111. Stashing finds

Why stash?

I believe that it is more important to enjoy a good, safe, well executed dive than it is to actually find bottles. For this reason, I like to stretch out my association with a decent site as long as I possibly can. This means only taking one or two bottles at a time rather than pillaging the place.

What I am talking about is, in effect, a form of rationing. I will store the bottles that I want to keep in an underwater stash and decide which one I wish to remove and take home at the end of the dive. Since a productive site can harbour umpteen dozen good bottles, this approach makes it possible to spend several months or even years at the one location. It allows me to spin out the enjoyment I get from diving a site that I know well and have already familiarised myself with. Another advantage to rationing is that it only becomes necessary to clean one or two bottles at a time.

Good places to stash

The saddest stash I have ever maintained - and probably the best - is a broken toilet where my choicest finds were hidden up the u-bend. Other good stash locations include crevices and inside other pieces of junk.I may operate several stashes at any given site. This way, if one is disturbed by another diver – a fanciful paranoia on my part, since it is admittedly very unlikely and would be quite amusing if it did happen – then I will have others to fall back on.