1st time to 100' - Checking In

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USVet96

Contributor
Messages
301
Reaction score
28
Location
Miami, FL
# of dives
25 - 49
I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to all of the readers that were following my previous post
[1st Time to 100' - A little nervous] and to all those who gave advice, feedback, and general comments. I gained alot of insight and valuable information from those who have been there and I appreciate it. That said, here is how everything went:

It was a planned 2 dive trip on a charter off the coast of Miami Lakes, FL. We took a few extra minutes going over our dive plan and some geographical markers of the site [since I had never been there before] so we got there about 10 minutes late. There were about 35 divers on the trip so we had a full house [which I really dont like but another topic another day lol]. After checkins were done and announcements were made we got under way. Went over safety precautions with my buddy along the way to the site, checked each others equipment (including weight releases and safety equipment each of us had - and verified proper usage], and went over potential separation situations [never know]. We verified air, verified gauges [again], verified BC inflation, verified each others gauges, and were ready to go. We waited for the DM to return from setting the anchor, received the Captain's speech, and headed into the water. I was using EAN28 with MAX Depth 130. Time was approximately 1900 local time and in Miami there was still partial daylight, but not much. Waves were very choppy as it had stormed all day and current was brutal. But in we went :) :

Dive 1:

Hit the water and took an immediate compass heading of where the boat was and made my way over to my buddy. Swam to the down line, which was lighted, made a mental note of PSI, and began our descent. A little rough going initially with the currents but below 18 feet all smoothed out. Continued to descent slowly along the line, clearing as needed as I went. My buddy [Dive Master] was below me and checked on me during the whole descent. Continued to descend with no problems. Air was needed to maintain buoyancy as we got deeper but no problems. Finally saw the railing on the wreck and noticed that my buddy had stopped descending. I was good to go. Released the line and swam over to him. Checked gauges and was surprised to see that we were at 93'. Practiced hovering there for a few minutes and then swam over to the wreck. It was a really cool wreck; lots of aquatic life and lots of life down there. I checked gauges again and we were now at 101'. Hung out on the wreck a bit then did some neat things. Did the egg crack, the sponge, and the empty water bottle tricks. ALL really neat. Did not feel narced out, but was a little slow doing the simple math. Competent but slower lol. Checked gauges again and it was already time to go :( Began our swim to the line and began our ascent. Went up as appropriate and cleared as needed. Stopped at 50' for 3 minutes and continued our ascent. Made a safety stop at 15' for 3 minutes then surfaced. Swam back to the boat and climbed aboard.

Total Bottom Time: 24 minutes


Couple of things:

During the time in the water I began to tingle all over. It really made me stop and think about what was going on. I initially thought it was something that I was going through, and maybe I was going to have to end my dive. Because I was prepared, these were the thoughts going through my mind. As I was checking things out I noticed a few "jelly fish" in the area. Thats when I realized that I had been "jellied," either stung or come in contact with their tentacles. We continued on and as we got closer to the surface I began to get the feeling MORE and MORE; like EVERYWHERE. I even got stung on my LIP. When I got back to the boat I was covered in stings, literally. I was sprayed with vinegar to help with the stings. As we looked into the water we saw that they were EVERYWHERE in the water. Almost EVERY diver in the water got stung; However, I was the ONLY one WITHOUT a wetsuit lol. I was certain the water was going to be warm, so I didnt bring one. MISTAKE lol. And it was warm, until the thermocline at 88' when it dropped to 68 degrees lol. I was fine with the water temp but man them jellies got me. I was VERY uncomfortable for about a half hour afterwards, but I managed haha.

ALL in ALL, things went well on the DEEP dive, my 1st; minus the stings I NOW have ALL OVER my body.

1st time to the DEEP and all went well.

2nd Dive:

Just a regular night dive to a 50' reef. Nothing major to go over. Practiced some navigation and hovering, looked at the fish, fought with a crab :) , saw a lion fish, and had a good dive. There were virtually NO jellyfish at the 2nd site, but as we began our ascent they reappeared. Dodged a few on the way back to the boat but managed THAT dive to NOT get stung lol.

Overall, the dives were a success. Thanks again to ALL for following along and the input.
 
PS .... Sorry for such a long story. Just wanted to share how it was for me, being the 1st time to 100 :D
 
congrats on your first deep dive. Sounds like you did lots to be prepared and that's good. As for exposure protection...i always wear something in florida. There are often thermoclines especially as you go deeper and as you found out stinging things.
 
Congrats! Sounds like minus the jellies you have some great dives. Good on you for getting on SB, asking for advice and then having a successful dive. Just remember this sport becomes quite addictive!

Michael
 
Absolutely true. The wetsuit is now #1 on my to get list lol. Chalk it up to a learning situation that's all. No big deal.

At the time it was very unnerving. It was not so much pain or anything like that but more of an annoying discomfort. And because they were everywhere, without a suit on, I knew I would go through it all again the entire 2nd dive if something didn't change. And that would not be fun. Luckily they weren't bad at the 2nd site.

Diving is completely addictive. The only thing now that is going to slow me is my finances lol
 
Just a question . . . what was your gas plan for the deep dive? And what size tank were you using?

It sounds like you had a very good day of diving. And it is, indeed, addictive!
 
Just a question . . . what was your gas plan for the deep dive? And what size tank were you using?

It sounds like you had a very good day of diving. And it is, indeed, addictive!

TSandM - I do not have my dive log / book with me. I will check when I get home and let you know.

And yes, other than the jelly fish attacking lol, it all turned out pretty good
 
I might be a little off here but I am thinking I recall leaving the bottom with roughly around 1050psi and I'm guessing here but I think we were using LP85's.

These numbers are what I'm remembering for some reason but I could be mistaken. I will double check for certainty when I return home
 
I am really excited at the proper planning and execution of the dive plan that your presented. Now do the same kind of safe practice on every dive, forever. What I liked best is that you went to depth because you wanted to see and explore something at that depth. It sounds like a great dive, and one that grew you substantially as a diver. Too bad about the jellies, though. I,like other posters, wear an exposure suit on every dive for just that reason. (That and the fact that since I live in Colorado and have to travel a ways for "real diving" we spend several hours a day in the water for several days at a time, and I get cold without a wetsuit.)
 
Absolutely true. The wetsuit is now #1 on my to get list lol. Chalk it up to a learning situation that's all. No big deal.

I would also encourage you to get a dive skin/rash guard this will protect you on the warmer days where a wetsuit is too warm.


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- FB-Florida Scuba Diver
 

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