Back from the cold

Air temp 1.0 degree, sea temp 6.0 degrees, dive time 30 mins,

 bravado high,

 scallops plentiful, hands and face numb,

safety stops foregone

in favour of a coffee and bacon roll..

Time to dust of the ice from my dive gear."It takes a special kind of idiot to enjoy local diving,"  I am proud to say that I am a special kind of idiot along with my diving buddy Gary.  So this weekends adventures in fishing/diving were a wee bit on the chilly side. That might be the understatement of the year depending on who you ask. On the other hand, it was also a great weekend of fishing/ diving with a good bunch of friends.
The water is cold, looks uninviting, intense with big spring tides. Before you even think of dipping your feet in out here, you better have a dry suit, thermal under suit, wool socks, extra lead weights, lift bags, and a warm flask of coffee. (Gaz broke out nasty flask of teeth drying Hibiscus tea).
One of the most bracing truths about winter diving is that at this time January/February, its the coldest part of the year, January through March, the cold water has killed off the plankton blooms and normally gives some great vis, apart from today.
  The tidal changes here are up to 30 feet every 6 hours and most of the dives are performed in some sort of tide which can as in this case, kick up the sediment from the seabed. The brilliant vis of  last week has been replaced by some dirty water – spring tide and strong winds to blame. The water colour on the way down was a combination of blues, greens and browns, in patches and streaks, but although vis was poor near the surface, on the bottom it was a do-able 3-4 metres. Not great for this time of year. With temperatures barely reaching 5 degrees Fahrenheit, you wonder what drives people to jump in the ice cold water and go diving. Well, the answer is easy: they want to collect fresh scallops!