**Newbie needs advice**

[Boomer]

Well now i hate myself, i'm so stupid. Ok after a nasty bike accedent, salt water is teh LAST thing i need right now. I had just left work to go home on my bike, and ont of the gears slipped. And well my right foot went straight at the tire on my mountain bike, so it would grab my shoe and well, broken ankle at least there. So i do the natural reaction and i turn hard, eneded up i over reacted and the tire went 90* bike stopped, i diddnt. Baddly scraped elbow. Big enough i have to use the pads and quaze(SP?) it. Deep cuts out of my left pointer and middle finger. and road rash up boath arms.
I'm mad. I was gonna start beggin my dad to tkae me down to the dive shop to start the entire certification precess thingy.

Grrrr. stupid bike

 

[SubMariner]

Sorry to hear about your spill, Boomer. But as a fellow Mtn Biker who also dives, I can assure you that you'll be in the water in no time. Just give yourself a chance to heal for a couple of weeks.

During a vacation when we were biking AND diving I whacked into a tree on a particularly tech portion of the trail. Fortunately, my gloves saved *most* of my finger. But there was a 3" gash near the tip that was nasty enough to need stitches. (However, because of the location, it couldn't be.)

Anyways, to make a long story short, I was diving in a week; I just taped a latex finger cot over the bandage in such a way so it wouldn't get wet, and jumped right in.

Anyways, get well soon, guy! It *could* have been worse!

~SubMariner~

P.S: Guess you need some clipless peddles, eh?!

 

[old_mike]

i got into a serious argument with a big prickly Bougainvillea bush once. It got a piece of me, and i got a few pieces of it (in my hands, face, hair, knees etc). When you are like me and you get in the water before all those cuts and scrapes have healed, be prepared for some minor infections. For some reason, salt water seems to inhibit healing (especially warm tropical water). It doesn't seem to be a big deal, but, if the water is polluted where you dive, you may want to wait 'till those cuts and scrapes scab over. In the meantime, get the reading materials that pertain to your C-card, and start studying that. When you start the pool sessions, you'll be ahead of the curve!

 

[King_Neptune]

mike,

Were you serious about the Salt Water causing infection?
I always found the Ocean water to do wonders for the skin. Of course that all includes a nice cool shower afterwards. After a good Salt Water scrubbing, a shower, maybe a little lotion and an Ice Cold Coke I feel like brand new, like Grandmas old tarnished coffee table that has been sanded and refinished! hehe

I thought that's why they made those bath SALTs to soak in.

But then again I never said I was normal, heck, if Im out of water for too long, my scales start to flake and my gills get alittle scratchy!

=-)

 

[old_mike]

actually, its not the salt water per se, so much as it is all the bacteria (and in some places, the protozoans) in the water. If you're off of Catalina, where the water's pretty clean, there should be no problem. If you're shore diving off of Huntington Beach after a rainstorm, hoo boy! watch out!!! (one time, at Treasure Island, Laguna Beach, my buddy and i were exiting in the rain and black sulfurous sludge was oozing out of a storm drain right into the water, not 100 yards from where we exited!) Also, many tropical dive resorts are located in less than clean water. One resort in Indonesia buries their trash on the beach (and the tide uncovers the stuff) and the sewage just drains directly into the water, not 300 yards from a couple of popular wrecks and 200 yards from a popular shallow shore diving spot. I got a small cut while futzing with my camera housing on that trip (topside) and the cut didn't heal until two weeks later!

BTW, you stay outta those gill nets you hear ; )

 

[Boomer]

omg this topic is still here. I'm all better now but the water here in FL is FREEZING, at least to me a pure Floridian. If its not 90*, I say it's cold. Can't wait till summer now, I'll get certified eventualy.

 

[DivingGal]

Cold at 90 degrees? Sorry Boomer while I hold my sides 'cause they hurt with all the laughing!

Some of us in the "Great White North" never see that kind of temp (unless we travel of course). Last summer I thought I was in possitively hot water when it got above 70. Got down into my shortie and had some fine dives. But then some of the others on this board think we northern types use anti-freeze and the like to keep warm.

Enjoy, let us know how you progress with your classes.

 

[turnerjd]

Can some-one post the ForeignHeit - centigrade conversion formula for me, 'cos I can't think in ForeignHeight.

Ta

Jon

 

[DivingGal]

For now 90F = 32C, 70F = 21, but check out
http://wwwfg.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/~ig59/temperature.html

 

[DameDykker]

Hi jon

One Formula comming up:

(F-32)/1.8=C or C*1.8+32=F

if you want to do a quick cal. use (F-30)/2, it is accurate enough for most temp. about frezing in the dive interesting range.

DSAO