Friday, March 8, 2013

The disadvanges of losing weight

The disadvantages of losing weight are less frequently discussed than the advantages. That's because the advanges don't include nearly drowning yourself, or your pants falling down in public places. I was not feeling too great yesterday, but it was one of the picture perfect Flinders days that makes everyone believe it is always like ths and you ought to live here. The Lemmings (Jamie, Norman, and I) were soon rushing seawards. I put my dive gear in, principally knowing Norman would dive, and Jamie might not. And I don't like diving alone or them doing so. Anyway, Norm couldn't and I managed to leave my BC's behind. And we were a few crays short. So sucker no 1 had a try anyway. And used Jamies BC - it doesn't work says he. Well, not good, but the water is only 5-6 meters, and I have my weightbelt so nicely adjusted so at that sort of depth I am about neutrally bouyant, a flick of the fins and you're rising, and you have to slow yourself to not go too fast. (yes, the theory is to keep yourself heavy and use a BC) I don't like it, too many years snorkeling. And I went down...Only I've been sick for a bit, not eating much and working in a hot container before that... I must have lost a bit of body fat, and I was definitely too heavy. Still, shallow water - only just off the edge of the reef at about 12 meters was a big hole with 2 crays in it. Couldn't get the little one, but the big one... I was wrestling with. Jamie's reg said I had enough air, but it lied. Well, or I used it fast, but seriously the needle seems to be jumping around - when I got up jamie said it had been jumping between 50 and 10 on his breaths. I usually cut and run at 50 bar, and I had had 60 when I started on the cray. Plenty - I wasn't in a hole, or cave, and it wasn't that hard to get out... Anyway, I realized it wasn't that accurate when the airflow was just a little tight as I hauled the cray out. I grabbed my spear and started swimming up. And the extra few kilos of floaty fat were not there to help. And no BC or air for it either. Now you don't want to come up too fast and I still had a little air - maybe 10 breaths keep calm, but it was a lot harder work than i would choose. It ran dry about 2 meters from the surface, I spat the mouthpiece and exhaled (which doesn't help you rise, but does stop your lungs bursting) swimming up. Breathe!! and the downside of the weightbelt and losing that cuddly fat were with me, hands full of 3.5 Kg of extra weight of cray, a kilo of fish, and spear. Choices - drop weightbelt, drop cray drop spear - or tread water hard and yell for help. It's very undignified, but that way I got to keep the cray, the belt and spear. I could breathe to yell, and wasn't breathing water. And I have taken one weight off and will not dive with Jamie's rig again. (turns out BC DOES work, just not well, so I could have inflated it by mouth coming up or on the surface - if I could have taken hands off cray and spear.) Anyway, all's well that ends well, and no harm done. I daresay I'll get fatter again, and battle to get under.

On the computer problem front - it appears it is my computer and windows that are fried. The hard-drive tests out Ok. Unfortunately the windows won't restore. So Microsoft is getting some more money from me :-(. not right as far as I am concerned. I have no issues with using old software I've paid for already, but it doesn't seem to like the new box. Anyway, hopefully normal service will be restored soon. I am very behind with the work.

4 comments:

  1. It's not weight so much as water loss. My college dive club would host a quarry dive at the end of the semester for the graduates of Basic Underwater Technology...a nice way to get both 2 credit hours and your NAUI certificate. In the morning there was a group dive led by instructors so they could get their open water certification. The lunch and some games like softball or volleyball and then a free dive. We'd always check their BCD's before letting them out because the skinny ones would lose enough sweat they'd drop like a stone. It doesn't take much difference to go from neutral to negative.

    I haven't dived much in the last twenty years but I always tried to have a BCD that was connected to the tank by a low pressure hose. I think that today in The States mouth inflated BCDs are classified as snorkel BC. They're probably pricey over there, but I'd think about investing in one as we'd hate to see you get the Permanent Writer's Block.

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    1. Hmm. Didn't know about the water loss. I was really dehydrated that evening. I had been for snorkel earlier and no trouble staying on the surface, so I suppose that may account for it. I have also shed about 7 pounds - which is an appreciable part of my body mass. My own BC has a direct feed and a mouth feed, but I was using Jamie's which is 30 years old - and has been replaced by his dry suit - which he didn't have with him because it was very warm. Most of the time Quilly I am so shallow as to not be using the BC at all - which is the way I like it. Which was why I wasn't much worried when he said it didn't work. I would have inflated by mouth to save breathing air.

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  2. If you need licenses for M$ stuff I *may* be able to help, depending on what it is you need. Got a bunchaton of old crap that should be transferable

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    1. Thanks Francis - so in theory should I but the new setup doesn't seem to like xp. I have already ordered 7, so that should get here soon.

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