The Mis-Adventures of my AOW class- READ!

[JamesK]

Mike,
Now that sounds like a fun experience. I think I would have stayed out of the waer too.

As for the large reels, even cave exploration reels are not that large. I wonder what they could have been? Maybe the infamous Jersey Line reels?

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Dear Michael:

Your comment regarding the pony bears reconsideration. It sounds to me like you are viewing the pony as a source of additional gas that you plan to use during the dive.

A pony is not a source of additional gas for planning purposes. By that, I mean that you do not include it in your gas calculation at all. You should view a pony as an insurance policy that might help you out when you hear the loud flushing noise that means that your dive plan has gone down the toilet.

If you plan to breathe off the pony during a dive, it is no longer insurance.

Personally, I don't like ponies because they are not particularly streamlined and can become an entanglement hazard when clamped to a back tank.

I could probably live with those issues on an OW dive if it weren't for the fact that, IMHO, all too often a pony does not have sufficient capacity to provide much more than a fast ascent to the surface with no realistic chance of completing safety stops. In that case the pony is not an insurance policy. It is a pacifier (provides comfort, but not much else).

You will see technical divers with one or more bottles clipped to their rigs. I use one with hyperoxic mix for my ascent and hangs on certain dives. However, I do not include it in my planning. More importantly, I waited until I was fairly experienced before I used it at all.

Just my $0.02.

 

[jrtonkin]

Originally posted by MikeFerrara
I noticed two divers on another line below us who appeared to be acting strangly. I watched as my student deployed the bag. It appeared to be an instructor with a student on a deep dive. The two looked like spiders climbing up the rope hand over hand.

Ok, silly newbie question, but...

What's wrong with using the anchor-line as a reference-point? I'm not talking hanging off it with any sort of force, but just keeping your hand on it as you slowly ascend?

Reason I'm asking is that this is what we were doing on my last dive. For my buddy and I, this was our first post-OW-course dives, and done in rental gear, and all that. Basically we had lots of other stuff to be thinking about, so a procedure of:

I hold the line, she places her hand above mine, a count of 3 seconds, I place my other hand directly above hers, she then places her other hand directly above mine, another 3 sec. count, repeat...

This gives a nice slow (about 15'/min) ascent, and the line provides a good reference so that we can take the time to concentrate on getting our bouyancy right (so we're neither hanging from, nor lifting up on the line), we stay close to each other, and don't get caught up in watching our gauges, ...

I.e. it seems to be a good way to develop comfort with all the other things you have to watch as well as your depth, but if it's a bad habit, I want to know now before it becomes too ingrained.

Jamie

 

[chiara]

A mooring line is a good thing!

It's good when you are coming up (or going down for that matter) when you are diving with no wall as a reference point, it is a good reference for safety stops, especially when you've current.

 

[MikeFerrara]

jrtonkin,

There is nothing wrong with having a reference. But...if you are doing deep dives (these guys were at 100+ and I think closer to 120) your skills should be such that you don't need it. They looked as if they were overly dependant on it (they climbed it like a flag pole). There was no current, no waves and great vis. Why not teach the student to control his ascent? Why not teach that before going that deep? Why would the instructor need to barehug the line? Rapid ascents are one of the leading causes of diver injury. Not being able to control your ascent from deep water is a great way to end up in a rapid ascent. As I see it the dive taught the student very little. The instructor sank him to 100 ft. A rock can do that. This diver probably thinks that he is now qualified to dive the deep side of gilboa. He is not. He is another candidate for the ambulance. BTW 3 of the 4 ambulance runs I have seen at Gilboa have been rapid ascents.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

I agree with Mike. Using a line to control your ascent is a dangerous crutch. How will you ascend if you can't maintain control over your depth without the line? Alternatively, how will you ascend if you are blown off the line/can't find the line/hanging on the line when it breaks?

IMHO, in the situation described (no current), it is appropriate to ascend in a horizontal position a few feet off of the line while facing your buddy a few feet apart.

One of the benefits of this approach is that you stay away from the crowd of people hanging on the line.

Another is that DCI is more likely to hit in joints that are under stress. Maintaining a tight grip on the line may increase the chance of taking a hit to your hand/wrist.

Still another is that ascending horizontally means that your entire body is at the same depth, which means that you outgas at the same rate. Ascending vertically means that parts of your body are doing safety stops at different depths, which in turn means that you are outgassing at different rates. Thus, your gauge may be at 15 while your head is at 12 and your feet are at 18. The pressure differential is potentially significant.

If you are in a strong current, the procedure should include a jon line run from the scooter ring on your BC to the anchor line. Either way, you ascend horizontally.

 

[JimC]

Originally posted by jrtonkin
[What's wrong with using the anchor-line as a reference-point?

Use it as a referance point? For training, sure.
Touching. No, thats the bad part.

Practice your accents free and horizontal. Practice this within grabing distance of the line incase you mess up while training. Try using just your bottom timer/depth gage to keep your accent rate solid. Practice stoping and hitting depths on your way up. Practice hovering at those depths. 1 minute at 40, 30, 20 and 10 feet is a good start and gives you a nice safty deco for an NDL dive.

Some day you wonl't have the line, so make sure you can do it without the line when you do have it. Then when you don't have it, its not a problem.

It takes a LOT of practice.

 

[Paul168341]

Another thing that gets overlooked is that there's potential for lots of bad stuff on the mooring line. They tend to have fishhooks in them and can be home to mussels, barnacles etc... Things that can cause injury to your hands.

 

[JimC]

Along with clumps of divers around 15 feet all fighting for the 15 foot hand hold.

 

[landlocked]

Originally posted by MikeFerrara
I wonder if it later fell out on someone's head. This would help explain this instructors strange technique in the water........... Further up on the dock were some folks that seemed to be family of one or more of the students. I started over to suggest that they get their loved ones out of the water and keep them out until they could find a capable instructor but my wife stopped me. .......They all looked like an advertisement for the latest in zippered pockets and D-rings and all the useless junk that can be hung from them. We waited for them to get out of the water before we went in. I do not want to even be in the water with this stuff going on............. I am going to put a perment note on my slate that says "I'll be back for your equipment".

Mike, I love this stuff. Sort of like Batman policing evil instructors in an underwater Gotham. BTW, when is you next AOW, maybe I could catch a ride out that way. It sounds like you teach a very beneficial class.