My Birthday Dive

[Uncle Pug]

Deception Pass while not a benign dive site is certainly not as bad as it might seem if everything goes as planned.

It is a place of awsome beauty and power both above and below water. It has always been my favorite place since childhood.

The b-day dive went sideways... things did not go as planned and the situation was actually very serious... probably more serious than my story relates. However the dive itself was not irresponsible and we have done it at other times without any difficulty at all.

I suppose an important post script would be that we had taken some precautions that made survival possible and others that we should have taken. Had we been using air on the bottom and no deco gas the outcome could have been different. There are however important precautions that I will take on the next DP dive: we will have a live boat and I will not be using an ultralight trilam suit. And perhaps the biggest adjustment of all will be the timing of the splash.

 

[Shadow]

My brother lost his footing while fully geared up and making his way down a steep ocean shore/slope at low tide. He slid on his rear, on a steep, barnacle-covered, rocky slope, the last 50 feet or so to the water. Checked his suit, and not a scratch. It's a Tusa Imprex Trilaminate suit. What is ultralite trilam? Is it something different, or were these particular barnacles the more polite, non-maneating Canadian variety?

:Birthday:

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by Shadow
What is ultralite trilam? Is it something different, or were these particular barnacles the more polite, non-maneating Canadian variety?

The Ultralight material is very thin... and light! But it will not stand up to abuse. The suit is an Andy's DS3. Good suit, just not suitable for that kind of diving. I have a new CF200 waiting for pockets to be attached. They will get to take turns diving.

I am sure you have the giant man eating barnacles up there too.... they will be in high current flow areas.

~ 6" in diameter and ~ 6" tall... it is when they are feeding and the sharp opening plates stick up and poses the greatest threat.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by sea nmf
You must have some big lift in your BC to carry all that water weight to the surface.

By the way, are you still cold?

Hi Becky...

Actually I was seriously hypothermic by the time I could get out of the water and I am surprised that I was able to make it to the truck under my own power. By the time I got the suit off I was shaking uncontrollably.

The weight of the water in the suit is zero while immersed...

 

[Rick Murchison]

Great day in the mornin'! I've just discovered this thread - I was out of pocket when it was originally posted...
A flooded drysuit in 46 degrees with no place to get out quick? Pug, you've scared the dickens outa' me and I'm a fearless man!
You be a little more careful, y'hear?
And oh, yeah, Happy Birthday...
Rick

 

[jumbo]

UP- great adventures are to be had a Deception pass, one of my more recent pass dive's I came across a huge dagger/ sword, so instantly the imagination began coming up with all kinds of crazy stuff but I had just started the dive and when I found the bottom I followed a line untill I found an anchor, with my good reasoning skills from being on air at 130' I decided it would be neat to practice my recovery skills in a situation like the pass, well long story short the anchor was not making things easier so I abonded it and crawled back to to the entry point but after 17 min of deco I realized that I had lost the sword in the fray and I had no tresure to show for my amazing dive. oh well still my favorite spot in the world.

 

[s7595]

for us new guys not nitrox cert ,could you explain 30/30 gas
and why was the dive a decompression dive
thanks realy enjoyed the story glad you are still here
thank god

 

[Rick Inman]

BACK TO THE TOP!!...

..with this 3 year old thread - a classic! - in honor of Uncle Pug's birthday today.

Enjoy!

 

[jepuskar]

I did a dive like this in the local quarry...however, there were no barnacles, current, cold water, flooded drysuits, hypothermia, or long walks back to the car.

Other than that, it was about the same.