What a dumb question "anyone have an opinion"...  of course divers have opinions...

So, here's the thing... it has been suggested on Scubaboard.com that the most common problem for which we receive NO training is an inflator stuck in the ON position.  Now, I can see how that can happen!!  SAND!! So, should we practise holding the deflate button with the left hand while disconnecting the LP hose with the right?  With 5mil gloves?

Just a cusiosity...

Well, I finally went diving again.  (This thing we call a career really gets in the way, don't it?).

This time my buddy Mike and I chose fresh water... Dutch Springs. Nice.  We got there at about 11AM, just when the power divers were finished doing it right, so we got a WONDERFUL parking space, and a picnic table right near the entrance to the water. All in all, not bad!  Only had to hump the gear about 50 feet from the parking space (under a tree) to the picnic table, then walk about 80 feet to the water!  Then the troubles began...

I had to wear the 7mm john/jacket combo, because the plan was 70', which takes us through the 2nd thermocline.  (surface temp was about 70, then at 30' it drops off to about 58, then at 60' it drops to about 48.  For those of you who live in countries that abandoned the civilized Farenheit scale in favor of the silly Celcius /Centigrade scale, that is 21, 14, and 9 degrees).   But I had a very tough time with buoyancy.  As I went down, the suit squeezed and at about 30' I started falling fast.  This is right at the thermocline, and also at the spot where I have equilization problems with the ears.  Not fun.  (I also had problems later on, but in reverse... when I got to about 30' going up, I turned into a cork.  Had to invert and kick back down.)  All in all..... interesting.  I finally managed a slow ascent with the aid of an up-line.

The second dive was MUCH nicer, as we stayed shallow (<30'), so I left the gloves and hood ashore, and borrowed Mikes Ocean Reef Neptune FFM.  What a great toy.  There's nothing like it... I'm in love.  Anyone want to donate one to a worth cause??

Just when I'd managed to schedule a weekend of diving, I get a head cold.  Stuffed sinuses, sore throat, earache, and of course my lungs feel like I've inhaled talc or something...  figures.

This blog is green and black because to me, thats the color of diving.  Green water until the sun goes down or the mud comes up... then black.

Hi.  Is there anybody out there?

Here's about me...

I fell in love with SCUBA when I was a little kid in the 50s (60s?) watching Sea Hunt.  So, of course, I couldn't (didn't) do anything about it until I turned 50 and took a SCUBA course as part of a Boy Scout program, mostly because my son wanted to, and it was an excuse to get away from the wife and daughters (3) for a few nights.

The course was crazy.  The instructor is an old hard liner, and we swam laps.  We warmer up with laps.  We did laps buddy-breathing.  We did laps without masks.  We did laps with freeflowing regs.  And we learned.  Ditch-and-don.... bailouts... this was no resort course.  15 hours of classroom, 15 hours of pool.  Then, the open water dives.

I screwed the dives.  My rental wet suit damn near choked me to death.  David Oreck couldn't have gotten air out of the reg.  Not enough weight.  It was BAD.  So the instructor FAILED ME!  MADE ME REPEAT THE COURSE.  15 more hours of pool time, and a whole year later, I passed with flying colors.  In retrospect, it was a wise choice on his part.  Now I dream of diving, I don't fear it.  I respect the sea, but I enjoy it.  And I have confidence that I can handle problems.  A great feeling.

So, if I only had some time or money.  I'm a consultant working in the Information Technology field, so I get paid by the hour.  I have time or money, never both.  Diving is, therefore, The Atlantic Ocean (Fort Wetherill in RI is nice, beach 9th treet in Queens is pretty wierd.)  Sometimes Dutch Springs.  Always cold.  Usually the viz sucks.  I love it!