My diving for the weekend was blown out. I went climbing on Friday. It was fun, I was in pretty good form. 2 hour session.

One of the diver's dad has a yacht. So we jumped on that for the weekend, going out to sea around Felixstowe. It was nice. We spend Saturday night in Harwich. I've vaguely been thinking of buying a boat, but I probably won't. I found it a bit sedentary, and I prefer to move around more.

I went climbing yesterday. It was fun. I got every v3 I tried, although the hardest took about 20 goes. I got to the final move on a v4. It felt like it should go, but the gym was ultra-busy so I only got to try that route once. 2.5 hour session.

I organised a last minute diving trip on our club rib for the weekend. Four of us showed up. The weather was pretty nice; some sunshine; minimal rain and 3 gusting 4 on Saturday with less wind on Sunday.

On Saturday, we started with a shallow dive. It was nice. I believe I was assaulted by a seal, although I never saw it. (The other divers saw him. I felt resistance against my fins which is typical of a seal having a nibble, but I assumed my buoyancy was rubbish and didn't look back.) We spent most of our time inside the wreck; there are many exits so you can do this without needing to reel off.

Then we aimed to do a deeper wreck dive. The current was running a lot when we got there, which was expected as we wanted a decent amount of time to shot the wreck. It was springs, so the slack window was brief. The tide broke a rope on the shot line.

A shot line is a heavy weight attached to rope attached to, in this case, 2 small buoys attached to 1 large buoy. The aim is to get the heavy weight on the wreck so you have a line to descend to get on the wreck. The small buoys remain under the surface if the tide is running, and plop up when it slackens off. So they give a visual guide as to how diveable the wreck is.

The rope between the big buoy and the the small buoys sheared off. We recovered the big buoy, but the small ones weren't buoyant enough to make the surface. We marked the location with a man overboard on the boat's charts. We didn't get a second dive

We came back on Sunday to see if we could recover it. The wreck was really dark. It became clear that we'd need a huge amount of luck to find the shot. So after about 5 minutes, we switched from working dive mode to fun dive. It was a really nice dive, with conger, crab, lobster and many blennies on the wreck.

We only did the one dive as the logistics were hard. (Most people needed a fill, and slack window was low. I was on 110 bar on my twinset, which is actually enough for a third dive. My air consumption on UK dives with a twinset is a Surface Air Consumption of 15l/minute, which is reasonably low.)

I lifted weights when I got home, doing:
Bench, 3 sets of 5, 50 kgs.
Deadlift, 3 sets of 7, 100 kgs.

Monday Climbing. Meh. I started well, but faded after about an hour. I was regaining some momentum when I needed to leave the gym. It was a short session, 90 minutes.

Tuesday Lifting. I only had time for bench, 5 sets of 5, 50 kgs.

Wednesday Climbing. This was a good session. 2 hours, and I got loads of new routes with some silly dynos and terrifying slab thrown included.

I went to a stag do this weekend. I was scared it would be very sedentary. (The best man injured his foot a few years ago, so couldn't move much, and the activities were tailored to this requirement.)

Fortunately, there was dancing at pub and then club. I am rubbish at dancing, so I energetically jumped up and down for around 5 hours. This got me to 10K steps on the Sunday at 1 a.m.-ish, and Fitbit reckoned was loads of calories burned. It was the first time I've drunk in 3.5 years. I didn't like it; I'll go back to old habits. My diet was poor as well, with lots of processed food and little fibre. Again, I didn't like it so have already reverted back to my old approach.

Today, I took advantage of the unexpected Bank Holiday in the UK to go caving. It was a very nice trip to Little Neath River cave. It's the first cave I've done where I needed a wetsuit. Good fun, a 4 hour trip.

I went climbing on Thusday. It was good fun, I was in the best form I've been in since I had COVID. I got loads of new V3/v4 routes.

After that. I travelled up to the Orkney Islands. Hopefully I should get some nice dives in.

Scapa was nice.

The dives were:

Sunday
Dresden. 38m to the bottom. However, I was on 32% nitrox, so only went to 33m. 42 minutes; no deco.
Karlsruhe. 25m; 43 minutes; no devo.

