Accountant/Engineer, no matter how free floating, there is still quite a bit of rigidity in that brain. Diving could be a matter of life and death so to make sure we are set each time we dive, Debbie works out a pattern and routine to getting ready. I have already forgot to turn on my air once. Stupid move but without a routine, one piece to the puzzle is easy to misplace.
When shore diving you are on your own, or only with your dive buddy. That implies you are not only dive master (guide), but boat owner, boat capitan, dive shop flunky and tech.
Over the last three days we have developed and refined a routine and we have been trying to follow it so I don’t go in the water without my air turned on again. Park the truck. Get out and wander over to the area where you are to enter the water and look for a good route. This can be done as you go in but it is much easier without the extra 50lbs of gear. We stand our tanks on the tailgate of truck and mount our BCD’s, then regs. TURN ON AIR. We lay a towel on the ground for a dressing mat and don our wetsuits. Spray our masks with baby shampoo and wrap our computers around our wrists. We can then put our loaded BC’s on our back. Pick up or fins, masks and cameras and head to the shoreline. The whole time we chatter back and forth to make sure we don’t miss a step. It is only day three and the routine is bound to a change but for now it is working.
Our truck boat has only 3000 kms so I don’t expect any trouble with that and I hope we don’t have any trouble with our gear. Although I think I’m a reasonably handy guy, I have never taken a scuba tech course.
Free thinking and action is always good for adventure but routine and planning is good when your life could be in the balance.