I'm D-U-N done!!!!

[NateSmith]

after doing a "helicopter" view I would make a map on graph paper of what I remembered and approximately where it was. then I would make a plan for mapping it (starting point, how many tanks, etc) and start the dive. I would ensure that I had plenty of time and air for completing the project. I'd start in the morning and make a dive, taking measurements and marking my end point. then i'd come up and transfer my notes to something dry (notebook in car or graph "helo" view). Then I'd go back to my SMB that marked the end of my dive and would start again from there. Again, like all other things, the death is in the planning of the thing. 95% planning, 5% work. if you know "i'll make 4 kick cycles and measure/observe" then you should be good.

in the case of wind and swell.............. i'd do my best to guesstimate and would make the most accurate S.W.A.G (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) possible.

The important thing to remember is that (to me) the map is kinda like the Pirate's Code..... more of a guide than a concrete thing. it's impossible to GPS mark everything so if I could tell some one "approximately 100m past the point on this heading is the SE corner of the reef at a depth of 65 feet".

If I'm wrong in this please let me know. I'm all about learning different and better techniques.

 

[SpaceGeek]

Congrats Divemaster! I thoroughly enjoyed my mapping project. We did the deep half of a quarry and it took most of two weekends. We marked key spots with painted milk jugs that were weighted or tied in to a feature. Measured distances and azimuths and pulled out graph paper and did some trigonometry to double check my measurements.

Bri

 

[Diver0001]

after doing a "helicopter" view I would make a map on graph paper of what I remembered and approximately where it was. then I would make a plan for mapping it (starting point, how many tanks, etc) and start the dive.
...snip...

The important thing to remember is that (to me) the map is kinda like the Pirate's Code..... more of a guide than a concrete thing. it's impossible to GPS mark everything so if I could tell some one "approximately 100m past the point on this heading is the SE corner of the reef at a depth of 65 feet".

If I'm wrong in this please let me know. I'm all about learning different and better techniques.

Sounds like a good approach to me. First make a helicopter view and based on what you saw make a plan to accurately map the most prominent features.

Many people forget about getting a helicopter view and then lose sight of what they're doing because they're focused on the task of taking data. I did that on my DM course. I made 12 dives (and had planned for 24!) on a site that could have been mapped well enough for the exercise with 2 dives.

The map is intended to be used for the briefing so it really isn't relevant to map depths to a high degree of accuracy. In many cases the slope of the bottom will be fairly predictable so if it were me and we were looking for quick and efficient then I would swim over the bottom in a big sweep and make a note of approximate distances to 10ft depth intervals. I personally wouldn't measure it with a line or with kick cycles but with time. If you say 650ft from shore, people don't really relate to that. But if you say 15 minutes of easy swimming then people can put it in context better, IMO. So the map would have depths and swim times and distances overlayed but as extrapolated from your swim times and not measured to the metre.

In your case the map would show the reef corner at 65ft at heading "X" and 5 minutes of slow paced swimming or something like that.

Once you start thinking about mapping in terms of direction and time the job becomes a lot easier. If you know (and this is easy to figure out) how far you normally swim at an easy pace in 10 mintues then you can graph it in terms of distance as well by knowing your time.

Then all you need to do is swim over the site at a steady pace and mark your time and heading at 10ft depth intervals and you'll have the whole site, even a fairly large one, in terms of the general bottom depth laid out after 1 dive. Using a nav finder to mark this information is dead easy. Think of each little square as 1 minute of swimming.

You also mark major features on the nav finder as you go, but don't take the details on the first dive. After you have the whole dive area helicopter view then you can decide after the fact which features you want to draw out in detail for your map. Those ones can be dived on a subsequent dives.

Anyway that's what I would do.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

Here's an example of a map I drew using the technique I described in my previous post for a site just after they installed about 100 reefballs.

It's a quick and dirty map but gives you all the details you need to give a briefing. Times, depths, and with enough detail on (in this case) the one major feature.

The area we mapped was about 300x300 metres. depending on how fast you swim it, you would need 2 or 3 dives to collect all the relevant information.

R..

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Congrats! It is a great feeling, isn't it! Especially when you consider the number of folks that start the program but, for whatever reason, never finish it. It's alot of work and takes dedication and persistence.

 

[NateSmith]

Diver0001,

Thanks for the info. I shoulda asked on here before I attempted mine. Your advice woulda made the project a lot less scary.

Thanks everybody for the congrats. It's definitely a good feeling. My instructor suggested that I go ahead and get my AI out of the way so that's what I'm going to look at doing next.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Diver0001,

Thanks for the info. I shoulda asked on here before I attempted mine. Your advice woulda made the project a lot less scary.

Thanks everybody for the congrats. It's definitely a good feeling. My instructor suggested that I go ahead and get my AI out of the way so that's what I'm going to look at doing next.

My only advice would be to get some real DMing experience with various groups of students before moving onto the next level. If possible, it would also be good to DM for a number of different instructors.

 

[NateSmith]

Cool, I will do that. I've been helping with classes for the last several months under a couple of different instructors. Will continue to do it. I've also taken out my whaler with friends and have done the wait while they dive thing a few times. I'm uber excited about this.

 

[DCBC]

Congratulations Nate!

 

[Doitdeeper]

Congrats Nate. Out of curiosity, how long did it take you?