Clark Hill/ Lake Thurmond Today

[diveprof]

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

Yeah, the gas prices are outrageous. Oh, we do send the lake (Savannah River) to you every day, but I'm not sure the conditions are the same by the time it gets there.

 

[willardj]

Yeah, the gas prices are outrageous. Oh, we do send the lake (Savannah River) to you every day, but I'm not sure the conditions are the same by the time it gets there.

Yea, not quite the same thou and not sure anyone would want to get in it here w/o a drisuit and full face mask. I am hoping to get up there a couple time this year. I need to work on some skills for future classes.

 

[2degrees]

Thank you for the help. I am learning alot. Someone told me it would be around dive 20 before I get it all figured out.

I did not know what type of info the download to the computer would give. I think it would be nice to see how much I went up and down and what the temps were at different depths. (I forgot to look)When you are just begining it seem like there are so many things to try and figure out.
At our dive meeting tonight we talked about extending air time. They told us a lot of things but then said if we spend to long sucking air it would give us a headach when we surface.

 

[diveprof]

Thank you for the help. I am learning alot. Someone told me it would be around dive 20 before I get it all figured out.

At our dive meeting tonight we talked about extending air time. They told us a lot of things but then said if we spend to long sucking air it would give us a headach when we surface.

??? "I'm not sure what is meant about spending to long suching air it would give us a headache" - Maybe if you are talking about "skip breathing" or some bizarre breathing pattern or maybe with some really substandard regs, but not normal diving. In the summer our dive times are up to 1 1/2 hours in the lake or 2 hours in the river. I've never had a dive related headache. Headaches are not normal. Sometimes folks get an "ice cream" headache when crossing a thermocline into very cold water or a sinus related headache if they have congestion when diving, but a long dive alone does not give one headaches. I highly question whomever made this comment. I am not aware of any medical evidence to support it. I would challenge them to provide verifiable evidence to support this. Commercial saturation divers could never work if this were the case.
The true "trick" (not really a trick at all) to extending one's dive time on a tank of air usually comes down to a few basic points:

1. proper weighting
2. achieving neutral bouyancy/ good bouyancy control skills
3. proper exposure protection
4. streamlining your gear/comfort with one's own gear
5. being relaxed when diving. This comes with experience and frequency of diving.
6. Not to be too "new age", but "visualization exercises" before the dive also helps. A lot of professional athletes do this before sporting events. I teach this in the Peak Performance Bouyancy course.

 

[diveprof]

Thank you for the help. I am learning alot. Someone told me it would be around dive 20 before I get it all figured out.

I did not know what type of info the download to the computer would give. I think it would be nice to see how much I went up and down and what the temps were at different depths. (I forgot to look)When you are just begining it seem like there are so many things to try and figure out.
At our dive meeting tonight we talked about extending air time. They told us a lot of things but then said if we spend to long sucking air it would give us a headach when we surface.

Sorry, I was so focused on the last part of your response that I didn't respond to the first part. 20 dives is not a magic number, but they are right - experience makes the difference. Think of the OW certification as being like a "learner's permit" for divers. I look back fondly on my early dive days. They can be full of "wow" moments and the big gains in comfort and competence come quick if you dive regularly. Yeah, in the early dives we are all more "equipment operators" than "divers." However, competence and comfort comes with practice. I still have lots of "wow" moments - not sure if it's cause I look for them or because I'm easily amused .

 

[willardj]

You said it Andy. Most important Dive every chance you get. i got 2 dive's in today.
Dive 1 was 174min. at 8'
Dive 2 was 121min. at 9'
NOAA was have the ROV contest at the Aquatic center. Yes it was a pool dive, but it's better than nothing. All we did was sit on the bottom and collect all the parts that fell off all the ROV's. Hey diving is diving.

 

[dschulte]

Missed another day of great diving. With the rain tonight and tomorrow, this is probably the only day for the weekend. Oh well, there is always next week! Andy, you up for Friday still?
:monkeydan

 

[2degrees]

Htey were talking about skip breathing so that might be what was giving them a headache. Is skip breathing a good thing?

 

[diveprof]

Htey were talking about skip breathing so that might be what was giving them a headache. Is skip breathing a good thing?

Skip breathing is not a good or safe thing. A normal relaxed breathing pattern is the way to go. The other tips on the list in my post will help you move towards extending your dive time.

 

[diveprof]

You said it Andy. Most important Dive every chance you get. i got 2 dive's in today.
Dive 1 was 174min. at 8'
Dive 2 was 121min. at 9'
NOAA was have the ROV contest at the Aquatic center. Yes it was a pool dive, but it's better than nothing. All we did was sit on the bottom and collect all the parts that fell off all the ROV's. Hey diving is diving.

You are right. It is diving. You were wet, on compressed air/gas, and having fun. I think that qualifies. I think it is great that you are doing the NOAA stuff. Water temp was probably better than 55- 60 too