During the week I had put out a request on one of the local web-based for sale / want sites for anyone with any ankle weights or other weights suitable for snorkelling that were surplus to requirements. Within a few hours someone came back to say thay they had some weights with a belt and a pair of ankle weights and all at a bargain price.
A time was arranged to go and take a look at what was on offer and a purchase was duly made. I came away with a brand new belt, two 3kg lead weights and a pair of ankle weights for the grand sum of £15. I was also able to acquire another belt and a two more 3kg weights for Marc.
I was keen to see if the ankle weights would make any difference and to further investigate the use of a weight belt.
This afternoon the weather was sunny albeit with a bit of a breeze, so with an incoming tide I decided that a second session in the water this time to the west of the pier here in the village would be a good place to have a go. That way if the suit leaked it wasn't far to get home!!
Marc and his wife Penny had called round so I was to be the afternoon entertainment.
I got the drysuit on and then we all set off down to the shore. Claire, my good lady, was in charge of the camera today.
Once I was fully kitted up I headed for the water. As soon as I got submerged in the water I could once again feel the cold, but wasn't sure if it was just the cold I was feeling or cold water. I had a swim around and slowly I got used to the cool temperature and things didn't feel too bad.
Even though I had squeezed some of the air out of the drysuit before entering the water I was surprised, when looking at the photos later, just how much air was still in the drysuit. I looked like I was swimming around with a balloon on my back.
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| Inflated drysuit |
After about 10 minutes I headed back to my audience to see if I had got wet again. The zip across the back of the drysuit was opened and a check of my thermal top indicated that I was still dry, so I was only feeling the temperature of the water through my suit not the water itself. So that was a relief.
Zipped back up I headed back to the water for another look around the rock bed. Again as soon as I entered the water I got an initial cold feeling but soon got used to it.
It was interesting to see how much of the rock bed was actually exposed rock. When you see it at low tide most of the rock is covered in seaweed, but with the tide coming in a lot of it rises up forming a forest to swim through. Swathes of rock bed were lit up by the sun and it was quite pleasant swimming about.
This time I saw a couple of crabs, lots of hermit crabs of various sizes and whelks. I also saw lots of what looked like tiny limpet shells on the rock surfaces, but these had a little hole at the top with very fine hair like fronds sticking out of the hole and waving about in the current. Not sure what they were and I couldn't find anything that looked like them in my book. I think I will need to get Penny M down to take a look and she what she says.
I saw at least three different types of what I'm going to call seaweed for now, until I have mastered the art of plant identification, although I think one of them was a species of Wrack.
I also noticed a few of the rocks shimmering in the sunlight with what looked like silver speckles. Closer inspection revealed that they were tiny air bubbles.
Once again visibility straight down was pretty good but foward vision was quite cloudy.
When I got back to the shore Marc told me that I was being watched by an inquisitive seal again, but it was keeping a safe distance.
As far as the weights went, I found that even though I had done the belt up quite tight with the weights positioned on my back, once I had been moving around in the water for a bit the weights slipped off of my back and slid round to my front.
I found moving through the water was a bit easier when using the fins today but I'm not sure whether I'm improving my technique or whether having ankle weights is helping to keep my fins a bit more under the water. Perhaps it is a combination of both!!
After about another 15 minutes of exploring the rock bed I emerged from the water and was pleased to note that I didn't feel anything cold and wet running down my back.
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| A dry end to the test swim |
So now I know that the drysuit doesn't leak I can put an extra couple of layers on underneath the drysuit to hopefully keep me a bit warmer on the next swim.
Marc should hopefully be getting his drysuit next week so we will soon be able to start exploring other spots around the Orkney coastline.
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