The Bend and Snap Wetsuit Workout, part 2
Act 2, Scene 1.
Place and Time: Sunny Sausalito Saturday morning.
Location: The Harbor Dive shop.
Specific Location: The small, airless, hot dressing room.
Richard is propping the door open, letting in a breeze but blocking the view, as she inches the fourth wetsuit of the day (8 total in two days) up her body. There are products that help wetsuits go on quickly and easily, but you can't use them until you buy the suit.
His foot still against the door, he helps with the final "ootching" and zips her up. "Well," he says, "what do you think?"
Robin reaches for the ceiling, makes a windmill, then touches her toes. She looks back at the first of the day's herculean efforts, the super-thin triathlon wetsuit. It's the Xcel Xpedition 1.5/1.0/0.5 TriDensity suit. The arms and legs are 0.5 millimeters, between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, 0.0196850394 inches priecisely. Over the torso, the neoprene and titanium increases to 1.5 mm, just over a 1/2 inch thick, helping reflect heat back towards internal organs.
Most wetsuits range from 1.0 to 9.5 or 10-mm, so the Xcel is one of the thinnest suits on the market, suitable for tropical scubadiving or triathlete swimming. Janine scubadives in a 3mm and 7mm, and Justin swims in a 4/3 (4 torso, 3 arms and legs).
She points to the thin one: "I like that one best, it's the most comfortable, has the most flexibility, and is the cheapest. But the guy helping me says I'll freeze in these waters."
Richard puts the point on it: "But you're the one who has to wear it; what do you think?"
Robin thinks she'll be okay, but then she's an optimist. They put the 1-mm suit on hold and return the next day, leading us to:
Act 2, Scene 2: Sunny Sausalito Sunday, the dive shop.
Robin has talked to Richard, Janine the scuba-diver, and others. She's ready to gamble that constant swimming in the thin suit will keep her just warm enough.
Suit and booties in hand, Robin returns to the Pathfinder, man and dog waiting inside. It's off to the beach! With a stop for lunch.
posted by Woman In Love @ 5:50 PM
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