Dear fellow divers,
I feel great after finding that so many people express concerns for my and my daughter's safety. Some of you praised us for the achievement and others used rather strong language to ensure our well-being. Acting on the information they had.
I appreciate all and every advice I can get and this thread is no exception.
I believe that I owe you a little more data about the dive I mentioned. While the main point of the thread was my achievement as a father and my daughter's achievements as a scuba diver, the dive we executed attracted more attention than I could ever wish for.
1. It was a training exercise to get used to stage bottles and practice navigation skills.
While recreational divers typically dive without any redundancy assuming they have an infinite supply of gas within reach, they know it's not always that easy to reach that gas and live and ignore it. I always believed this is dangerous and moved to doubles after my first 20-30 dives. I feel nervous when my daughter uses a single tank setup and insist on some redundancy. She's too young to use doubles but this it only a matter of time.
2. It was a technical dive (TD) accordingly with major agencies definitions.
Namely, as defined in
Technical diving - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, NAUI defines TD as "
use of nitrox above 36%, multiple mix gas diving," PADI says "
use of multiple gas mixtures in a single dive" and NOAA states that "
Technical diving often involves the use of special gas mixtures (other than compressed air) for breathing. The type of gas mixture used is determined either by the maximum depth planned for the dive, or by the length of time that the diver intends to spend underwater."
This means that I can take EANx32 on my back and air in a "pony bottle" and if I use both at 20' it will be a technical dive.
Feel free to use your own definition of technical diving but don't refer to your training in such case.
I used NOAA definition to plan this dive.
3. It was a multilevel shore dive within PADI limits (and you will get to see the data)
If you planning to come to Point Lobos and look for Andrea Doria in Whaler's Cove, let me disappoint you: it's not there. The point is, when you hear "technical diving" and "14 years old" you should not jump into imagining a tiny 14-years old descending to the darkness of the Pacific Ocean on a single AL63.
4. About that 14 years old
My daughter started diving when she was 12 and turning 15 in a couple of months. Ask the Peace dive boat captain who is the first (if not the only) 14 years old to dive SM1 in a strong current, twice, all within PADI restrictions and he will pull a manifest with my daughter's name. Ask him about Gosford and you will hear the same answer. Ask Ken of CIDA (
Northern Wrecks | Channel Islands Dive Adventures) who was the only 14 years old on the board of Peace and who earned respect of very experienced adult divers present on that charter trip and you will hear the same name.
And now ask yourself, can your kid do that? Parents only. Kids please don't bother.
5. Dives are different
We all know that 50 dives on Hawaii resort are not the same as 50 dives in Monterey. Our dives in Monterey are different. Our typical dive is long and many divers make two before we come from our first one. Add strong (4-6') swells and 48F water and you'll begin getting the picture. This is what we call home.
6. Dive profile, as promised.
I know flaws can be found anywhere. Ask me. As some people noticed, you don't know what you don't know.
7. Final notes
I see that some people jumped into conclusion based on their own definition of our dive. While I respect everyone's opinion, I cannot accept their advice based on their imagination.
Thank you!
Cetus
