Should I wear a snorkel or not

[johndiver999]

Umm no its not. Pretty much all I dive is bpw, no issues face up. When it happened to me I was in a back inflate and I just laid back and held up the smb.

And for how long did you do this, on this particular day?

 

[James79]

The snorkel thread is still going on two years later

And a year and a half after the OP last signed in....

 

[formernuke]

And for how long did you do this, on this particular day?

Irrelevant, I can lay back and float on my back for a very long time.

 

[johndiver999]

Irrelevant, I can lay back and float on my back for a very long time.

Sure you can, in rough seas and a bp/W or in a pool?

I find it very tiring and frustrating and of course you are helpless in that position because you can't see if a boat is going to run you down. A snorkel is a huge advantage when you are "stuck" on the surface of the ocean when there is wind.

The problem at the surface is the one thing I hate about all the BP/W's I have.

I stopped taking a snorkel years ago, since it seemed like enough trouble just dealing with a head mounted go pro, but to be honest, I don't have much issues with the camera when snorkeling, so maybe I should try wearing the snorkel again for scuba.

 

[Waterwulf]

No, the boat wasn't tied off to a buoy. It was anchored. The buoy was attached to the anchor line when it became clear that they were going to have to dump it. They dumped it so they could find the exact spot again. It was 1975. No GPS and radar bearings on condos on shore were iffy.

Our "dive club" boat was a converted trawler, wide and low draft and it did not like large swells. The Captain made the decision to leave the area for the safety of the passengers and boat. Per him: He notified Coast Guard Station Destin that he was doing and that he expected to retrieve us within a couple of hours but it was only about an hour. I heard him make the follow up call that he had retrieved us both and all was well.

The main dissent with my account seems to be the size of the swells. Well, I was there and you weren't. No, I didn't have a tape measure to measure them with but they were about three times my girlfriends height and she was five foot tall. I could see that when we slid up one side and down the other side. Could my perspective have been off? Sure! They could have been only twelve feet tall but they could have been taller too.

The people on the dive boat told us that the waves were approaching the height of the deck house when they decided to leave. That would have been ten feet. They waited for us as long as they could but we never heard the recall signal. (A hammer on an iron pipe dangling in the water)

As far as depth was concerned: It was about a hundred and ten feet. That's shallow enough to push any big rollers coming in up into swells on the surface. They may have been coming in from far away to arrive on the coast with the daily Squalls. The Squalls were a daily thing and normally didn't interfere with our dives but this one did.

Some people here have claimed that we would never have survived what I described. That's just stupid. People survive worse. The swells themselves are not destructive if you move with them. The waves are destructive to people but people surf bigger waves than fifteen foot for crying out loud!! My girlfriend and I had NAUI certifications but my training was taught by much more enthusiastic Instructors.

We were fine. We held hands but facing in opposite directions. We were wearing nice Horse Collar BC's so were able float without having to fight it. We were both scared but not panicked. We both had a lot of dive experience, had paid attention in training and that training was first rate. Just as important, we had confidence in the pople on the dive boat and their training. We knew what they had done as soon as we surfaced and we knew they would come back for us because we trained for it.

I stated that the swells were fifteen feet tall. Yes, they could have been only twelve feet tall but they could have been sixteen feet tall too. I could only measure them by eye. However, the people on the boat backed that up so I'm sticking with fifteen feet.

I have to admit that I get a kick out of the attempts to discredit my account of the events. "Fifteen foot swells would destroy all boats and human life". Sheesh! You need to get out more! "Yes, I know all about squalls because I live in Florida. I surface in them all of the time". Say what? Why would you willingly dive in Squalls in this day and age of weather forecasting? "A squall can absolutely not generate fifteen foot swells". Maybe not but I stated that it was summer. You know...storm season in Florida? I've been on the beach and seen monstrous breakers blasting in and not a cloud in the sky. Maybe from a storm down around Cuba someplace?

The bottom line is that i was there and you were not. I don't care if you doubt the account as I've stated it. I am very sure that our snorkels and Horse Collar BC's saved our lives but absolutely positive? How can I be? Did you NOT get a flat because your spare is in good shape? How can you know? But I'm sure enough that I will contiune to use my Horse Collar BC and snorkel. Hmmm! Maybe that's why some people doubt my account of the events? Because they doubt that they could survive with no snorkel and a BCD that actively tries to drown you?

 

[Cthippo]

I use my snorkel nearly every dive.

I pretty much exclusively beach dive and there is almost always a significant surface swim before I am where I want to submerge. Since my daily diver is a steel 72 that gives me maybe 35 minutes of air, I don't want to burn that during the relatively strenuous surface swim because I would rather have it for use under the water. That said, on the swim back I will often breathe on my reg because the work of breathing is less and hey, less air is less weight to carry back to the car.

