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QUARRY DIVING
"But I do admit to having a hard time feeling Manly Appreciation for those
who drive their auto up to the lip of the water (fresh water, usually) don
their equipment at their leasure on a dainty tarp so as to not dirty their
feet. And then step into the water to knee depth, halting to adjust their
gear and contemplate life before proceeding into the depths. "
- Jim Cobb
Jim:
Are you revealing your ignorance? I am surprised that you can seriously
post this! You take your tanks & harness to the water's edge on a trolley,
and don them in the water before following the line down to the platform.
To do otherwise would needlessy increase stress and invite DCS. I think
that one of the agencies does a specialty course for this, or maybe one for
the trolley and one for the in-water donning. The courses aren't long, they
only cost $100 each, and anyone can pass them, so you should investigate
them before sounding off. Also, for those who really care about safe diving
and equipment configuration, there is an IFDTF diving project whose website
has useful details of how the trolley must be constructed ("one seamless
weld"), what bearings should be used, and the appropriate tire diameter and
material. One of the tech agencies has details of what colour schemes
should be used for each part of the trolley to avoid confusion or having to
look at what is in the trolley. I think that they also recommend that you
use a trolley with three wheels in case you can't keep it balanced with just
two, and although some people have argued that this limits the effectiveness
of the trolley and spoils the whole point, overall it seems pretty sensible
to me, and the only prizes are for safe diving, not learning clever
balancing tricks. I personally have improved my trolley by adding a couple
of hinges to enable me to fold it to get it back into the trunk easily, and
I have found that rivets are OK instead of welding provided that you use
enough and you use only the best. I have also added some extra straps to
keep the tanks safely on the trolley, a bell, a whistle, a light, and some
of those wheels which light up when they revolve (taken from a kid's toy, as
it happens, but superbly made, and a very effective VSD, or Visual
Signalling Device).
For the advanced diver, one agency now has a "Solo Trolley" course which
requires that you complete a 200 yard surface walk with double tanks on a
trolley ON YOUR OWN. And with an admirable policy designed to make this
certification available to all regardless of ability, they permit those
whose physical configuration prevents them from getting the trolley handles
within reach of their arms (either because of the size of their abdomen or
because of their age) to have someone else push the trolley for them. In
order not to impose unnecessary equipment restrictions, they also let you
use a single tank and a "Spare Air", or just carry a balloon on shallow
dives provided that it has at least 0.5 CF capacity (obviously if you will
actually be going into the water, it is important to inflate it before you
need it, but this is why training makes all the difference). I think that
the key word here is redundancy, and I think that this is the future of
IFDTF diving.
And of course you will need a few pounds less weight in fresh water anyway,
which further reduces physical stress, a big killer in diving. I know that
you have said that you always weigh the same underwater, but you have to
realise that in a typical IFDTF dive most or all of the time is actually
spent on dry land, dive planning, "off gassing" as we call it, and sharing
safety tips. Having less weight also frees up space in the pockets of your
BC for some fish food, a couple of candy bars and a beer, which is much
safer than letting them overheat in the car. The beer could be dangerous
when opened if hot, and the candy is useful to avoid hypoglycemia after a
long dive, BEFORE the climb up the steps and back to the cooler - the most
dangerous moment in any IFDTF dive. Additionally it gives you something to
do on the necessary long "safety hangs", to take your mind off worrying
about holding on to the rope.
I understand that one of the agencies runs a "Deep Beer" course, and
whatever you think about this it is MUCH safer to do it in an IFDTF than in
the sea (the saltwater kills the taste, and you don't get such a buzz). I
know that Deep Beer is controversial but I think that the benefits have been
misunderstood. In my opinion (and I have over 2 years experience and 40
logged dives, totalling 14 hours 22 minutes in-water time, NOT INCLUDING 3
resort dives before I was certified), one of the main advantages is that it
allows me to become tolerant to high EADs without putting anyone else at
risk, and this makes me much safer on the drive home from the IFDTF after
the off-gassing sessions. For those who don't know, EAD is Equivalent
Alcohol Depth. It is obtained using "Martini's Law" by multiplying the
number of beers you have had by 30 feet, and adding your water depth in
feet. Use of Deep Beer allows the student to experience high-EAD dives even
in shallow inland sites, or where it is too cold to go deep without the
added risk factor of a drysuit (which doesn't mix well with the beer),
oxygen toxicity, or low visibility. It also allows the full appreciation of
the incredible beauty of the color schemes on the equipment (after all,
isn't this why we all dive?), and although you can achieve the same effect
with certain recreational gas mixtures, these are expensive and not widely
available in all states. I am a Technical Diver, which means I dive with
two beers, one with a long straw which can be passed off to my buddy if he
is around (actually we have a saying that "everyone is your buddy"). This
is much safer provided you can handle drinking both down at the same rate,
and I have the flexibility to have different brews in each bottle if I want.
I understand that one enthusiastic IFDTF diver is currently working on
developing a fully redundant system with a wider backplate, which will be
able to accomodate a six-pack between his tanks, but that he is "keeping it
under wraps" for now.
Come down here and I'll show you how its done, but bring your logbook if you
have one, as we don't let just anyone dive ...
P.S. For those dinosaurs who still call them quarries, please be aware that
quarries are places where rock is extracted from the ground. The proper
term is IFDTF - Inland Freshwater Diver Training Facility (not to be
confused with "Its Fairly Difficult To Fail", of course).
BRIEF MEXICO REPORT (NOVICE)
Just got back from 3 days of (Intro to) Cave diving in Mexico with
Aquatech/Villas DeRosa. Not enough time to do the Full Cave course, and
probably quite a good thing for me to have got some more Intro level dives
in before trying to advance. Both guides (Gonzalo and Herve) very
professional and good fun, and managed to plan interesting dives while
sticking to the Intro rules. Both also very willing to answer questions
with reasons, rather than "that's how [you know who] does it". Visibility
was clear, haloclines were beautiful, and all dives were safely conducted.
I have to admit to a certain nervousness ("psychological stress") after the
turnarounds on the first two dives, when it sunk in that I had a 30 minute
swim back to the surface (hey, I'm just a beginner). But I got comfortable
with this pretty quickly and I will be back for the Full Cave course next
month.
Dumb quote of the trip: "I'll be fine in the caves with my camera, its
second nature to me".
Be warned that some of the entries are challenging: one of the cenotes has
27 steps down to the water, and another requires a 10 foot jump.
Gear was comfortable and worked well because I had tried it out in our local
Inland Freshwater Diver Training Facility the weekend before going ... I
will be there again this weekend trying out a few post-Mexico changes.
Simon Richards
(Hey, a little off-topic in places, but what do you expect from a guy who
just got back from holiday?)
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