SCUBA April 2022 Issue 124 | Page 65

sensation around my eyes and my inability to see anything but blur . As I surfaced , I saw , through the tinted lenses of my sunglasses , my buddy standing on the dive deck with my mask in his hand and a grin across his face .
Tight fit
I ’ ll admit to owning a fair number of wetsuits , which I use for snorkelling , diving , cave diving , freediving and even caving from the Arctic to the tropics . However , I once arranged a photo day with photographer Dan Bolt in a new wetsuit I ’ d been sent to try out . The wetsuit looked very cool … but it turned out to be made for someone much smaller than I . Specifically , a lady . It wouldn ’ t have been a problem , but I only discovered the situation while on a beach in Devon , having committed to the snorkel session . To be fair , there was little flushing and the suit was warm enough . But only because I was vacuum-sealed with neoprene , and barely able to inhale . Lesson learned , these days I try stuff on before I leave home .
Fins for the memory
There is great debate as to where snorkelling ends and freediving begins ; I ’ d imagine many would put the 16-metre depth of this next story firmly within the realms of the latter . However , my intention that day was not to go to such depths . I was even wearing half-pocketed , heel-strapped diving fins ... and that ’ s where things went wrong . I never noticed the strap go , but felt the fin slip off just in time to not be able to do anything about it . As I drifted beyond the illumination provided by the shafts of sunlight . I realised I was also not wearing a weight belt . Thankfully my suit was only 3mm . Although I doubt few of you have been stupid enough to consider attempting such a thing , nor had the need to , I can recommend not trying to duck dive to that depth while positively buoyant and with only one fin .
Disaster on the Dee
Finally , I ’ ll take you to the Linn of Dee . I ’ d first snorkelled here during my Britain by Snorkel trip in 2011 , but returned in 2013 to film for the BBC . On the return trip the weather had not been as kind and days of deluge had forced the water ‘ up ’, making the bubbling surface impossible to gaze through .
However , the pressure of filming was such that I made the call to get in . All was well but , as is always the case with telly , it ’ s retake after retake and I began to get tired . Rather than the powerful giant stride with which I ’ d started the day , I now collapsed into the water on ‘ action ’. And that ’ s how I discovered a small , protruding ledge ... with my knee-cap . I was meant to swim downstream , surface in an eddy by Camera Two and deliver my lines about how great all this was . I was not meant to ( this film being intended for a tea-time broadcast ) surface swearing and blaspheming . But I did . And I continued to as I limped back upstream for yet another take . �
An unconvincing thumbs-up at the end of a less-than-successful snorkel
For more information on snorkelling with BSAC go to bsac . com / snorkelling Looking to introduce snokelling into your club ? Find out more at bsac . com / snorkellinginstructor
PHOTO : DAN BOLT
PHOTO : DANIEL RASMUSSEN
65