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I know this may sound corny, but some of the guys I dive with actually use
adult diapers, like Depends, on those lengthy dry suit type of dives just
for the reason described.
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From: jr
To: techdiver
Subject: FROZEN IN MY CF200
Date: Thursday, June 01, 1995 10:49AM
Last weekend, I joined three other divers to perform some
archaeological
survey work on an opium drugrunner ship that sank in 1850 on the Northern
California coast. We dropped down a cliff using a rope and assembled our
gear
on a flat rock. The others donned wet suits, while I donned my new CF200
drysuit. After penetrating the surf with a float, archaeological tools and
camera gear, we set up a search pattern to look for the wreck in water that
was 49 deg F. After one hour of swimming and searching on the surface, we
dropped to the bottom (12-25 feet deep) and started a pre-planned search
pattern. After a while, we finally located numerous China ceramics strewn
over
the bottom. I was cold and needed to relieve my bladder. I decided against
swimming back to shore, relieved myself in the drysuit, and proceeded to
photograph the artifacts. Within minutes my legs were freezing. I continued
to
videotape and do still photography until I couldn't stand the cold anymore.
I
surfaced as one leg cramped, and told my divebuddy to head for shore. By the
time I swam to shore, the other leg cramped. I floated nearly helpless near
the surf exit point holding on to my camera gear and float. Finally, my dive
buddy returned and hauled me through the surf zone and I found myself in a
quiet tide pool. In spite of eating lots of potassium-rich bananas before
the
dive, the blood flow to my legs was slowed by the cold. The lesson I learned
is to never drink fluids before a dive and never urinate in a drysuit no
matter how painful it may be! Maybe it's time to invest in a catheter. In
spite of this incident, I took 3 minutes of video and 19 slide pictures
which
turned out well. I'm going back to the ship this month, but with a wetsuit
this time!
Norman Thomas
UC-LLNL
"Old divers never die, they just slowly sink" L-350 P.O. Box 808
-anonymous 7000 East Ave. B235 R1027
Livermore, CA 94551
(510) 422-0486
Email:
norman@cm*.ll*.go*
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