Safety stop at 15'..........always

[jbmooney]

...staying down would have blown us into the middle of a high current 9 knots plus narrow channel with lots of boat traffic.

Nine knots??!?! :dropmouth Where were you diving, in the spillway of a dam?

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

Nine knots??!?! :dropmouth Where were you diving, in the spillway of a dam?

The Bay of Fundy maybe?

As much as I hate to do it, I will quote a sentence from Wikipedia about the Bay of Fundy:
"The name 'Fundy' is thought to date back to the 16th century when the Portuguese referred to the bay as 'Rio Fundo' or 'deep river."

The Clean Current website on the Bay of Fundy lists the tidal speed of 4.5 meters per second. I did the calculation (because I'm a geek) and it is approximately 8.75 knots. That is a rip-roaring current!

Of course, I don't know why anyone would want to dive in the Bay of Fundy since the current is so strong and fast it causes the water to be very turbid.

 

[Darnold9999]

For you unbelievers out there:

Dodd Narrows - just checked current for today max flood is 8.1 max ebb -7.1 knots. Typical is 5 - 6 spectacular dive spot - at slack tide - and not for beginners.

April 7 9.2 flood -8.1 ebb.

May 7 9.7 flood -8.3 ebb.

We were not at 9 knots as we were diving the slack, but sticking around to do a safety stop as the current increases to up to 9 knots is not a good plan. The plan was to drift with the slack current and get around the corner before the tide changed - we missed by about 10 feet - swimming as hard as I could I was being blown back along the rock face faster than I could swim in no current - and the tide had just turned. Time to surface and get back on the boat.

Here is a description from one of the local tourist brochures (not sure I would put it at #2, but it is up there):

Situated 5 nautical miles SE of Nanaimo, Dodd Narrows is rated the #2 dive site in BC. Only 55 metres wide at the narrowest point with a max depth of 33 metres. The 8-9 knot currents in this picturesque channel create an ideal habitat for a lush assortment of colourful marine invertebrates. Due to the strong currents, Dodd Narrows can only be dived from a boat at slack water. The Mudge Island side of the Narrows with it's heavily colonized sheer vertical faces and overhangs is the diver's preferred bank. Living in Dodd Narrows are many species of Sea Anemone, Aggregating Anemone, Sea Stars, Mosshead Warbonnets, Puget Sound King Crab, Orange Cup Corals, Red Irish Lords, Rockfish and Cod. Occasionally during the winter months California and Stellar Sea Lions can be observed feeding on Salmon in the swift tidal stream. A photographers dream!

 

[Jim Kerr]

He ended up sitting out several dives later in the week, claiming ear trouble. I think it was more that he realized he had underestimated the diving skills required for the types of dives we were doing. No one else had any problems though.

My ears were "killing" me at the end of my Palau trip on the Aggressor. Didn't know I needed "swimmers ear" until then so now I pack plenty of it on every trip. He could have been having the same problem

 

[Gombessa]

I've changed my mind about the safety stop. I'm just throw this into the back of my truck and rig the steering wheel inside, so I can decompress on the drive home:

Diving Decompression Chamber 54" Double Lock - eBay (item 190199672954 end time Feb-27-08 11:25:28 PST)

 

[marchand]

I typically only do a safety stop when I'm within 5 min of the NDL, but if I have 10min before mandatory deco I see no reason to make a stop.

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I've changed my mind about the safety stop. I'm just throw this into the back of my truck and rig the steering wheel inside, so I can decompress on the drive home:

Diving Decompression Chamber 54" Double Lock - eBay (item 190199672954 end time Feb-27-08 11:25:28 PST)

Not if I outbid you, lol!

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

For you unbelievers out there:

Dodd Narrows - just checked current for today max flood is 8.1 max ebb -7.1 knots. Typical is 5 - 6 spectacular dive spot - at slack tide - and not for beginners.

April 7 9.2 flood -8.1 ebb.

May 7 9.7 flood -8.3 ebb.

We were not at 9 knots as we were diving the slack, but sticking around to do a safety stop as the current increases to up to 9 knots is not a good plan. The plan was to drift with the slack current and get around the corner before the tide changed - we missed by about 10 feet - swimming as hard as I could I was being blown back along the rock face faster than I could swim in no current - and the tide had just turned. Time to surface and get back on the boat.

Sounds like fun...cold...but fun.

 

[Thalassamania]

The channel cuts on [SIZE=-1]Eniwetok Atoll must have fun at close to that.
[/SIZE]

 

[jbmooney]

For you unbelievers out there:

Dodd Narrows - just checked current for today max flood is 8.1 max ebb -7.1 knots. Typical is 5 - 6 spectacular dive spot - at slack tide - and not for beginners.

Darnold9999, my apologies - my post was unintentionally dismissive in tone. It does sound like a fascinating dive, and one that would certainly give me a reason to discard a non-mandatory safety stop. (I think it must also be among the strongest navigable saltwater currents in the world, but I didn't really mean to say I didn't believe you, I'm just astonished at that amount of current in water deep enough to dive in (Yikes! :11