scuba-sass
Wreckmaniac Extrordinaire
And so it goes...
Saturday, the 9th my partner (Lydia) and I head out for a much anticipated week of vacation in Provincetown. We load the car with bikes, beach stuff, snacks, clothing, dog and scuba gear - just in case. On the way out, we stop to vist Mike Walls at the Dive Locker in Hyannis, since many folks here have spoken so highly of him and his shop. We decide to join his small group for a dive at Sandwich Town Beach the following morning, with expected H2O temps anywhere from 41 to high 50's. Mike fits us out with rented wet suits - beautiful nearly new 7-mil farmer jane, long-sleeved shorty, hood and gloves. Off we go to meet up with our friends in P-town.
A bit of history... We were certified in October of 2001 in cold murky Connecticut Lakes - Loved It! We dove in the Carribean in December, French Polynesia in March '02, Nubble Light in Maine July '02 for Navigation course and Florida for WreckMania I in July '02. Total of about 27 dives, some really cold and murky, some with extreme currents, max depth about 85 feet, but mostly less than that. For various reasons, we have not dove since. Mike was aware of this, and took very good care of us. We also had all of our gear serviced at our LDS prior to packing for this little trip.
Sunday morning bright and early we are back on the road to Hyannis. We arrive early at the shop, stow our suits and set up our BC's and Regs on the generously filled steele tanks. We both follow Mike's recommendation of 10% Body Weight plus 8 pounds for weight on this salt-water dive with thick suits and steele tanks. At the beach, we were able to park adjacent to the path over the dunes, and we had our briefing from Mike at the water side. The dive group was Lyd and myself, Mike, Gary(?) and 2 of his OW students who were making their last dives prior to certification.
Back to the car to gear up. The air temp is probably in the low 80's, and we're donning skins and 14 mil's of Neoprene. I'm sure you can see where this is going. We are fully geared-up at the car, except for mask, fins and gloves. Hike up and over the dunes, probably less than a quarter mile, but you can bet it felt like a whole lot more than that. Straight into the water to don mask, fit under the hood, and check for leaks. That cold water felt GOOD! Don gloves and fins, I need help with this last, since I can't bend enough wearing this nice thick neoprene. The students have some trouble with masks and hoods, but all gets settled. We all give the OK, and swim out about 15 feet to begin descent.
And here's where it went bad. We hadn't discussed doing a good boyancy check. Lyd and I have been steadily taking weight off, but obviously there were a lot of varying factors here. We trusted Mike's estimate of our weight needs, and just tried to jump right in and start the descent. The students who had completed multiple dives recently were having difficulties, and Gary (rightly) was focused on them. I began to descend with great difficulty, but any deep breath brought me back to the surface. Meanwhile, I was trying to keep an eye on Lyd in the 3 - 4 foot visibility. She couldn't seem to decsend at all, despite trying multiple positions, including swimming downward. My breath rate was certainly accelerating, and that feeling of "this isn't fun" was starting to kick in.
I was about to call the dive, but Lyd beat me to it. Just far too many stress factors. Mike and Gary were great. They were patient and helpful, offering more weight, or to buddy with one of us (but we don't split up the team). In hindsight, we were probably foolish to attempt this dive. We've both gained a bit of weight in the last year, and it was pretty darned hot to be hiking over sand dunes wearing that much neoprene and carrying that much weight/gear. However, I still feel that a change in any one factor would have made this dive possible. Cooler surface temp, Better Vis or Proper Weighting could have made the difference. Oh well - live and learn.
Mike offered to carry over our rentals to an evening dive later in the week at Hathaway Pond - Fresh, Warmer Water. But our vacation plans just didn't allow that. It's an hour drive from P-town to Hyannis each way. Although we're bummed this dive didn't happen, it has strengthend our resolve to lose weight again, and get some scuba pool time in soon.
Like others on this board, I can't speak highly enough of Mke and The Dive Locker. They are knowlegeable, helpful and professional, and the rental equipment and rinse facilities were top-notch.
