Where's everyone diving this weekend?

[ew1usnr]

MikeJacobs once bubbled...
Or perhaps bumpin' around on the bottom at Venice on a tight buddy line?

I'd like to try it at Venice. I dove there with doubles once and had about a three hour bottom time (at a 20-foot depth). Being in the salt water for that long made the inside of my mouth feel pickled. The AquaVox might make a long saltwater dive more comfortable. Also, rather than wear it all the time, you can put it on your octopus. The octopus is still usable. You just hold it up to your face and clear it first (either exhale or purge). Then when you want to say somthing you have your AquaVox right at hand.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

Early Saturday morning. My wife needs to check out some gear for her class at the end of the month. See which masks n fins fit her best, basic stuff.

 

[cudachaser]

Small class, should be a lot of fun!

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

Does Ginnie still have the annual dive pass for 300 bucks?

 

[idahodivers]

Key Largo with Quiescence. Flying in Friday, driving down and diving Key Largo on Saturday. Our first ocean dives and certainly first reef dives, we can't wait!

 

[phree337]

I'm hoping to do some black water diving in the St. Mary's river in GA on Saturday. Looking (or feeling?) for shark/Meg. teeth. Should be interesting for a low-vis dive....

 

[SeaJay]

ew1usnr once bubbled...


I'd like to try it at Venice.

Why not just learn sign?

I mean, you don't have to know the whole vocabulary... There's only like - what - 20 things you'd like to tell your buddy underwater? A few agreed-on signs work very well.

For further conversation, a slate or Wet Notes works well, too. I mean, it's time consuming to have a complete conversation, but it's free and simple, and after a few "conversations," you learn the right "signs" pretty quickly anyway.

...Not to say that it wouldn't be an advantage to talk freely with your buddy underwater... But if there was a system out there for say, $100 complete that worked well and was dependable, I probably still wouldn't buy it. My buddy and I just communicate so well now that I can't see wasting $100 to "fix" something that's not a problem now.

Furthermore, I've found use for our "signs" elsewhere... Sometimes there's an advantage to being able to talk without a sound... Like if we're in separate cars, or one of us is on the phone, or whatever.

We were DIR all the way.

ew1usnr, I've heard you say this a couple of times on the board now, and those of us who have been trained DIR have found every instance to be pretty entertaining. We don't really care if you want to play DIR or not... But I will tell you this: The problem is that those people who are wondering about it might listen to your opinions and ideas and disagree with them - and make a decision not to go with the program because of something that you said, which was said to "be DIR." Of course, if you have taken the classes, then that was already explained to you; I'm simply reiterating what you already know... Reminding you in a friendly way that you might not be the best respresentation of DIR.

With all due respect, who was your instructor at your GUE classes? What did he say about the Nautilus BC system and the Aquavox?

Oh, and in staying on-topic... I'll be "diving" in Duke University's hyperbaric chamber this weekend on a research study... I'm pretty excited to be around all the diving technology and research.

 

[ew1usnr]

Correction: Whoever makes the decision as to what is and is not DIR has not at this time endorsed the use of the AquaVox.

Sign language and slates are best. Even for adding commentary while filming underwater video.

I will avoid reference to DIR in future posts.

 

[ScottyK]

Wendy- Dry caving in central fla? Jen and I are moving to your area within the next few months. Our second favorite thing after diving is any type of hiking/backpacking/exploring. Are there safe places to check out some caves in your area? I'd love to add that to my already extensive list of potential hikes.

SeaJay- I've seen you mention "wet notes" several times. Is that something different than my wrist slate? If so, I'd be interested in a link or something that shows what it is.

Scott

 

[Raven C]

Sign language works really well. I have shown SeaJay some signs and he picks up really well even when I use some I haven't explained ahead of time. I can sign to him underwater and he understands. We started by incorporating hand signals that were standard for diving and others that we felt would help us especially here in no-vis waters. Feeling those signs with our hands, as a blind deaf person would, was a must in order to communicate. Now, when there is even decent vis, signing works better than any slate. We plan to use it more often because you can communicate no matter what. And, your communication can be more complete and better understood. The best thing about sign language is that it really is a language so others could use it too and you can find out how to use the proper signs/signals to communicate correctly. It has been a while since I really used sign language so I have to refresh a bit. Personally, I think that it would be a great addition to standard dive training particularly for those who continue with more advance training and skills. R