Saturday night saw me in the pool practising dry suit skills in preparation for the advanced open water course this weekend. It all started quite well, until the buddy check when I realised at "W" that I'd kitted up minus my weight belt! Doh!
Once in the water things started pretty good - the fin pivot and hover went well but my low pressure inflator hose would not come off the suit. I tried. The instructor tried. The DM tried. Moving on to the next skill - filling me up with air and trying to right myself before the surface - it became apparent that the suit wasn't getting any air in, and I kept landing on my back at the bottom of the pool!
Quick surface and it became clear it was locked halfway on, halfway off. Without thinking, the instructor asked me to take my BCD off at surface and get that skill out of the way, so I undid all the releases and slipped one arm out, and immediately hit on a snag..... a still attached inflator hose! LOL
Eventually after much pushing and pulling - leaving me with a fair few pinch marks on my chest - the DM freed the hose and it worked like a dream from then on in. I spent the rest of the session practising buoyancy and fin strokes and came out a little less stressed about diving Stoney Cove in a dry suit than I was in the moments before I went in!
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