Weezled @ Redondo

[Grateful Diver]

It's been a terrible month for me ... until this afternoon, had only managed three dives. First I came down with probably the most persistent cold I've had in a decade ... then the region came down with the worst cold it's had in at least that long. So this afternoon ... in a rare break between snowstorms, I decided to stop waiting for a dive buddy willing to brave the elements, and go diving.

I got home from work, packed up my gear, dressed up in my brand new Weezle Extreme undies and booties, and headed down to Redondo. When I got there, I was not just the only diver at the site, I was the only PERSON at the site. I've never seen the place so deserted. No problem finding a parking spot ... they were ALL available.

Now, one nice thing about not having anyone around to talk to ... about 10 minutes after I got there I was headed down to the water ... my little buddy AL tucked under my arm, and my camera locked and loaded. I finned up, kicked out, and dropped down at the usual spot ...

... and sank like a rock!

This was my first dive in the new undies, and I discovered that not only will this stuff keep me warm, it's gonna let me drop 6 or 8 lbs off my weightbelt. I like it already.

Got in a lovely 62-minute dive ... making my way down to the bottle field where I found a tiny octopus or a happy gunnel couple in almost every bottle. Making my way back upslope I found a fair-sized snailfish attached to a piece of kelp.

Oh ... and Claudette ... someone says "hi" ...



When I surfaced, it was dark, windy, and 26 degrees. But I was warm. I could even feel all my toes ... which is a great thing this time of year. The cold weather's got the water temp dropping fast ... it's down to about 48 degrees ... and the next snowstorm's supposed to hit sometime tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to try to sneak in another couple dives before it gets here.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[LCF]

So, is the Weezle warmer than the 4th Element stuff you were using? I have to say I'm utterly AMAZED that it's less buoyant . . .

[HBDiveGirl]

Oh ... and Claudette ... someone says "hi" ...

CUTIE!!!
Miniature Victorian Carousel Razorback's with Seahorse eyes, Nekkid-Star-mole noses, and Nosferatu fingers.

Thanks, Bob!!!

~~~~
Claudette

[Mo2vation]

I've always heard people had to add weight to dive the fluffy Weezles.

Who knew?

I was cold today diving wet in SoCal - but 26 degrees is off the hook, man.


----
Ken

[Grateful Diver]

So, is the Weezle warmer than the 4th Element stuff you were using? I have to say I'm utterly AMAZED that it's less buoyant . . .

The 4th Element stuff was warm ... but I had to add a lot of weight to sink the stuff.

So far I've tried Diving Concepts, 4th Element, SoftWear, and Weezle ... and the Weezle gets my vote.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[kirk_hamblen]

Bob,
Glad you made it out diving again; if you need someone to go diving with you in this freezing weather just give me a shout...

[Grateful Diver]

I would enjoy that, Kirk ... been a long time since we've been diving together.

Yesterday Cheng and I hooked up with Valerie and Kate at Redondo. When I got up in the morning, the thermometer on my deck said it was 14 degrees outside. By the time we were ready to head down to the dive site it had warmed up to 19 degrees. As we were heading down the hill toward the water, Cheng asked me why the water looked so white. When we got closer, we could see that the Sound was literally steaming ...





Don't see that too often around here.

As for the undergarment and weighting ... I removed 4 lbs from my weight belt, and it was just about perfect.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[SparticleBrane]

Oh Bob that's positively warm. Right now it's -7F and is -33F with the wind chill....spending a few days in Wisconsin...

If I had a Weezle I might wear it outside.

[Cold_H2O]

Great pic of one of my favorite critters.. Thanks..

I have never seen Puget Sound steaming.... LOL....

[Grateful Diver]

Oh Bob that's positively warm. Right now it's -7F and is -33F with the wind chill....spending a few days in Wisconsin...

If I had a Weezle I might wear it outside.

Yabbut ... were you out diving?

Seattle doesn't normally get that cold ... in the 15 years I've lived here I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen it dip below 20 degrees ... or stay this cold for this many days in a row.

Got a few more inches of snow last night ... we're packing up to go diving in an hour or so.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Grateful Diver]

Great pic of one of my favorite critters.. Thanks..

Nice pic of one of my favorite critters too ... but she eventually had to take that parka off and get into her drysuit ...

Here's a couple more pics for ya ...





... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[LCF]

I adore gunnel nests . . . I found one with four or five red ones in it on DIW the other day. They have the cutest faces!

I envy you guys who live close enough to the dive sites to dive in this weather. The problems with driving in proximity to too many people without a clue have kept me close to home the last few days.

[Nailer99]

I've always heard people had to add weight to dive the fluffy Weezles.

That's a myth! Weezles are amazing undergarments with magical powers- they compress down to almost nothing, yet expand to fill available space in your drysuit with warm life-sustaining fluffy goodness that keeps you nice and warm even when your suit floods, but never block your dump valve. They dry out in almost no time if they get wet, too. I looooove my Weazle!

[AzTek Diver]

That's a myth! Weezles are amazing undergarments with magical powers- they compress down to almost nothing, yet expand to fill available space in your drysuit with warm life-sustaining fluffy goodness that keeps you nice and warm even when your suit floods, but never block your dump valve. They dry out in almost no time if they get wet, too. I looooove my Weazle!

Just to keep the myth going, Karen had her extremes block the exhaust valve many times, and required more weight then the DUI 400, she won't even use them anymore.

[Grateful Diver]

More fun in the cold today ... woke up this morning to a couple inches of new fresh snow on the car ... covered by a light layer of ice. Apparently it warmed up above freezing for a little while last night. Anyway, it wasn't snowing, and it wasn't blowing, so Cheng and I decided to go hit it once again. Called Valerie and she said meet at 10 ... so down we went.

When we got there it looked like this ... one thing I love about diving in weather like this ... no waiting for a parking spot.



As we were gearing up, some guy pulled in with a camera and tripod to get some snow pictures. He couldn't believe we were going diving. In fact, he followed us all the way to the water ...



We had a lovely dive. Down in the bottle field, we found a treasure ... a little Christmas ornament attached to a bottle ...





When we surfaced, it was looking mighty Christmasy ...



... so we decided we'd better not do a second dive, and get home while we could still make it up the hill.

Nice dive ... weather permitting, I'll be back tomorrow to see if I can find another Christmas ornament ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)