Take Clive Cussler on Your Deco Stop

Hi Guys,

Very interested in your article about reading a book during a deco stop.

A couple of years ago, I was hanging out on that very deco bar for close to an hour after diving the same wreck and bored out of my mind because I had forgotten my book.

This is best done with a disposable paperback book. Ideally, don't use a first edition signed collector's edition or something historic. Or a Kindle. Also, choose something with a slightly larger typeface. I would often read Clive Cussler on a long deco stop; they're generally not too thick.

Generally, books only disintegrate when they start to dry out, so the secret weapon is a zip-lock plastic bag, where you put your book and stick it in the pocket of your BCD or Joey pouch on your wing. At your first deco stop, take out the book, read until you finish, then put the book back into the zip-lock bag and stow it. Leave the book in the zip-lock bag full of water between dives so it stays wet. This way it will hold together and you can use it for the rest of the trip.

Good buoyancy control is essential, and a Jon line to clip onto the hang bar.

Love Undercurrent. A buddy in Miami introduced me to it a few years back. It would be nice to see more articles from the other side of the Pond, but I guess that it would be down to subscribers over here (i.e., the likes of me) to provide them.

Regards,

Simon Carolan, Dublin, Ireland