Difficulty holding safety stop in current

[rongoodman]

It sounds like you were underweighted to start with. The current probably didn't have anything to do with it.

 

[fred32176]

The current should cause you zero problems with maintaining a stop there.

The easiest way to do it, is to be a few lbs heavier than you need to be neutral. Deploy the smb from as deep as you feel comfortable doing. Then work you way way up and when you get to the desired stop depth, dump air from the BC and hang down on the smb string/reel/spool with 3-5 lbs of force.

People will say this is lazy and sloppy, but that is what I do generally when diving that area.

OK, I will add weight on the next West Palm drift dive. How much weight should I add? 2 lbs, 4 lbs?

 

[inquis]

I would start with 4 lb, then check how much air is in the BC at the safety stop after purging your HP100 down to about 400 psi. One way to check is to try to vent the BC (easiest with the corrugated inflator hose when vertical). If more than a little comes out, then drop some weight for the next dive and repeat.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @fred32176

I reread your original post and have a couple of comments.

Your Sharkskin T2 wetsuit is said to be neutrally buoyant, most of us wear a wetsuit of varying thickness with some added buoyancy. You didn't say what your BC is.

Dropping 8 lbs. in fresh water when switching from an AL80 to a steel HP100 is more weight than I would generally expect. The differential is usually more like 4 lbs. at the end of the dive.

Your recent saltwater dives with 10 lbs. of weight and your HP100 seems like a lot of weight based on what you said about your freshwater dives.

With the conflicting information, it would be best if you simply perform a good buoyancy check next time you dive. You should be neutrally buoyant or only very slightly negative at your safety stop with an empty BC and your tank near the reserve pressure. You should be able to make a slow, controlled final ascent to the surface.

Best of luck in your diving.

 

[inquis]

Dropping 8 lbs. in fresh water when switching from an AL80 to a steel HP100 is more weight than I would generally expect

I read the OP as *using* 8 lbs in fresh/AL80, not "dropping 8". Switching to HP100/fresh (-2 lb) should use 6 lb for the same net buoyancy. Switching to HP100/salt (+6 lb) should use 12 lb. They used 10 and were light. Adding 2 lb to be equivalent and possibly another 2 lb to facilitate an upright DSMB seems reasonable to me as a basis for the next proper weight check.

 

[grantmac]

Little more weight and stop at 25-30'. Get a bit negative and hold yourself up with the dsmb.

 

[Belzelbub]

I read the OP as *using* 8 lbs in fresh/AL80, not "dropping 8". Switching to HP100/fresh (-2 lb) should use 6 lb for the same net buoyancy. Switching to HP100/salt (+6 lb) should use 12 lb. They used 10 and were light. Adding 2 lb to be equivalent and possibly another 2 lb to facilitate an upright DSMB seems reasonable to me as a basis for the next proper weight check.

Yeah, that’s how I read it as well. Dropping from whatever was used before to 8lbs with AL80 in fresh. Then it gets odd. 0lbs with the steel in fresh. The delta should be less than that, I would imagine. Using the same steel 100s in salt, the OP used 10 lbs.

At least one of those weights is not correct. Perhaps all of them. If we assume that 8lbs with AL80 in fresh is correct, then 0 lbs with the steel/fresh is way underweight, and 10 lbs with steel/salt is a few lbs underweight.

Definitely calls for a buoyancy check.

 

[johndiver999]

OK, I will add weight on the next West Palm drift dive. How much weight should I add? 2 lbs, 4 lbs?

Realistically, 4-5 lbs should not be a problem. I generally wear at least 6 lbs more than I need to be neutral. I am wearing a 6 lb belt right now and sometimes, I forget to put it on. I can still hold a stop, but I am kinda floaty, which tends to make you take shallow inhalations and also do the stop at 20 feet instead of 10-15.

If you are nervous about carrying extra lead, simply stop at 30 feet instead of 15 or 20. The expanding volume of air in the BC associated with the "extra" lead should only be a potential challenge as you get shallow. Stopping completely at 30 feet, getting perfectly neutral and then carefully ascending from there (to the actual safety stop) should not be a problem.

As has been discussed on this forum before, a maniacal pursuit of "minimal ballast" is a fool's errand as best I can tell for drift diving. You NEED extra lead so you can hang on the smb and keep it somewhat erect. Some of these people who advocate for "minimal ballast" probably have trouble keeping it up at times.

 

[fred32176]

Hi @fred32176

I reread your original post and have a couple of comments.

Your Sharkskin T2 wetsuit is said to be neutrally buoyant, most of us wear a wetsuit of varying thickness with some added buoyancy. You didn't say what your BC is.

Dropping 8 lbs. in fresh water when switching from an AL80 to a steel HP100 is more weight than I would generally expect. The differential is usually more like 4 lbs. at the end of the dive.

Your recent saltwater dives with 10 lbs. of weight and your HP100 seems like a lot of weight based on what you said about your freshwater dives.

With the conflicting information, it would be best if you simply perform a good buoyancy check next time you dive. You should be neutrally buoyant or only very slightly negative at your safety stop with an empty BC and your tank near the reserve pressure. You should be able to make a slow, controlled final ascent to the surface.

Best of luck in your diving.

My BCD is a scubapro seahawk 2, a lightweight back inflate BCD, with pockets like a jacket style BCD.

The only time I dove a steel 100 in freshwater wearing sharkskin was at Paradise Springs and I had no weight. I didn't have any trouble getting down to 100'. I don't know why I didn't need weight there, it was only a 42 minute dive and my log says I finished with 700 lbs of nitrox. Maybe there is something quirky about Paradise Springs or that dive.

Freshwater with AL 80 in sharkskin is 8 lbs and that is consistent.

The two drift dives were my first dives in salt water in sharkskin. I will try 14 lbs using steel 100 on my next salt water dive and see how that goes.

 

[fred32176]

Realistically, 4-5 lbs should not be a problem. I generally wear at least 6 lbs more than I need to be neutral. I am wearing a 6 lb belt right now and sometimes, I forget to put it on. I can still hold a stop, but I am kinda floaty, which tends to make you take shallow inhalations and also do the stop at 20 feet instead of 10-15.

If you are nervous about carrying extra lead, simply stop at 30 feet instead of 15 or 20. The expanding volume of air in the BC associated with the "extra" lead should only be a potential challenge as you get shallow. Stopping completely at 30 feet, getting perfectly neutral and then carefully ascending from there (to the actual safety stop) should not be a problem.

As has been discussed on this forum before, a maniacal pursuit of "minimal ballast" is a fool's errand as best I can tell for drift diving. You NEED extra lead so you can hang on the smb and keep it somewhat erect. Some of these people who advocate for "minimal ballast" probably have trouble keeping it up at times.

Thanks, and I hope not many divers have trouble keeping it up at times. God, I hope you are referring to a DSMB.