Steve Eady
Contributor
try howells dive shop in redding, we use wiskeytown lake. temp is around 62 now. great instructors also
Is there a good place to take Rescue in warmer water?
- Thread starter DukeAMO
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OP
DukeAMO
Contributor
Howells had zero interest in my business (no Rescue coming up, and they didn't really want to take my name in case they add one either). I signed up with Dolphin Scuba in Sacramento. Fulsom Lake's not exactly shangri-la 
, but I think it'll work. I'm quite comfortable in low-vis.
Maybe I'll try Monterey diving later this year, just not for Rescue.
, but I think it'll work. I'm quite comfortable in low-vis.Maybe I'll try Monterey diving later this year, just not for Rescue.
Why not do your rescue course from a boat platform near Carmel? If your regular diving is from a boat that makes more sense. It's especially fun to drag an inert diver up a swim step and over a transom. If you can't do it with cold water gear on you've learned a valuable lesson about your fitness to dive locally. Taking a rescue course and engineering it to not be "too hard" seems foolish.
OP
DukeAMO
Contributor
I think you missed the post where I said that I'm basically a warm-water diver.
Let me explain: If I wanted to get Rescue certified in the cold Pacific, I would want about 10 dives in that environment under my belt first. If I waited until I got 10 cold-water Pacific dives in, at the rate that I dive in cold water, it might take me 10 years to get Rescue certified. In that time, I'll hopefully log a couple of hundred warm water dives. I would rather take Rescue before those couple of hundred warm water dives.
Learning how to get someone out of the ocean onto a boat would be good practice. I hope they have a platform at Fulsom; I guess we'll see.
Let me explain: If I wanted to get Rescue certified in the cold Pacific, I would want about 10 dives in that environment under my belt first. If I waited until I got 10 cold-water Pacific dives in, at the rate that I dive in cold water, it might take me 10 years to get Rescue certified. In that time, I'll hopefully log a couple of hundred warm water dives. I would rather take Rescue before those couple of hundred warm water dives.
Learning how to get someone out of the ocean onto a boat would be good practice. I hope they have a platform at Fulsom; I guess we'll see.
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10 dives is a weekend. We're not operating from the same basis of understanding. Good luck with your rescue course.
DM'd many rescue classes for a couple instructors that worked out of Dolphins and they were all from shore didn't matter if they were at a local lake or the ocean. If you are going to be diving mostly in the ocean do it in the ocean. I'm not a fan taking classes in a lake when you have the ocean as an option and that is were you are going to be diving, many differences! If you are going to only warm water dive from a boat then do it on your next vacation so it is in the enviroment that you will be diving in. The ocean has swell, current, kelp etc. that a lake won't give you. There is not a lot of actual diving in the class and if you are truely participating in the class the cool water will feel good.
OP
DukeAMO
Contributor
I understand what you're saying. I'm OK with getting 80% of the skills now and the ocean-specific 20% later.
What I can do is practice some of the skills with my husband (already Rescue certified in a lake) on an ocean boat dive later. The rescue breaths and tows we could practice on any surface interval, as long as we clear it with the captain and DM so they don't worry. I wouldn't try the panicked diver or getting an unresponsive diver onto a boat without some very experienced divers supervising/helping, though. Sometimes we dive with friends in North Carolina who are DMs/instructors/technical, and they might not mind a little extra adventure on a surface interval one of these days.
Navigating search patterns, finding a missing diver, and surfacing a diver are actually more difficult in a lake with poor visibility, so that part will be good to do in a lake.
I had a look at my log:
Fresh water dives (mostly < 20ft visibility): 19
Ocean dives: 14
Aquarium dives (not a pool): 2
Warm water (over 75 degrees): 17
Cool water (60-75 degrees, all in fresh water): 16
Cold water (below 60 degrees, all in fresh water): 2, and I didn't like it
What gets me is not just the cold water itself. It's the 7+7mm wetsuit and the heavy weights that go with it. Hauling around that extra weight is hard on my knees and ankles (32lbs of lead in fresh water last time). It's also beyond my BCD's lift capacity. You have to pay twice as much attention to buoyancy control too. If my buddy's life depended on it, I might be able to pull off a rescue in that environment, but I might also hurt myself in the process. It's just too much, sorry. You CA coast divers are tougher than me. We're only here temporarily, moving back to North Carolina this winter.
It's a good idea to take Rescue in warm ocean water, but I don't think the cards would line up for that for another year or two. It's hard enough to leave the kids with my husband for two days locally!
What I can do is practice some of the skills with my husband (already Rescue certified in a lake) on an ocean boat dive later. The rescue breaths and tows we could practice on any surface interval, as long as we clear it with the captain and DM so they don't worry. I wouldn't try the panicked diver or getting an unresponsive diver onto a boat without some very experienced divers supervising/helping, though. Sometimes we dive with friends in North Carolina who are DMs/instructors/technical, and they might not mind a little extra adventure on a surface interval one of these days.
Navigating search patterns, finding a missing diver, and surfacing a diver are actually more difficult in a lake with poor visibility, so that part will be good to do in a lake.
I had a look at my log:
Fresh water dives (mostly < 20ft visibility): 19
Ocean dives: 14
Aquarium dives (not a pool): 2
Warm water (over 75 degrees): 17
Cool water (60-75 degrees, all in fresh water): 16
Cold water (below 60 degrees, all in fresh water): 2, and I didn't like it
What gets me is not just the cold water itself. It's the 7+7mm wetsuit and the heavy weights that go with it. Hauling around that extra weight is hard on my knees and ankles (32lbs of lead in fresh water last time). It's also beyond my BCD's lift capacity. You have to pay twice as much attention to buoyancy control too. If my buddy's life depended on it, I might be able to pull off a rescue in that environment, but I might also hurt myself in the process. It's just too much, sorry. You CA coast divers are tougher than me. We're only here temporarily, moving back to North Carolina this winter.
It's a good idea to take Rescue in warm ocean water, but I don't think the cards would line up for that for another year or two. It's hard enough to leave the kids with my husband for two days locally!
I noticed you said you use 32lbs of weight in fresh water that seems like a lot of weight. Without knowing your weight and I'm not asking but seems you are overweighted. I'm 6' 1'' and weigh 220lbs and with a 7mm wetsuit, hood, gloves etc. I use 16 - 18lbs in fresh water depending on witch of my tanks I use and 20 - 22lbs in salt water with the same gear. Just a thought you might want to work on dropping some of the lead then do rescue. You can learn a lot about yourself and diving by just going out and dive! Just my 2 cents.
Above is mentioned 7+7 mil wetsuit, 32 lbs is not unreasonable.
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