Last fall we wrote about choosing a dry suit to make in-the-water maintenance more palatable out of the tropics (we hate cold water immersion!). Dwayne Montgomery of Emerald City Diving in Seattle was our "consultant" on what to buy. He has been diving in drysuits almost daily for decades.

Steve had intended to take lessons at a dive shop before we departed California, but this requirement never made it to the top of the list. And maybe there was a hint of not wanting to get into the water in something which sounded good in theory, but looked somewhat intimidating unpacked in our cabin!

Later, when we were tied up in Seattle for a week of maintenance, including a new set of props, the dry suit issue came to a head. If we were going to carry this gear, someone on board had better get some lessons in its proper use.

Part of the dry suit system is a set of double layer Polartec fleece – really heavy stuff, which includes booties. Dwayne tactfully suggested this was necessary in the 47 degree F (8C) water of Puget Sound. Steve did not argue.

As this suit is intended to act as a survival suit as well as being used for maintenance, the time it takes to don it was of concern. However, after two trial runs it is apparent that the front entry really does make it pretty simple to get into. The suit itself is generous in size as it is made to fit. The feet or boots are molded in.

Dwayne is shown here lubricating the natural latex rubber wrist and neck seals with food grade silicone. This helps to preserve the latex.

The hardest part of donning the suit is getting the second arm into place. This is a lot easier with someone helping, but is doable on your own with some practice.

Squeezing through the neck seal is tight – it has to be for the seal to keep out water. Dwayne said some users would cut notches into the rubber to make it easier to fit into, but he suggests against it.

The neck seal feels very tight partially because it is new and partially because Steve is not used to it. Hooking fingers over the front and pulling it forward allows blood to flow freely into the head. Once the hood is in place, equalizing pressure, you don’t notice the tightness.

The suit has to be loose enough to allow entry and exit, and to accommodate several warm layers for really cold water.

This extra volume contains air, which balloons up, making control difficult. So, the first order of business is to get rid of the excess air.

The left arm has a bleeder valve. Raise your left arm, push the valve with the right hand, and the excess air whooshes out.

After some practice in the water getting the feel of the dry suit, it was time to ballast up. This is 35 pounds (16 kg) of lead. That is just enough to create neutral buoyancy. Steve used to carry this much weight when he dived with tanks so you would think the dry suit would require more. However, as we now use a Hooka rig for air, we don’t have to worry about tank buoyancy. One problem that arose was keeping the weight in place. Seems that something has changed in the stomach-to-hip ratio, and that ridge of bone which used to keep the weight belt high has been replaced by more body mass (probably muscle). Whatever it is, a weight vest is now on the list (to give vertical support to the belt).

Here is a photo of the Hooka compressor we use. This runs off the inverter. When not used for diving, it provides compressed air for fenders and cleaning in the engine room.

That really is Steve under the water.

Proper maintenance of the zipper and seals is important to keeping the suit water tight. This starts with a fresh water rinse while the suit is still on the swimmer. The suit is then hung up to dry. Then it is carefully rolled from the feet to the head, with the zipper open. Dwayne stressed not to crimp or pinch the zipper in any way.

So, how did all this turn out? First, the lesson was a really good idea. We’d suggest anyone getting this gear do formal training with it. It is not as hard to use as we thought might be the case, and is actually very comfortable in the water. And, you remain warm and dry. Amazing, actually.

The real test will come later in the summer when it is time to polish the props. Does someone (Steve) get into water which has ice floating in it? Or does he chicken out and burn the extra fuel? Only time will tell.