Testing out my drysuit with Vin Malkoski
On Sunday, Sea Rover Vin Malkoski took me down to Fort Wetherill State Park, RI to help me get acquainted with my great DUI drysuit. The water was a nippy 49 degrees so it was definitely needed.
On our first dive we refreshed some basic skills made slightly harder with a drysuit such as taking a tank on and off, and eventually got some depth, making our way down to 83 feet. On our way down we got some great glimpses of horseshoe crabs and beautiful fields of anemones sticking out of the sand. Luckily I brought my gopro and managed to capture a few images (below).
Our second dive was much shallower, and we practiced some more drysuit skills such as how to recover from an overinflated suit carrying you quickly to the surface. This becomes most problematic when the air rushes to your feet. When being pulled towards the surface upside down it can be hard to effectively dump air to regain neutral buoyancy. To simulate this scenario I first flipped upside down on my own and practiced flipping back around to get my legs below my torso. Next, Vin held me upside down and held down my drysuit inflator button so that my legs ballooned with air. Right after he let me go, I had to flip over as quickly as possible to stop myself from quickly ascending from our shallow depth to the surface. It was great to get this essential training, and I’m excited to get more experience in my drysuit going forward.
