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Messages - JJHACK

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Dive Against Debris July 2021 / Dive Against Debris class and certification
« on: December 11, 2020, 02:01:21 pm »
PADI offers this as a certification if you are in need of one for your 5 Advanced Open water certifications.

We can get this done in July during this event. 

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General Discussion / Dive Rituals
« on: December 11, 2020, 10:46:21 am »
Dive Rituals

For many of us as recreational divers we wait agonizing days and weeks in anticipation of getting into the water to see and explore all the amazing seascapes and wildlife.

Our time in the water is the ultimate goal and where divers find their happy place. However there is a process that we all require that can seem like work, or simply hurdles to get over to get into the water. Some of these are travel plans, packing luggage, staying within that 50lb limit, what to pack for wear out of the water, all the TSA checked bag regulations as well as the more complicated carry on bag regulations.

For those who have never packed for an international dive trip this can be quite daunting and seemingly impossible to achieve with all the gear needed. For me its a ritual of sorts to gather the items I “need” and those I “want” Then while looking this over determining how do I get it packed with the contents protected from damage as much as possible. Fifty pound bags are not always handled gently, they tend to be swung and chucked by the baggage handlers using momentum in the movement to launch them into the carts or onto the belts.

Even the shore dives we almost all do when using our vehicles to transport gear can be hard on equipment. Scuba tanks nearly always win the battle of what can damage or break the most stuff. They are heavy and round. They roll over anything in their path and usually smash into anything they roll up against.

Often at the end of several days of diving in a row, living out of a hotel the gear in your vehicle is soaking wet, salty, smells funny, and stacked like a jumble of pickup sticks all over the place. This situation is just begging for trouble. We are tired, wet, cold, starving, and thirsty! The object many times is just get the stuff jammed into the vehicle and go get some food, or get into the warm heated car!

This situation has a lot of common characteristics to the arrival to start your first dive. Even though the gear is perfectly organized and clean, dry, and ready to go. Here is where I arrive at my Ritual of diving. No matter how anxious we are to get into the water we all need to observe proper dive protocol and safety checks. Not just for ourselves but for the dive partner you are with. Without that dive buddy perfectly and safely ready your dive ends short too!

Consider this, a commercial pilot or a fighter pilot will walk around his aircraft and do a visual check to see what things look like. They add an additional critical eye to the over all checkout of the plan. Then into the cockpit for gage checks and adjustments. They do not just slap together a few things and take off. They have a very disciplined ritual. That is your roll for your dive buddy. He has set up everything, checked every thing, and feels 100% confident that it’s time to launch, or dive! You walk over and look at his gear. Maybe he forgot something optional like a dive knife or backup light. Or as I have seen his dry suit inflator hose is dangling in back. Maybe his computer is not on, or possibly his tank valve not turned on.

Imagine the pilot taking off with a problem that was not identified by the overview checkout. The saying I would rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, that in the air wishing I was on the ground comes to mind here. The same comment can be made by swapping air for water where diving is the topic!

We become complacent with our diving and our best dive buddies skills and capabilities. Over the years there becomes an expected process without deviation for the buddy teams. Yet who among us has done this 30-45 second check out of a dive buddy 100% of the time? Remember your dive buddies gear is as important to you, as your gear is to you. Your dive ends when his dive ends!

The absolute best way to manage this without a doubt is to never be in a hurry to catch up and make the dive on time. Be early, layout the gear, visually identify the items you need to have. Get the last things you need to have in your hands set up on top of something so you do not have to bend over with 80 plus pounds on your back to pick them up.

Spray your mask, set your fins up high to grab them, have the last important items within reach to snap onto your D rings. Test your inflator, Octo, Reg, Make sure your pony is turned on. check that gage too! I can’t make a list of every possible thing here. Have this discussion with your dive buddy. Do not let this ritual turn into a competition of who prepares better, or who is a better diver because they remember everything. Nobody remembers everything, every time, forever! I sure don’t. Be grateful somebody saw the problem before you get into the water. Don’t be offended, they are not ridiculing you, they are helping you.

