pdoege
Contributor
Hey guys -
I dove MarineLand on Sunday. Got going a little bit late and arrived at 9:00. We were in the water by 9:45.
The water temperature was 66degrees F and the air temp started at 44 degrees and warmed to about 54 degrees by the time we were done. I was wearing a 2/3 wetsuit. The DM, Jim, had a nice DUI 350 drysuit. Bastard!
I was swimming pretty hard to stay warm. Swim and shoot. Swim and practice. My SCR was really bad. However, the water is so shallow that air consumption is not an issue.
The shower at MarineLand is not heated, more about that later.
For those of you who have not been, the diving takes place in the oceanarium. This is a large pool. Max. depth is 18 feet. There are two shallow sections that are about 9 feet deep. Pretty big.
There were 3 turtles. A male/female pair of greens and a big 75 year old loggerhead.
The turtles do pretty much whatever they want, so it is not unusual to have one of them bonk into you a bit. You are not allowed to touch the turtles, this can lead to some pretty funny avoidance manuevers.
There are around 400 fish in the oceanarium. The black drum are around 6 feet long. Really impressive. Lots of jack, tarpon, etc.
Two medium size nurse sharks round out the mix. They are really used to divers. I always take the time to pet them.
Marineland is nice because it allows you the opportunity to try out gear and techniques in a safe salt water environment. I took along a pair of rocket fins and a LP 120. I normally dive with Tusa splits and AL 80s.
The big steel tank really made me drop quickly. I don't wear a weight belt with a tshirt, so I was really heavy with my big light and tank.
The rocket fins did not fit my feet. The other DM, Alan, loaned me his Jet Fins. He is a big jet fin fan. The fins took a bit more work than the Tusas. I think I was more manuverable. Hard say. It was definitely easier to do frog kicks with them.
The LP 120 held a huge amount of air. I was down for a bit more than an hour and still had 1000 PSI left. Nice. Next time I'll ask for a cave fill and I'll stay down all day.
It was really cold when we got out. I rinsed my gear and took a shower. At the time I thought the shower was terribly cold. Not cold enough to make me want to smell like fish! The next person, our fearless leader Marta, let out good yelp when she turned on the water. Oh, how we laughed. That was the last time the shower was used.
I spent the rest of day goofing around in St. Augustine. Got home around 9:30. Busy day. Lots of fun.
I'll post the pictures in the UW Photography section when I get them downloaded from the camera.
Have a great day,
Peter Doege
I dove MarineLand on Sunday. Got going a little bit late and arrived at 9:00. We were in the water by 9:45.
The water temperature was 66degrees F and the air temp started at 44 degrees and warmed to about 54 degrees by the time we were done. I was wearing a 2/3 wetsuit. The DM, Jim, had a nice DUI 350 drysuit. Bastard!
I was swimming pretty hard to stay warm. Swim and shoot. Swim and practice. My SCR was really bad. However, the water is so shallow that air consumption is not an issue.
The shower at MarineLand is not heated, more about that later.
For those of you who have not been, the diving takes place in the oceanarium. This is a large pool. Max. depth is 18 feet. There are two shallow sections that are about 9 feet deep. Pretty big.
There were 3 turtles. A male/female pair of greens and a big 75 year old loggerhead.
The turtles do pretty much whatever they want, so it is not unusual to have one of them bonk into you a bit. You are not allowed to touch the turtles, this can lead to some pretty funny avoidance manuevers.
There are around 400 fish in the oceanarium. The black drum are around 6 feet long. Really impressive. Lots of jack, tarpon, etc.
Two medium size nurse sharks round out the mix. They are really used to divers. I always take the time to pet them.
Marineland is nice because it allows you the opportunity to try out gear and techniques in a safe salt water environment. I took along a pair of rocket fins and a LP 120. I normally dive with Tusa splits and AL 80s.
The big steel tank really made me drop quickly. I don't wear a weight belt with a tshirt, so I was really heavy with my big light and tank.
The rocket fins did not fit my feet. The other DM, Alan, loaned me his Jet Fins. He is a big jet fin fan. The fins took a bit more work than the Tusas. I think I was more manuverable. Hard say. It was definitely easier to do frog kicks with them.
The LP 120 held a huge amount of air. I was down for a bit more than an hour and still had 1000 PSI left. Nice. Next time I'll ask for a cave fill and I'll stay down all day.
It was really cold when we got out. I rinsed my gear and took a shower. At the time I thought the shower was terribly cold. Not cold enough to make me want to smell like fish! The next person, our fearless leader Marta, let out good yelp when she turned on the water. Oh, how we laughed. That was the last time the shower was used.
I spent the rest of day goofing around in St. Augustine. Got home around 9:30. Busy day. Lots of fun.
I'll post the pictures in the UW Photography section when I get them downloaded from the camera.
Have a great day,
Peter Doege
