To dive or not to dive, that is the question

[Blackwood]

There's either water over your head or there isn't.


In all seriousness, TSM hit on what I consider to be the important point in this thread: if your buddies are unwilling to go on dives you feel comfortable doing, find different buddies.

Comfort is paramount in diving. I can't think of one... parameter that affects nearly as much of a total dive as comfort.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I understand your feeling like you aren't tuned up if you only dive a few times a year, I get a chance to dive almost once a month and still feel like I'm relearning and trying to remember everything. When I started I didn't like going more than 40' or so, but the more I dived the more I started going a little deeper and feeling very comfortable. However, part of what helps me is my husband is my dive buddy. We talk diving and dives as we drive to the dive site, we plan doing liveaboards and going with our local dive shop. For me the thrill of being underwater is so worth all the effort.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, after reading your explanation, I'll be you're like me, and get narced easily. For a lot of people, especially in cold water and limited visibility, narcosis manifests as anxiety, unease or discomfort. At 90 plus feet, I experience significant narcosis, which is why I took a recreational helium class -- It makes a HUGE difference.

At any rate, if this is the case, you can't train or experience yourself out of it, although it may lessen with time and greater general ease underwater. I kept myself above 100 feet (with the vast majority of my dives in the 60 to 70 foot range) for a very long time, and even today, if I'm going below 100 for more than a couple of minutes, I want helium in the tanks.

 

[scubaguy655]

I personally prefer shallower dives myself. Not because I don't like deeper dives but more because I would much rather spend an hour at 40' than 25 minutes at 120'.

I am fortunate that my wife is my buddy (and best friend!) and she likes shallower dives as well. Most of our diving is in the Fla Keys and we usually do a couple of deeper dives per trip mainly because others on the boat want to; however, if it just us, we will stick to the 45' or less sites.

As stated before; maybe it is time to find new buddies.

 

[Trimix2dive]

I'm not familiar with the diving available near Toronto, so I don't understand why you don't have any opportunities for shallow dives. Your statement that you would have to do shallow dives solo suggests that there ARE shallow opportunities, but nobody else wants to do them? Perhaps what you need is a different set of buddies.

ditto....well put.

 

[scubadiver888]

I'm not familiar with the diving available near Toronto, so I don't understand why you don't have any opportunities for shallow dives. Your statement that you would have to do shallow dives solo suggests that there ARE shallow opportunities, but nobody else wants to do them? Perhaps what you need is a different set of buddies.

I'm going to ping Heffey privately. He has probably been looking for a dive buddy and finding what I have been finding. Most the people in the Toronto area seem to be REALLY new. They are the type who first question is, "How deep have you gone?" The other type of people are like Walter or Thallassamania (did I spell that right?). In other words, what they consider an easy dive is something that is a little challenging for someone like Heffey or myself.

I have a guy at work who talks about drift dives in 4' viz where you have a 50% chance of getting sucked to 200' in minutes, 40% of getting sucked out into the commerical shipping lanes and a 9% chance of losing your buddy.

I have a map of over 500 wreck dives in Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River. Most of them are between 70' and 150'. The 70' would be the top of some of the wrecks. To really see anything you'd have to go down to 80' or 90'. They shore dives are a great way to see that people in Ontario suck. That is, you get to see all kinds of garbage and very little marine life.

I've been told that Tobermory is better but it is 1) a long drive from Toronto and 2) REALLY cold. I recently found Rockport, Ontario. It is a long drive (3.5 hours each way) but really pretty, no thermocline and reasonably warm (50F or more).

Maybe Heffey and I can find somewhere good to dive. I like diving deep as well as shallow but I'd be happy to go shallow diving with Heffey.

 

[Heffey]

Oh, after reading your explanation, I'll be you're like me, and get narced easily. For a lot of people, especially in cold water and limited visibility, narcosis manifests as anxiety, unease or discomfort. At 90 plus feet, I experience significant narcosis, which is why I took a recreational helium class -- It makes a HUGE difference.

