My journey into tech

[Kevrumbo]

I plan on going tech in the future. There was never any question it would eventually happen. I'm not interested in caves at all, but deeper wrecks, especially on the Great Lakes? Heck, yes! My goal is the Thomas Hume in Lake Michigan, at 145ft (very pretty wreck that went down in 1891, very well preserved). I'm Great Lakes wreck obsessed and have been for something like 25 years. My wreck class with limited penetration is this weekend. I've already been diving some Great Lakes wrecks.

What skills do I need to have down cold before I begin any tech training?

I'm currently at 62 dives. Have Advanced rating and Nitrox, as well as drysuit. I'm planning on the SM class next season (BM doubles are not possible due to knee issues, period). Solo/intro to tech in 2019. AN/DP maybe in 2020. Advanced Wreck and trimix, who knows when. I figure it may very well take me 5 years to get to the point where I can dive the Hume.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to observe an AN/DP class working on dropping and retrieving stage bottles at the local quarry (they came to the platform I was working on). That was very interesting to watch.

I'm looking for info such as: need to be able to hover within x amount of deviation (1ft, or whatever it is), etc. That sort of thing. Would like to know what exactly I need to work on. I'm something of a long-term planner. Thanks!

Ideally you should be in a dedicated team of three; or at least one Dive Buddy -all in the same doubles SM config that you plan to employ as you matriculate through your Tech & Adv Wreck Diving Courses. It's a little more task loading in SM laying a Primary Reel Mainline, handling your Primary Light, managing a dismounted tank as needed to pass a restriction, and swapping regs in Independent Doubles (or alternating Cylinder Valves in Z-System SM) --it's good to have a familiar #2 Dive Buddy on the penetration to assist in running the reeline and prevent you from entanglement in it.

For now, I recommend diving your doubles SM system in Open Water, just holding a Primary Reel and Light both in one hand, and practice dexterity doing Reg swaps & other Drills exclusively with the other hand as your Buddy watches.

 

[Ayisha]

Not sure where around the Great Lakes the OP is located, but this boat with a hydraulic lift is in Tobermory. So easy...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of the best features at God's Pocket.

 

[Neilwood]

One of the best features at God's Pocket.

A number of boats here have double width lifts - which makes the whole process a lot quicker.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Given east coast sea levels are rising disproportionately quickly you think the 'elevator' manufactures would take advantage of sea proofing opportunities asap. Getting in on the ground floor so to
speak.

 

[KevinNM]

View attachment 428853

Well, the sea level has been rising at a full 0.2mm per year for the last few centuries. Based on normal patterns it will start to fall inside the next thousand or five thousand years, as the mean weather for Chicago for the last million years reasserts itself. Which involves it being under a mile of ice.

 

[KenGordon]

Well, the sea level has been rising at a full 0.2mm per year for the last few centuries. Based on normal patterns it will start to fall inside the next thousand or five thousand years, as the mean weather for Chicago for the last million years reasserts itself. Which involves it being under a mile of ice.

How it was changing in the last few centuries doesn't matter so much as how it is now.

From https://phys.org/news/2017-05-differences-east-coast-sea.html

"Recent research indicates that global mean sea level, or the average height of the world's oceans, has been increasing by 3 millimeters (.1 inches) per year on average since 1993, when satellites first started measuring it. But along the U.S. East Coast north of Cape Hatteras, rates of sea level rise were found to be some three to four times higher than the global average over certain periods."

 

[MaxBottomtime]

A dive boat will still be floating on the surface, no matter how high that surface may be.

 

[KevinNM]

How it was changing in the last few centuries doesn't matter so much as how it is now.

From https://phys.org/news/2017-05-differences-east-coast-sea.html

"Recent research indicates that global mean sea level, or the average height of the world's oceans, has been increasing by 3 millimeters (.1 inches) per year on average since 1993, when satellites first started measuring it. But along the U.S. East Coast north of Cape Hatteras, rates of sea level rise were found to be some three to four times higher than the global average over certain periods."

You know the ocean is a continuous body of fluid? So how does the ocean surface get farther from the center of the earth faster north of cape Hatteras than south of Cape Hatreras? Are there mountains of water forming in the North Atlantic and this is the foothills? Did I miss the transatlantic dam that got built? Perhaps there is something else going on that might account for this?

The fact that the radar altimeters used from orbit today are only accurate to plus or minus 3.3 cm makes this even an more interesting claim. One wonders what the accuracy was in 1993.

 

[PfcAJ]

You know the ocean is a continuous body of fluid? So how does the ocean surface get farther from the center of the earth faster north of cape Hatteras than south of Cape Hatreras? Are there mountains of water forming in the North Atlantic and this is the foothills? Did I miss the transatlantic dam that got built? Perhaps there is something else going on that might account for this?

The fact that the radar altimeters used from orbit today are only accurate to plus or minus 3.3 cm makes this even an more interesting claim. One wonders what the accuracy was in 1993.

Perhaps due to salinity, temperature, currents, and wind?