I’ve stopped myself on a 9 day tropical dive about day 3 and said to my dive buddy “ we need a once over before we go in”  I told her that we were becoming complacent, and depending upon the boat crew far too much.  This just happens, the confidence begins creeping in and before you know, you giant stride off the boat and sink with an inflator hose not connected! Of course that is an example it’s never actually happened to anyone! Nor has anyone ever stepped off the boat with sunglasses on instead of their mask.

I dive frequently with an amazing skilled diver that I trust completely. Yet even between us stupid things have been forgotten or not assembled properly. We have had to step back several times and say timeout, we need to do buddy checks, this hurry to the water is not a good idea.

This preparation should become a careful period of time where you’re very focused on your gear, the process and the care needed to keep you safe and enjoy the dive. The fastest way to a problem is when you are in a hurry. Arrive early before anyone else, concentrate on the things you need and the order in which they will connect to you. Then carefully watch the progress of the other divers and your dive buddy. You don’t want to be geared up sealed into your wet or dry suit overheating when the others are still visiting and unpacking gear.

Make this a ritual with steps for progressing through the process that become familiar to you and comfortable. This process should be part of the dive “pregame” that is fun and recreational just like the dive itself. You spent a lot of money on this gear. You have taken care of it like a newborn. Enjoy it out of the water too, take your time to appreciate the quality, construction, and confidence it gives you. Or possibly how threadbare and hideous it may be. Thats the moment you consider an upgrade. Not the wait til it completely fails at 80 feet deep inside the hull of a ship! I would have no problem telling my dive buddies that part of their gear is beat and what we often refer to as “getting your moneys worth.”

Remember for the most part people pointing out an equipment assembly issue or other gear condition is not ridicule it’s helpful. Be grateful not offended!

3
General Discussion / Article: Entering the water
« on: December 11, 2020, 10:45:08 am »
I’ve been diving with folks of all experience levels for much of my life now, Some of you have done your first open water dive with me this past year too! I recognized that there is a gap between the newer divers and the very experienced divers in this area that I thought I could address. With experienced folks everyone gears up and knows the drill for getting ready.  They know the proper etiquette for partnering up and getting into the water by walking to the shore or getting into the queue to step off the boat. However, for the newer divers this may help you to understand some of the process and differences.

The beach dives or shore dives are straight forward and really a great way to do your first open water dives. No rush, no line of people waiting to get into the water. Just you and your hopefully very understanding and patient dive buddy.  You go through the slow meticulous set up ritual with buddy checks before heading to the water.

Here are some things that may be new to you, or that have not occurred to you yet. A common situation, where do you put your car keys, wallet, purse, phone, etc? Many new cars have electronic key fobs which don’t survive diving. There are waterproof dry bags that can hold your keys and your phone, feeling lucky? I think the risk of a leak to destroy your phone and keys are far higher than the theft of your cars contents. Dry suits solve this for the most part with an inside pocket. However for many new divers drysuits are not usually an early purchase option.

Parking is often in an area with other divers, going back and forth. Not sure theft is all that common in these daytime public high traffic areas. However you gotta think that anyone watching you strip off all your clothing to get that wet or dry suit on and then vanish below the surface, is contemplating a low risk theft plan! Then there are those “diver ready” new cars with the combination lock keypad doors! Or the other end of the scale, older ones with an actual plain metal Key you can take with!  Aside from that the options get narrow quickly. Hiding your key or putting it into another vehicle when  away is a good plan but somebody must have a key for that car. Maybe it’s possible to have a door key made without the electronic part?  I don’t have a magic answer here, but it’s a consideration that you should give some thought to before you’re ready to walk to the water and then realize you have to do something to secure your things!

