KIRSTYANDREWS
Pity the Fool
Kirsty Andrews has a keen eye for her fellow divers ’ shortcomings , but we all make mistakes , don ’ t we ?
WHAT IS THE MOST EMBARRASSING kitting up mistake you have ever made ? I was ruminating on this issue with my buddy recently , as we not-so-secretly sniggered at another in our party who had managed to kit up with his cylinders still secured to the dive bench . Of course , this ‘ still tied on ’ issue is one of those that absolutely everyone has done at some point . If you say you haven ’ t , I don ’ t believe you - or you just haven ’ t got around to it yet . It ’ s forgivable , though , as it ’ s entirely preferable to forgetting to tie your gear on in the first place [ crash ]. The funny thing is , moments after this cruel sniggering , my buddy duly stood up and was about to jump in the sea when I remarked that wearing fins would probably be helpful . He laughed and promised that he hadn ’ t done it just to make the other guy feel better , and said it would have been funnier if I hadn ’ t told him until after he jumped in . I ’ m kind like that .
No fins is pretty inconvenient , and would have been discovered as soon as he started bobbing around on the water surface like a teabag . Similarly , jumping in without a weight belt leads to teabag bobbing and much cursing , and is also fairly easily done - although unlike fins , weight belts are usually part of the buddy check , so you can at least share the blame for
“ There is of course a fine line between comical error and a potentially dangerous situation ” the mistake . I ’ ve occasionally wondered why dive computers aren ’ t part of the buddy check , as most of us use them and they are both very useful and quite easy to forget . I ’ ve jumped in with mine in my drysuit pocket before , and also once memorably couldn ’ t find it anywhere until - after doing the dive on my backup - I realised it was in the pocket of my undersuit , warm and dry all the time . Two comments on this : firstly , it logged the dive entirely accurately , and secondly , I ’ m embarrassed but better that than doing a dive with other essentials in the wrong pocket like , say , your phone or your car keys on the outside … both of which I ’ ve also seen but not experienced myself , thank goodness . There is of course a fine line between comical error and a potentially dangerous situation , and I like to think I would find the latter less amusing . Many of us have entered the water without our drysuit zips being fully closed ; a chilly omission we ’ re unlikely to make twice . I have seen one friend jump in with his zip fully open - I noticed just as he started his giant stride , and he noticed shortly afterwards ! Fortunately , we were on a dive boat with a lift as it ’ s remarkable how quickly your drysuit can fill with water and how heavy that becomes to drag out of the sea . So I wouldn ’ t want to encourage anyone to do anything hazardous , but it being the April issue I thought it reasonable to poke fun at some of the kitting up ‘ fools ’ I have seen . Keep an eye out : maybe you ’ ll spot an error and save the day , or at the very least have an entertaining tale to share around the dive club at your buddy ’ s expense . �
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