Shore diving advice needed

[Rogersea]

My Dentist in Virginia(Dr. Tuggle) invented some beach carts/rooleez wheels which make travesrsing the beach easy...

I have dived the location that you spoke of and the problem with where your diving is: sometimes the current moves you so far along the shore line that you might need a dedicated shore support person(to move the cart)...

BeachcartsUSA - We Are The Largest Wheeleez Dealer On The East Coast

Anyway check out the above link..

Cheers,
Roger

 

[Lizard Leg]

I know I am completely different (79 yo.), but people are often keen to help if approached.

Ogre, I salute you. Wow. I mean, just... wow. I know how tired I am after a few days of diving at 41!

It's not that people aren't willing to help - my dive buddy for the day even said he would help. It was all on me. I'm stubborn. Something about it just didn't feel right I guess. I was strugglign to get out of the water and I had a guy come over and ask if he could help. I can understand my dive buddy going back to the group after he dropped me off, since he had another 30 minutes of air - but I still had to figure out how to get out of the water! I guess that's why I'm so keen on getting a system in place that allows me to be self sufficient.

---------- Post Merged at 08:11 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:03 PM ----------

I'm not sure the carts are the answer - Once I get everything down to the waters edge, and swap over to the dive leg, I still have to get it in the water. I can work out getting it to the waterline - it's the getting it in and out of the water that is an issue. If my wife or son were there they know the routine (my wheelchair stays in the living room for those long days where I just can't wait to get the leg off) and about the time I had the foot swappd out, they'd be 4' deep waiting on me - which they know I hate, but they just smile and do it anyway

So far, the drag seems to be the simplest, least expensive, don't care if I leave it on the beach and someone steals it solution. Might not be the optimum solution, but getting there. I'm concerned about everything rolling off and getting reg/octo full of sand as well.

 

[TSandM]

I can understand my dive buddy going back to the group after he dropped me off, since he had another 30 minutes of air​

You're diving with the wrong people. NEVER, EVER would I abandon a buddy to continue my own dive. I have, on one or two occasions, had one member of a three-man team need to abort a dive, and we have stayed and watched until that person was firmly up on land before we turned back to our own diving. If there was any question of that person having issues getting out (and I'm one of those people) we would all have gone in. I can't believe that anyone would dive with you and, knowing your challenges, abandon you to managing your own exit -- no matter what you said. Shame on them.

 

[spectrum]

I agree that the buddy approach is the best overall solution. You can try to engineer the dive but dives have a way of reinventing themselves and making planned solutions irrelevant. A buddy can be adaptive and bridging your needs is not a big seal. If you want to work with a buggy or sled to be more self sufficient that's cool but expecting to be 100% capable is selling your self short. My diving is almost exclusively shore diving and I have to salute you for tackling this head on.

Pete

 

[avatar]

What about a combination of tarp and small cheap raft ? The tarp would spread the weight out on the sand for the drag, and the raft would get you to a depth to put on the equipment.You would have to figure out how to keep it together, maybe the raft would serve both needs.Drape the reg around your neck or use a plasic bag that you can stuff in a BC pocket. Maybe an anchor or a picket pounded into the sand to keep it there while you are gone.Also, 2 trips may be better than one for less stress on your legs and back.I know what you mean about wanting to do it yourself, it sure is fun when it works.

 

[DocCarl]

...
It's not that people aren't willing to help - my dive buddy for the day even said he would help. It was all on me. I'm stubborn. Something about it just didn't feel right I guess. I was strugglign to get out of the water and I had a guy come over and ask if he could help.. . .

I'd like to respectfully suggest that we look at this factor a little closer, perhaps in PM. I know that the site was new (as well as shore diving in general) for you, and that (at least at one point) you were planning to take a video camera, still camera and tow a flag simultaneously. There was also a long commute to the site combined with rental gear pickups at 'zero hour'.

My point is that I believe that there may have been multiple contributing factors fueling your stress level. Developing an innovative solution for the unique challenge you have will be fun and ultimately very rewarding and productive, however, perhaps it's prudent to prioritize the basic requirements for a stress-free outing first!

You're diving with the wrong people. NEVER, EVER would I abandon a buddy to continue my own dive. I have, on one or two occasions, had one member of a three-man team need to abort a dive, and we have stayed and watched until that person was firmly up on land before we turned back to our own diving. If there was any question of that person having issues getting out (and I'm one of those people) we would all have gone in. I can't believe that anyone would dive with you and, knowing your challenges, abandon you to managing your own exit -- no matter what you said. Shame on them.

TSandM,

At this point I'm not willing make sweeping judgements on the caliber of the buddy(ies) based solely on the information presented in this thread. On another note, I just happened to have met these 'twenty-somethings', have dove with at least one of them, and coincidentally agree with your insinuation that this may not have been the most mutually beneficial dive team pairing. Please understand that this opinion is based on interactions at a different time and place than the OP's dive this past weekend.

Basically, I wasn't there and don't know what was discussed prior to the dive(s) regarding one person ending their dive early. I can speculate all day, but that really doesn't mean anything



So as to not be COMPLETELY off topic,

I vote for diving side mount, and using a salt-proof cart with sand tires the move the tanks to the water. Upon decent, chain the cart to a rock in 10' of water. It should be just fine wherever you're diving.

 

[farsidefan1]

What about a combination of tarp and small cheap raft ? The tarp would spread the weight out on the sand for the drag, and the raft would get you to a depth to put on the equipment.You would have to figure out how to keep it together, maybe the raft would serve both needs.Drape the reg around your neck or use a plasic bag that you can stuff in a BC pocket. Maybe an anchor or a picket pounded into the sand to keep it there while you are gone.Also, 2 trips may be better than one for less stress on your legs and back.I know what you mean about wanting to do it yourself, it sure is fun when it works.