I dive with a guy that has a locking console between the front seats which uses a regular key. We often put everything in there and take that single ordinary key. Or hide a key in some area of the car that is not obvious. Another nice piece of gear is a little carpet or mat to stand on. Something other than the asphalt, sand, or gravel of the parking lot with your socks on or bare feet. Choose a piece that is not absorbent. The Shop has some nice options that roll up and are made exactly for this .

Now onto the dive. When you start the walk from the parking area to the shore a few things to be aware of. It could be a long walk. In Laguna Beach California the walk could be 1/8 mile  one way. Including a long steep set of stairs. Even at Sunrise beach in Washington you could be in for a very long walk, same with Saltwater Park. Redondo in Des Moines has stairs too. However,  they are not a struggle unless at high tide with rough waves.

In some places the walk is short but the rocky entry can be awkward and very difficult with the dive gear on your back. Choosing thick soled dive boots can be a huge help in climbing over rough areas and large rocks. Other places like Alki Cove 2 for instance or the Howard Amon park at the Columbia river are nearly effortless. Some locations getting to the water is easy enough. Maybe only a few hundred feet when the tide is in, or maybe 100 yards when the tide is out! Then again at the Edmonds dive park, or Saltwater park, you may have to swim a bit on the surface before you actually start the dive. So shore diving comes with some challenges. Mostly physical with the distances of walking, swimming, or climbing down to the shore. This balances out with the low stress of setting up in the parking area.  Don’t forget to pay for the parking when required. Not much brings you down after a wonderful dive than seeing a ticket on your car!

Maybe the greatest thing about shore dives is the low to zero stress once in the water. As a new diver you can cruise around for an hour in shallow water 20-30 feet deep and explore the micro life around a dock or pier getting into the comfort of your buoyancy control and your new gear. This goes a long way towards helping you to find your happy place under water. From here you can test the water deeper and deeper at your own pace. There are countless amazing things to see in this 25-30 foot depth. Plenty of sea life from fish and crab to octopus and amazingly colourful invertebrates.  When you’re ready you just come out to have a break. Then change tanks and go back in at your own pace. Even after 100’s of dives in my life I would welcome this opportunity to share these shallow slow easy dives with anyone thats interested in making a Puget sound weekend trip. I know many of you would like to do this but don’t know where to go or how to handle all the travel logistics involved. I can help you with every detail of this.

Now the shore dive is over and you exit slowly doing your safety stop as you continue diving at 15-18 feet deep and eventually ( 3 minutes later) getting  out. When in about 36 inches of water you can kneel there to take off your fins and mask. Get to your feet and walk up the beach to the parking lot. For wetsuit divers this is the only cold part of the process. You have to get that nice warm wetsuit off without shivering to death, and then get your warm dry clothing on as fast as you can. Guys seem to be rather blank about things going on around them much of the time in this situation. I am often guilty of this myself.

Ladies though are in a bit more of a bind. They never seem to just strip down without a thought to put warm clothing on. So the strategic use and placement of towels is a consideration for the female diver. In many places there are restrooms near, however If I were a woman I might just consider going full naked in public before utilizing that resource. Some of these beach locations with public restrooms are used by an interesting cross section of society. Be a good dive buddy and help a girl out by holding her towel!
Also having something to stand on with bare feet rather than the oil stained asphalt of the parking lot is nice too. 

On to the boat dives! This is the diving that requires the greatest level of thought and proper pace to be ready when it’s your turn. There are three notable dive boat companies in Puget sound and countless boats to dive from around the world. They all have almost identical procedures coincidentally! When on the dive boat you should have your gear packed in a carry on dive bag that has what you need first on top and last on the bottom. When you get on the boat you may be assigned a tub or some kind of mesh basket that will slide under the bench. Unload the bag and store the gear in this bin. This is where your first tank will be set up with your BCD. Your second tank will be stored out of the way for later.

Before the boat leaves the dock, or in some cases en-route the dive master will share with you the safety procedures of the boat and where the restrooms are etc. Then they will determine dive buddies and often write these pairs down to better keep track of the divers as they are returning to the boat. You will have a release form to fill out too. They will explain the area of the dive, point out what you can expect to see, and give you a time limit to be back or when the dive is over so you can send up your SMB.

