Safety stop tips, please.

[Uncle Pug]

Practice holding a stop with your eyes closed. Best bet is to start with a 10' stop over a 15' bottom.

 

[Uncle Pug]

The micro-creatures thing is totally useless in some waters with currents where they may very well be travelling up or down on micro-currents and such however.
*******************************************
dont fix on staying to within say 1ft, allow yourself 3ft or so
*******************************************
so its not constant correction and then yo-yoing.

Micro-creatures typically don't make three foot excursions on micro-currents

And if the currents are such that they are moving up or down three feet I'll bet you will be as well while watching your depth gauge.

But if the 3' yo-yo is within acceptable limits no problem anyway.... right?

Personally I like to be able to hold a stop much finer than that though in practice if I find stuff to look at I don't mind doing a 70' gas switch stop at 71' and the 60' stop at 63' and if I find something else to look at I don't mind moving up or down a bit to inspect it.

Making a 3' excursion because you want to look at stuff is different than making a 3' excursion because you can't hold the stop.

First image is holding stops while looking at stuff on deco.
Second image is getting blown to the surface by a upwelling in Deception Pass at the beginning of a dive.
Third image (by Snowbear) is Deception Pass entry point

{note to self: don't do any more deco dives in Deception Pass.}

 

[String]

Certainly microcreatures in the water (if in fact there are any) to not maintain a stable enough depth for a diver to rely on expecially if as usual there are surface currents that going horizontal and vertically. Theres also the issue that the diver holding the delayed marker is going to be tugged in a different direction to the rest of the divers and is likely to be more up and down as the bag rises/falls on the swell. It just isnt practical at all to stay in one spot and focus on small animals.

Ideally id like to do my stops at 6m as thats what my tables say but my computer isnt happy about that so we aim for 5.5m and generally allow 20cm either way (40cm total). This makes it easier to account for surface swell and the like especially on the arm of the one that drew the short straw and has the reel.

Relying on tiny creatures which may or may not be there and may or may not be stationary horizontally or vertically in the water isnt a great way of doing it.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Post an image of a typical stop.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Ideally id like to do my stops at 6m as thats what my tables say but my computer isnt happy about that so we aim for 5.5m and generally allow 20cm either way (40cm total). This makes it easier to account for surface swell and the like especially on the arm of the one that drew the short straw and has the reel.

Relying on tiny creatures which may or may not be there and may or may not be stationary horizontally or vertically in the water isnt a great way of doing it.

Well DANG you're good ... my depth gauge doesn't even register in increments that small.

Just a suggestion ... but in this forum it would be helpful to consider the abilities of the people who are asking the questions ... and respond in ways that would be useful at their level. I bet you couldn't hold a stop to within 20 cm (9-inches) when you were a new diver. So ... why not offer some suggestions about how achieve such precise control.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Hank49]

I don't seem to have much of a problem staying in the recommended 15 to 20 foot depth (by my computer, I like to stay closer to 15 feet) for a safety stop. That is, as long as I have something stationary to look at.
As soon as I'm in murky water, away from any wall, anchor line, or anything else stationary (fish don't count ) it becomes o lot of work to stay neutrally buoyant. Let a little air out, add a little, kick a little harder, and so on.
Any tips on how to make the safety stop a little easier with nothing around to look at but algea?

I check overhead regularly to keep tabs on the boat or whatever but I find it easiest to stay stationary by looking at (staring and "zoning out") the depth on my computer and breathing accordingly. If you start to drop, inhale deeply until you rise a bit, then exhale. if you're going up to 4.5 meters, exhale all the air from your lungs and sink a bit etc etc. It's just the same as your "Buddha" hovering bouyancy in shallow water. It's all in the breathing, assuming you're weighted correctly. (with a full tank of air take a deep breath at the surface. The water level should be right a mid mask when holding that breath. Adjust weights accordingly if it's not) A little practice and you'll have it wired. Hank

 

[Hank49]

Empty your BCD when checking your bouyancy. oops Hank

 

[DBailey]

Being a newbie also, I found that slowing down my ascent to the safety stop helped me maintain the safety stop also. Previously, I was within the recommended ascent rate, but slowing it down more helped me gain additional control at the safety stop.

 

[Wristshot]

possibly a reminder or two.

When you have a visual reference, you tend to look at the visual reference so you are not watching the depth gauge constantly. When you have no visual reference, you tend to watch the depth gauge more closely and you are therefore more aware of the rising and falling.

Remember that when a 3 foot wave passes overhead, your depth gauge may read 3 feet deeper, even though you may not have moved vertically in the water column.

It is entirely possible that you are not bouncing vertically any more in reference-free conditions, but that you are made more aware of your movements when you watch the gauge more closely.

All in all you want to work on achieving better bouyancy control, but you may not be quite as bad as you think you are.

Remember also that most beginners are constantly moving, especially finning. It is possibly instinctive. If you are vertical, then even gentle moving of your legs (and fins) will be propelling you slightly upwards. When you have a reference it is easier to consciously override the hard-wired urge to move upwards. When you are reference-free instinct may push harder. That is the time to really focus on getting truly neutral and ceasing unnecessary motions. Watch the gauge in relation to the waves (but not to the exclusion of watching everything else!)

Just some random thoughts,

Wristshot

 

[olij]

Thanks for all the advice. It sounds like the best thing to do is not worry too much and go out try some of those suggestions and practice a lot.

Damn, have to go and have more fun!