|
Post by bronze06 on Sept 24, 2017 21:43:24 GMT -8
Up to 85 dives for the year with about 40% pure vintage. Dove day before yesterday north of Sharma.
Equipment: 1973 RAM with Banjo and USD SPG, 3 lbs on a "Boba Fett" belt. UDT "Duckfeet", Dacor DM-5 mask and the weapon of choice was my 1960 USD ARBALETE CHAMPION by Rene Cavalero.
Dive MAX depth: 50ft Average depth: approx. 30 ft. (mostly shallow reef diving) Duration: 74 minutes Exposure protection: T-shirt and shorts Temperature at the surface; 90 degrees F, at depth 83 F. Tank Cap. 1957 Rene 72 2250+ at 2475 TP start: 2480 TP end: 200- after reserve pulled Valve: 1965 Dacor Pack: 1962 US Divers "Dogbone"
ENDSTATE: 1 Brownspotted grouper (8 lbs. length 25 inches) 1 Moon grouper (6 lbs. length 25 inches) and two nice yellow striped snappers approximately 18 inches each and about 4 lbs each.)
Bottomline: Tasty cookout in the desert.YUMMMMMMYYYY!
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 25, 2017 17:37:29 GMT -8
I dove my Scubapro Pilot/Mark VII regulator today at High Rocks. Usually I would like to do a pool dive with a new regulator, especially one as sensitive and old as the Pilot second stage, but my normal pool is not available until January 2018, as it is undergoing a 20-year renovation right now. So I had to dive it. Below I will discuss the dive and my observations.
Dive Plan: Dive the Scubapro Pilot/Mark VII regulator on my twin 45s, with the duel-post manifold. On the other manifold post was my Scubapro A.I.R. I/Mark V regulator. The Pilot/Mark VII was the primary regulator. I wanted to dive at first shallow, to see how the Pilot behaved, then continue on the dive.
Dive Equipment: Aside from the configuration above, I dove a full wetsuit, including hood and gloves. Other equipment included my knife, Scubapro depth gauge/pressure gauge combo, SeawiscopeEY on my Dacor low volume mask, Scubapro Lightning Jet Fins, Para-Sea BC, and a dive flag on buoy.
Observations: I started the dive cautiously, and stayed at about five feet for a couple of minutes as I evaluated the Pilot regulator. It had been kinda "stuttering," with breathing being interrupted by overpressure stutters. That settled down when it was underwater, but never really went away except at the depths of greater than 15 feet. But it was rather harmless, and the breathing was quite easy.
Because I was gaining confidence in the Pilot second stage, and had the A.I.R. I second stage on my chest, I headed downstream. I made sure that I did not tangle with the dive flag buoy line, switching it from my left arm to my right with the line loop, and holding it with my right hand. The "stuttering" of the Pilot largely went away as I gained depth (but never completely was gone). I went over the tree, to ensure that my line did not snag it, got through the two currents intersection area where we had almost a whirlpool, and went to the far wall, where I found the SUV wreck on the bottom. I then checked the Scubapro depth gauge, and found it reading 15 feet where I thought I was at 20 feet. It turns out that the SUV wreck is at 15 feet, as when I dropped down the gauge read 20 feet where it was supposed to be at twenty feet. This sounds weird, but is what happened.
I continued downstream, and when I had experienced about 15 minutes on the Pilot second stage, decided to drop it and go to my A.I.R. I second stage for a comparison. I pulled the Pilot out of my mouth, got an immediate, extreme free-flow, then switched it to the "Pre-dive" setting on the switch and the free-flow ceased immediately. I then put the A.I.R. I second stage into my mouth, switched it to the "Dive" position and began breathing off it. It breathed great, but actually a bit harder than the Pilot; this seems a bit off, but it was noticeable even with this very high-performance second stage. I then tested the A.I.R. I in an inverted position, and it was somewhat wet-breathing, as I have experienced many times in the past. I spit out the A.I.R. I after placing it in the "Pre-dive" configuration, and took the Pilot back into my mouth. I cleared it, and breathed on it in the "Pre-dive" position--no problem at all, just a bit harder than the A.I.R. I. Then I pushed the switch up into the Dive position, and got the better performance. There was still some "stuttering," but not bad. This Pilot regulator is drier than my A.I.R. I, as I tested it in the inverted position, and it was dry.
I continued downstream, stopping to watch a crawdad with my SeawiscopeEY and the insect larva on the bottom of a rock I had turned over. Then I continued downstream, surfacing briefly to see where I was in the river, and continued drifting. I wanted to drift slower than my float, so as to keep my line taunt and not tangle with it. I found a pair of sunglasses covered with algea and "stuff" from the bottom, then found a fishing lure. I cut the fishing lure, put it in my BC pocket along with the sunglasses, and continued. As I went along, I found I was tangled in fishing line. Out came my Wenoka dive knife, and the line parted easily several times. Sheathing the knife, I continued downstream, aware that I had fishing line trailing from my BC. Then I found a cell phone, and pocketed it, and continued downstream.
I usually find my takeout place by noting when I come under the pedestrian bridge, but I had not noted this bridge. The weather was overcast, and because of that there was no shadow from the bridge to tell me I had gone under it. So I surfaced, and was surprised to see that I was beyond my takeout point, and on the other side of the river from where I usually am at this point in the dive. I also noted that it was raining lightly (hadn't noticed this before).
