Folly cove on RB

[edasque]

So I finally did my first beach dive on the new rebreather. Ran the O2ptima at a PPO2.7 and manually flew it to around 1.0. Maximum depth was around 13m (42 feet), dive duration was 70 mn.

Saw a bunch lobsters, a massive sea raven, a skate flying by and a YBOD. Also saw a toad crab for the first time. I really love seeing a sea creature I have never encountered before, makes my dive. You couldn't see any body part behind a thick thick covering of a large variety of algae. As it moved once could see it was a crab but its walk almost had a tarantula quality to it.

The O2ptima behaved really well and didn't seem sandy at all when I disassembled it. I dove with an AL40, sidemounted to my Nomad, which though unnecessary was a good practice for deeper dives.

Dove the O2ptima with 5 pounds in each pockets which seemed fine. Used 300 PSI of O2 (LP27).

I really do like Folly Cove for some reason and the viz was pretty decent though not as good as would have been expected looking at it from the shore.

Photos on my gallery by my (not for long) OC buddy Sam

PS. Also dove my Dive Rite 10W HID for the first time in new england and thought it wasn't quite bright enough, thoughts ?

 

[Rainer]

Looks like you finally got those electronics to fire correctly, huh? Glad you had a good time. While I often burn out from Folly dives, I've also had some of my best shore dives there. You never know what you'll see on a Folly dive.

 

[almitywife]

*** thread copied over to the Rebreather section to spread the info around ***

cheers​

 

[Mr.X]

So I finally did my first beach dive on the new rebreather. Ran the O2ptima at a PPO2.7 and manually flew it to around 1.0. Maximum depth was around 13m (42 feet), dive duration was 70 mn.

Saw a bunch lobsters, a massive sea raven, a skate flying by and a YBOD. Also saw a toad crab for the first time. I really love seeing a sea creature I have never encountered before, makes my dive. You couldn't see any body part behind a thick thick covering of a large variety of algae. As it moved once could see it was a crab but its walk almost had a tarantula quality to it.

The O2ptima behaved really well and didn't seem sandy at all when I disassembled it. I dove with an AL40, sidemounted to my Nomad, which though unnecessary was a good practice for deeper dives.

Dove the O2ptima with 5 pounds in each pockets which seemed fine. Used 300 PSI of O2 (LP27).

I really do like Folly Cove for some reason and the viz was pretty decent though not as good as would have been expected looking at it from the shore.

Photos on my gallery by my (not for long) OC buddy Sam

PS. Also dove my Dive Rite 10W HID for the first time in new england and thought it wasn't quite bright enough, thoughts ?

Congrats. Need more RB guys there. I took my Inspiration out there 6-7 years ago. I didn't notice much in the way of silt either. It was November brrrrh.

As per the 10 watt HID - I always find that the ambient daylight is enough to drown out my light back then - 50 watt Halogen. I also took a scooter out there and buzzed outside the main area. ZZZZ. Lot's of sand. Boy are those large rocks a pain when you're carrying heavy stuff.

More reports from New England please.

X

 

[veriqster]

you mean PPO2 of 0.7 or 2.7; if it's the latest then you just set a record (to the best of my knowledge).
I hope it was 0.7 though, much safer.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Hi E___,

That's an expensive toy to use to do a simple beach dive! I have recently had some friends who have invited me to go beach diving with them, but I kind of feel that it's overkill to breakout my Optima to do a 20 foot dive. However, the weather has been rough the last few weeks, so at this point, I'd just about dive anywhere!

Adrian

 

[edasque]

Yeah, PPO2 of 0.7, obviously. Even if I wanted to die, you can't reach 2.7 PPO2 at 13m. 2.3 would be the PPO2 of 100% O2 at that depth and as such the max PPO2 possible.

 

[edasque]

Actually Adrian, interaction with the lobsters, toad crabs, raven and other critters were pretty cool. There is much variety here, as we discussed.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Actually Adrian, interaction with the lobsters, toad crabs, raven and other critters were pretty cool. There is much variety here, as we discussed.

I wasn't bashing beach dives, as I am aware that they can actually be very nice, if you dive in the right spot. I was merely pointing out the fact that I have yet to psychologically come to terms with the fact that my rebreather is my primary diving gear, regardless of the depth or quality of the dive. Subconsciously, since I have put so much money into buying and being trained on my Optima and since they require so much time to prep and maintain and since each scrubber cartridge costs $30, I'm still associating them with only be used for more serious dives, but nothing could be farther from the truth. As we were taught in training, we need to make an effort to only dive our rebreathers, regardless of the depth or quality of the dive.

I think another problem is that my tech diving days still have me addicted to the deeper end of diving, and now that I can stay down longer with the rebreather, I crave the deeper stuff even more!

I'm glad to hear that you have a nice beach to dive at. We certainly have several beaches locally here in Ft. Lauderdale that are great to dive at and I need to make an effort to dive them more often, but that may take a few more sessions with my therapist to get to that point.

 

[edasque]

Yeah, it was really awesome. I have made the RB my only diving gear and on this first successful RB dive in NE, it had proven very good. As you know diving here is a little more challenging and a 90 feet wreck dive is a dive in our cold dark water is a dive I approach with a little more caution than a visit to the Ancient Mariner or Captain Dan Which is why I wanted to have a few shallow dive under my belt here before. They offer their own challenge too, with a bit more swimming, walking entries, getting ready on large round boulders and the tough shallow water buoyancy. As for the cost, let's just say it's part of my continuous training. And since I didn't own tanks before, still cheaper than renting awful AL80 and getting them filled.

I'll probably be accompanying my dive buddy in the end of his RB training trip (with Mark) in late December. I'll let you know if that's the case and you can be my dive buddy ! Hopefuly other bubble-less divers will join us !