Monday.
It was a Force 8 gusting 9, so we only got 1 dive. F2; 18m; 48 minutes.

Tuesday
Coln, 34m, 41 minutes. 3 mins deco.
Brummer, 33m, 40 minutes. 4 mins deco.

Wednesday
Kronprinz William, one of the big battleships. 37m, 39 minutes and, oddly, no deco. We looked at the 12 inch guns, at the bottom, which were fired at the Battle of Jutland. We then went to top if the wreck for the rest of the dive. (My buddy was single tank which limited how long my dives could be. I was on twin 12 litre tanks, which were filled before every five, so I had loads of air.)

UB116, 30m, 41 minutes. Cracking dive. I picked up 7 minutes deco.

Random fishing ship, 22m, 31m.

Thursday
Markgraf, another of the big battleships. Another great dive. 41m, 33m, 6 minutes deco.
Tabarka, 15m, 33 minutes. Lovely dive with loads of life. You do a negative entry, swim inside the wreck for the dive as the current builds up. Then you pop your head out of the wreck at the end and have a very fast drift to end.

Friday
Force 10 winds so we were blown out. I did a very damp 10 mile hike.

Here is me on a dive:

It has been a while since I logged.

I went climbing on Wednesday. It was pretty good, I got one long-term project (which I actually session flashed.) It is a fun route, with twisty slabby technique nonsense leading to a minor dyno, leading to a brief thuggy overhang and finished off with more slab nonsense. 2 hour session.

On Friday, I visited my brother in Barcelona. It was fun. I visited the Sharma gym in Gava in another 2 hour session. The gym is huge, it's the first place I've been to with a speed wall. (I didn't use it, I just went bouldering,) The grading was a bit odd - yellow tags were 6a to 6c+, which is a bit of a wide gap. I got 6 out of the 8 I tried in this grade range, which I was pretty happy with. A few took me many, many goes. I was there for 2 hours, so I had the time to repeat them as much as I liked.

On Saturday, we did an easy Via Ferrata and as spot of sea swimming.

On Sunday, I did a bit more sea swimming. I came home on Monday.

I've visited him lots before; I hadn't appreciated that his house is close to some mountain. A 2 hour walk gets you to a foothill (295 metres above sea level, so lower than a mountain.) I walked up that every day before lunch whilst waiting for his teenage daughters to wake up.

Yesterday, I went climbing in a 2 hour session. It was very good, I got something like 4 new routes and I got to the last move on a 6c climb. (I've never done 6c at this gym). It feels like it should go, but the last move is bit terrifying.

My logging has been weak again.

The previous weekend, I went diving over a long weekend.

Thursday
We arrived in Cornwall after a 6 hour drive in time for a shore dive. 47 minutes, 13 meters. Very nice bimble.

Friday
3 dives in total. They were all on the Manacales reef; I've forgotten the exact sites. I think the third was Raglan; and the second was Carn Du. I can't remember the first. They were nice.
53 minutes; 25 meters.
57 minutes; 21 meters.
44 minutes; 23 meters.

Saturday
We did North Vase on the Manacles, followed by the Helford River. My drysuit flooded; I was cold. I found Vase spooky, possibly because of the flood
50 minutes; 23 meters.
55 muntes; 6 meters.

Sunday
We only did one dive (Pancra Head) near to shore as the weather became horrible. I did a 12 mile hike in the afternoon.
27 meters; 44 minutes.

Monday
We got two dives in before coming home. Darren's crack followed by South Vase, both on the Manacles.
44 minutes, 26 meters.
52 minutes, 27 meters. Lovely dive.

Tuesday
I went climbing for 2.5 hours. It was good. I got one v4, which took me many, many goes. Some of the other v4s felt close, I should try to get back to the gym to retry them.

I did some exercise on Wednesday and Thursday, last week but failed to log it. On Friday I did very little. (I've got 10k steps every day this year, so that is my minimum movement on sedentary days. My average is around 18k.)

Saturday
I went climbing, 2.5 hour session. I was OK but not brilliant. I went with my little brother, who did better than me but seemed to be broken at the end.

