KIRSTYANDREWS
What ’ s in a number ?
Approaching a notable milestone in her meticulously logged dives , Kirsty Andrews hopes for a memorable experience
Is there something in the human psyche that encourages us to compulsively keep track of our activities and mark memorable occasions ? I ’ m thinking of the pressure to celebrate a ‘ big ’ birthday or anniversary , or party harder on New Year ’ s Eve than the night before . The nervousness of a cricket batter approaching a century : so much more desirable than 99 runs .
I ’ ve already admitted in these pages that I still keep a log book . It ’ s important to keep records to track all-important qualifying and experience dives ; but many put the logbooks down once they ’ ve served that particular purpose . I ’ ve kept going for various reasons , and one of the consequences is that I know when a ‘ big number ’ dive is coming up .
Some milestone dives really leave an impression . For some reason I distinctly remember my 50th dive ( with uni friends in Gozo ) and my 300th ( a fun dive with fellow dive guides in between teaching Ocean Diver lessons ). I ’ m pretty sure I know where I was for my 1,000th ( an enjoyable wreck dive in Northern Ireland ) but my memories of the others are rather more vague . I know various organised types who will plan a big trip around their momentous dive and this makes sense when perhaps you ’ re only diving , say , for 20-30 dives a year on holiday - there ’ s time to plan and why not make an event out of it ? At the very least , the dive centre is likely to bake a cake for you ! And hopefully they won ’ t insist on you doing the dive naked - a regrettable tradition , especially for those of us who regularly dive in sub-tropical waters .
Due to my rigorous logging habits , I knew I had a ‘ notable ’ dive coming up recently . At least , I knew it was soon , but I was a bit behind in record-keeping so I wasn ’ t entirely sure which dive that month it would be . No problem : I wasn ’ t going to make a song and dance out of it , I thought : all dives can be special after all . My next planned dive was at a regular local site with some friends : we ’ d had a good time there a few weeks previously and it was the best option for the local weather conditions that day .
“ Maybe I did want it to be a little more special than that , after all ”
However , for some reason , it was incredibly dull - the viz wasn ’ t great , there was just enough of a swell and covering of weed on the reef to generate motion sickness , and the wildlife was seemingly abroad that day . My buddy and I ‘ called it ’ early and my first words were “ I really hope that wasn ’ t my 2,000 th dive !”. Maybe I did want it to be a little more special than that , after all . I actually consulted my log book ; to my relief it had been number 1998 and , excitingly , the following weekend was the Torbay
Kirsty ’ s celebratory snakelocks shrimp
Splash-In weekend - a highlight of the calendar for Devon divers , where during a 19-hour window divers try to capture photos in Torbay waters to be judged later that evening at an evening do run by hard-working Torbay BSAC members .
What a memorable occasion for a memorable dive ! And in short , it was brilliant . A late-night adventure with a great buddy and a host of night-owl critters , from phosphorescent plankton creating underwater starlight to snakelocks anemone shrimp to variable blennies , jewel anemones to finally , as I reluctantly headed to the surface , a buzzed flyby by some big squid . How is my next big milestone going to live up to that ? �
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