nolatom
Contributor
I get to borrow this nice Luders 34' Sea Sprite sailboat from a friend on occasion, so yesterday I volunteered to clean the bottom of brackish "moss" from the bottom paint and boottop.
Nice day, warmish Lake Pontchartrain, viz about one foot, reducing to about one inch as I scrubbed. Took me a while for this weekend rec diver to get used to it, easy to lose orientation, in a pea soup of silt, growth, and ablative red paint.
Besides scuba gear and scrub brush, the most essential piece of gear turned out to be a Carnival throw from the Krewe of Tucks (an irreverent bunch whose King's throne on the lead Carnival float, is a toilet). So they throw TP, goofy beads, and-- miniature toilet plungers! For unknown reasons I'd saved one of ther latter, and it was worth diamonds on this job, strong enough suction to hold me in, but weak enough that I could slide it around without losing suction grip that I could scrub against. I shall attend this parade again next year!
It ain't breaking rocks, but still hard work-- I went through my little 30cf Pony toute suite, and from the water dispatched my friend to my LDS for an Air 80 to finish the job. Didn't keep time (too shallow for computer to make sense of), but estimate I spent about an hour and a half underwater (max depth a dizzying 7 feet) breathing hard and working hard ( I expect the pros are faster and more efficient). But it felt good to be able to hang in there and complete the job. So be nice to your scrubbers and tip ' em well, they earn it. My " tip" will be getting to borrow this nice "plastic classic" sloop for a little cruise.
And (please don't shoot me) -- I logged it as a dive. Because it was a hell of a lot more challenging than most of the other pleasant dives in clear-water paradise I've done. Plus I wanted the weight and air use data in my log in case I ever talk myself into doing this again ;-)
I have now done two "muck dives with a purpose". This one, and another marina dive a couple years ago when I'd lost my trifocal glasses (yeah, I'm old) overboard in the slip. What a challenge that was, too, in less-than-zero viz, where am I, can't read my gauges, which way is up-type conditions. I logged that one, too, hee hee. So I have great respect for underwater recovery divers too
Nice day, warmish Lake Pontchartrain, viz about one foot, reducing to about one inch as I scrubbed. Took me a while for this weekend rec diver to get used to it, easy to lose orientation, in a pea soup of silt, growth, and ablative red paint.
Besides scuba gear and scrub brush, the most essential piece of gear turned out to be a Carnival throw from the Krewe of Tucks (an irreverent bunch whose King's throne on the lead Carnival float, is a toilet). So they throw TP, goofy beads, and-- miniature toilet plungers! For unknown reasons I'd saved one of ther latter, and it was worth diamonds on this job, strong enough suction to hold me in, but weak enough that I could slide it around without losing suction grip that I could scrub against. I shall attend this parade again next year!
It ain't breaking rocks, but still hard work-- I went through my little 30cf Pony toute suite, and from the water dispatched my friend to my LDS for an Air 80 to finish the job. Didn't keep time (too shallow for computer to make sense of), but estimate I spent about an hour and a half underwater (max depth a dizzying 7 feet) breathing hard and working hard ( I expect the pros are faster and more efficient). But it felt good to be able to hang in there and complete the job. So be nice to your scrubbers and tip ' em well, they earn it. My " tip" will be getting to borrow this nice "plastic classic" sloop for a little cruise.
And (please don't shoot me) -- I logged it as a dive. Because it was a hell of a lot more challenging than most of the other pleasant dives in clear-water paradise I've done. Plus I wanted the weight and air use data in my log in case I ever talk myself into doing this again ;-)
I have now done two "muck dives with a purpose". This one, and another marina dive a couple years ago when I'd lost my trifocal glasses (yeah, I'm old) overboard in the slip. What a challenge that was, too, in less-than-zero viz, where am I, can't read my gauges, which way is up-type conditions. I logged that one, too, hee hee. So I have great respect for underwater recovery divers too