Sunday
Lifting, I'm weak so it was light.
Bench, 50 kgs, 2 sets of 8. 55 kgs, 1 set of 5.
Deadlift, 100 kgs, 1 set of 5

Monday
I went to a wedding, so I jumped up and down a lot and pretended it was dancing. I lasted about 2.5 hours until the reception ended.

Monday
Climbing, 2 hours.

A very good session. I got two graded 6b+ to 6c; it's the first time I've got any in this range at this gym. One was clearly mis-graded. The other one may have been as well. It was slab and didn't really have any handholds, so it suited my style.

My favourite was a 6b starting in a cave, with a swing to get the hands out of the cave;, cutting loose with the feet to a high heel hook; a mad grab for the next hand-hold; and then it became easy slab.

It is a while since I logged.

Tuesday
Diving course. It rained heavily; the water was cold; my drysuit leaked. A tiny violin played in the background.

Wednesday
See Tuesday.

Thursday
See Wednesday

Friday
Same as Thursday.

Saturday
Caving. I was in Wales for Bonfire night. We did Tunnel Cave. It was fun; some string descent work at the start led to a slightly hairy free climb and then a very long traverse. We didn't get to the end; some of the group got scared after about 30 minutes' traversing. (The end was a door leading to the show cave, but it is shut now.)

Around a 4 to 5 hour trip.

Sunday
Caving. A short bimble around Cwm Dwr, a crawly cave. It was fun, 3 hour trip. I got stuck briefly in a side hole which would have been a bit of ablunder; a rescue from the same spot last year took 60 hours. It wasn't bad, though, I found I could reverse out quite easily.

Caving seems like the beginning of a horror movie.

Hard pass.

I can well see why folk may not like it, but I find it relaxing.

Monday
Climbing. 2.5 hour session. I was in mixed form, lacking a bit of power. My technique (blame it on Ice Cube) was good on slab, though. So I did well on slab and poorly on overhangs.

Tuesday
Day off, although I got a 10 mile walk in the evening.

Weight: 145 pounds.

I had a Covid booster today. I'm not really convinced by the necessity of frequent boosters, as the vaccines after 2 or 3 doses seem effective (so far) at protecting against severe disease. But I got it anyway.

A 60 hour rescue does sound relaxing. Get some quality sleep in while the rescuers do their thing.

The rescue wasn't me (for which I'm grateful). I'm unconvinced sleeping is easy whilst is pain and terrified, but who knows?

There was a documentary about the rescue, available to thise who can access i-player.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0019h1d

Saturday
I booked some climbing training. It was fun, we concentrated on foot work and core tension on overhangs.

Sunday
I did a 26 mile walk (the thee peaks of Surrey.) It was longer than normal as I decided to go up Box Hill again at the end.

It was foggy at the start.


By 1 or 2 pm, the fog had cleared up and it was quite nice.


Sunset was nice as well.

I went climbing on Tueday. I went to City Bouldering, which is the nearest to my office, and got two v4s. It's pretty solid by my (admittedly low) standards.

I went climbing on Thursday. It was good, I got a couple of 6Cs, and fell off the final move of quite a few.

I went scuba diving this weekend. It was good; we were learning to use a stage bottle. Wee nearly finished the course, but have one dive left. It's a slighlty odd course, allowing to put 50% or 80% oxygen in the stage, but only allowing switching onto it from 10m or higher. (More standard is 21m if you're using 50%, and that gives a PPO2 of 1.6 bar. 10m is a PPO2 of 1 bar on 50%, which is was below the safe maximum).

Monday
Climbing, decent session.

Thursday
I went climbing for 2 hours. It was really good fun, I got around three of my projects. I was climbing pretty well.

Some of the beginners asked me for the beta on sone if their projects. I did my best (I went up them all) but I'm not sure I found the easiest routes. One involved a dyno to a hard mantle followed by a knee bar. I'm pretty sure there should have been an easy way up.

Friday
Lifting. I did:
OHP, 3 sets of 5, 35 kgs.
Front squat, 45 kgs, 2 sets of 5.
High bar back squat, 1 set of 5, 70 kgs.
Weighted pull-up, +22.5 kgs.
Hang board, which I was poor at
Deadlift, 1 set of 5, 100 kgs.

