Guernsey 2009

[Don_Jose]

Yeah. It's a membrane suit. Got a snug all in one undersuit too.

Friend of mine had a drysuit he used for windsurfing. He swore by it and was never cold.

 

[foxfish]

I dont doubt the effectiveness of keeping you warm but trapped air inside the suit & pinching when you dive might be a concern? But I dont really know.

 

[Don_Jose]

I don't know either. All I do know is that I'm the only person in the island diving the winter without one! I must admit though, I've put if off for this long as I couldn't get my head around the idea of not being wet when diving. Something seems a bit wrong with being dry! Oh well, we'll see.

 

[devondave]

Hi Don ,
Not my usual thread but I'm really curious . Are you planning to use a membrane drysuit for freediving ?
If you are ( can't tell from your posts ) there are a couple of things to consider .
One is suit-squeeze , as you decend , without adding air to the suit it will squash against your body and much more importantly your bollox :crutch:waterwork .
I dived with a guy (on scuba ) who did not add enough air when decending , he had a trilaminate suit and after taking it off he had black and blue lines on his body where the folds of the suit had pressed against him . Didn't ask about his tackle but I guess tears may have flowed .

The other thing , once the suit is pushed flat , it has no insulating properties , even with an under suit . So you could freeze your ass off too .

As far as scuba goes a drysuit is definitely the best thing I ever bought for UK diving , an hour in 5* is no problem at all and when you undress , all dry and toasty warm .

 

[foxfish]

I dont think it is all gloom & doom though because OMD definitely did use a dry suit for spearfishing at one time, i am sure he will be along to comment soon....

 

[portinfer]

Hi Don - have you tried one of the freediving specific suits (like Elios/Marea/Omer etc) ? Pretty sure that a 5mm or 5/7mm will keep you warm in winter for the odd dive
Cheers
Ed

 

[Andy.Round]

You may have seen this before, but if not its worth a look. In the Guernsey video check out the boats in the opening scenes The Underwater Channel

The viz will stunning this weekend, am off to France on a yacht race so there is bound to be no wind

Andy

 

[foxfish]

Thanks for that link Andy, I have seen that before but great to see it again.

 

[Don_Jose]

Hi Guys,

Naaa - Drysuit is for scuba only. Im so fed up with freezing deco in the winter....

To be honest I only freedive / spear in the summer - or at least from April to November. 7 / 7 two piece is always OK for that. I don't tend to stay in much more that 45 mins at a time which is probably why I don't catch much!

 

[Jonny250]

I haven't seen that website before andy, muchos thanks! the guernsey wreck stuff is interesting, and also i enjoyed the film of Sara freediving, great stuff.

 

[Don_Jose]

My crap mac at work won't play it. Typical. Looks interesting though - will check it out from home later.....

Thanks.

 

[Leo101]

nice web site andy ill be taking a good look round it. as for wet suits i was spear fishing in feb with my 5 mil one peice beaver wet suit and i did not find it to bad cold wise well not for the first couple of hours after that i got cold but id say is was more becouse i had no gloves and my face was exsposed so over time the cold got to me.

 

[foxfish]

I have found this http://shipwreck.net/pdf/OMEPapers4Final_000.pdf interesting stuff!!!

 

[Magpie]

Tis that, good find. It was reported on the news the other day and they had a local commercial saying it was a load of nonsense and they avoid wrecks like the plague.

Yeh, obviously, all them nets smothering the wrecks must actually be a form of coral that has grown round it!

 

[Don_Jose]

Interesting site foxfish. Check out those congers in that sub!
We dived the Brighton a few weeks ago and it was totally covered in nets. It's a shame, but I guess it's just the way it is. What gets me is people using old car batteries as shot lines.

 

[Gaz D]

Hello all,

I usually post on the Dorset thread, but have just found out that I'm being sent over to Guernsey tomorrow (wednesday) to carry out some emergency work for my company. Looks like I am going to have a bit of time on my hands while I am waiting for the ferry back to Poole afterwards, so I 'm gonna take my gear.

Can anyone recommend anywhere on the island that might be ok for a dive tomorrow?

Would appreciate the advice.

All the best,

Gaz.

Thanks for the responses folks,

Nice to meet you Johnny 250, and thanks for the pointers. Viz wasn't as bad as everyone suggested it might be (but then I guess you're used to really good viz over there).

My mate shot a pollock that wriggled of the spear. A bass was spotted, but a bit too late for a shot to be got off. Later we moved on to another spot on the way to the ferry, and I picked up a golden grey mullet (my first of that species), that came home with me.

Thanks again folks,

Happy to return the favour any time for anyone heading over this way,

Gaz

Sorry Foxfish, but didn't pick up your PM until after I was back in Poole, otherwise I would have definately rung you.

 

[Don_Jose]

Hey Gaz - were you crusing in a blue range rover? Recon I spotted you....?

 

[Gaz D]

Hey Gaz - were you crusing in a blue range rover? Recon I spotted you....?

Err . . . no. It was a beaten up old white Citroen Estate - you might have heard us though, it's got a big hole in the exhaust and makes a right racket! I think my boss might have been worried that the ferry was going to sink, or something, and gave us the mobile shed just in case.

I didn't know that you lot had your own currency out there. I drew fifty quid out of the cashpoint just before I left, and now I can't get rid of it over here! Guess I'll have to come back one day now.

All the best,

Gaz.

P.S: Old Man Dave, if you read this, you couldn't cast your eye briefly over the Dorset thread, at a picture of a sole that I shot last night - it's got a 'lesion' on it that makes me a bit concerned about eating it. Would appreciate your opinion as to whether it's dangerous or not.

 

[Sarnian]

Flew back from London this lunchtime and the vis looked stunning - even the East coast!

Couldn't take pics unfortunately as had to turn the phone off by then, but here is one of the South coast area - may be interesting to the Dorset lot.

Also some taken at Bordeaux a little while ago which looks promising - but you never know until you get in ...!

 

[portinfer]

Good viz last night - calm and no wind - almost felt like summer
Had 3 bass a cuttle and a lobster between us - happy days, proper food on the table again and a few scraps for my noisy cats
Marvellous !