Clark Hill/ Lake Thurmond Today

[diveprof]

What a beautiful day! I wasn't expecting a whole lot given the wind today for diving at the SC side of the dam. It was choppy with 2' waves and a bit of silt stirred up in the shallows. It was like this last weekend and it turned out great so I withheld any doom and gloom forecast. I met a couple from Dublin (hey, folks - welcome to Clark Hill!) They had a good dive with 8-9' vis. Things were looking up.
Two of us dove this afternoon. I was in nitrox but my buddy wasn't. He didn't seem to appreciate my assurance that I would come up before deco (my deco). No worries, just before descending I assured him that I might be joking (OK I had one computer set for nitrox and one for air and dove that for max bottom time). We dropped down to the three big rocks 46' today - lots of small fish here today and very bright. We dropped down to the 80' wall -still quite bright and no lights needed unless we wanted to look in a crack. Still schools of small fish here too. After diving the 80' wall we dropped down to the 100' wall -still light left. We dove a bit of this and the stumps at the top of the wall ( I believe that this was part of the original river bed), ascended through the forest to the ledge at 65' today and upward to another grouping of stumps I've found - more fish) and onward to the 55' wall and the big stump with lots of small fish today. We cruised the top of the north wall and then turned south back along the 55' wall to the trench. You could see both sides the trench today. It was then upward to the 40' ledge with lots of small fish and a couple of bass. Then it was time for an extended safety stop and exit. Today's dive was one of the year's best so far. Vis was 8-9 down to 35', then 10-12', maybe more. Dive time was 1:03 for a max depth of 101'.

 

[2degrees]

What was the temp at 35 feet. I think I thawed out by the time I got back to Dublin.

Man what a difference experiance make. One day I will be able to post those type numbers. My dive was 17 min and 1200 psi in the tank when I took off my mask.

Thank you for the help, enjoyed talking with you.

Have you ever hooked your dive computer to your PC and down loaded your dive?

 

[diveprof]

What was the temp at 35 feet. I think I thawed out by the time I got back to Dublin.

Man what a difference experiance make. One day I will be able to post those type numbers. My dive was 17 min and 1200 psi in the tank when I took off my mask.

Thank you for the help, enjoyed talking with you.

Have you ever hooked your dive computer to your PC and down loaded your dive?

Yes it is still cold at depth. That's why we dive 7mm fullsuits, gloves and hoods. Staying warm on a dive is important for many reasons. First of all, it is nice to be able to do a long dive in cold water and not be numb at the end of the dive. Staying warm helps to avoid cramps. To me, most importantly, staying warm helps reduce air consumption and allows you to extend the length of the dive. I wear a 3mm in the Carribean for this reason. I'm not as wiped out after that 4th dive of the day when I stay warm. If the water ain't 98.6 degrees, you are losing body heat.

My dive computer info can be downloaded to my computer. However, I've never seen the need and didn't want to drop the additional bucks for the cable/reader. I do keep a log book and encourage everyone to do so - make it more of a dive journal than just a place to log the basics of your dive. I frequently refer to it when diving sites that I do not dive as often for additional information to plan the dive. I draw maps, compass headings, note items of interest, water temps, etc. Maybe I'm a little old school here, but I like to log each dive at the end of the day if not after every dive. Computer software can remember time, depth, location stuff, but is not so good at recording the names of fish you see, compass headings, underwater features and items of interest. For example, I have a dive diary of my trip to Roatan complete with maps, room to book next time, best topside activities, etc.. My computer savy dive buddy had 28 hours of downloaded dive info when he returned, but is always asking to see my logbook as he forgets names of dive sites, where we saw neat stuff, etc.

The top five dive tips that I like to pass on to newer divers are:

1. "Get the lead out." Now that you are becoming more comfortable in the water -recheck your weighting. Most divers find that they can drop weight as they gain more experience. This translates into all kinds of good things - reduced air consumption, better trim, easier post dive hill climbs .
2. "Dress for the occasion" -wear proper exposure protection (and then some) for the temps at the depths you are diving. This also translates into great things - reduced air consumption, you are less tired and cold after multiple dives.
3. "Dive your own gear." Rentals are OK in a pinch, but your own gear quickly adds to comfort in the water. Rather than having to learn where everything is every dive, you quickly learn this with your own gear and transition to becoming a "diver" rather than an "equipment operator in training". Think a step or two down the road when buying gear. Buy gear that will handle the demands of where you will be as your move forward with your training and experience. Ebay is full of stuff folks thought would "do". Buy once, not twice to stretch your dive dollars.
4. "Learn from every dive." Dive within your comfort and training, but don't stagnate. Gradually expand your abilities through training and dive experiences. My motto as an instructor is: "I teach when I want, but learn from every dive".
5. "Dive, dive, dive (repeat)." There is know better way to maintain your scuba competencies than to dive regularly. Don't spend the first 2-3 days of your expensive dive vacation relearning the basics. When you dive regularly your skills build upon the previous learning.

Y'all come join us again.

 

[chrsclegg]

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO DIVING WITH YOUR GROUP WAITING ON MY TANKS BACK FROM BEING tested also want to get wet at my dock first since its been a few years since i have dove

 

[Flightlead]

Y
The top five dive tips that I like to pass on to newer divers are:

1. "Get the lead out." Now that you are becoming more comfortable in the water -recheck your weighting. Most divers find that they can drop weight as they gain more experience. This translates into all kinds of good things - reduced air consumption, better trim, easier post dive hill climbs .

yeah, those post dive hill climbs can be a real pain, eh Andy?

 

[willardj]

Andy you are top notch.

 

[willardj]

yeah, those post dive hill climbs can be a real pain, eh Andy?

Agree, made that too:scubadive

 

[diveprof]

yeah, those post dive hill climbs can be a real pain, eh Andy?

Oh, I bow to your experience in this ye of drysuit diving, "fully involved" (OK I ate at Firehouse Subs tonight) weight belt, double tank fame . Me, hey, I just use a wetsuit, backplate with my 7mm and a single 100cf. Still, I'm wondering, do the duracel batteries weight more than the energizer ones in my backup light - maybe I should switch and save a little weight shakehead.

"The undeniable truth of freshwater diving is you climb a hill at the end" - Jack "Bubba"
Cousteau (poor Southern relation of a more famous diver).

 

[diveprof]

Agree, made that too:scubadive

Good to hear from you. Hope the job lets you dive with us soon.

 

[willardj]

Hopefully. Now its more like $4 gas. You can bring the lake to me thou. I don't mind. Haha.