Interesting idea, perhaps the raft could be fitted with a dive flag, then you get 2 for 1. of course then you are stuck with the flag (unless your buddy will trade off with you). Personally with my knees I only do easy shore dives. If it's over broken coral and lots of rocks - I'm looking for the boat(easy for me to say as I have no tropical diving - the only kind I want to do - within a thousand miles. I'm jealous of those that live near places they can just drive to and hop in.

 

[Lizard Leg]

I'd like to respectfully suggest that we look at this factor a little closer, perhaps in PM. I know that the site was new (as well as shore diving in general) for you, and that (at least at one point) you were planning to take a video camera, still camera and tow a flag simultaneously. There was also a long commute to the site combined with rental gear pickups at 'zero hour'.

My point is that I believe that there may have been multiple contributing factors fueling your stress level. Developing an innovative solution for the unique challenge you have will be fun and ultimately very rewarding and productive, however, perhaps it's prudent to prioritize the basic requirements for a stress-free outing first!




TSandM,

At this point I'm not willing make sweeping judgements on the caliber of the buddy(ies) based solely on the information presented in this thread. On another note, I just happened to have met these 'twenty-somethings', have dove with at least one of them, and coincidentally agree with your insinuation that this may not have been the most mutually beneficial dive team pairing. Please understand that this opinion is based on interactions at a different time and place than the OP's dive this past weekend.

Basically, I wasn't there and don't know what was discussed prior to the dive(s) regarding one person ending their dive early. I can speculate all day, but that really doesn't mean anything



So as to not be COMPLETELY off topic,

I vote for diving side mount, and using a salt-proof cart with sand tires the move the tanks to the water. Upon decent, chain the cart to a rock in 10' of water. It should be just fine wherever you're diving.

Let me start by saying I hold nothing against my dive buddy - he asked if I needed help and my pride made me say no. There were 4 of us, 2 groups, and when he escorted me back to the shallows, I told him I was fine when he said he was heading back down, to go ahead and go. I felt like crap about it - he had already said this might be his last dive for a while since he was starting college, and I didn't want to be the reason for him to miss half of it on my account. I feel that, although he might understandably have been upset, if I had said "I need help" he would have helped.

This is all on me, not him. If I wasn't fine, and needed help, I should have said something.

I did bring both cameras, but only had the GoPro on the pole, which clips off to my BC while not in use, and I left the still camera in the truck. I had issues trying to fight fins, mask and flag, getting my BC on, keeping it from floating away, flag line wrapped around my arm, etc. - just wasn't prepared to handle it all at once I guess with the even mild current/surge we had. I took a carabiner off (I always clip a few extras to a d-ring) and clipped my mask off to get in the water, same for the flag, but that's a lot of things hanging and clipped off for a BC that isn't even on you yet. Once I got a system worked out, I was good to go. Second dive, once I was in the water I was geared up and ready to go much, much quicker.

The drive isn't really an issue - I'm used to driving long distances to do a lot of things, had a good nights sleep the night before, etc. I use the time to get introspective.

Part of the issue is I started the dive stressed. I was feeling good, feeling right, and ready to go. We pull in the parking lot at Pickens and... no reg set. First dive shot. Drove back to the shop, grabbed a reg set, drove back to Pickens, a little over an hour total lost. Geared up and waited for them to ascend from the first dive. I was frustrated, I was mad at myself and I just wanted to get in the water. So the longer I waited the more my stress increased. Trying to get the gear down by myself was stressing me out, especially when I tried and thought I had broken the ankle assembly. By the time I finally got in the water, part of me was yelling just thumb it and call it a day.

Again, this is all on me. If you signal your dive buddy "OK?" and they answer "OK", what do you do? Well, that's what I did at the surface to him when I said "No problem, go finish the dive."

I'm hoping we can end the buddy part of the discussion. I'm just trying to gather advice and suggestions on getting a kit to the water myself, even though I don't know if it will ever be an issue again. I just try to find solutions to issues such as this before they happen again so I am better prepared.

 

[Paladin]

I like the boat/tarp combo that Avatar suggested. The tarp would protect the boat's bottom and the boat could haul the gear. The boats are cheap at places like Wal-Mart. One of the so-called two man boats would do the job. Like farsidefan1 suggested, it could also serve as a dive float with a flag. In fact, I have a couple of those boats out in my garage, somewhere. I bought them for my kids, when they were little, to play with at the lake. I may just dig one out and stick a flag on it!

 

[Lizard Leg]

After a little more thought and consideration, and a phone call to the maker of the dive ankle, I might have hit upon a compromise. Diving with my setup with an AL80 I can walk it to the water, with fins and mask on my arms or clipped off - if I leave the weights behind. It's still over the weight limit of the ankle, but stepping lightly and taking my time, I think I could do it without any extra gear and without shattering the ankle. It;s made from extremely heavy duty Delrin, but at the end of the day it's still plastic and made for swimming/diving, not walking. Other items required for the dive such as dive flag and my weights would have to be carried down by my buddy and then handed to me to just clip back in place (weight integrated BC).

I'm trying to get another go at Ft. Pickens with someone who knows the area to put this to the test in a few weeks - hopefully round two goes much better than round one if I can get this arranged!

---------- Post Merged on July 25th, 2012 at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous Post was on July 24th, 2012 at 07:13 PM ----------

JOOC - is my avatar pic showing up?