Haiti

On Mon, 8 Feb 2010 11:48:59 -0000, "'Hog"

snip>

Really?

You're not diving in the right places.

 

Many of us are daft but very few of us are daft enough to dive in caves
ITYWF

 

Then you're missing out on a whole new experience. Not all caves are
restricted and dangerous but they all teach you to be able to dive in
braille.

 

There are two types of students I've been involved with trying to train
divers:

1/ The cocky I don't have to pay attention I can do anything.

2/ The nervous / worried / scared who listen to everything I tell them.

It's the second sort that don't get them selves into trouble as often.

[FX]
Following group of students in an open water dive.
1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 er? 6 where is 6 oh sh*t he's on the surface again.
[/FX]

 

If nothing goes wrong. There have been fatal injuries in less than a
couple of metres.

 

I refer Sir to the comments between Champ and myself. Diving is fun in
bright clear warm water with lots of fish and coral.

I admit caving is frustrating when the fun is halted by water and we free
dived up to about 20ft, but the water was crystal clear.

 

I did mention Darwin and swimming pools

 

Mate I was working with about 20 years ago went diving in the
Nullarbor Desert here in Oz. Yes, there is a massive cave system under
the desert. While the team were down there it flooded through (I can't
recall the exact details now). They were trapped down there for 2-3
days. He was shooting the dive for the video production company we
were working for at the time. I think they were going for a record for
the longest cave dive or something. They were lucky to get out alive.
There's quite a bit of broadcast camera gear (admittedly somewhat out
of date now, but worth probably $100k back then) sitting in a hole in
the middle of Australia.

I don't mind cave diving, but I think that experience would put the
wind up me somewhat.

 

TBF I reckon it's more fun in dark cold water than warm blue water
with loads of fish. If I had to give up one or the other it would be
warm water diving that got the push.

 

I agree. The waters off the East Coast of Tasmania for instance. Beats
the hell out of the Great Barrier Reef or Fiji for me. Yeah, you need
a semi-dry suit, but such a variety of experiences and clearer water
in general as well. Never got to go for a dive in UK, but water temp
would be similar, maybe a bit colder, than Tasmania. But find the
right places to dive and cold water dives win.

 

It isn't that I mind the cold but I hate all the extra gear and restriction.

 

Not sure what it is in Tasmania. Current UK sea temperatures will be
around 7 or 8 degrees in the south[1]. Viz is variable but probably
averages at 3 or 4 metres, seen 30 plus a couple of times and also
less than 30cm. Drysuit every time in the UK for me, unless I know the
sea temp will be above 20, preferably 25 I'd take it to foreign as
well these days.

[1] Finished a course 2 weeks ago using inland sites 3 - 5 degrees.
That was a tad too cool for me after a while.

 

Good gear (like any sport) should't find any more restriction really.

I wouldn't do an open water dive off the Great Barrier Reef wihout a
wetsuit on, yes a much lighter suit than Tas, down to just a lycra
suit to stop coral scatches or stings from jellyfish. A good suit is
hardly noticeable I've found. I think we are going to have to agree to
disagree on this one

 

Depends where you are.

I've been in turbulent stuff where viz is nil. I've dived in waters in
Tas where viz is 45m.

Water temp is normally ranging from min of around 10C to max around
18C. We get some upswells from the Antarctic that might drop it to 8C
but that is rare.

I have done some freshwater dives at 4C though. I was young and doing
it in an old 7mm single suit wetsuit, with a hole in the crotch. Every
time I kicked the fins it sent burst of nearly freezing water onto my
balls. Oww, oww, oww. Maybe that explains why 30 years later I don't
have any kids?

(Apart from not wanting any of the little buggers).

 

Oh - btw, 3 degree water doesn't exist unless someone added alcohol to
it. It stops at 4C then the next phase change is ice.

 

What? Surely the freezing point of normal water is 0 degrees C, and
lower still for salt water?

 

The thing about pure, distilled water is you don't often come across
quantities of it big enough to go diving in.

 

Nope there is a point where it has to drop energy to go through the
phase change to ice. I don't have links and can't be arsed looking,
but seawater will only go to 4C. Th energy to do the phase change is
worth those other 3C. Google it. I'm sure it is out there somewhere.

Not sure whether the same is at the other end (ie 100C) but as I am
fucked if I am going to dive in boiling water, I really haven't
researched that end

 

Thanks for that, I thought my basic science was all fiction.

 

Naaah.

Sea ice begins forming in the northern Bering Sea as late as
November, as the ocean reaches a temperature of -1.7°C, the freezing
point for saltwater in this area, ...

http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/essays_mcnutt.html

As it happens, you can get pure water down to about -40C before it
freezes, if you're careful.