Scuba Divers
#1
Fri, 09/20/2013 - 14:49
Scuba Divers
It's been years since I made a post so here's my topic-any scuba divers here at 2old2play? 2 years ago I was on vacation in Hawaii and went on a "resort" scuba diving excursion and out of the blue, I was immediately hooked. The day after I got back from the trip, I immediately got my open water certification and since then I've completed all recreational certfications. Next step is to either go pro to teach or start enlisting in technical diving, 2 of which I'm hoping to look into the future.
Not sure if this topic has been talked about but do we have any divers among us? Divers are a rare breed and would love to share stories, training, equipment, and anything diving related.
-xDrine
I'll throw in a few stories from 30-35 years ago. Dove Nova Scotia mostly. Bahamas once. In the Arctic for government work a few times.
Deep,
So I assume you dove dry? Not a fan of dry suit diving as you need more weight to get negative. Not to mention the not being able to pee part.
I was in the Bahamas last year on a livaboard and returning again this year. One of my favorites but Bonaire was also really amazing.
Peeing is great! Especially when 1/4" is so compressed at 75' and the temperature is only 4-6C. I only visited southern waters the one time but it was incredible diving!
Grew up in south Florida (Atlantic side), diving, snorkeling and some, what do they call it, "hookah" diving? Mostly for tropical fish, but some other stuff. Did a lot of shallow water diving in the Keys too. Like 35 years ago, Hardly ever used any kind of wet suit and with steel tanks didn't require much if any weight. I do remember using some aluminum tanks which did require added weight though.
My buddy's nicjname was "slurpgun" because of the gizmo he used to catch his fish, resembled a really large hypodermic set up, pulled the fish in with suction, and then you sealed the open end. Most of this was in 20ft or less.
When I was growing up we were diving, boating, skiing and camping out on the islands. Of course there were a lot less people and a lot more space back then.
90% of my dives here in MA have been in a wet suit. Summer months the water surface peaks at around 70f and dips to a bone chilling 37f in Winter. I usually dive late April to November in a 7mm with 3mm hooded vest so that keeps me pretty warm in the Summer. I'll use a thicker 7mm hooded vest for when I'm doing deeper stuff but I usually don't go past 130fsw. At that depth your 7mm will compress to about a 1mm and it gets real cold and real dangerous quick.
I am dry suit certified but do not own one. If I'm itching to be in the water in Winter I'll rent a dry suit but that doesn't happen often as I hate all the crap you have wear to stay dry.
When you guyys were diving repetitively in the tropics, were you diving air or mixed gasses? In the caribbean I dive exclusively 32 or 36% Nitrox but for the real deep stuff like to 110-130fsw, I'll use 28% Nitrox or even Air. I've never really been narc'd but for depths between 50-100, Nitrox is a real benefit to extend your NDLs.
Never did mixed gasses. Only went below 100' a few times and then got out of there quick. I might have made one decompression stop and that was just a precaution. Most of my diving was in the 40-70' range. I have about 50lb of brass off mostly wartime wrecks. Diving etiquette for archeology wasn't our strong point back then.
Mostly this. It was rare for me to exceed 40 feet.
Deepest depth I ventured was about 120 and that was in cold, dark, New England waters exploring a wreck. Didn't spend too much time at that depth because of I was hitting my NDLs quickly. Even with Nitrox that depth does present some potential O2 issues because with mixed gases you're limited to a specfic maximum operating depth.
That dive to 120 was the one and only times I was in deco but I was only in violation for about 90 seconds, which cleared up by the time I reached 50fsw. I did hang at my safety stop for an addional 5min to be safe.
Utila is one of the cheapest Island in teh carribean to get certified. Awesome place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX-H-zF9PJ4
I have heard this island is great. Never been though. So far Bonaire and Nassau have been my favs.
I would love to try scuba diving......I just can equalize my ears. I have tried the hold your nose and blow.....I can't seem to equalize. I have lot's of trouble on airplanes if I have congestion. I have had ears that won't pop upon decent for up to three days....not fun. Any tips?
One trick you can try, hold your nose but don't blow with your lungs. Instead, push your tongue against the air in your mouth. Much greater control that way. You may have some other problem so don't hurt your self trying.
The trick Deep just mentioned is called The Valsalva Maneuver. One of my instructors taught me this method but I just didn't get the hang of it and never utilized it. When I started diving I too had problems equalizing and had to abort a few dives because of this exact issue. Then with practice I don't even think about it and I rarely have problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver
One of the issues new Scuba divers here have is their mouth piece in the winter. They always forget to dunk their mouth piece in the salt water first before using it. When it was well below freezing in the air, you are supposed to get in water, submerge the mouth piece, purge the water mechanically and then breath in first before blowing out. To do other wise risked your moist breath freezing the mouth piece and it continuing to vent air. Many a diver's fun trip came to and end before it even got started. Swoosh, I can still hear it.
I was certified in 6th grade with my parents. Dove in Hawaii and Bonaire and that was it. Parents quit taking me. In college I meant to get a regular certification since I was originally certified as a junior diver. Never did.
Born and raised in Hawaii. Got my Open Water 2 cert. in high school. Did some cave diving. Cave diving at night was fun. Deepest I went was maybe 120' spear fishing. Most of the time my brother and I just free dive at 50' or less. We dove then mostly to bring fish, lobsters and octopus home for food. My brother and his wife are both instructors and I think they do mixed gas too, not sure though.
Yes, I agree we can all hate on ks63 for being born in Hawaii. That's actually where I started my scuba ventures.
I'll occasionally dive mix gases depending on the depth but usually at deeper depths, I'll freeze my ass off before my NDLs kick in. A few of my dive buddies dive trimix and some really hardcore tech divers dive fully circuit rebreathers. The CCR divers will occasionally dive to over 250ft! I'm not trained in trimix or CCR diving so I'm definitely not interested in that kind of diving.
Name one moment in your scuba adventures where you got the shit scared out of you. I got a bunch but one should do for now.
I participated in a community enviro clean up at an old water reservoir. The water was so full of tannin that light disappeared after 5 feet. A dive light shone 2 inches. We buddied up with ropes tied to our wrists. At 25 feet we groped around in the pitch dark for garbage. It was like death down there.
Suddenly, I felt something snake around my body! It kept bumping into me! I panicked! My balls re-entered my abdomen and I shot to the surface, dragging my buddy in tow. Turned out, he was just trying to find me in the dark. Doh!