How to Plan your Dive?

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Bobb

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WHAT IF.....?

What if this is your first time at this site, you have no info on the site, no local people to ask, at best, you know the approx. depth of the area (if you have a boat with a depth finder)...

Let's say that you go to a site (local lake, and you have a boat w/depth finder) depth ranges from approx. 25' to 95' in the approx. area that you would like to investigate..
Gear is as follows: 1 boat, 1 tank (al 80), 1 person to stay on boat, 1 diver (I solo dive almost exclusivly, let's get beyond that) typical reg setup, 1 spare air, compass, etc.

So....how would you plan your dive?

I am curious about how everyone would go about this, but please don't respond with " don't dive alone" I know and accept the risks...
Thanks
 
I'd plan it acording to the deepest depth read.
I also find it hard to belive it is impossible to get information on the place.

Best thing is to use a computer in such a dive. Than you just go dive. Arnegements with the buddy on the boat are obviouse. I don't think there is much special nessasities here. Try to check if there are curents. but if it's a small lake, it shouldnt be a problem.


P.S-
If you dont want to be lectured about diving alone, next time pretend not to dive alone.
 
Used to do this a lot - either from a boat or from shore.

Normal procedure was to try and work a set pattern - normally a sort of triangle - to 'survey' the area. This plan was normally abandoned in chase of crayfish... but the idea was good.

Using a computer makes it real easy - but we often went with the philosophy of 'can't get bent on an 88'. Diving thirds and a conservative ascent rate normally make this true enough for invincible 20 something males...

Mike
 
Hokay Bobb,

How formal we talkin' here??? I would agree with Liquid, take the computer and plop, plop, fizz, fizz, go down in spite of the vis! You can get some inferences about what is down there, but without a look see, you probably don't even know where to begin. I would do an informal survey first, and then do more extensive planned explorations, and even mapping as the situation calls for it.

:tease:
 
Bobb, I think it has more to do with personnal comfort level and discipline. What I might do is probably different than someone else. Only you can really answer such question based on your personnal confidence level. If there was a decent reason to do so, I wouldn't hesitate to drop down to 100'.

Mike
 
I have done dives like you are talking about in depths to 140 feet. The only difference is I used doubles, carried a wreck reel and bag if needed. I also carried a bottle of O2 to deco on if we found something interesting on the fish finder.It basically requires an experienced boat operator and diver to accomplish this easily...One thing the problem with the lake where I was doing this is it's.......Frggincold
 
Hey Friggincold,

Welcome to the best board, SCUBA or otherwise on the net. I hope you can warm up to some great friends and learn something along the way as well... AND when you are ready to dive, come down to Florida... where I dove in my swim trunks yesterday...

:tease:
 
God I,m having fun here.

BOBB:

As a former multi agency dive instructor for many years, and having volunteered with the L.A. Cnty. Coroners office as a dive instructor and EMT, for almost an equal number of years, I assisted in many, many dive related death autopsies.

You epitomize the cause or source of death in this field.

Diving alone was the single most common source of death for both sport divers and commercial divers. Get it, Most of the commercial divers we investigated had long histories of diving experience yet they eventually bought it.

Let me also say that diving with a buddy wasn't always a "gar-an-teed" safety issue either. Many forgot about being a buddy got seperated or couldn't respond well to emergency situations. But the incidence of these accidents were far the hell away from "DIVER ALONE" incidences.

Bobb, you have no plan, and any plan you devise, no matter what equipment you have only marginally mitigates the danger.

BY THE WAY, WHO WOULD BE ON THE BOAT? YOUR SON?
 
Originally posted by NetDoc
... AND when you are ready to dive, come down to Florida... where I dove in my swim trunks yesterday...
:tease:
Net doc
Ok it's not fair... unless of course you're talking about being a "macho" guy and diving in 60F water - right? Didn't think so...

Bobb
As for "planning" your dive -- if you must dive solo (which I don't recommend) - heed the advice of taking equipment which you may think as redundant i.e. reel, float, spare air. Also the person on board should be a diver - with kit ready to don, just in case.
 
uhm, I have now seen two people mention bringing a spare air for the solo dive at an unknown location...

Without getting into the solo issue - can I just say that if you think a spare air is a useful tool in this situation - you should probably refrain from going there...

Other than that - figure out what your mod should be, what you want it to be and plan accordingly, this really should not be rocket science unless you have been diving in 30' since certification...

Anyway - Your life = your responsibility!

Big T
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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