I've seen divers who can swim on their back in a BPW, but I have never figured that skill out.

 

[N2877]

I plan on keeping my snorkel on my mask for now like I did 20 ish years ago. But I’m looking ain’t I getting a folding one as well incase I get into tech diving where it would be in my way

 

[Waterwulf]

I like to snorkel too so when I do, I use the little keeper to keep it on my mask but when I dive, I take it off and stick it thru my knife straps. Then when I surface, I get it out and stick it up thru my mask strap if I need it.

 

[Celt]

No, the boat wasn't tied off to a buoy. It was anchored. The buoy was attached to the anchor line when it became clear that they were going to have to dump it. They dumped it so they could find the exact spot again. It was 1975. No GPS and radar bearings on condos on shore were iffy.

Our "dive club" boat was a converted trawler, wide and low draft and it did not like large swells. The Captain made the decision to leave the area for the safety of the passengers and boat. Per him: He notified Coast Guard Station Destin that he was doing and that he expected to retrieve us within a couple of hours but it was only about an hour. I heard him make the follow up call that he had retrieved us both and all was well.

The main dissent with my account seems to be the size of the swells. Well, I was there and you weren't. No, I didn't have a tape measure to measure them with but they were about three times my girlfriends height and she was five foot tall. I could see that when we slid up one side and down the other side. Could my perspective have been off? Sure! They could have been only twelve feet tall but they could have been taller too.

The people on the dive boat told us that the waves were approaching the height of the deck house when they decided to leave. That would have been ten feet. They waited for us as long as they could but we never heard the recall signal. (A hammer on an iron pipe dangling in the water)

As far as depth was concerned: It was about a hundred and ten feet. That's shallow enough to push any big rollers coming in up into swells on the surface. They may have been coming in from far away to arrive on the coast with the daily Squalls. The Squalls were a daily thing and normally didn't interfere with our dives but this one did.

Some people here have claimed that we would never have survived what I described. That's just stupid. People survive worse. The swells themselves are not destructive if you move with them. The waves are destructive to people but people surf bigger waves than fifteen foot for crying out loud!! My girlfriend and I had NAUI certifications but my training was taught by much more enthusiastic Instructors.

We were fine. We held hands but facing in opposite directions. We were wearing nice Horse Collar BC's so were able float without having to fight it. We were both scared but not panicked. We both had a lot of dive experience, had paid attention in training and that training was first rate. Just as important, we had confidence in the pople on the dive boat and their training. We knew what they had done as soon as we surfaced and we knew they would come back for us because we trained for it.

I stated that the swells were fifteen feet tall. Yes, they could have been only twelve feet tall but they could have been sixteen feet tall too. I could only measure them by eye. However, the people on the boat backed that up so I'm sticking with fifteen feet.

I have to admit that I get a kick out of the attempts to discredit my account of the events. "Fifteen foot swells would destroy all boats and human life". Sheesh! You need to get out more! "Yes, I know all about squalls because I live in Florida. I surface in them all of the time". Say what? Why would you willingly dive in Squalls in this day and age of weather forecasting? "A squall can absolutely not generate fifteen foot swells". Maybe not but I stated that it was summer. You know...storm season in Florida? I've been on the beach and seen monstrous breakers blasting in and not a cloud in the sky. Maybe from a storm down around Cuba someplace?

The bottom line is that i was there and you were not. I don't care if you doubt the account as I've stated it. I am very sure that our snorkels and Horse Collar BC's saved our lives but absolutely positive? How can I be? Did you NOT get a flat because your spare is in good shape? How can you know? But I'm sure enough that I will contiune to use my Horse Collar BC and snorkel. Hmmm! Maybe that's why some people doubt my account of the events? Because they doubt that they could survive with no snorkel and a BCD that actively tries to drown you?

I think people find it hard to understand what the sea can do given the right conditions and geography. I worked on an ocean going tug and we had to tow a factory ship, that had caught fire on Irelands west coast, down to Spain. We met bad weather in the Bay of Biscay and the seas were over 20 feet which blew off all her navigation lights and we thought we lost her, but no we still had her, but couldn’t haul her in til the weather settled.
Edit: sea was approximately 20 feet with large odd waves much bigger.

 

[L13]

I think people find it hard to understand what the sea can do given the right conditions and geography. I worked on an ocean going tug and we had to tow a factory ship, that had caught fire on Irelands west coast, down to Spain. We met bad weather in the Bay of Biscay and the seas were over 20 feet which blew off all her navigation lights and we thought we lost her, but no we still had her, but couldn’t haul her in til the weather settled.
Edit: sea was approximately 20 feet with large odd waves much bigger.

Were people diving an hour before, and later that day?