Excited after my educational session with my husband, I was anxious to try it out for myself. But, I had a wee holiday to Ireland to enjoy first! It had been postponed since 2020, so we couldn’t believe we were finally going to get to do it and we had a fabulous time, but as soon as I got back to Canada, I made arrangements to head to a local dive shop to get the feel for getting into and out of a drysuit and snorkelling around a bit.
Late September 2022
Greetings Sea Women Expeditions Supporters! I haven’t posted an update for a couple of weeks as I have been enjoying a long-awaited vacation to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (it was originally planned for September 2020). In addition to 6 days of bicycle touring around the beautiful Mourne Mountains, a bit of a pilgrimage to the Giant’s Causeway, and some time visiting the Wicklow Mountains near Dublin, I was able to spend some time getting used to chilly water conditions when a friend of mine offered to take us swimming in the Irish Sea! It was actually very nice (once you were in), until I decided to “race” to the buoy, cause extensive vaso-dilation, and proceed to get quite cold as soon as the exertion ceased. At least I learned something valuable!
We got back to Canada on Monday and I had arranged, later in the week, to visit one of our fantastic local dive shops (Aqua Dive and Watersports) to do a bit of a drysuit snorkelling orientation. It felt really good to get into a suit, learn a bit more about fit, and to feel how the air moves – and compresses – in the suit as you move. I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it felt (noting that being in a calm swimming pool is a bit different from the fjords), and it’s made me even more excited for November (which is getting awfully close now). Between now and the trip, I’ll be concentrating on getting some more snorkelling time in the lakes, now that we’re heading into Fall and the temperatures are starting to drop.
As always, thanks so much for everyone who has donated, and please share far and wide as I get into the final stretch of my fundraising time. Less than 2 months to go!