At any rate, if this is the case, you can't train or experience yourself out of it, although it may lessen with time and greater general ease underwater. I kept myself above 100 feet (with the vast majority of my dives in the 60 to 70 foot range) for a very long time, and even today, if I'm going below 100 for more than a couple of minutes, I want helium in the tanks.

The narced idea had crossed my mind. I went from 85ft to 90ft and went from anxious anticipation to more than just a bit freaked. I was not totaly panicked but I was very concerned on how quickly my state of mind had changed. At 92 feet it was literally like someone flipped a switch. I signaled my instructor that I was going to surface and we ascended about 15 feet then he asked me if I wanted to try again which I did. The rest of the dive went ok but I never felt quite right until the safety stop. Maybe I am combining multiple issues. Lack of experience making me more uncomfortable the deeper I go and anxiety brought on by narcosis. I will have to think more about this.

Thanks

 

[TSandM]

Oh, man, I hear you. Once you've been narced and freaked, it goes with you for the rest of the dive.

My first couple of times to 100 feet in Puget Sound, I honestly hallucinated. I thought I was initiating an uncontrolled ascent, and dumped all the air from my wing and suit, and splatting in the silt. The rest of the dive was just an effort to maintain, and it wasn't fun.

The good news is this: First off, it DOESN'T HAPPEN at shallower depths. So you are free to poke around and explore anything you want in the 60 foot range, without worrying about this happening. Second, as your diving experience expands and the simple act of managing yourself underwater becomes second nature, the narcosis isn't as noticeable. I can dive at 100 feet now without hallucinating or becoming unduly anxious, although I don't think I'll ever be as comfortable there as I am shallower, without helium in the mix.

If there is anywhere you can do shallower dives, find somebody to do them with. It's not at all your "fault", nor is it in any way shameful to be susceptible to narcosis. It's just who you are, and I'm right there with you.

 

[Web Monkey]

I'm not familiar with the diving available near Toronto, so I don't understand why you don't have any opportunities for shallow dives. Your statement that you would have to do shallow dives solo suggests that there ARE shallow opportunities, but nobody else wants to do them? Perhaps what you need is a different set of buddies.

Toronto is on Lake Ontario, which is completely littered with shipwrecks ranging from 20' down to the hundreds, with many reachable by shore.

In the later part of the summer water temps rise to the 70's which puts it right in wetsuit range.

What the OP needs to do is find a really active dive shop nearby and ask about finding some new buddies with similar skills.

There is great local diving in the summer and fall, and with a drysuit almost all year.

Terry

 

[scubadiver888]

Toronto is on Lake Ontario, which is completely littered with shipwrecks ranging from 20' down to the hundreds, with many reachable by shore.

In the later part of the summer water temps rise to the 70's which puts it right in wetsuit range.

What the OP needs to do is find a really active dive shop nearby and ask about finding some new buddies with similar skills.

There is great local diving in the summer and fall, and with a drysuit almost all year.

Terry

Terry,

Do you have any specific recommendations? I have a map from the Ontario Underwater Council but most the wrecks in the Toronto area either start at 70' or are under the Toronto Port Authority control (paperwork, paperwork, paperwork and a $20/diver fee). Here is what I'm aware of:

Alexandria: Out in Scarborough, 5' to 10' depth but overhead boat traffic a danger.
Southern Trail: Out on the Leslie spit, 35' depth, under Toronto Port Authority control.
Sligo: 66' depth but it is a boat dive, under Toronto Port Authority control and the water at the mouth of the Humber river is just nasty.
Dawn of the Dead: 50' depth but a boat dive. It is out in Oakville.

I just heard that Oakville Divers go out there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm going to see if they have anything going out on the weekend.

Is there something else I'm missing? Any resource you can point me to would be appreciated. I haven't found anything reachable from shore yet (well, except the things in Toronto harbour and that is just nasty).