What a great day! Cool, overcast, some rain but just right for bundling up in heavy undergarments to tackle the cold water in the quarry.
I though I'd summarize what went on for those who haven't participated in one of these. I've seen inquiries about what's provided, procedures, etc.
Mermet is located in S. Illinois near Metropolis. The facility is also a DUI dealer. This was my first participation; I did a dry suit certification class in September (not required by DUI to participate, they will provide basic instruction and a dive guide to go with non-dry certified divers) and wanted to get in a few more dry dives, try on several suit/undergarment styles, and decide whether I wanted to save my nickles and dimes (lots of them) for a dry rig.
Tickets are generally purchased in advance, from the facility hosting the affair, in this case Mermet. They are cheap and include a light lunch buffet. DUI will provide everything for tryout except tanks, weights, regs, masks, fins, and possibly gloves, if you don't dive with dry gloves. The BC provided is one of DUI's line, I used my own Ranger. Reefmaster digital camera rigs were also available to try but water conditons were cloudy from rain and lots of divers.
You check in, fill out a standard'ish waiver, provide a Driver's License or credit card (not charged but just as a deposit for return of the gear).It's a good idea to have your BC/tank/regs assembled first. Next, you start picking up gear in the DUI tents. They will attach a drysuit inflator hose to your reg if you don't have one. You must have some way of storing the 1st stage port plug that's removed.
There are plenty of staff/volunteers to help with this. I met Ryan Cannon, well known on digitialdiver.net, while he was helping out. I tried out the Polartech 300 undergarment with booties and a TLS 450 suit for the first dive. The 450 is fairly heavy trilaminate suit. Gearing up went fine, plenty of help and advice for newbies like me (cross the suspenders in back, not the front, zipper goes in front, etc.,
).
I tried on several sizes before finding a good fit, enough room inside to move freely with a little left over for heavier undergarments or a vest, but not so much as to fit too loosely. An XX seemed to work fine. ($100.00 retail surcharge, though, grrrr!). I like the Rockboots, too. I used a DUI dryneck hood. It fits over the neck seal (in retrospect, I wonder if this is a good thing as it makes the seal difficult to get to in an emergency) and keeps your head very warm. The suit had zipseals on the neck and wrists, easy to replace in the field.
Do make sure your fins have a boot pocket big enough; plan to borrow or rent if not. DUI had some Jetfins (I think) on hand for those who neede them. My Quattros are XXL, worked fine.
I'd gone up by myself, dove with one of the group assisting DUI who had no responsibilities at that point in time. The first dive was about 40 min (DUI asks that folks rotate in and out every 30min or so to allow as many people as possible to get gear, xx and xl sizes went fast). I dove with 26lbs lead, which was probably pretty close to the mark as I was slightly negative at 15' at the end of the dive with 1100 psi in the tank. Depth was a fairly constant 40-45 ft. Viz was low-rain plus lots of divers, including several large classes. Water temps dropped to about 60.
It was so great to be warm throughout the dive, even my hands in 3mm wet gloves didn't feel too cold.
I got out, stripped off the gear for another person, put some sweats on and had lunch and chatted about the equipment.
I got a TLS 350 XX for the second dive, that's the suit I was interested in, one size larger undergarment as the first one had been a bit snug length wise. I was also able to gear up unassisted except for getting a good grip on the zipper.
The second dive was great, same buddy as before. I was able to try a more horizontal descent and ascent, which I prefer to feet first, but didn't try a head down descent!!
We went out to the hopper car and 727, about 58' max dept, temp at 55' on the guage, colder on the thermometer on the 727. I was still warm, which is what I was shooting for. The use of the chest inflator to relieve squeeze and the BC for bouyancy fine tuning was coming more naturally. (Not the way PADI teaches it but seems most folks do it this way). By holding the inflator up with my left hand whenever I ascended slightly, I could vent the suit automatically through the left upper arm exhaust which was opened all the way and control the wing with the same arm/hand combo. Leaving the arm vent backed out kept the suit's bubble at ambient during ascents.
Dive time was about 40 min. Weighting was 26lb, worked very well, may try 24 and then again may not, I was slightly negative with about 1000lbs left and did not have the feeling I was overweighted underwater. 26lb would also likely be good with a vest in freshwater. Viz was bad towards the end.
Being warm is a good thing!!!!
One of the DUI folks check my measurements and filled out a measurement sheet and handed out discount coupons for add-ons to DUI suits if used in 6weeks. The measurement card can be used, obviously, anytime at any dealer. They were willing to talk about the advantages of their gear but never made an unsolicted sales pitch or commented one way or the other on other brands, very professional.
There were other activities into the evening, lectures, etc., but I had to return to Murray.
All in all, a fun day. Now to decide if I should spend that kind of money. Being warm and cozy was sure nice, though, and I imagine a safer dive than being somewhat chilled in a wetsuit. If you do one of these, get there early; they say 9:00 AM for starters but were set up and ready to go much earlier.
Sincerely,
Bill
