miked
Contributor
Last week,on a trip, during a surface interval, the subject of "deep stops" came up-(among a bunch of recreational divers).
I stated that I like to add a "half depth stop", in addition to the regular safety stop,
on each dive. I also mentioned that , on the previous dive, (70 ft max depth), it was easy to do, because we spent about 4 minutes at approx 35 ft while looking at the reef.
One of the other divers took extreme exception-he "proclaimed" that "That would not count as a stop, because we were moving." He went on to add "My son just finished NAUI AOW, I read the manual, and it says that all stops-safety-mandatory deco-must be done while not swimming."
He was so adamant that I declined to take issue. I think that he was wrong. Although his comments got a few sets of rolled eyes from some of the other divers, the situation did not warrant challenging this guy's position.
It is my understanding, as long as you are not overexerting, that the depth is the critical element in a "stop", rather than having to "hang or hover".
I'm checking 2 things: First:in general, is a "moving" safety/deco stop acceptable (i.e. was I correct?)
Second: (for NAUI people): Is there anything in the NAUI AOW book that supports what this man said??
Thanks as always,
Mike
I stated that I like to add a "half depth stop", in addition to the regular safety stop,
on each dive. I also mentioned that , on the previous dive, (70 ft max depth), it was easy to do, because we spent about 4 minutes at approx 35 ft while looking at the reef.
One of the other divers took extreme exception-he "proclaimed" that "That would not count as a stop, because we were moving." He went on to add "My son just finished NAUI AOW, I read the manual, and it says that all stops-safety-mandatory deco-must be done while not swimming."
He was so adamant that I declined to take issue. I think that he was wrong. Although his comments got a few sets of rolled eyes from some of the other divers, the situation did not warrant challenging this guy's position.
It is my understanding, as long as you are not overexerting, that the depth is the critical element in a "stop", rather than having to "hang or hover".
I'm checking 2 things: First:in general, is a "moving" safety/deco stop acceptable (i.e. was I correct?)
Second: (for NAUI people): Is there anything in the NAUI AOW book that supports what this man said??
Thanks as always,
Mike