Cold weather diving!

[Marie13]

Cold water and weather diving! Gilboa Quarry in northwest Ohio, US yesterday. Air temp in the morning was 25F/-4C. Wind chill was much worse. We had a shelter and a propane heater. Water temp was 52F/11C - twice the air temp! Buddy and I had planned on 4 dives yesterday and 2 today (I drove 5 hours each way), but the wind just killed us, so only the 2 dives yesterday. Diving was good - sidemount as buddy and I are both fairly new at it. Viz was 20 to 25 ft/6 to 7.6m. These were the last dives of the season for me until April, unless I do a New Year’s Day dive.

Webbing straps on BCs and computers froze between dives. No reg issues. We didn’t breathe from them on the surface. There was a bit of snow the day/night before which turned the roads icy and the quarry docks were slick.

The shelter (a canopy with tarps for sides and one on the ground) and the propane heater ($40 heater that screws directly onto big propane tank) made a huge difference.

Buddy was lamenting the “bad” viz of 20-25ft, but since I’m used to 10-15ft viz at my local quarry, I thought it was pretty good! This quarry is known for pretty good viz.

There were actually 2 classes out there - OW class from Alma College in MI (they had students that hadn’t finished earlier in the fall) and a Rescue class from another shop. The Alma College group were diving wet, but they had a good shelter with a heater inside.

Pic is me after both dives yesterday. Thermal Fusion worked well. Dry gloves make a big difference. I was nice and dry, no leaks at all.

 

[BlueTrin]

Nice, out of curiosity, when temp is close to 0 is it recommended to not breathe from the regulator at the surface ?

Is that due to the fact that ice could form inside and block the valves ?

EDIT: seems that it is the case Advice on Cold Water Diving

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Nice setup. Looks like you're comfy.

I'd be curious to try 52*. I was comfortable at 54* last weekend (5mm with a hood). The water was 49* today. I won't be doing that again, lol.

 

[Marie13]

Nice setup. Looks like you're comfy.

I'd be curious to try 52*. I was comfortable at 54* last weekend (5mm with a hood). The water was 49* today. I won't be doing that again, lol.

You diving wet? I’ve done wet down to 43 on Lake Michigan. But I’m a freaking polar bear with a somewhat high cold tolerance and body fat!

Diving dry is nicer. I love just getting out of suit, taking main undergarment off, and putting regular clothes on over my base layer.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

You diving wet? I’ve done wet down to 43 on Lake Michigan. But I’m a freaking polar bear with a somewhat high cold tolerance and body fat!

Diving dry is nicer. I love just getting out of suit, taking main undergarment off, and putting regular clothes on over my base layer.

Yup. I have a 5mm suit. I consider myself to be fairly cold tolerant, but today definitely showed me where my limit is. My buddy (doesn't have as much insulation as I do) went with a 7mm today and was just as anxious to get out of the water as I was.

 

[JackD342]

Nice, out of curiosity, when temp is close to 0 is it recommended to not breathe from the regulator at the surface ?

Is that due to the fact that ice could form inside and block the valves ?

EDIT: seems that it is the case Advice on Cold Water Diving

The expanding air will chill the valve lower than ambient, below freezing, in the absence of water. Then get it wet, it will freeze the water.

 

[abnfrog]

we have done a lot of ice dives with a shelter like that , remember the worst dive is still better that the best day at Chrysler..........

 

[Marie13]

we have done a lot of ice dives with a shelter like that , remember the worst dive is still better that the best day at Chrysler..........

I hope to do ice diving this winter - if we have ice. That’s been an issue the past few years.

 

[abnfrog]

do it !! done right it can be a blast !!!

 

[Marie13]

do it !! done right it can be a blast !!!

I’m doing it if we have ice. Might have to travel into a surrounding state. Found an instructor who is willing to accommodate my physical issues (iffy knees/sciatica), as I won’t be able to do any heavy lifting, helping to haul divers out of the water, or anything of that sort. That seems to not always be the case.

I’ve run into what seems to be a lot of macho crap from people who must train more PSD divers than anything else - - and I was inquiring about the basic recreational ice diving class. Something tells me they don’t get a lot of women wanting to ice dive. But we all here know I love cold, and I’m crazy like that! That PSD mindset really has no place in the recreational ice diving class. I simply love cold and want to experience ice diving - something totally different.