Pelham Ala Blue Water--water fine? air too cold?

[Granny Scuba]

We are thinking about going to Pelham (Alabama Blue Water) tomorrow morning. I would think the water temp would not have changed that much, but the air temp will be 47 F in the morning and only a high of 52F.

What do most folks do who dive in wet suits do during their surface time when its 50 degrees outside?

thanks


(edit) we were thinking of maybe bringing a tent and a stadium heater

and yuck...just the idea of doffing and donning a a wet wetsuit in an hour suface period

 

[Docc]

The water temps are not changed much. I dive there year round.

 

[bamamedic]

There's a hot water shower!

When I dove wet in the winter, I would doff my wetsuit between dives, and warm it up in the hot water before putting it back on.

You can always warm up in the dive shop if you get too cold

 

[sdorn]

So did you go? We are planning to go tomorrow. How was the water temp? What did you do for your surface intervals to keep warm?

 

[Granny Scuba]

So did you go? We are planning to go tomorrow. How was the water temp? What did you do for your surface intervals to keep warm?

Yes, it was 46F at 9AM and I am not sure if ever got above 51F. While the air was cold the water was fine. We actually wore 3mil Farmer Johns which gave us 6 mils on our core., and we didnt get cold in the water. I dont have a hood, nor did I miss it.

Water temp:
65 feet ......67 degrees (south of the main platform)
56 feet .......65 degrees (north of the main platform)
25 feet....... 68 degrees
7 feet.........72 degrees

Surface time:
We took an old tent and used a propane heater. We actually had a longer surface time than we had planned because some friends joined for conversation in our warm tent. I had a crock pot of hot soup. (even though we didnt have any electricity, the soup stayed warm in the crock)

I left my wetsuit on and was fine in our tent. My husband removed his, but then he had to put a wet wetsuit back on for the 2nd dive. Neither of us would change this, I still think i would rather leave my WS on rather than donn it again cold and wet, and he would still prefer to don warm clothes and then get back into his wet WS for the 2nd dive.

The owners had set up a portable pavlilon and had attached tarps to the sides to help with the wind, but I dont think they had a heater. I would have been miserable if we had not brought our tent and heater, although there were lots of people there who had no warm shelter. I did see a motorhome and a couple of other pavilions with tarps attached,

Just a note: The visibility didnt seem to be as good as it was mid-september. This surprised us. as everyone said that it vis is usually better in October. of course we have had a lot of rain lately.

Yall have fun!

 

[sdorn]

Great! Thanks for the info. We might have to pick us up a heater at a Wal-Mart on the way. That sounds like the ticket.

 

[Docc]

Water temp:
65 feet ......67 degrees (south of the main platform)
56 feet .......65 degrees (north of the main platform)
25 feet....... 68 degrees
7 feet.........72 degrees
Yall have fun!

139 feet.......53 degrees, but strangely, it didn't feel that cold.



Posted via Mobile Device

 

[bamamedic]

I never felt cold at depth, either...although, I had an interesting conversation with myself on one deeper dive where it took me about 5 min to figure out why I was shaking...oh! I was shivering

I think I'm going to have to skip next weekend's worth of diving, Docc, but I should be back underwater on the 31st (if my doctor clears me....*sigh*)

 

[Docc]

I never felt cold at depth, either...although, I had an interesting conversation with myself on one deeper dive where it took me about 5 min to figure out why I was shaking...oh! I was shivering

I think I'm going to have to skip next weekend's worth of diving, Docc, but I should be back underwater on the 31st (if my doctor clears me....*sigh*)

You need to get COMPLETELY over that crud. I'm doing AN with Ben this weekend and DP next weekend so I'll be around anyway.

 

[Granny Scuba]

Yes, it was 46F at 9AM and I am not sure if it ever got above 51F. While the air was cold the water was fine. We actually wore 3mil Farmer Johns which gave us 6 mils on our core., and we didnt get cold in the water. I dont have a hood, nor did I miss it.

Water temp:
65 feet ......67 degrees (south of the main platform)
56 feet .......65 degrees (north of the main platform)
25 feet....... 68 degrees
7 feet.........72 degrees

Sat 11-28-2009 at Ala Blue Water (Pelham, Al)
Air: 46 degrees at 9AM and 60 degrees at 1PM

Water
65 feet .......55 -61 degrees
10 feet ...... 63 degree

This data is from 4 different computers.

I wore a 5 mil jumpsuit over a 1/2 mil skin and was fine.
My hubby bought me a 5 mil hoodie....I hated it....and took it off during the second dive. I dont know how cold it would have to be for me to want a hood. Nor did I need gloves.

We plan on doing this again in the winter, So I will update again.