Diving in low viz

[ccx2]

i live on a man dug lake /burrow pit that is about 8' max depth that i plan to dive a couple times this summer just because i have the gear and will only need to rent a tank with air. Viz is normal 3' max but theys no Krakins or flesh eating critters that i know of,YET. Wont be much to look at [ive lived here 50years] and know whats on the bottom but I'm still worried about the arm swallowing Snappin Turtle or the…..well ..stuff i can't see or don't know about that may be down there. I hope i remember to exhale as i stand to the surface and fin run across the surface if i see something scary so as not to cause an embolism.
IF I'm diving in good viz i have no worries whatsoever no mater where I'm at, even if i see a Great White swims by with an Arm hanging out of its ass or mouth [never have] .
Murky water scares me, maybe i should see a Therapyist ? Should I ?

 

[TMHeimer]

ccx2, Maybe a therapist regarding your lack of fear with the GW Arm scenario. Can't blame you for trepidation about unseen turtles. I don't like it when something--like a giant Jelly for example, comes out of nowhere. I did part of my AOW in Morrison Springs, NW FL (poor viz) with a sign saying alligators may be in here (next yr. the sign was apparently stolen). My instructor said not to worry as they were less than 2 feet long and not many as "there are too many Good Old Boys around here". Guess he meant they shot 'em all? Gave me the willies anyway.

 

[daz88]

that's what macro photography is all about.

 

[buddhasummer]

I like being in the water. Often at my local site viz is pretty poor 3-5 sometimes less. If I only dove when conditions were good I'd hardly get out. It has improved my navigation skills exponentially. Probably improved my buddy skills too.

---------- Post added April 20th, 2014 at 04:07 AM ----------

And I just dropped a whole lot of cash on a drysuit and all that goes with it.

 

[mick allein III]

I dive local quarries and am used to 2-3 ft viz. it has required me to learn how to use my compass. Don't mind murky water where I can there is still natural lights but I stay out of the black sulfur layer found near the bottom of so many inland quarries and lakes. That creeps me out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AfterDark]

I wouldn't be a diver if I didn't dive in the vis that my location provides. There's a good range, from 0 up to 40' however, the lower range is the norm. So I dive here because if I didn't, I'd be a guy that dives on vacation, and I wouldn't have >2000 dives and all those memories and friends to look back on. It does make most other locations a snap and extra enjoyable when I can get there.

Haven't been in the water lately the weather has been awful, windy from the SSE / SSW the worst for around here. I did talk to someone that told me a customer of his told him he had 20' vis in a protected cove where he gave a class. I'm sure it wasn't 20' vis after the class!

 

[CamG]

Great thread and has been a great read.
As many have pointed out vis is relative and can improve / get worse on any dive.
I have been on stellar wreck dives only to have a cloud drift in from off the wreck.
There are the occasional dirt darts that crash into and around a wreck that blow areas out as well.
Or a crazy SM diver in a cargo hold of silt trying to slip under the main deck!

In the caves vis is usually well over the generally accepted 20-30 feet min. to safely dive them.
However in the event of a silt out, "which can happen.....does happen" you have to be able to remain calm navigate out on the line in no vis.
This is not for everyone but some like myself do not mind so much.
I have trained for these conditions, I continue to train for no vis, and it is what keeps me going in the off season.

When inland waters are all I have I dive them.
If a local lake or quarry it maters not we give them a go.
At training sites in the summer around here it is like diving in pea soup literally!
Buoyancy, proper weighting, are skills few of the cattle trainers care or try to take the time to explain.
If you doubt me then join me for a dive from mid-June to the end of August it can get nasty.
I LOVE IT!

When the training season is in full swing our dives average around 1.5-2 hrs in length we run lines around the quarry with our reels, putting jumps, T's, other navigational arrows and aids.
This is now our playground to train for REAL dives gone bad!
We do this every year and it has become a great skill honing activity.
Who wants to blow the vis for other divers doing a lost line or lost buddy drill?
When it is all ready tore completely up, ''Who Cares?".

These dives have pushed me into places underwater I thought I would never go.
That meaning 3 hours underwater not below 45' , tired, cold, sore, physically ready to out of the water but in low to no vis constantly keeping vigilance on maintaining proper trim and dive protocol.
When I get to do a real Wreck or Cave dive I am anticipating hazards, planning for failures, managing dive stress on the role, keeping my awareness running on MAX!
This doesn't happen by accident it comes from time in the water not just swimming but with some purposeful training.

The few who have dive with me understand where I come from and we have had some incredible dives in total crap vis with the occasional OW diver crashing into us!
It happens and we laugh and move on.
On a REAL dive Wreck / Cave if the vis is totally blown and not a familiar site or with a uncomfortable buddy.....dive gets scrapped for another day.
If we are familiar and everyone is on board we dive.
That being said dive plans and objectives can be altered to fit the conditions to remain in safe guidelines.

If you train for it, dive in it, vis like other conditions can be managed.

CamG

 

[Doc Harry]

what's YOUR reason for diving in pea soup?

It's either dive in pea soup or don't dive locally.

Locally, the visibility is 3 to 6 inches early in the season, before the silt has settled out. The water temp is around 40 degrees F.

I tried diving with a buddy in touch contact but it's too complicated. I prefer to dive solo in pea soup. My left hand has a dive light, and my right hand is up in front of my face to help me keep my teeth. I have to put my gauges right up to my mask to see them.

 

[scoobert]

I dive on the ICW to clean boat bottoms. The first 3 boats I cleaned were so low viz, I saw a reflection of my own face in my goggles.
I had a 2.5' viz last week, it was like a whole new world. I still have yet to see the bottom of the icw, not even sure if it exists except I touch it with my fins while cleaning the bottom of the keel. I wonder what it is like to dive in more then 10' viz?

 

[AfterDark]

It's either dive in pea soup or don't dive locally.

Locally, the visibility is 3 to 6 inches early in the season, before the silt has settled out. The water temp is around 40 degrees F.

I tried diving with a buddy in touch contact but it's too complicated. I prefer to dive solo in pea soup. My left hand has a dive light, and my right hand is up in front of my face to help me keep my teeth. I have to put my gauges right up to my mask to see them.

A few guys and I that dived together many years ago had a audible system of taps usually with a couple of rocks. It let each other know we were close and ok. Got to KISS it. We used the same number of taps as pulls on a line when ice diving meaning the same thing, except for pull me up! It was familiar and worked well.