Fall and winter SCUBA plans

[KOMPRESSOR]

Besides spending a week working diving with our guests at beautiful KNUTSHAUG, HITRA, I hope to have time to become PADI Intructor.

What's more, I think I will visit this place:



-Bring some friends, a lavvu (lappish "tee-pee") with a wood stove, bring my new awsome chainsaw with a 20 inch blade out on the ice and cut a hole big enough for some serious ice diving! Oh, yeah... -Think I'll bring an instructor for me and my friends as well, so we can get our ice diving PADI badges

It's up at awsome Lake Femund National Park. The water's sooo clear you just can't imagine it! Anybody wanna go? I can arrange that too (No profit, just fun!)



Maybe it looks better in the summer for some:

 

[Willie]

Trips to Travis and a Thanksgiving cave trip to FL. Probably make a trip out to Balmoreha or however you spell it. Anyone know if the coditions have cleared up? I was there last Feb and it was about 15' on Fri and Sat when the OW students showed up, it was 2 inches.

I was at Balmorhea on 9-8 & 9-9. It was my first trip. Vis was 20+ the first day for two dives. The next day it was more like 10' and lots of suspended particles. There were four of us. But I dont think we messed it up that bad. It was still a lot of fun and I would love to go again. You can check out some picts here

http://ez.com/diving​

if you want.

Willie

 

[texdiveguy]

P.S. I won't swim in pee (wetsuit), so I used a novel solution. I dive off of my sailboat which conveniently has a microwave: I warmed up a quart of water for 7 minutes (about as hot as I could stand it) and filled my wetsuit before getting in the water. No shock at all when entering 55 degree water, and the warmth would last probably 20 minutes or so (i.e. after 20 minutes I _started_ to notice the cold outside). After 45 minutes I was ready to end the dive. I think my max downtime was 55 minutes.

Now thats an idea,,,,the warm water method,,,,no pee for me 'usually', either. Just get a box of Depends for that new drysuit for those longer dives,,,unless you have a pee hole.!!! I dove last year in water 49f in a 7 mil full wetsuit----yep a bit cold on that second dive.

 

[Willie]

I warmed up a quart of water for 7 minutes (about as hot as I could stand it) and filled my wetsuit before getting in the water. No shock at all when entering 55 degree water, and the warmth would last probably 20 minutes or so (i.e. after 20 minutes I _started_ to notice the cold outside). After 45 minutes I was ready to end the dive. I think my max downtime was 55 minutes.

Just curious if you have used any of the thermal packs under a wetsuit. I am new to diving, live in central Texas, dont want to go all winter without diving, dont like to be cold though. Doubt I can afford a trip to the Caribbean every month even at a good rate. Just wondering if you had personal experience with them.

Willie

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Just curious if you have used any of the thermal packs under a wetsuit. I am new to diving, live in central Texas, dont want to go all winter without diving, dont like to be cold though. Doubt I can afford a trip to the Caribbean every month even at a good rate. Just wondering if you had personal experience with them.

Willie

If you're not up to dry suits, get a semi-dry for your "winter" diving. (Allthough I fail to see there's any winter in it )

It's that simple, really. Don't go diving in unadequate thermal wear. It's not fun and it's not safe. Says me, who had my first ever wet suit dive with a half inch ice mirror on the surface. -In the OCEAN! Not in a lake...

 

[Timeliner]

I didn't think the season had anything to do with diving

I'll be getting out to the lakes all Winter when ever I can find another cold blooded creature like me that wants to go !

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

I didn't think the season had anything to do with diving

I'll be getting out to the lakes all Winter when ever I can find another cold blooded creature like me that wants to go !

What's to see in those lakes in Texas? Any reason why you don't go into the ocean instead? Long distances? (I've never been to Texas!)

 

[veggiedog]

What's to see in those lakes in Texas? Any reason why you don't go into the ocean instead? Long distances? (I've never been to Texas!)

Most people would say nothing. But there are fish, and the water can get 15' to 20' (5m to 7m) visibility during the winter, and I live just 30 minutes away. Since I have a sailboat slipped on the lake (Lake Travis is a well known sailing hotspot) I spend most weekends there anyhow. I enjoy treasure hunting under marinas (dumpster diving). The underwater terain is pretty interesting too (sheer cliffs that go deeper than I want to go), I like to visit different areas on the lake for the variety of underwater terrain. Pretty large dive community has the parks on the lake putting in diving amenities (underwater platforms, sunken items (boats, sculptures, ...)).

Freshwater fish are actually pretty fun: I really enjoy them and they are very easy to approach, but I suspect they pale in comparison to salt water fish. I started underwater photography in August to photograph my 12 yo son's OW certification, most of the photos have fish right there like an audience watching too (they're waiting for handouts).

I just like the dive time (heck, I dive in my pool just to float about). And the Gulf is not diveable except via boat (close to shore has no visibility) aside from being 4 hours away.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Most people would say nothing. But there are fish, and the water can get 15' to 20' (5m to 7m) visibility during the winter, and I live just 30 minutes away. Since I have a sailboat slipped on the lake (Lake Travis is a well known sailing hotspot) I spend most weekends there anyhow. I enjoy treasure hunting under marinas (dumpster diving). The underwater terain is pretty interesting too (sheer cliffs that go deeper than I want to go), I like to visit different areas on the lake for the variety of underwater terrain. Pretty large dive community has the parks on the lake putting in diving amenities (underwater platforms, sunken items (boats, sculptures, ...)).

Freshwater fish are actually pretty fun: I really enjoy them and they are very easy to approach, but I suspect they pale in comparison to salt water fish. I started underwater photography in August to photograph my 12 yo son's OW certification, most of the photos have fish right there like an audience watching too (they're waiting for handouts).

I just like the dive time (heck, I dive in my pool just to float about). And the Gulf is not diveable except via boat (close to shore has no visibility) aside from being 4 hours away.

Makes sense. Dive where you're at! I live inland too, at a big and deep lake. At it's deepest perhaps 1500-2000 feet. In the winter the water can be crystal clear, viz up to at least 100 feet, but usually much less. The cooler the clearer.

There are some critters there too:

One of mine taken in the winter, water temp about 38F:

And another borrowed:

We see these "crocs" on every night dive. I touched one, mayby 10-12 lbs, and it turned and hit my buddy in the tighs. He described it like being hit by a sunken log, in a waterfall...


Even wrecks. My own pic from May 1. this year:

But then of course diving in the Norwegian Oceans beats anything I know

 

[Jarrett]

What's to see in those lakes in Texas?

I have been wondering the same thing! What's in the water in the winter in Texas lakes that I want to see bad enough to freeze or invest in a drysuit? But I'm new, I may find out what the attraction is over time. I know if I was closer to Aquarena Springs, I would dive there a lot. Very good viz and neat things to see. Come to think of it, I think I will dive there in the winter