First Dry Suit Dive.. anything I really need to know?

[markfm]

Wow, that's one heck of a temp drop, 20C (A Bay at 24C vs LE being 4) -- the ABay buoy link that I posted is live, real, data. The NOAA site at Superior Shoals is actually reporting slightly warmer, even:
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=supn6
(> 25C)
CUunderH2O -- Was that holiday you mentioned this year? The water temps buoys are reporting aren't consistent with 4C unless there's something weird that occurs there -- water flows from Lake Ontario towards the Atlantic, so that 25C water at Superior Shoals is headed towards LE. This has been a very warm year, anomalous.
(I'm not saying you're wrong -- I really am curious as to what would force such a radical temp drop)
Any temp is fine to try a drysuit, though if the WTemp is even faintly close to what we have at A Bay and Superior Shoals you will have to watch out for overheating.

 

[Hoosier]

You will be flooded someday. You will be confused if you are wearing a semi dry or dry suit.

You will be a human lift bag someday. You will be pissed off to find out the exact weight.

You will be a real maintenance guy someday. You will be surprised at how much care and mainteance you need for a dry suit.

 

[jonnythan]

I dunno about the geography, but the water at Les Escoumins is very cold, even right now.

 

[CUunderH2O]

markfm: take a look at a map. Alexandria Bay is very far away from les Escoumins (like a 10 hour car trip). The latter is located near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's salt water in that part. Try Google, they now have maps.

Holiday? you mean the august long weekend?

 

[markfm]

Thanks. I do know the location of Les Ecoumins, but looking at a map it appeared to be on the flow path of the river. When I checked the Burgeo Bank reading:
47.28 N 57.35 W (47°16'7" N 57°21'9" W) http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44255
is reporting 61F.

In other words, the river flowing from the West of LE is 75F, and water to the E of LE, salt water, is 61F.

Do you understand my confusion? There would have to be a major cold influx, that somehow doesn't affect Burgeo Bank, yet is sufficient to radically cut the very warm water temps coming down the St. Lawrence. That's why I had asked if you were there on Holiday (long weekend) this August, or if there was some odd local phenomenon, since met buoys are normally not going to be > 20 degrees erroneous and Burgeo Bank would seem to be a reasonable "bracket" location; I would expect LE temp to be between the 75 and 61, and my gut feel would be that it would be a decent number of degrees above Burgeo Bank, picking up the influence of that warm SL river water.

I'm an engineer by trade, tend to do geek things like look at buoy data. If I hear of 40F water in the middle of 75 and 61F water, I by nature ask what causes the effect. I wonder if there is a glacial river providing a feed at that location, or something similar.
(Not disagreeing to be disagreeable, but to understand what is so special about the location, to make the water much colder than surrounding temperatures)

 

[CUunderH2O]

markfm: someone told me this week that it's probably because of the tides, but... I'm no expert. I just know it was bloody cold! So cold that I really missed the 75+ degree fresh water back home in my local part of the river!

 

[markfm]

Sounds good.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

My advise? If you can, get into a drysuit before going out on your excursion so you have time to become familiar with it, and know what to do in certain emergencies (runaway inflator, feet first ascents, uncontrolled ascents, etc).

Other advise? Slurpee-Head is common at the temperatures you've given. Go slow, and don't get too freaked out if you get slurpee head.

Diving dry in coldwater is an amazing thing, once you've tried it, you'll never go back to a wetsuit for coldwater again.

Have a great time!!!

 

[String]

Okay, maybe HUGE was a little out of place. But, it's a lot bigger than if you were using your DRYsuit to stay DRY and your BC to Compensate for buoyancy changes. Also the air has more room to 'run around' than inside your wing.

Again no. If weighting is correct on a single tank or single/pony removing the squeeze will be near enough neutral. Migration isnt a problem with a suit that fits and proper weighting. The large moving bubble with a proper setup is a myth. Its only an issue when moving to twin sets, have a poor fitting suit and/or overweighted.

 

[cornfed]

Not really any need for the course, IMO.

With all due respect, Dr. K, do you have a drysuit?