That final 15 feet....
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Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Especially on 'tourist' dives I have seen far too many people who seem to think that once they have done a safety stop that's it, the dive is over, and they shoot to the surface. I have even seen people inflate their BC at the end of the safety stop and go up like a Polaris missile and then laugh about it.
It's entirely the wrong thing to do, if I am shore diving I will slowly swim in as far as I can, in no hurry to surface, if I am boat diving then after the safety stop I will drift up as slow as I can. If you have a shot line or an anchor line you can use that to keep your ascent slow, and use it as a reference. It should be easy if the sea is calm. If you have a chop on the sea you need to be careful and might not be able to control it so well.
P
It's entirely the wrong thing to do, if I am shore diving I will slowly swim in as far as I can, in no hurry to surface, if I am boat diving then after the safety stop I will drift up as slow as I can. If you have a shot line or an anchor line you can use that to keep your ascent slow, and use it as a reference. It should be easy if the sea is calm. If you have a chop on the sea you need to be careful and might not be able to control it so well.
P
I take at least 3 minutes for the final 5m, more often than not, 5 minutes.
I computerize most of my ascents from the safety stop. Easy to do with a wrist mount (hockey puck) computer.
dumpsterDiver
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I try to stop at 10 ft for a moment and at 5 feet as well. Two short, very shallow stops will help reduce the final ascent rate.
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last 15 ft is most important and the most likely for you to have an arterial gas embolism. Much worse than getting bent. 30 seconds minimum for the last 15ft
DevonDiver
N/A
I won't exceed 3m per minute ascent rate, once I've reached shallow stops (i.e. safety stop). So the ascent will be around 1.30. It can be hard to ascend that slow, so it helps to through in an intermediate stop between the safety stop and the surface around 2-3m.
My actual minimum ascent protocol is for 1min @9m, 2min @6m and 3min @3m. I feel better for it...
My actual minimum ascent protocol is for 1min @9m, 2min @6m and 3min @3m. I feel better for it...
nolatom
Contributor
Excellent advice I'm sure.
But hard to do if you are underweighted at the end of the dive. You lose what, about 4 pounds of gas from your tank, si?
So if you had to work hard to get submerged off the boat, you are probably going to be underweighted at the end.
Lots of folks complain about "overweighted divers", but if you're not 4 pounds overweighted at the surface, you are too light and will have a hard time going slowly enough from the 15' stop.
But hard to do if you are underweighted at the end of the dive. You lose what, about 4 pounds of gas from your tank, si?
So if you had to work hard to get submerged off the boat, you are probably going to be underweighted at the end.
Lots of folks complain about "overweighted divers", but if you're not 4 pounds overweighted at the surface, you are too light and will have a hard time going slowly enough from the 15' stop.
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