How to stay neutrally bouyant in Dutch Springs

[Po3]

I weight 168 lbs I had a farmer John 7mil and abou 18 lbs if weight, the instructor narrowed it down to 16.5 and then he told me that because I couldn't' get neutral at 15 ft. I would have to have 17 lbs so I am going to the pool weds to see, I will let you know, thanks alot

 

[Marek K]

I weight 168 lbs I had a farmer John 7mil and abou 18 lbs if weight, the instructor narrowed it down to 16.5 and then he told me that because I couldn't' get neutral at 15 ft. I would have to have 17 lbs so I am going to the pool weds to see, I will let you know, thanks alot

Yeah, a 7mm suit (particulary a farmer john) is an awful lot of neoprene, which affects bouyancy an awful lot -- compresseing as you go deeper (decreasing buoyancy) and then expanding again as you go shallower (increasing buoyancy).

I've never dived at Dutch Springs, but I'd personally probably be comfortable with a 5mm full suit with hood and maybe thin gloves.

And you were diving with much less neoprene in the Bahamas, right? Then those neoprene buoyancy fluctuations would have made much less of a difference, making it that much easier to achieve neutral buoyancy at any given depth.

As far as how much weight you need, it doesn't sound as if you were horribly over-weighted.

It mostly depends on your body type, and a bit on what kind of tank you use (mostly composition, AL or steel). The only way to tell is by doing a good weight check in the water. People have some variations, but the classic way is at the end of a dive with 500 psi in your tank. With lungs halfway full, you should float just a eye level. and start to sink when you let out your breath completely, and float again when you inhale.

It's possible to do a weight check at the beginning of dive with a full tank, but then you'd have to add about 5 lb of weight to compensate for the weight/density of the air in your tank. Round up to the nearest pound. Plus I personally like to be balanced right-to-left.

As we all discussed above, if you were significantly over-weighted, the large air bubble you'd need to counteract that in your BC, expanding and contracting, would be another factor making it difficult to achieve neutral buoyancy.

But I suspect in your case it's mostly the thick neoprene.

Yeah, a pool session will be a tremendous help in checking all this out. Doing a good weight check, and practicing achieving neutral buoyancy in shallow water. That's where it's toughest, because of the relative differences in pressure.

Make sure you wear the exact same configuration (neoprene, tank) as when you're actually diving.

Let us know how it goes!!

 

[Po3]

the last time was on the penisula side

 

[Po3]

ok will do

 

[Po3]

wow, having your own equipment and trying things in the pool makes all the difference in the world. thanks too all for the help and suggestion.

 

[parzdiver]

Welcome to the wonderful world of diving the Quarribean (aka Dutch Springs). As TSandM suggested, head over to DiveNY, many of us spend lots of time at Dutch.

As people have already said, the difference is because of the Neoprene. Especially with a Farmer John, you are getting a lot of compression and as you go down it loses its buoyancy. Slow controlled descents and ascents are more difficult then diving with little or no neoprene.

As your instructor probably said, it is best to make small slow adjustments. On the surface, start dumping air until you just start sinking. Make a nice big exhale and you should continue sinking. If not, dump a little more out of your BC. You should be sinking and at about 10 feet take a nice slow inhale and a little squirt in your BC. You should be able at that point to stop and hold at 10. Then, it is just a matter of small additions to your BC as you descend and small dumps as you ascend. Remember also that big inhalations and exhalations can help slow you. Also remember that your puffs and dumps on the BC take a couple seconds to take affect.

It is a lot to think about and makes things more challenging, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. I still remember crashing to the bottom of Dutch the first few times I was there (I got cert'd in the Bahamas).

 

[Po3]

I have a guy working with me at Dutch Springs. I hated that place, the murky water, the mussels, but since getting my gear and doing a couple of dives, its getting better and I have grown fond of Dutch Spring, the murky water and even the fish stearing at me wondering what the heck is he doing. LOL, thanks for your help.

 

[Po3]

thanks, you lucky soul, i thought I could do my advance and there would be nothing to it. I dove 104' in the lost blue hold with Bahama Divers. well Dutch Springs was a real reality check. I enjoy being there, and have my own gear and alot of work to do. the guy I am with is really taking me through a little at a time. I wanted to dive and see everything he said no we will do bouyance, then do bouyance at the attractions so I am doing a lot better and I often look down and see I am not headed that way unless I want to go there. now its keeping up with my Proplus 2 and all the readings on that. I hope to go to dutch spring sunday. Thanks for your help

 

[TSandM]

Glad it's getting better for you. Time spent working on your buoyancy control will pay off handsomely in much more enjoyable diving.

 

[SteveTW]

est3202 Glad to hear you're doing better with your buoyancy at Dutch. I'll be there on Sunday, the 12th. You're welcome to come up and dive with me if you need a dive buddy. Let me know if you're interested.