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There has been a little discussion about cold water temps contributing to accidents. I just checked my logbook for my OW checkouts at Whitestar in 2003. The water temp was 52 degrees and I clearly remember thinking my first experience in OW was really, really cold. I'm not an instructor and don't know if any of the agencies have any standards dealing with water temps for OW checkouts. Any thoughts on when it might be just too cold to put OW students in the water for checkout dives?
I have my OW checkout dives at Gilboa in a couple of weeks. Am I correct in assuming that the basic skills demonstrations take place down at the underwater platforms?
I'm looking forward to finally experiencing Gilboa.
As long as you are in a 7 or 6.5mm wet suit with a hood and gloves, you will be fine. However, be prepared for the initial rush of cold water into the suit. it sucks, you will be ready to scream... give it a few seconds to a minute, and you will be fine.
key things to remember are
stay on the south side ( shallow side) of the wall.
stay calm ( extremely important!)
no matter what do not bolt for the surface, ( CESA only!!!!!)
when ascending DO NOT hold your breath
Check your Pressure gauge often, ( as in every couple of minutes.) if you see something interesting, CHECK your pressure.
be ready for a free flow and know what to do! Remember, at depth you can still use it to ascend, just keep it in your mouth and let the air blow past your lips.
And the thing not covered in your class... if you get into zero vis, or lose your mask, CLOSE YOUR EYES and relax. trust yourself. do not panic. open your eyes every 30 seconds or so to see if you are in clearer vis, or if you have your mask fixed. Remember in near to total zero viz, your eyes will play tricks on you, just close them.
Oh and watch out for the Trout. they get annoying.
ETA: Take a coat, and a Blanket, to wrap up in on the surface interval. I have gotten cold in the middle of summer in a wet wetsuit on the surface.
I've dove Gilboa many times in just that. The only times that the 7mm FJ/J was insufficient were both trips to the deep end. One mild at 95ft and the shivers at 130ft (39.9m actually) were buddy had a dry suit (and was quite amused by my condition when we exited at the deep dock).
For OW check-out dives, you probably won't get deeper than 35ft or so. The platforms are at about 20ft and temps will be 50˚F or better. (See Gilboa Conditions for a chart of temperatures by month and depth.) You'll find that a sunny day makes all the difference for the SI.
One thing that I have noticed during a cold water mask flood is not being able to take a breath when the cold water first hits your face.
I've been told that it's a mammalian reflex that you can't help. I would imagine that someone who hasn't experianced this might panic thinking they can't get a breath of air.
Best way is to close your eyes, relax for a moment and start breathing again.
One thing that I have noticed during a cold water mask flood is not being able to take a breath when the cold water first hits your face.
I've been told that it's a mammalian reflex that you can't help. I would imagine that someone who hasn't experianced this might panic thinking they can't get a breath of air.
Best way is to close your eyes, relax for a moment and start breathing again.
Yea ... it sucks ... but just relax and breath. Doing no-mask drills in cold water is easily my LEAST favorite scuba activity by far. It's similar to when you jump into water in a swimsuit that is much colder than you thought. You can't seem to initially be able to control your breathing. Rather than a long, slow inhale and then exhale, your body seems to want to breath in short gasps. Give yourself time to adjust and realize that you are getting air, it's just your bodies reaction to the very cold water on your face.
In OW class you'll be doing them on the platform and the water shouldn't be too chilly. Doing them below the thermocline is what really sucks!
Remember basic gas laws, the biggest change in pressure occurs in the last 10 feet.
A diver ascending from 100 feet experiences a greater change in pressure from 25 ft to the surface than they do from 100 to 25 feet. It literally is the last 25 feet that kills you.
There were also two incidents at the deep end that I witnessed. The first was three divers all in singles 80's who thought they would go to 100'. All three had free flows and all three corked but seemed to be fine.
I don't understand what the problem is with going to 100' on an AL80? My roommate did his Deep Cert on AL80 there and with Mike's permission. He has 3 deep dives there on AL80 all with Mike's permission. I regularly dive Lake Huron wrecks (New York is 117') on single AL80 both Nitrox and Air.
Its unfortunate the 3 divers weren't trained properly on how to handle the free flow but, it had nothing to do with the tanks themselves.
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