Where did I go with my force fins?

[Soakedlontra]

[QUOTE=Blair Mott;4443956]I thought I would give you some photos.
It is used it to cover the recruitment device


that is attached to a mooring line that PISCO uses to gather data in the local area. I use the net to surround the device then I detach the device and bring it back to the boat. The net keeps all the critters inside it until I bring it back to the boat,

open the net, spray salt water on the device and count record the data.


QUOTE]

Thanks for the info. I volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium as an interpreter and one way to interact with the public is to collect plankton from the pier and looked at it under a microscope and transmit the image to a TV screen. That's why I was intrigued by that net and the kind of research you do with PISCO (an organization that I have never heard of before).

Cheers

[Soakedlontra]

100th dive at 100ftSW with a HP 100 steel tank and Force Fins..BINGO!

Well there are no pictures to see because the camera was not allowed to do my first 100ftSW dive without an instructor. The force fins did not have that problem.

For more go to:

Where did you dive today?

page #66

(not sure if it was better to post the story here too)

Happy sunny! save diving

[Soakedlontra]

Yesterday I did my first dive with a dry suit and without the instep pads on the force fins. I did not stay dry.Water leaked from the wrist seal and found its way down to my arms, torso and eventually feet. At least I did not ended up with feet up and head down and I was able to keep my buoyancy under control by messing with the suit valves and not the wing.

The fins felt 'funny'. I thought that I was going to lose them. Next time I will put the instep pads back on even if when I wear them on land I can slide my feet just to my toes. Once I am underwater with the pressure and kicking the feet move forward and lock themselves on the fins.

Let's try again!

[Soakedlontra]

Well it did not go as I hoped. The fins were too tight

The socks of my suit do not really fit my feet very well. They are too large on the heels so I have to tuck inside the boots the extra fabric making the boots real big and no wonder that my feet do not fit in my Force Fins anymore!

I am going to try again and I will wear my buddy's old boots instead of mine. If it doesn't work I will have to look for another pair of boots or considering having them custom made! (what is going to cost more: custom made boots or a new pair of Force Fins?) or trying tennis shoes...

Cheers

[fisheater]

A lot of North Coast (CA) drysuiters swear by Converse High Tops.



Posted via Mobile Device

[JOSŽÉ]

In my opinion, the best solution is to bring the drysuit (hyper-compressed neoprene or laminated?) to repair it to change the socks for smaller ones according to your size. (It's always good to buy a drysuit made to measure)
A sock too large always bothers you, and you are obligated to take large boots and extra large size of fins, And is not the most comfortable for kicking.
And if not, you can always buy a XXL or SD1 (SD1 is the best solution to combine wet suit and dry suit)

Best regards
Saludos
Jose

[Blair Mott]

Soakedlantra,
I always size up to the biggest possible set up and for me that would be a Rock boot. My Drysuit is a Gates with Soft Boot, foot a 10.5 US. I swear by XXL with a comfort instep for both my wet and dry set ups. The only time I take out the instep is when I am diving a Drysuit with a Rock Boot. For example the DUI Drysuits.
I hope your solution is near.


Below is a photo that Bob Evans took down at the Santa Barbara Navy Pier while I was preparing to change out a Props on the Supply/Crew Boat that services the local Oil rigs in the area. Always don my Flying Force with a Bungie when I work on the undsides of the crew boats. Moving back and forth from the tool bag, around the shafts, Props and rigging the Flying Force has the response and power I need. One of the first Flying Force Fins with its orginal bungie still attached when Force Fin made them with white bungies. It is well over 8 years old.

The Flying Force Fin photo by Bob Evans

[Soakedlontra]

In my opinion, the best solution is to bring the drysuit (hyper-compressed neoprene or laminated?) to repair it to change the socks for smaller ones according to your size. (It's always good to buy a drysuit made to measure)
A sock too large always bothers you, and you are obligated to take large boots and extra large size of fins, And is not the most comfortable for kicking.
And if not, you can always buy a XXL or SD1 (SD1 is the best solution to combine wet suit and dry suit)

Best regards
Saludos
Jose

I have a used Mobby's dry suit. The previous owner replaced the socks a while ago. I will think about replacing the socks with ones that do fit better. However before making a final decision I will keep experimenting with different boots to see if I can keep the socks the way they are now (otherwise it looks like that I have to send the suit all the way to Minnesota)

When I wear my semi-dry suit the neoprene socks that I use do not fit my feet either, but they create less bulk and I am able to wear my FFins with the instep pads without any problems.



and my buddy did not have any problems to walk with his Force Fins on to the beach and stuck the sign of the tide pools trail (that he had found underwater on the bottom 'uprooted' by the tide) back into the ground.




(Rosario Beach is part of the Deception Pass State Park. Several years ago one summer day over 1,000 people visited the beach and trampled over the tide pools and rocks at low tide squashing and collecting marine animals devastating the entire area. To this date the population of ochre sea stars hasn't recovered yet. So the park folks decided to create a tide pools trail by attaching metal discs onto the rocks to prevent people from walking all over the low tide zone)

ciao

[Soakedlontra]

Come on! Let's go diving!

The visibility at Redondo Beach last Sunday was pretty bad until my two buddies and I reached depths below 20/30ft. However no matter the depth, the water was 'decorated' with thin blobs of some kind of organic material that on one hand looked like fish snot and on the other semitransparent dull paper confetti.

We swam to the bottle field at about 90 ft. where we spotted a couple of red octopuses and a northern spearnose poacher. I did not take any pictures during this first dive because I had never been at 90 ft with the dry suit before and I did not want to add extra gear to deal with at that depth. With my surprise I did not feel that cold. The water temperature was 50F! (I thought it was going to be lower).

One thing that really began to bother me more than the water temperature was my boots. During these two dives I used my regular buddy's old wet boots that are size #10! Obviously they were too long for my feet but at least I could fit the boots inside my Force Fins. Well at the end of the two dives I had to realize that I could not keep diving with boots that were locked and secured in the fins and feet that would shift around inside the boots making me think that I was constantly on the verge to lose the fins.

During the surface interval the weather deteriorated further and black clouds began to pile up on top of each other in the distance. Only two of us went back into the water. The third diver had to deal with a jelly sting and decided to go back home.

Equalizing before getting the hell out of there!

Down below nobody gave a toss about the weather: crabs were mating




and being eaten



and a timid Penpoint Gunnel tried to hide behind kelp



I was diving with an aluminum 80 and I added 4 extra pounds but they were not enough. A third through the dive I began to struggle to stay down and taking pictures became a real challenge. It's a miracle that those pictures came out at all!

Soon after we were through with the dive lightning appeared in the heavy gloomy sky and we were glad that both we and our equipment were safe and sound on land.

[Blair Mott]

Thanks for the post. Your dive log was a great read. I look forward to hearing about you mastering diving dry and reading more dive logs! Take care and dive safe!