DSMB norms in Cozumel?

[Mossman]

I feel like the club should get together to go diving. With our Galapagos trip this year though, we probably won't make Cozumel until next year.

Galapagos?

When I dove off the Aggressor II a few years back, they gave us flags mounted on folding plastic sticks, just like the kind used in modern tents. The rationale was that they stood up better than safety sausages in the typical conditions there. Obviously they weren't deployed until one surfaced.

On the Sky Dancer, we just carried whatever we had. I just used my standard technique of waving down the skiff when they looked in my direction.

 

[Skittl1321]

Galapagos?

I'm not diving, just snorkeling. I'd probably die if I went diving there. It doesn't seem like a good place to go after 26 dives.

 

[Mossman]

I'm not diving, just snorkeling. I'd probably die if I went diving there. It doesn't seem like a good place to go after 26 dives.

Depends where you did those 26 dives. I didn't find the diving there any more challenging than some of the southern California diving I've done. You've already handled currents in Cozumel. Difference is that in the Galapagos, at least up at Wolf and Darwin, instead of drifting through the entire dive, you pick a spot, hold onto the reef, and watch the show. All you need are thick gloves. And a thicker wetsuit - it's a bit chillier depending on the time of year. But you need a liveaboard to get up there.

However, some of the diving in the central islands isn't challenging at all. You'll have regrets if you don't at least hop on a day boat and request an easy 2-tanker, just so you can say you've dove the Galapagos.

 

[Skittl1321]

However, some of the diving in the central islands isn't challenging at all. You'll have regrets if you don't at least hop on a day boat and request an easy 2-tanker, just so you can say you've dove the Galapagos.

I'm sure we will; but it just isn't in the schedule.

The currents in Cozumel were pretty weak when I was there. Only Cedral Wall really felt like much, like a fast moving walkway; Santa Rosa it was hard to kick backwards at times, but it still didn't seem like much (I also stayed over the wall). So I have 11 easy dives in Cozumel, and the rest are in mudholes in Iowa and Wisconsin- good low vis (no vis at times) training, but super easy, and shallow diving.

 

[Mike]

I'm not diving, just snorkeling. I'd probably die if I went diving there. It doesn't seem like a good place to go after 26 dives.

Dang girl that is a long way to go and a lot of dough not to dive, especially when you can then brag about it! The galapagos is a major bucket list dive destination for a lot of divers, better change your mind and dive it! Plenty of time between now and then for you to log some dives in your bathtub or something to get your dive count up.

---------- Post added February 20th, 2014 at 04:06 PM ----------

I appreciate this has become a bit of a joke, but I have long wondered why people bother to make a distinction. It seems to me one could use the abbreviation "SMB" to refer generically both to Surface Marker Buoys that are deployed on the surface and Surface Marker Buoys that are deployed at depth. What's the point of adding another letter? It only makes the abbreviation more unwieldy to say. I venture to guess that few of us carry SMBs that could NOT be deployed at depth. Granted, a diver might not be able to deploy an SMB at depth because the diver isn't also carrying a spool, but the spool is not part of the SMB. Carrying a spool doesn't transform your SMB into a DSMB. Some SMBs that cannot be deployed at depth no doubt exist, but I think we're all talking here about the tubular kind that has an open bottom with a D-ring or similar hardware for attaching a line so that it can, if desired, be deployed at depth. Here, I typed "SMB" into LeisurePro's search box, and all eight of the items it found are just as I described: smb - Search Results for smb - LeisurePro.

Let's all just agree to call them 'safety snausages" from now on...

 

[cvchief]

Dang girl that is a long way to go and a lot of dough not to dive, especially when you can then brag about it! The galapagos is a major bucket list dive destination for a lot of divers, better change your mind and dive it! Plenty of time between now and then for you to log some dives in your bathtub or something to get your dive count up.

That's what I said!

 

[Alan P]

Really? This is so typical!! Someone posts a subject to discuss.... then board members start commenting, sharing info, experiences, snark/sarcasm, funny comments, arguing etc... Chief will be funny or knowledgable (or both); Mossman will be sarcastic &/or pithy... usually invoking alcohol; DandyDon will comment of course; on island dive ops (Christi, Dave D) will comment with authority; I'm waiting to for Gordon and Mike's take on the subject... Props to Skittles for standing her ground, pointing out what she actually said, not what you think she said, etc... It's a conversation...This is why I love SB !

Just wait....Pretty soon it will evolve to the best place to eat....
:blinking:

Thanks for clarifying. And here I was to busy LMAO reading posts from neophytes acting like they are Cozumel experts.

 

[nimoh]

I appreciate this has become a bit of a joke, but I have long wondered why people bother to make a distinction. It seems to me one could use the abbreviation "SMB" to refer generically both to Surface Marker Buoys that are deployed on the surface and Surface Marker Buoys that are deployed at depth. What's the point of adding another letter? It only makes the abbreviation more unwieldy to say. I venture to guess that few of us carry SMBs that could NOT be deployed at depth. Granted, a diver might not be able to deploy an SMB at depth because the diver isn't also carrying a spool, but the spool is not part of the SMB. Carrying a spool doesn't transform your SMB into a DSMB. Some SMBs that cannot be deployed at depth no doubt exist, but I think we're all talking here about the tubular kind that has an open bottom with a D-ring or similar hardware for attaching a line so that it can, if desired, be deployed at depth. Here, I typed "SMB" into LeisurePro's search box, and all eight of the items it found are just as I described: smb - Search Results for smb - LeisurePro.


I think I'll take a pass on looking "SMB" up in Urban Dictionary. I don't want to know.

IMHO all DSMBs are also SMBs, but not the other way around.

Some SMBs are open ended where you stick your regulator in and purge it to fill it. Once on the surface, if it lays down, it can spill gas making it less effective. DSMBs are normally sealed with a valve and do not spill gas without opening the valve (either manually or via over-pressure). However, this is only my opinion and I'm sure there will be some replies by people that use open ended SMBs at depth.

...and yes, a DSMB requires a spool while an SMB doesn't, so no spool == no DSMB

 

[Zman96]

After a 107 posts on a pretty basic question I have come to the conclusion that this board could argue anything passionately.
Is the sky blue? Should they speak a little English on the Island? Is the world flat? Pier fees, right or wrong? I am absolutely not going to ask who is the best dive op on the island and which ones keep your wetsuits.

 

[Lorenzoid]

IMHO all DSMBs are also SMBs, but not the other way around.

Some SMBs are open ended where you stick your regulator in and purge it to fill it. Once on the surface, if it lays down, it can spill gas making it less effective. DSMBs are normally sealed with a valve and do not spill gas without opening the valve (either manually or via over-pressure). However, this is only my opinion and I'm sure there will be some replies by people that use open ended SMBs at depth.

I'll be happy to voice a different opinion. By your logic, a tube having a 1-way flutter valve at the bottom should be referred to as a "DSMB," but a poorly/cheaply designed tube advertised as being deployable at depth but unfortunately lacking a 1-way flutter valve at the bottom should be referred to as an "SMB"? I'm sure there are various features in addition to a flutter valve that would optimize an SMB design for deploying at depth, such as an overpressure valve, but in my opinion, the presence or absence of features that makes some SMBs better for deploying at depth than others doesn't affect whether some deserve to be called "DSMBs" but others only deserve to be called "SMBs." I still think the addition of a "D" doesn't provide any additional useful information to what would be conveyed by simply saying "SMB" in the context of a typical discussion about carrying/using one.