanging under my stairs? How expensive is the service pack? If it breaks, how good is your customer service?

Like the vast majority of people I have to pay for my kit and it has to perform and last. Wouldn't it be great if these companies, instead of expedition divers, used honest recreational divers to review and promote their products?

It would be amazing to watch a review of two products and hear the diver honestly say, that they can't tell the difference between the two regulators or after using these gloves my fingers were a wee bit warmer.

The current marketing of the big brands in SCUBA is a throw back to last century. Peer to peer marketing is the future it's time for the diving industry to embrace it.

My Little Pony - 24/02/2014

My little pony

As you know I've tried out a few pony configurations over the last few months. I can confirm that I've settled for now on left-hand-side-upside-down-side-mount.

However, my current pony reg set up has the 2nd stage and a pressure gauge coming up to clip at my left hand shoulder. I've found this annoying as the gauge and the reg combine to restrict my head movement in the water. So after a little thought I went into Aquatron yesterday and bought a little button pressure gauge (£20) for the pony 1st stage.

My thinking is that in the emergency when I'm using the pony, I probably won't need immediate access to how much air it has in it as, if I'm using it, I'm out of air anyway. Therefore other than pre-dive check do I need a full sized pressure gauge. Probably not.

So, I've made the switch and added my Mares Mission One to my main reg and ditched my old Mares Mission 3 with lost compass, so that saves even more space. On the downside I've lost my mechanical depth gauge. That's sure to ire the DIRers amongst my diving buds, but I'll rectify that soon.

Current Set up - Scubapro R395 2nd stage plus Mares Mission 1

Set up with mini gauge

Our Sunday Best (19/01/2014)

Every so often my hectic social life permits me go out and dive at the weekend. This weekend was one such weekend. Myself, Laura and Andrea were accompanied by Sergeant Chris and Fast Eddie. Taking advantage of a rare daytime dive we opted for a nearby site that we had never dived – Conger Alley.The Finstrokes dive guide can be found here.

Conger Alley is at the top of Loch Long, across the water from the pleasant village of Arrochar and just a couple of hundred yards from Twin Piers. It’s a pretty easy and safe dive site regularly used by clubs for training, so it’s a wonder I’ve never dived it before.

Kitting up in daylight was an unusually pleasant experience, although the traffic passed a little too close for comfort on occassions. With everything set we headed into the flat-calm water in daylight. Feeling a little over confident I’d left my trusty Mares EOS 10R torch back at the house – this was daylight diving, how dark could it get?

Dropping through the thermocline at about 6m, we headed N.NE down to 24m. By the time we hit 17m I had never been so glad to have put my secondary torch onto a retractor clip. It was pitch black, although the visibility was excellent.

Working our way back up the reef we found a particularly large scorpion fish, loads of wrasse and some really large edible crabs along with the usual stuff that we take for granted. Sadly, no conger eels, but perhaps when we return for a night dive we’ll strike conger gold.

Our safety stop was represented by a cold swim back at 5m assisted by the outgoing tide. As such, I overshot the entry/exit point by about 20m.

  

Twilight exit

Scorpion fish

Dead man's finger