On a Puget sound dive you are on your own to assemble gear for the dive. It’s not a guided dive you are only supplied transportation across the the water to the dive site and given some type of light lunch between dives. You will either have a dive buddy with you, or you will have one assigned for this dive. Assuming this information is new to you, watch the progress of your dive buddy and stay in sync with them. You don’t want to be geared up ready to go with 30 minutes of travel remaining to the site. Worse yet is having everyone in the water while you are adjusting something or searching for something you need to bring with you!
The dive master will select the diver pairs to enter the water first. This is a very serious point in the dive. The current and shoreline may be difficult for the captain to maintain boat position. When it’s time to step off, you need to go!


The dives fall into two categories. Down line stationary dives which you return to and come back up using it for the safety stop, or drift dives which you will cover the distance drifting over the area and being picked up someplace else when the captain sees your SMB floating up. Not to worry this is not at all difficult or complicated. Actually it’s often easier than the down line because with bad visibility it’s not always easy to find that line at the end of a dive to get back up. It will be a 2” diameter line covered in kelp to an anchor or buoy with 10-15’ visibility if you’re lucky. Finding that rope again after 45-60 minutes of diving is a challenge at times. In the more tropical areas like the Caribbean the dives are also down line or drift dive. The main difference is that the visibility is 80 to 100 feet or so. You can find your way much easier when you can see that far. Quite often these dives are also with a Dive Master that you will follow for the whole dive and end up back at the boat.

Another difference in the tropical dives are frequently what are referred to as valet diving. What this means is the boat staff will assemble your gear, help you get your BC on, put your fins on for you, defog your mask, check your tank valve is on, basically everything you can imagine they will try to help you with. They help walk you to the edge of the boat until you step off into the water.

Now this brings us to the stepping off the boat into the water! This is the part of this diving style that requires strong attention to detail. You want to be sure your inflator is connected, BC has enough air, your gear is properly secured to the D rings, waist strap is snug etc. You’re going to step off into 50-100 foot deep water if it’s not secure its going to be sinking quickly.  You need to watch the divers before you, mimic that giant stride from experienced divers. Don’t look at the water when you step off, look at the horizon. You often land where you’re looking. You do not want your tank to catch the edge of the boat as you are falling towards the water. Once you hit the water you will go under and pop up in a second. Indicate ( with hand signal) to the boat staff you’re okay and  then move away from the boat quickly. Another diver is about to step off right after you! Then with the instructions from the dive master descend with your dive buddy to equalize and begin the dive.

Release air from the BC in small increments so you very slowly and with control sink to the level you can equalize your ears comfortably.  If folks are interested I along with at least a couple other experienced divers would gladly spend the time at the Howard Amon platform to show you the use of the SMB to get you 100% comfortable with it. Don’t look at that inflatable tube and assume it goes up as easy as it looks. Buoyancy control and entanglement are frequent issues with SMBs for first time or infrequent users. The Shop has several options for SMB’s. Talk to the staff and they will help you choose what you need. This in my opinion is a very critical piece of safety gear that should be with you on most if not all your dives.


Let me finish with this, there is an SSI boat diving course that will very clearly explain the proper step by step protocol, etiquette, and setup of gear for boat dives. This is a great idea to enroll in if you have a tropical dive in your future or if you plan to do the puget sound dives during the year.

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Cozumel trip 2021 / May1 May 8
« on: December 10, 2020, 05:26:34 pm »
Well this is our booked time slot for the epic Divers Ed trip!

For those of you that want to go to the Cenotes during the week lets talk about it now so you can decide if its something you want to do. The Cenotes are a network of underground caves and tunnels that stretch for 100's or miles in Mexico. the water is warm and so clear the pictures look photo shopped.

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General Discussion / Hi folks
« on: December 10, 2020, 04:49:57 pm »
Hope this is not too complicated. It has to be easier to use than to build and manage it!

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