Texas specifically....How do you define visibility?

[cyklon_300]

last week by swimming into it...what does that make the vis?

 

[freediver]

I try to follow freediver's use of the phototopic beam coefficent when possible, assuming the transmissometer I picked up at Dairy Queen has a refreshed set of gerbils to operate the flywheel. However I have the darndest time maintaining a waterproof seal with those ziploc baggies!

Sheez, i thought I told you Burger King has much nicer Transmissometers and you can upsize to a large fry if you get the larger gerbils! People, I can't do this FOR you!

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Wow, this thread has gone waaaaay fftopic:

If I can see it and I have an idea of what it is, thats my limit.

More specifically, if I can see fins 7 feet away before they disappear in the muck and mud from the nearby OW class, I call the vis 7 feet.

I'll also use a range. If the vis is 2 feet by the OW class and 10 feet in the open quarry, that's what I call it.

TwoBit

 

[chrispete]

One trick I use at Twin Lakes is to look at the suspended platforms. If I can see half of the plat, 6-11 foot viz, if I see all of it, 12-15 foot viz. If I run into the platform before seeing it, 1-5 foot viz. If I can't see my compass pressed against my mask to find the platform, well...

 

[Dee]

last week by swimming into it...what does that make the vis?

Hard!

Hey Chris.....nice to see ya!

 

[texdiveguy]

LOL..... help I think my mask is fogged over!!!!!!

 

[archman]

Sheez, i thought I told you Burger King has much nicer Transmissometers and you can upsize to a large fry if you get the larger gerbils!

I refuse to go to Burger King... I don't care how much better their gerbils are, I won't eat flame broiled patties!

Here's a technique I used to use at Windy Point. If you can clearly see across the entire length of a training platform, the vis is "o.k." and good enough for diving. I think I log it down as between 8-12 feet, depending on how cold the water is. Cold water makes me grumpy, and I negatively bias the report.

And although this is only secondhand information, I've been told that if you can make out bright flashes of color from your dive buddy in Offat's Bayou, it's a good day.

If you can see the equivalent of one body length on the Port Aransas jetties, the vis is "outstanding" and you should at least snorkel around before the boat traffic messes it up.

 

[pipedope]

Vis chart.

Can I see anything?
Yes = good vis

Can I see something before I can touch it?
Yes = GREAT VIS!

 

[rkon]

In the ocean I judge vizibility by looking up. At the deepest depth were I can still make out waves-ripples on the surface then my depth is equal to the viz.

In fresh water it doesn't work some of the time. Under the thermocline the viz is often quite different than on the surface. In this case I look ahead and when an object comes in view I count body lenghts between me and the object as I swim towards it. I´m about 1.75 metres long so it gives me another fairly consistent method.

R..

Vis is generally measured horizontally.

 

[BigJetDriver]

last week by swimming into it...what does that make the vis?

Normal.

Around here, if you bump into something and it hurts, run your hands over it. It is probably the stolen car you are looking for.

If it is soft, it is probably the body you are searching for!

Either way, well done!