Soakedlontra
Contributor
I have certainly noticed that a 6 foot SMB is more difficult to handle. I tried to deploy it the other day and the beginning was not too bad, it was 'un macello' (= 'a slaughterhouse" = a mess) at the end where my feet got entangled on the line at the surface.
Boy! My regular buddy and I need to practice, practice, practice...
On November 26 I practiced deploying the SMB again. Sorry for the darkness of part of the video. It was the first time that we filmed one of us practicing skills. My buddy experimented with the available light, which obviously was not enough, and later added some light with his dive light.
I had my knees on the bottom at about 30fsw to make things a bit easier so I did not have to deal with neutral buoyancy.It went well until I have to decide how much air to put inside the SMB. During the first attempt I missed the SMB altogether, the other two were OK. I thought I dumped enough air, the SMB was pulling me up but when I reached the surface, after a controlled ascent that went fine, it was all flat on the surface. My SMB is big, 6ft long.
Next time I will try to deploy it while hovering but then how can I prevent from being pulled up by the SMB? If I am negative then I will probably sink and if I am neutral then the force of the SMB will pull me to the surface If I hover I wouldn't release the spool like I did when I was planted on the bottom. Do I have to keep pulling the string down while ascending in the attempt to keep the SMB vertical at the surface?
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