Using a spool to return to anchor on boat dive

[b1gcountry]

Yeah, that could mean diving deep air, CCR rebreathers, solo diving, etc. Where do you draw the line at the compromises that you're willing to make?

Diving itself is a compromise. Even perfect training and perfect conditions could lead to someone biting it underwater. Why even bother taking up diving if you are going to be so careful that you would limit your diving this excessively... You talk about where to draw the line, well, where do you draw the line for conservatism as well? max PPO2 of 0.8atm? Min vis of 75'? No waves above a diver's head?

Tom

 

[rjack321]

What exactly do you figure is BS? I am thinking this is an east coast west coast experience thing. Very similar to how rjack corrected me in my over simplification of Puget sound boating.

Not so much corrected, just different issues.

Swells are huge "waves" created by distance storms. In Monterey's case way off in the Alutians or something. 10ft swells can actually be quite comfortable if they come 2 mins apart. That's like lolling in your bathtub. 3ft waves can feel like a washboard shaking your kidney's loose in some boats (like mine) if they are steep and close together.

As one captain explained it to me regarding his boat, When the wave height is greater than the period, its time to stay in.

Exactly when the height and period are similar you are looking at some fairly steep waves. They may be 12ft high or only 4ft high but both are damned rough. Steep waves slam into you regardless of height (although the bigger ones obviously have more mass to toss around even bigger boats).

 

[rjack321]

With a reel or worse a spool, you ain't going very far from the anchor or shot. And on a big recreational cattle boat I doubt you wanna be stuck where everyone else is diving. Why not just do a simple reciprocal compass course? Out at 80ft back at 60ft or something like that?

I have to say the thought of doing a dive in a shipping channel on a boat with 25 recreational divers is really unappetizing. That's a charter (+ skipper who would propose it) I would skip.

Just because most of us have doubles, reels, safety spools, trimix, stages, yada yada doesn't mean simple dives require them.

 

[dsteding]

On the wave height issue:

I grew up surfing in some big swells in California, I have a few 20 foot/20 second swells under my belt. Certainly, I took some beatings out there, but the WORST seas I've ever seen were in San Francisco Bay, coming out of the Sacramento river delta, heading west into a 30-40 mph sustained gale that had been blowing all day. We were in a 42 foot research boat that was designed to take a beating, and it started to come apart. We found safe harbor and took a cab to the marina we were working out of. I'd say the seas were 6-8 feet with a 4-6 second period, tops. Absolutely brutal.

Give me clean, well-organized swells in the open ocean versus a gale in a confined area any day.

 

[limeyx]

I really don't get where you are coming from here? Where was I saying you make compromises? Where did I bring in solo diving, deep air or any of the other crud you mentioned into the converstation?

Kevin, Kevin -- just accept it mate, you are a worthless non-DIR divin strokey dude like the rest of us. Dont fight it, embrace it!

 

[Gombessa]

Kevin, Kevin -- just accept it mate, you are a worthless non-DIR divin strokey dude like the rest of us. Dont fight it, embrace it!

Lol, never say that to a dude who just dropped a bundle on Tech1!

 

[limeyx]

Lol, never say that to a dude who just dropped a bundle on Tech1!

ha true. Last thing you want to do is get a card from "the premier dive agency" and then have some limey call you a stroke! Whatever next ? The worst thing is I am stuck diving with him & his stroke friend from seattle next week in mexico.

I will definitely have to violate all DIR policies and drink plenty of margs the night before each dive day!

 

[rjack321]

The worst thing is I am stuck diving with him & his stroke friend from seattle next week in mexico.

Watch out or we'll tie you off to that boat anchor of a video housing and leave you with beer goggles aimed at the smoker chicks.

 

[limeyx]

Watch out or we'll tie you off to that boat anchor of a video housing and leave you with beer goggles aimed at the smoker chicks.

ouch! you are harsh tonight!

I still have vague memories of conversing with a mexican girl and her french friend who told me in that lovely french subtle way "that she was not here to flirt as she had a fiancee") in broken english/french/spanish and still getting spurned at the end of the night.

Maybe I should pay more attention to my video housing. It's brutal out there. I am just hoping at this point for an influx of mardi gras/spring break chicks into akumal for at least something to look at beyond your's and kevins mugs in the evenings ...

smoking is a non-starter though (even beer wont overloook that one...)

 

[TSandM]

Lamont, I usually enormously respect your input, and have for a couple of years, but in this case, I think you're a little off base, and somewhat influenced by what you have available to you at home.

Peter and I did a lovely day of diving in Los Angeles off a boat which is usually the purview of a particular club, which specializes in wreck "salvage" (AKA tearing big pieces off of boats underwater). I can't remember exactly how many divers were on the boat, but it was at least a dozen. The four of us were the only people even REMOTELY DIR on the boat. My guess is that no one else on it had even heard the term. The captain was very competent, and the briefings were clear. One dive was anchored, and the other two were live boat. (Live boat is unusual in LA; they went into great detail on how to enter and how we would be picked up, because most of the divers were not accustomed to doing that.)

We dove 32%. We set our profiles and our run times. We dove as two buddy pairs, and stayed together and in communication. We surfaced as planned and reboarded the boat without incident.

There was nothing non-DIR about our dive experience, even though it was sort of a "cattle boat", and certainly nobody else on it ran through a complete dive plan, did equipment check or bubble checks.

We should have run line on the first dive, though