Should I wear a snorkel or not

[L13]

I jumped into the water at the Spiegel Grove one day with a medium current. One of my fins came off and while trying to retrieve it I got separated from the granny line and was unable to swim back to it even after recovering my fin.

The captain and mate saw this happen and watched me drift away. There were probably 15 divers already in the water so they had to wait to come get me. I drifted 1 mile down current. I put up my safety sausage and stuck my snorkel in my mouth and continued to drift until they recovered all their divers. Then they came and picked me up.

I was happy that I had the snorkel because I did not have to keep popping my head up and down out of the water to breathe while waiting on the boat to rescue my dumba$$.

My advice is "Take Your Snorkel" it makes life easier when drifting on the surface in current.

Why pop your head up and down rather than just lay on your back?

 

[Celt]

A squal line is a sudden localised series of thunderstorms ahead of a cold front. It’s intense, and short lived but very frightening if you’re caught on the surface in any kind of swell which will be coming from a different direction. In early March and April on the southwest of Ireland we can have swells that are generated 1000 miles out into the Atlantic and blowing across these swells a squall is a sight to behold. I’ve dived in 15 foot swells with the sea completely calm, no wind, on a wreck off the Fastnet. We’d set our last stop at 20 feet. When at the surface in the trough. The Fastnet lighthouse at 54m high, would disappear from view.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Why pop your head up and down rather than just lay on your back?

If in a calm lake with no swells or waves that would work fine. In the ocean, 7 miles offshore it is rare to have that luxury and waves would continually roll over your face.

In a BPW configuration you are working hard to remain face up.

 

[Joneill]

A squal line is a sudden localised series of thunderstorms ahead of a cold front. It’s intense, and short lived but very frightening if you’re caught on the surface in any kind of swell which will be coming from a different direction. In early March and April on the southwest of Ireland we can have swells that are generated 1000 miles out into the Atlantic and blowing across these swells a squall is a sight to behold. I’ve dived in 15 foot swells with the sea completely calm, no wind, on a wreck off the Fastnet. We’d set our last stop at 20 feet. When at the surface in the trough. The Fastnet lighthouse at 54m high, would disappear from view.

Right - I can imagine that surfacing in an intense squall on top of existing 15 foot seas would be quite scary - but a squall will not generate 15 foot swells itself (which is what was seemingly being claimed).

 

[L13]

I’ve dived in 15 foot swells with the sea completely calm, no wind...

was your boat tied off to buoy in 15ft swells?

 

[Jake 10]

was your boat tied off to buoy in 15ft swells?

I hope not

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Its a Mojo Risin', Jim

 

[L13]

I hope not

It was in (@Waterwulf 's) "story" above, until the squall came along and the waves suddenly went for calm dive-able from a tied off boat to un-survivable tied of or without a snorkel, and then back in an hour.

 

[David Haas]

This is one the funniest entertaining threads in awhile so I may as well chime in too!

As a long ago scuba instructor (1978-1990) yes, agencies required snorkels on student's masks at least for training dives.

Back then it was required to introduce snorkeling including proper free dives, clearing your snorkel with "blast" and "displacement" methods, etc. It was a good "watermanship skill" that added to people's comfort learning to scuba dive.

Then came what I call the most ridiculous, drag heavy, over engineered pieces of junk ever.....FLEX mouthpiece snorkels and HUGE "nuclear ccoling tower" GIANT gizmo top purge valves

They flop around, collapse if swimming in currents or fast. The corrugated mouthpiece would confuse students who thought they had their snorkel in their mouth accidentally grabbing their BCD hose. Just awful........Also new "clip" type attachments which added to the "floppiness" didn't help.

Like a plain snorkel keeper was real hard to attach (sheesh....)

If you stuck to a plain Jane "j" style snorkel with or without a simple mouthpiece purge you at least knew the difference between it and your BCD corrugated hose......We'd tuck the mouthpiece under our chin out of the way and yet still be accessible.

Fast forward from 1990.....Today, no, I don't wear it except snorkeling like with sea lions, dolphins or humpback whales in Moorea', French Polynesia. But it's always in my bag ready to shove under the strap when the Captain yells for dolphins or whatever sighted and you have maybe 20-30 seconds to get in the water

Both the wife and I have such a simple snorkel captured upside down behind our BCD. Never in the way or on our masks unless we need them.

Those simple snorkels are now in the realm of free divers, spear fishermen or just those who like diving without tanks.

I've posted how I believe we've made diving WAAAAAYYYYYYY too complicated these days but that's a discussion for another time .

So wear one or not, whatever!

Just go diving more and sharpen your skills to be more comfortable underwater

David Haas

 

[formernuke]

If in a calm lake with no swells or waves that would work fine. In the ocean, 7 miles offshore it is rare to have that luxury and waves would continually roll over your face.

In a BPW configuration you are working hard to remain face up.

Umm no its not. Pretty much all I dive is bpw, no issues face up. When it happened to me I was in a back inflate and I just laid back and held up the smb.