Saturday
Climbing, 2.5 hours. A very good session.
This gym uses hold colours to indicate how hard the climb is. The second hardest are the blues, which are v4 to v6. I got two; it's the first time I have got any. I suspect they were both mis-graded.

I also got three wasps, which is the bucket below (v3 to v5).

Weight: 142 pounds. I have been on a cut, which has worked nicely. I got up to 147 pounds ; I've lost a pound a week since starting the cut. I think I will go to 140 then start eating properly again.

Three days a week seems to work well for with climbing. Any more and I get a bit broken; any less and I don't really improve.

Tuesday
I went climbing yesterday. I got to the gym late, so only had a 90 minute session. I was pretty bad, it was my worst attempt recently. I slept badly the night before which may have influenced it. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I had left over energy afterward, so I did a short run. (I was on a walk, but listening to mid-90s jungle, so ran for the length of my favourite tune.

)

I lifted on Thursday, but failed to record the tiny weights moved.

Saturday
Scuba. I did two quick quarry dives to brush up on skills. Shutdowns are what I've struggled with the most; to my surprise I did it perfectly (and with good buoyancy.)

Sunday
Climbing, a slighty silly 3.5 hour session.

It was good, I got 4 wasps (v3 to v5). There is a blue (v4 to v6) I got to the penultimate move on, but it was towards the end of the session and the pump won. Hopefully I can try it again soon.

Tuesday
Climbing, 2 hours.
I started off well, but faded very quickly. It's possible I hadn't recovered from Sunday's mega session; I was super pumped at the end.

Weight: 142 pounds. I have been on a cut, and I do seem to have lost about 1 pound a week for a few weeks. (I got to my heaviest in 4 years at 148 pounds at the start of the cut. 142 is close to my lightest in 4 years.)

Wednesday
I ordered a skip. So I cut down a tree in my garden and walked the trunk and branches out to the skip.

I don't know why I have an office job. Moving around is a lot more fun

I had a week's holiday in the Maldives. I was on a liveaboard, so I slept on the boat I was on.

It was lovely, I got 20 dives in.

The legal restrictions on diving there are you allowed an hour maximum; no deco; and 30 metres maximum. Most of my dives were 60 minutes and 30 metres, so I did the maximum allowed.

Here is a batfish, taken on a 360 degree camera so you can scroll around:


I got back late on Sunday.

Yesterday, I went climbing. It was a very good session. The gym had reset, so I mainly tried the new routes. 2.5 hour session.

21 December
Climbing. 2 hours.
Meh. I was out of form.

23 December
About the same as the previous session.

26 December
Walking, around 20 miles in total. It was lovely; we did the Norfolk Coastal Path from Weybourne to Cromer and back.



27 December
More walking, about 15 miles.

28 December
Climbing. 3 hours. I was very poor, it felt like I needed rest. I don't really believe in rest days, I'm not an athlete so I figure I should recover from stuff quickly. But I have the olds.

31 December
Climbing, 3 hours. Decent, it was fun. I sent loads of stuff that had eluded me before.

1 January
Hike; 15 miles. Only a few hills, as I went from my house. I had intended to do 10 miles, which doesn't need food or water. But I got carried away. 5 hours with no water may, in retrospect, be a bit sub-optimal

2 January
Climbing, 2.5 hours. Decent session at first, but I ended up a bit broken by the end. It was good fun, I got 3 in the v3-v5 bucket and almost all of the ones in the v2-v4 bucket. Entertainingly, I fell off a V1 (which felt like a v4. It was a traverse, I fell off on the last move. It took me over a minute to get there.)

4 January 2023
Climbing, 2 hours.

This was pretty decent. I got three new routes and quite a few repeats. One of the new ones was a terrifying slab, balance stretch type thing with tiny, negative holds.

I had a week's scuba diving on a liveaboard in Egypt. It was lovely.

The highlights were:

1. The Salem Express, a wreck. We penetrated deep into the engine room. There was no natural light, and it was a bit of a maze. So there was some risk. I was on a twin-set which mitigates a lot of the risk.
2. The Thistlegorm, one of the most famous wrecks there is.

On Saturday, I somehow ended up at a ravey type thing, and danced all night.

I got home at 2.30 am today. So this morning, I went combing for 3 hours in a decent session that left me a bit destroyed.