Dive Trip Report to:
Deerfield, Dive Boat
Lady-Go-Diver
Purpose:
Fish Counts and Pictures, Mapping and Markers
Dive #1:
. My Dive #476
A. Dive Boat / Location:
Lady-Go-Diver
/ Boynton Corridor
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
42 ft Measured
Seas:
1 - 4 ft with an occasional 5
Water Temp:
72
Skies:
Sunny, Clear Blue Sky's - Typial of Florida!!
Air Temp:
Mid 70's, with some cool breezes
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 91 ft for 21 min, PO2 1.19, 32 % NITROX
Air consumption:
Me: (80 cu ft), 3100 lbs to 1500 lbs - but read on!
Current:
Slim if any
Description:
Well this was my first dive with the REEF Team this year. It's been a very
windy winter, hard to get out diving. I had a new REEF Team member tag along -
Jason.
The boat boarded at 7:30 am and was to leave at 8 from Deerfield. I live about 2 1/2 hours to the North. So it was up at 4:15 am, out of the house at 5:00 am to arrive on time. The boat is loading at a new location while their docks are being rebuilt. It was a long boat ride out. But Lady-Go is a BIG WIDE boat, so it's very comfortable. The time gave us a chance to check over our equipment and discuss the dive. My partner CC was to do a fish count on the 1st dive. Max depth was around 90 - 95 ft. This was a fairly deep dive for the REEF team, most of our dives are a lot shallower. The depth would limit our bottom time. We jumped in, went down and were to follow the row of Big Boulders to a channel and look for our Number 2 tag and then do a fish count.
Just a few min into the dive, CC showed me her reg / tank pressure and pointed up as if to cancel the dive and go back up. The pressure gauge showed 2000 lbs, which I though strange as I had around 2800 and I'm a heavy breather compared, to her. But I pointed to continue not realizing what was about to happen.
We never found the number 2 tag or any other tag and swam to the end of the rock piles. Not wanting to waste time looking for the number, CC started to count fish. I swam around, keeping a distance so as not to influencer her counting. At the end of the 10 min count, CC noted her pressure gauge showed 500 lbs of air! Oh SHIT! I had 2000 lbs in my Al 80. CC was almost out of air and there was no real visible sign of a leak. I grabbed her BC strap and we both headed the surface. Several of the REEF team saw us going up and I signaled we were in trouble and out of air. On the way, I showed her where the reg for my 19 cu ft pony was. It seemed to take us some time to break out of the 50 ft range. Tis hard holding onto someone and control the air in your BC. At 20 ft, I signaled CC to hang a while. After about a minute, I notice air was pouring out of her reg near the side connection and I signaled CC to get to the surface. On top, I gave the dive boat the EMERGENCY signal and we awaited the boat. I was worried that she might not have enough air left to safely get back on the boat. But all turned out all right. We checked the reg in the dunk tank and could not find any large leak except for the control valve on the reg being open a lot letting air out. Regs were changed.
Some after dive discussion we stated that some time on a dive when we get a few extra minutes, we should practice swapping regs as if were out of air. For the person taking the reg, sometimes it is not in the right configuration – e.g. it's upside down and backwards so the air will exit on the top or it will twist the hose and tend to pull the reg out of your mouth. In the case of my pony, the mouth piece needs to be pulled from under my arm to give more hose. As an option, I can breath out of my Air 2 or the pony and give the other diver my main reg. This needs to be practiced a few times. It also shows that the diver needs to be close to their dive partner. When the shit hits the fan, you only have a few seconds. If the partner is in never-never land facing away, they many not notice the problem til it 's tooo late. Throughout the dive, I looked at CC's hoses ( force of habit with me ) and did not see ANY leaks at all!!
Dive #2:
. My Dive #477
A. Dive Boat / Location:
Lady-Go-Diver
/ Delary Ledges
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
42 ft
Seas:
2 - 4 ft, occasional 5 footer
Water Temp:
72
Skies:
Sunny, Clear Blue Sky's - Typial of Florida!!
Air Temp:
Mid 70's, with some cool breezes
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 69 ft for 50 min on Air
Air consumption:
Me: (80 cu ft), 3000 lbs to 500 lbs
Current:
Nil
Description:
Beautiful dive on some very pretty reef line. There was maybe 20 feet from the
top of the reef line to the sand. Lot's of deep ledges. Very colorful. Lot's
of fish and colors. Again, CC was counting fish and I was a watching. Great
Dive. No bugs seen!
Last Updated: 29-July-2003
Irishman AT SpryNet DOT Com