American Diver Breaks World Record in Belize

[tridacna]

The dive was done on air for 3/4 of the dive, and then the last 1/4 was done on 32% nitrox for preparations to surface. I really didn't start to feel very cold till the second night. The Reefnet sensus Ultra's I had to log the dive showed the temp to be between 88 and 87 degrees for most of the dive. Both also logged a drop in temp the second night down to 84 degrees. For thermal protection I was in an Mares Isotherm Semi-Dry.

How many tanks? How did you change them?

 

[diverdwn71]

Congrats on your dive! My only question is...and I'm surprised this hasn't been asked yet.....did you dive with splits or paddel fin? I mean with a jacket BCD you were already tempting fate!

Just kidding...awsome job!

 

[Rhone Man]

Did you use any special deco planning software? I appreciate it was a very shallow dive, but I can't believe there is much emprical testing for dives that long...

Clearly you didn't get bent, or we would have heard.

 

[Seaduced]

Did you use any special deco planning software? I appreciate it was a very shallow dive, but I can't believe there is much empirical testing for dives that long...

Clearly you didn't get bent, or we would have heard.

That's a good point. My dive computer planning function only goes out to 10 hours. I bet it would have freaked out long before 48 hours. How did you plan for the gas switch?

I checked out the Reefnet Sensus Ultra I Dive recorder, it can record 1500 hours of diving with a 10 sec sampling rate. I'm guessing that was a Guinness requirement.

Again, good job!
Darell

 

[Joe-Diver]

Congrats to you Robert!

 

[rsilva708]

How many tanks? How did you change them?

33 Tanks were used during the dive. 2 Regulator sets were used during the event. Both were set up with an octo and a Quick disconnect on a low pressure line. When it was time for a tank change, my team would bring down the new tank/reg set up and ready to go. They would set the tank behind me and with one team member in front on me, I would unhook the line from the old tank, and they would quickly connect the line from the new tank. Once on the new tank they would attach the new tank to the BCD and then we were done. I did replace the cam buckle on the Axis with a latch strap so they did not have to try and feed the tank through the strap, or undo the cam. I just sat there and they latched it in.

 

[rsilva708]

Did you use any special deco planning software? I appreciate it was a very shallow dive, but I can't believe there is much emprical testing for dives that long...

Clearly you didn't get bent, or we would have heard.

No software was used.

 

[rsilva708]

That's a good point. My dive computer planning function only goes out to 10 hours. I bet it would have freaked out long before 48 hours. How did you plan for the gas switch?

I checked out the Reefnet Sensus Ultra I Dive recorder, it can record 1500 hours of diving with a 10 sec sampling rate. I'm guessing that was a Guinness requirement.

Again, good job!
Darell

The one computer I used I only really had down there for a watch. It timed the dive down to 999 minutes at which point it just stayed there. If it had more memory maybe it would have continued to count down the dive. It never did go into a deco even upto the 999 minutes.

The switch from air to Nitrox was just a time picked by me. No real data behind using that timing. I just figured it couldn't hurt to change for the end part of the dive.

I had 2 of the Ultras. They were donated by Reefnet. Not a requirement to have, but figured it would be good for the extra data. Both were set at a 1 second sample rate for the most possible date during the dive.

 

[rustyshakelford]

did your hands and feet start bothering you? i can only imagine how pruney they were

brett

 

[tiggrr]

There were a few octopus that were out during the night which was pretty cool. The only time I've seen them in the past was when someone else pointed them out in the reef. These were out in the open.

There was also a group of 3 Manatees that swam through during the second day. first I didn't believe I had really seen them, but it was later confirmed by my team. I guess it is pretty rare for them to come out into open water. I guess the fish must have told them about the crazy American that had made himself part of the reef and they just had to check me out.

Very cool. You must have felt very much part of your environment seeing the Manatees! As a regular dive lasts anywhere up to 2+ hours....I can imagine you were really feeling a part of things after say....the 20th hour?? LOL

It's the grossest part of this adventure, and everyone wants to know about it. I went on an all liquid diet the Friday before the dive. This purged all the solid waste. During the dive I did have to urinate, and just went a head and did it. My plans went pretty well because I did not have any solid wast until one day after I ate solid food again. Still having to urinate in the suit, and then sit in it till I surfaced did have a bit of an effect. Imagine a diaper all over my legs and very sensitive skin. I'm still dealing with that a little but every day they look better.

The times I remember sleeping, I was laying face planted in the sand but my team did get a good picture of me sleeping in a half sitting up position.

In the start of the dive we went down to about 22-23 feet to satisfy the rules for Guinness. After that we moved up between 8 and 13 feet.

One more question.....why did you not rinse your suit out? I'm not too familiar with semi-dry suits. Do you not let water in them? I would imagine it would drop your core temp if you had to flush them out regularly. Bummer on the diaper rash.