Silt, don't mess around

[fan(t)a(s)tic]

I just had my first couple of dives in a lake. Fortunately I have a friend of mine who's a DM and took me along and really went out of her way to show me the what the differences are.

One such example was really impressive. We were traversing a slope which looked quite similar to those pristine snowfields up in the mountains, except that it was some off green color and not white.

She stopped and begann to move her hand up and down about a foot off the surface of that slope and the whole area sort of followed her movement. It looked a lot like a blanket moving that way. At moment I realized "This is all loose material" and thought I'd learned something.

My friend looked at me and suddenly put her hand into the mud and pulled out a good handful of dirt. The silt just plumed outwards like an ash cloud when a volcano errupts. It didn't spread very far and we stayed well outside of it, but I now know from first hand experience why a siltout can be so d**n dangerous. I thought I knew before, but that demonstration really made me believe! :11:

Just thought I'd share this experience with those who think they know what it is like. (just as I did before)

 

[gerardnealon]

My buddy got entangled in her own reel one time in a silt out, it was really frusterating trying to get her out w/o being able to see anything. The vis dropped to 0. We were in not danger, plenty of air and a simple knife cut would have done the trick. We gave it a minute and got her loose. It's definetly an experience getting caught in one.

 

[s7595]

did a dive in crystal river fl and some studants were there and the vis was great ,then I felt like Iwas in a snow storm could not even see the fish

 

[Spectre]

There is a local lake around here that is great for anti-silting practice. The bottom is absolutely unforgiving. If you're slightly head up; a frog kick will cause little tornadoes to begin on the bottom. A while back we mis-navigated ourselves into where a class had been earlier. The vis went from 40' to where you couldn't see the bottom until you were 3 inches from it.

 

[jbd]

There is a local lake around here that is great for anti-silting practice. The bottom is absolutely unforgiving. If you're slightly head up; a frog kick will cause little tornadoes to begin on the bottom. A while back we mis-navigated ourselves into where a class had been earlier. The vis went from 40' to where you couldn't see the bottom until you were 3 inches from it.

I really enjoy that kind of diving environment. It is good for developing good finning technique. Kind of fun looking for golf balls in those conditions. Makes it easy to do a 180 and follow your way back if you have disturbed the bottom even if very slightly.

 

[Quarrior]

Our main diving (silt) hole here is basically a navigation and finning training ground. All of the shops here use it for all of their classes. The feeling is, if you can get comfortable diving in that environment, you'll have absolutely no problem in good clear water.

I have to agree. I admit, it's not the most pleasant and fun environment to dive in, but, it's awesome to practice in, especially if you have any plans for confined space diving, like caves and wrecks.

Brian

 

[Spectre]

Kind of fun looking for golf balls in those conditions.

Now that's funny! Since one of those dives; we were swimming back in....

"Man this is a long swim. I wonder how much farther. OOH Golf ball... getting close!"

 

[Rick Inman]

About a year ago I went on a group lake dive with a bunch from a LDS. The instructor gave the dive plan:
Head out to 60', look at the trash, follow the silt cloud back.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

About a year ago I went on a group lake dive with a bunch from a LDS. The instructor gave the dive plan:
Head out to 60', look at the trash, follow the silt cloud back.

Too funny but too true. Especially here where a Bud can or a white wall tire practically qualify as dive sites. I spend most of my time frog kicking and modified flutter kicking to ensure I can look behind me and see no trace that I have even been there. I avoid kicking up silt just on principle.

So after buddying on several dives with an instuctor and otherwise very good diver, I asked him why he always stirred up so much silt when diving. His answer was, of course, that he used the silt to navigate back to the ascent line. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[archman]

So after buddying on several dives with an instuctor and otherwise very good diver, I asked him why he always stirred up so much silt when diving. His answer was, of course, that he used the silt to navigate back to the ascent line.

Yeah right! Did you cue him on that response, or did he make it up by himself? What a weenie!

I know a few "advanced divers" myself that haven't a clue about the siltation they cause in their wake. Boo!