Back in the saddle again...

[Xandreyn]

Quick introduction - I am an long-certified diver who just got back in the Ocean for the first time in over year. I have been living in basically a land-locked state and had only quarries to dive in to keep my skills honed. No matter how often you dive a quarry though, the ocean is always different.

I recently (last Saturday), acquired my Advanced Open Water Cert, and I am looking forward to logging some serious dive time in order to get my skills back to where they need to be.

 

[Birddog1911]

Welcome, from a forum newbie myself. And I just took Advanced back in Feb. Hope you have great dives.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Welcome to Scubaboard & back into some serious ocean diving!

 

[ram04769]

Welcome to ScubaBoard Xandreyn and congratulations on completing your AOW course.

 

[drrich2]

Glad you're back. Quarry diving can be a boon, though; it can help you sort out your gear and tolerance for cold water diving, which is helpful for some destinations. Last August, I finally made it out to California to dive on a Southern Channel Islands limited load live-aboard trip, and time at a local quarry (in KY; I know a little about land-locked) helped me get ready.

Richard.

 

[northernone]

Welcome back too the merry blue sea!

Don't stay dry too long.
Cameron

 

[blowtorch]

Welcome back! What is quarry diving? In the pool?

 

[NYCNaiad]

Welcome back! What is quarry diving? In the pool?

A quarry is a deep pit from which stone or other materials have been extracted. Empty quarries are sometimes filled with water & turned into a man-made lake for swimmers & divers. The one I go to in Pennsylvania has really cool things sunk in it just for divers (e.g., a helicopter, school bus, etc.). You can see all the stuff here.

@Xandreyn Does your quarry have anything cool sunk there?

 

[blowtorch]

A quarry is a deep pit from which stone or other materials have been extracted. Empty quarries are sometimes filled with water & turned into a man-made lake for swimmers & divers. The one I go to in Pennsylvania has really cool things sunk in it just for divers (e.g., a helicopter, school bus, etc.). You can see all the stuff here.

@Xandreyn Does your quarry have anything cool sunk there?

Thanks! Wow...really unique!

 

[drrich2]

Blowtorch:

And Pennyroyal Blue Springs Resort is the local quarry near me. Quarries can be very deep, which coupled with their overall size and structure, can lend itself to forming thermoclines. At Pennyroyal even over in August, the surface water may be warm but down around 15 feet it abruptly shifts to cooler water, where I'd want to wear a full wetsuit. Get on down deeper, and there's another thermocline; hang out at 80 - 90 feet deep and you're looking at roughly mid-40's degree F water.

Freshwater won't give you precise answers about weighting and trim needs for ocean diving, but a deep, cold quarry can give you a sense of how well your exposure protection works, and offers an inland training site.