Dive Safe,
Scuba-sass
Saturday, the 9th my partner (Lydia) and I head out for a much anticipated week of vacation in Provincetown. We load the car with bikes, beach stuff, snacks, clothing, dog and scuba gear - just in case. On the way out, we stop to vist Mike Walls at the Dive Locker in Hyannis, since many folks here have spoken so highly of him and his shop. We decide to join his small group for a dive at Sandwich Town Beach the following morning, with expected H2O temps anywhere from 41 to high 50's. Mike fits us out with rented wet suits - beautiful nearly new 7-mil farmer jane, long-sleeved shorty, hood and gloves. Off we go to meet up with our friends in P-town.
A bit of history... We were certified in October of 2001 in cold murky Connecticut Lakes - Loved It! We dove in the Carribean in December, French Polynesia in March '02, Nubble Light in Maine July '02 for Navigation course and Florida for WreckMania I in July '02. Total of about 27 dives, some really cold and murky, some with extreme currents, max depth about 85 feet, but mostly less than that. For various reasons, we have not dove since. Mike was aware of this, and took very good care of us. We also had all of our gear serviced at our LDS prior to packing for this little trip.
Sunday morning bright and early we are back on the road to Hyannis. We arrive early at the shop, stow our suits and set up our BC's and Regs on the generously filled steele tanks. We both follow Mike's recommendation of 10% Body Weight plus 8 pounds for weight on this salt-water dive with thick suits and steele tanks. At the beach, we were able to park adjacent to the path over the dunes, and we had our briefing from Mike at the water side. The dive group was Lyd and myself, Mike, Gary(?) and 2 of his OW students who were making their last dives prior to certification.
Back to the car to gear up. The air temp is probably in the low 80's, and we're donning skins and 14 mil's of Neoprene. I'm sure you can see where this is going. We are fully geared-up at the car, except for mask, fins and gloves. Hike up and over the dunes, probably less than a quarter mile, but you can bet it felt like a whole lot more than that. Straight into the water to don mask, fit under the hood, and check for leaks. That cold water felt GOOD! Don gloves and fins, I need help with this last, since I can't bend enough wearing this nice thick neoprene. The students have some trouble with masks and hoods, but all gets settled. We all give the OK, and swim out about 15 feet to begin descent.
And here's where it went bad. We hadn't discussed doing a good boyancy check. Lyd and I have been steadily taking weight off, but obviously there were a lot of varying factors here. We trusted Mike's estimate of our weight needs, and just tried to jump right in and start the descent. The students who had completed multiple dives recently were having difficulties, and Gary (rightly) was focused on them. I began to descend with great difficulty, but any deep breath brought me back to the surface. Meanwhile, I was trying to keep an eye on Lyd in the 3 - 4 foot visibility. She couldn't seem to decsend at all, despite trying multiple positions, including swimming downward. My breath rate was certainly accelerating, and that feeling of "this isn't fun" was starting to kick in.
I was about to call the dive, but Lyd beat me to it. Just far too many stress factors. Mike and Gary were great. They were patient and helpful, offering more weight, or to buddy with one of us (but we don't split up the team). In hindsight, we were probably foolish to attempt this dive. We've both gained a bit of weight in the last year, and it was pretty darned hot to be hiking over sand dunes wearing that much neoprene and carrying that much weight/gear. However, I still feel that a change in any one factor would have made this dive possible. Cooler surface temp, Better Vis or Proper Weighting could have made the difference. Oh well - live and learn.
Mike offered to carry over our rentals to an evening dive later in the week at Hathaway Pond - Fresh, Warmer Water. But our vacation plans just didn't allow that. It's an hour drive from P-town to Hyannis each way. Although we're bummed this dive didn't happen, it has strengthend our resolve to lose weight again, and get some scuba pool time in soon.
Like others on this board, I can't speak highly enough of Mke and The Dive Locker. They are knowlegeable, helpful and professional, and the rental equipment and rinse facilities were top-notch.
Dive Safe,
Scuba-sass
