>Hello,
>Its all very well for you guys in Florida, Sydney and Asia
>where the water's like a warm bath!
>ME?
>Today, I went Snorkelling in Loch Fyne in my WET SUIT!
>The water temp they told me was 11C!

Ha ! Should have come down south. The channel was a balmy 17 degC - sooooo
warm, I didn't even wear gloves. First dive trip in UK waters using my
Halcyon B/W/H - marvellous, so much more comfortable than a BC.
Loads to see although vis wasn't brilliant (5-8m). Saw a monster Conger
Eel, beats the largest Moray I have ever seen any day.
One of the guys on the trip  had a problem with his drysuit zip on
Saturday, which resulted in him having a very short wet dive; also earned
him the nickname 'Zippy'. Upside was he went looking for a new drysuit &
found an almost new one for UK£220 - which isn't too much more than a zip
replacement would have cost him.
Talking of nicknames, one other club member who I haven't dived with before
& who seems to have every qualification going, plus every piece of kit
going (he's about 4ft nothing, using twin 12l steels, not manifolded,  for
a 25m dive, despite not being able to get out of the water on his own and
also taking up most of the deck space) earned himself a marvellous new
nickname after ignoring repeated warnings to beware of the cleat if exiting
the boat from the starboard side. Upon attempting entry, he (or rather
several dozen pieces of his dangling kit) managed to find said cleat,
rendering him 'semi-dry' in a 'semi-prone' attitude, head half in the water
and legs half in the boat ! 'Give us yer f!£"%$! hand then' the skipper
calmly commanded. Later the skippers comments' were 'do yerself a favour
boy, get down the gym & get fit enough to stand up with that rig or get rid
of one of the tanks'. This little incident earned our badged-up little
friend the wonderful title of 'Cleat Van Dangle', which stuck like snot to
a mask !
All in all a great weekends fun, (for us, Cleat was a little put out later
though when Zippy, Ray & I reverted to type and started slinging cups of
cold water out the window over him ) but probably the last UK diving till
next year. Next stop -- Egypt in  less than three weeks:-)
Cheers all.....

Andy Johnson
Senior Product Support Specialist
UK HSC DASD
Basingstoke AL1C
Tel: 01256 34 1490 (Hunting Group)
Tel: 01256 34 1264 (Direct)
Please check I am working before calling me as I work shifts & could be on
nights !
Mobile:07703 59 8282   Mobex:277 321
e-mail [log in to unmask]