YO-HANCHA
There is superstition
Yo-Han Cha ’ s paranoid days in the runup to the resumption of diving were marked by a surprising rise in pagan worship
As I write this , I ’ m casting a jealous eye to those in Wales where the rules relaxed before England , as I ’ m definitely starting to fray at the edges . I ’ ve already called my manager a couple of times in the last week to warn him of some potential complaints about me as some of my reply emails have been a bit on the short side .
After reviewing them about three or four times , I believe I removed anything HR-worthy but they were definitely on the terse side . Going running ’ s helped a bit , but right now my mind is telling me to go running daily . My body is firmly rejecting this argument and limiting my runs to twice a week . Scotland beating England and France in the Six Nations has helped . Losing to Wales and Ireland has not .
But there ’ s light at the end of the tunnel , as organised outdoor sports will be allowed again in England as the lockdown rules are relaxed ; it means that by the time you read this I should have managed to go diving .
There ’ s a shallow diving trip ( it ’ s been many months since our last dive ) organised by my club for the Easter weekend and due to an overwhelming demand for spaces and because we ’ re not yet allowed to stay over anywhere , it ’ s basically four day trips , one after the other . I find myself booked onto the Good Friday trip . It ’ s very exciting ! It might be just one day , but I can ’ t remember ever looking forward to a day ’ s diving quite so much .
And whoever did the on-call rota at my work needs a talking-to , as I ’ ve ended up being the on-call engineer for my team for the rest of the weekend ! I just hope this inconvenience provides some good karma for weather on the Friday . And for the rest of the weekend for the others ( obviously ).
Although the excitement and anticipation are building , I ’ m just trying not to get too excited because it ’ s not just COVID-19 that could cancel the diving next weekend . I ’ m not a superstitious man , but I will ‘ forget ’ my shades , not mention the weather unless it ’ s rubbish and pack my waterproof over trousers to try and persuade the Weather
Gods to please , please co-operate .
If said deities demand sacrifice , it ’ s just a matter of knowing what exactly they would like us to lay on . Let ’ s be specific : Coffee ? Bacon ? Steve the DO ? I mean , let ’ s not take any options off the table ( especially Steve ); diving ’ s got to happen , right ? I know we ’ re meant to be buddying together , but it ’ ll be for the greater good .
With the ‘ back to diving ’ date approaching , my kit ’ s slowly coming together . My drysuit , which was not so dry in 2020 , has been repaired ( still to be tested ) and my kit has been serviced . I even stuck my cylinder in for a service three months earlier than it needed to be , as I really want to make every available minute of diving count this year .
I just need to dust off my camera , charge some batteries and I ’ ll be ready . Yes , my camera counts as dive kit ! Editor ’ s Postscript : I am happy to report that Yo-Han finally managed to go diving . We ’ ll hear all about it in his next column , possibly alongside a how-to guide for appeasing Weather Gods �
Yo-Han ’ s friend , Clare Kingsbury of Manchester University SAC , gazes at her aquarium as she awaits a return to the water
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