Ice Diving!!!

I just got my Ice Diving certification! I can't believe I did it.... I hate the cold. (That picture is me - getting in the water for my first Ice dive.)

SATURDAY:
The first day was mostly miserable. It was SO COLD outside. We had to get out to the lake at 8am and it was 12 BELOW ZERO. First we had to clear a large patch of snow from the ice - so we would have a place to cut the hole & put up the tent. I started shoveling & right away my fingers went painfully numb. So I went to the truck to add more layers. After we shoveled the space for the hole & tent, we had to shovel lines out from the hole area - for light penetration & to point the way back to the hole. Russell cut the hole through the 16 inch thick ice. We put up a large militaery tent. I think it took about 3 hours to get everything set up. Then we started the dives. I was one of the last divers, so by the time I was going to dive, I had cold hands & feet all day. I was borrowing a drysuit, since they are really expensive, so I didn't want to buy one before trying one out. But the drysuit I borrowed was a little too big, so on my first dive my glove flooded.... that was SO COLD! I thought at first - okay, this is cold, but I can handle it.... but about half way through the dive my hand hurt really bad. I was determined to make it through the dive, so I did. As soon as we came up through the hole I had to get that glove off. My hand was so cold, I couldn't even put it in the warm water they gave me. Then we had to wait - sitting on the edge of the ice hole - for 10 minutes & then do our second dive. So I got even colder waiting there, then I had to do the dive with one wet glove & one almost dry glove. I got really cold.

SUNDAY:
The second day - huge change in weather.... yeah, it was actually above zero! I think it was about 13ºF ... that was much better! Then I got to go with the second dive group. We used a little electrical tape around my wrists to seal up the suit & gloves better. The dive was amazing! So much better with dry hands! The ice looks really cool from below & the way our bubbles spread out under the ice. I really enjoyed it! After we finished our dives David brought beer & wine to celebrate.

Now I'm ready to get a dry suit that fits me & go diving on the wrecks in Superior.