Ice Diving

[popsiclediver]

Hi! I am about to take the plunge and get my Ice cert...Just wondering if there are any hints n tips to share with me before I get 'wet' - not really wet, 'cept for my face - being from Toronto and un-naturally 'cold', I dive dry here all year. I have my Master Cert,workin' on DM. I'm no stranger to 'cold water'; it's regularly 42-60 in spring/fall, but what about 'ice water'? Thanks!

 

[Jimmer]

I'm curious about this myself, since I'm doing my first ice dive this coming weekend, except I will be wet.

 

[pink_fins]

I did many in a wet suit...so stupid.
Like doing them in a dry suit so much better.
The difference I see is you are hooked on a line with two other divers. I have been lead, middle and end. Not sure which is better. Perhaps middle or end. The beginning diver has to sorta pull the other divers along in a circle under water.
If I am in the middle or end, I sorta wrap some rope around my hand so I have some control of the rope. You will see what I mean when you get under the water.

Sometime the waters are clearer under the ice. On one specific dive I remember there were three of us. We were all on the same line and when we came up we all saw different things. It was so funny only a few feft from each other and different things. LOL We laugh about that dive often.

I don't do much to help cut the hole. Just remember if you pull the blocks out to move them fast they stick to the ice very fast.

Oh, bring along some detergent it does something to the oil in the water from the chain saw.

The only moment I get the hebejeebees is the few seconds I have to pass the thick chunk of ice to get under the water. Then it is wide open.

Remember to play with your bubbles. Let me know if you can do a dive longer than 20 mins. By then my buddies and I can't move our lips LOL

gail

 

[Jimmer]

Gail what kind of water temps do you typically see under the ice?

 

[spectrum]

Oh, bring along some detergent it does something to the oil in the water from the chain saw

It emulsifies the oil so it can disperse in the water.

2nd winter in a row that local instructors cancel due to inadequate ice. It's enough to make you wonder about that global warming stuff.

 

[Rainer]

It emulsifies the oil so it can disperse in the water.

2nd winter in a row that local instructors cancel due to inadequate ice. It's enough to make you wonder about that global warming stuff.

Lots of ice in NH, and we're holding our class down at Hathaways on Cape Cod. It's been mighty cold the last few weeks...

 

[Jimmer]

We have plenty of ice here fortunetly.

 

[popsiclediver]

The class was at risk of being cancelled because of the beautiful winter we were having here, but now the course is back on... What kind of depth, or does it depend on the site? what kind of temperature difference is there between 60'- surface?
Thanks for the info, I'm more excited now!

 

[spectrum]

We have plenty of ice here fortunetly.

Really? Go figure! We must have ultraconservative instructors up here. When did Hathaway freeze over?

 

[pink_fins]

I find it ranges around 31 degrees give or take.

We usually do 1-2 dives a season. The guys up here want to fish or hunt so much it is hard to get them to saw a hole.

We don't have a shack like some. So we dive on a warm day with the sun out and preferbly not a lot of wind. We do have to do a long walk sinking in the snow with our gear on a sled.

What I really like is to do an ice dive before we do a spring trip so when the operation wants to see dive log they shake their heads.

Or if I can't do that try to do a warm water trip and ice dive in the same month.

It is so much more fun diving in a dry suit. I can remember it took me almost 3 days to get my body temp back to normal. But when you want to dive you take what you can get LOL

gail