The surface interval is a critical time to maintain warmth and hydration. My buddy is a wetsuit diver (soon to be remedied) and gets much colder that I do in thirty minutes. In order for us to do a second dive, we do a few simple things right away. Taking the big thermos full of hot water, carefully pour it into booties and gloves while they are still on. Now unzip the wetsuit jacket just a bit and pour the water into the suit trying to get it to pool around the kidneys and groin area. Scalding your buddy with water that is too hot will usually result in retaliation that is swift and merciless, so it is best if you test the water on your own hand first. Take off the hood and put the watch cap on, take off the gloves, put on the heavy parka and jam your hands into the HOT pockets. The groans that are emitted when those pockets are felt with cold hands are enough to turn heads in more than curiosity. Zip up, drink hot fluid, and stay out of the wind.

Some people advocate removing the wetsuit jacket to dry the skin in order to get warm. I have found that once the jacket comes off, there is no way on this planet that the now sort-of-warm, partly dry, wetsuit diver is going to get back into that cold, clammy jacket. It is amazing how much heat can be restored with hot water, hot pockets, a hat, and wind protection. As a drysuit diver, I just peel off my hood and gloves, jam on a hat, and wrap myself up in my big parka with the hot pockets. Staying busy with camera gear, dive gear, high-spirited conversation, and eating goes a long way towards avoiding seasickness during an hour or so spent on the surface interval.

The bucket is for putting my camera in, which I fill with one of the gallon jugs of water. Some boats have running fresh water, but most small boats prefer the melodic sounds of salt crystallizing in your O-rings rather than give you water for your camera.

"When using twin 20 litre tanks, you have a virtual inexhaustible supply...you can breath again and again."

I have often seen divers not properly warmed up go back into the water. Their second dives are always short and cold. These people have a hard time managing their gear, and when back on land, spend the rest of the day trying to bring their core temperatures back up to normal. Intelligence, confidence, and good self-esteem should allow a person to opt out of a second dive in light of how they are feeling. Sadly, many choose to dive even when they know they shouldn’t so as not to lose face with their buddies.

If we are both warm enough after doing all our preparations including eating and drinking again, the second dive allows us to use a different camera set-up to fill in what we missed the first time around. You never know when those delightful and charmingly playful sea lions are going to show up and give you a thrill. Once, one of our novice diver friends came up after his first dive and tried to explain the plant that was white and walking around down about forty feet. We went down the second dive to find basket stars out and about during the day. I am forever amazed that this ocean’s inhabitants can continue to surprise me so regularly.

However many dives you do, after the last dive, it’s time to strip to the waist, towel off, and layer on as many dry clothes as possible. Dump the second gallon of water into the camera bucket and break down your system so it fits submerged. Put your hat on and rummage around for those scuba cookies. Yes - it’s time to eat and drink again.

The act of hauling all your gear up the dock goes a long way toward restoring some heat. There is usually a freshwater hose to rinse your gear off. This is where the big trash can comes in handy. As the wet jacket, BC, hood, gloves, etc., are rinsed, layer them heaviest at the bottom and lightest at the top with the can IN your car. This way your gear is clean, contained, and not flooding your car. I hate a wet sleeping bag.

Now find that roll of quarters. Put a towel over your seat and find the local shower. With few exceptions, if a shower is free, it’s not hot enough. Go the extra mile to find the one that takes quarters and spend a few bucks getting deeply warmed in hot water.