Kayla
Contributor
Diving in the San Juans is always cold....... but you get used to it after awhile ( so I'm told anyway) 
Kayla
Kayla
What do you consider cold?
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divedude
Guest
After the fresh water hits 32' it freezes so I guess 32.1 is the coldest I've dove in.
That was after we used a chain saw to cut through 18 inches of ice. in a wet suit... The biggest problem was, after the dive we ran for the HEATED camper removing gear as we went thinking we would pick it up after we got warm.... No deal, every thing had froze to the ice. We had to get hot water and pour it over our BC's just to pick them up
:stupid:
That was after we used a chain saw to cut through 18 inches of ice. in a wet suit... The biggest problem was, after the dive we ran for the HEATED camper removing gear as we went thinking we would pick it up after we got warm.... No deal, every thing had froze to the ice. We had to get hot water and pour it over our BC's just to pick them up
:stupid:
ScubyDoo
Contributor
If I HAVE to wear anything more than my 3mil shorty.....its cold! I may wear a full 3mil jumpsuit in 85f water, but not because its cold.
I dove in 59f water this past weekend (below thermocline in a lake at 71'ffw) and it was cold....but I hardly noticed it....I was too busy smiling! Would have been funner if the water was 80f though!
I dove in 59f water this past weekend (below thermocline in a lake at 71'ffw) and it was cold....but I hardly noticed it....I was too busy smiling! Would have been funner if the water was 80f though!
dmmike
Contributor
Ive done ice diving and that was just fine by me. If you donot dive year round the season is just to short.
I think the temp was around 36 degress F
I think the temp was around 36 degress F
HDrider
Registered
It's cold when your face and lips go numb. That happens to me every time the water temp gets below 40. I find it somewhat hard to believe but my computer has logged 34 degree water before and I have never dove through the ice.
It should be much nicer next time as I used part of my tax return for a DUI TLS350 drysuit
It should be much nicer next time as I used part of my tax return for a DUI TLS350 drysuit
Chrismac
Registered
Sometimes in the winter here we cut holes in the ice to dive
pretty crazy but gotta do somthing to get rid of the winter itch. lol
pretty crazy but gotta do somthing to get rid of the winter itch. lol
Bobble
Registered
i havent had any problem with 17-18°C but i wear a 7mm wet suit
divegirl
Registered
Living in New England we do mostly cold water diving. Dry suit is the norm with water temp usually in the 50's. Have been ice diving as well.
We usually take a warm water trip yearly and that is heaven. So little equiptment and weight.
We usually take a warm water trip yearly and that is heaven. So little equiptment and weight.
Jarhead
Contributor
I haven't in dove anything below 64F......yet.
You wanna talk about cold...
High up in the Canadian Arctic, late October, & all the vessels that worked the Beaufort Sea in the preceding drilling season are gathered, side-by-each, in McKinley Bay, to spend the winter.
Parked in the middle of all these ships is a gigantic construction barge with an enormous crane on the stern. Every ships Captain is waiting impatiently for the divers to come & go below his ship's hull to block off the vessel's various intakes as part of the winterization process.
With the air temperature at minus 30 degrees & a ferocious wind howling down from the pole, a divers job at this time of year was unenviable to say the least. We worked out of a "Sea Can", ostensibly a large steel box containing our surface-supplied diving system. The steel box sat within an even larger steel cage, to which a four wire steel cable bridle was shackled. The crane would lift the whole works ( divers too ) about 300' into the air, swing us over top of the next ship to be serviced, & place us, as gently as conditions would allow, on the afterdeck.
Huge ice-breaking "tenders" constanly circled the fleet, crushing the fast-forming ice into giant blocks. A fully dry-suited diver would emerge from the Sea Can & make his way to a ladder, where two diver-tenders with long pike-poles would prod a small opening in the ice through which the diver would descend. By this time of year the ice was about 3' thick & it took no small effort to worm one's way down through the large chunks of ice, dragging an assortment of plugs, patches & stoppers with you.
Oddly enough, the diver in the water had it best. While the poor sods on deck braved the icy winds & bone-chilling temperatures, the diver, snug in his thermals, would go merrily about his work.
A few hours later its time to move on to the next ship. The diver exits the water & the race is on to get him to the Sea Can before he freezes solid to the steel deck! Nothing like peeling it all off in the warmth of a steel can in the frozen great white north! Certain parts of the male anatomy head north as well in such climes!
The work went on around the clock till all the ships were done. Crew rotation was iffy due to the high demand for divers at that time of year. Every now & then a steel bird would swoop in & settle on one of the heli-pads, & every divers head would turn & stare longingly at those harbingers of freedom. They'd disgorge their passengers & freight, take on more passengers, & lift off to points unknown. We'd watch as they disappeared into the ice-blue sky, unsure of the time when we'd climb aboard. Nothing to do but put your head down, dig in & get the job done.
Soon enough there'd be warm sun, sand, & bronzed beauties.
Oh ya, and very, very cold beer.
T'aint no life like it.
D.S.D.
High up in the Canadian Arctic, late October, & all the vessels that worked the Beaufort Sea in the preceding drilling season are gathered, side-by-each, in McKinley Bay, to spend the winter.
Parked in the middle of all these ships is a gigantic construction barge with an enormous crane on the stern. Every ships Captain is waiting impatiently for the divers to come & go below his ship's hull to block off the vessel's various intakes as part of the winterization process.
With the air temperature at minus 30 degrees & a ferocious wind howling down from the pole, a divers job at this time of year was unenviable to say the least. We worked out of a "Sea Can", ostensibly a large steel box containing our surface-supplied diving system. The steel box sat within an even larger steel cage, to which a four wire steel cable bridle was shackled. The crane would lift the whole works ( divers too ) about 300' into the air, swing us over top of the next ship to be serviced, & place us, as gently as conditions would allow, on the afterdeck.
Huge ice-breaking "tenders" constanly circled the fleet, crushing the fast-forming ice into giant blocks. A fully dry-suited diver would emerge from the Sea Can & make his way to a ladder, where two diver-tenders with long pike-poles would prod a small opening in the ice through which the diver would descend. By this time of year the ice was about 3' thick & it took no small effort to worm one's way down through the large chunks of ice, dragging an assortment of plugs, patches & stoppers with you.
Oddly enough, the diver in the water had it best. While the poor sods on deck braved the icy winds & bone-chilling temperatures, the diver, snug in his thermals, would go merrily about his work.
A few hours later its time to move on to the next ship. The diver exits the water & the race is on to get him to the Sea Can before he freezes solid to the steel deck! Nothing like peeling it all off in the warmth of a steel can in the frozen great white north! Certain parts of the male anatomy head north as well in such climes!
The work went on around the clock till all the ships were done. Crew rotation was iffy due to the high demand for divers at that time of year. Every now & then a steel bird would swoop in & settle on one of the heli-pads, & every divers head would turn & stare longingly at those harbingers of freedom. They'd disgorge their passengers & freight, take on more passengers, & lift off to points unknown. We'd watch as they disappeared into the ice-blue sky, unsure of the time when we'd climb aboard. Nothing to do but put your head down, dig in & get the job done.
Soon enough there'd be warm sun, sand, & bronzed beauties.
Oh ya, and very, very cold beer.
T'aint no life like it.
D.S.D.
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