Ducking down underwater, I looked at my pressure gauge and noted that I was nearing reserve air (under 500 psig). I wanted to test the Mark VII audio reserve on this regulator, and so stayed underwater rather than using my snorkel (I actually wanted to use almost all the air in my tanks, as they need a visual to be refilled anyway). As I swam cross-current to get across the river and not go any further downstream, suddenly my Pilot regulator stopped giving me much air. I could get an initial flow, but then it was almost cut off! I quickly switched to my A.I.R. I second stage, and it breathed normally off the Mark V first stage. After a minute or two more of swimming, I replaced my A.I.R. I second stage with my Pilot, and suddenly it was okay, and the Mark VII was sounding off. I went for another minute, then switched again to my A.I.R. I and pulled my J-valve on my twin tanks. Going back to my Pilot second stage, it was breathing normally without the sonic reserve, for about a minute. Then, as the tank pressure again went into the reserve area for the Mark VII, the Pilot again started giving an initial bit of air, then cutting off. I switched again to the A.I.R. I, and continued upstream almost on the surface. I could have switched to my snorkel, as I was in only about 4 feet of water, but I wanted to surprise some ducks on the bank. I popped up and startled the ducks, which moved a bit. I went back under, used my SeawiscopeEY to watch an interesting little bug on the bottom's mud, and then surfaced again. I may have tried the Pilot one more time, with similar results here, but it was inconsequential as I was on the surface and in less than three feet of water now.
Finally, I was to my takeout rocks, and was able to exit the water. I had to remove my Jet Fins, but that was easy, and when I threw them onto the rocks, the ducks flew away. I got my feet under me, stood up, and crawled out onto the rocks. When I was on dry rock, I stood up, gathered my gear, and started the trek back to the Honda Pilot (not to be confused with my regulator).
As I was nearing my car, a fellow came over and started talking to me. I removed my hood, and started talking with this fellow, Kevin. He was a fisherman, and asked whether I had seen any the the kokanee fish while diving. I told him that my visibility was only about five feet, and those fish could sense me in the water from the regulator and the vibrations I made, and probably easily avoid me. I had Kevin accompany me to my Honda, and was then able to sit down and get rid of my tanks (they're rather heavy), and I offered to give him the lure I had found. I cut it with my knife after removing it from the velcro in which it was hooked, and he looked at it, and said the fishermen called it a "Michael Jackson" because it was black and had glitter (I think that's a bit racist, but didn't say anything). Kevin's brother joined us, and I found out he had been in the Army, just returned from Afghanistan (third tour), and he asked me if I had ever used a rebreather. I told him, "No, rebreathers are restricted to 25 feet depth if they are pure oxygen, and if they are mixed-gas they are very complex for sport diving. Open circuit is better." I told him that I had been a Pararescueman in Vietnam, flying the Jolly Green Giant helicopters, and he thanked my for my service, which I reciprocated. It was an interesting discussion. The brother saw my A-3 bag, and said, "I have about a dozen of those." I told him they were really great bags for my diving equipment. Well, they needed to get fishing, and Kevin said he would use the lure today. I hope he catches something other than the bottom.
That was my dive. I will definitely be using my Pilot second stage again, possibly on my Mark V first stage.
Special Problems and Solutions:
--Again, used my knife on fishing line. I even carried quite a bit of that line back to the car. I won't dive without a good knife.
--The Mark VII second stage seems to have malfunctioned going into reserve. I'm curious whether any of you reading this have any insights into what may be wrong, as it seemed to work fine in my garage on reserve pressures, but definitely cut off air to me in the water.
--I was very glad to have had the A.I.R. I/Mark V regulator available while testing the Pilot/Mark VII. That malfunction could have been bad if I had not had the backup and been in deeper water. The duel-post Sherwood manifold really works well for this kind of testing in open water.
|
|
|
Post by vance on Sept 25, 2017 17:51:33 GMT -8
Up to 85 dives for the year with about 40% pure vintage. Dove day before yesterday north of Sharma. Equipment: 1973 RAM with Banjo and USD SPG, 3 lbs on a "Boba Fett" belt. UDT "Duckfeet", Dacor DM-5 mask and the weapon of choice was my 1960 USD ARBALETE CHAMPION by Rene Cavalero. Dive MAX depth: 50ft Average depth: approx. 30 ft. (mostly shallow reef diving) Duration: 74 minutes Exposure protection: T-shirt and shorts Temperature at the surface; 90 degrees F, at depth 83 F. Tank Cap. 1957 Rene 72 2250+ at 2475 TP start: 2480 TP end: 200- after reserve pulled Valve: 1965 Dacor Pack: 1962 US Divers "Dogbone" ENDSTATE: 1 Brownspotted grouper (8 lbs. length 25 inches) 1 Moon grouper (6 lbs. length 25 inches) and two nice yellow striped snappers approximately 18 inches each and about 4 lbs each.) Bottomline: Tasty cookout in the desert.YUMMMMMMYYYY! This is Russ from the Red Sea, right? Nice. Snappers, groupers, and camel. Plus! 80 degree water. Local temp today in San Francisco: a balmy 61! I'm going in as soon as the new wetsuit arrives!
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Oct 4, 2017 17:43:05 GMT -8
Well, I dived again today. Here's the information:
Dive, 10-3-2017-?; Time in: 9:53 AM; Time out: 10:32 AM; max depth: 25 feet; water temperature: cold! (probably in the 50s F) Dive Site: High Rocks on the Clackamas River
Equipment: Full wetsuit, including gloves. Single steel 72, starting at just under 1500 psig and ending at ~500 psig. I used my Fara-fins, with slippers and an overbootie for the descent to the entry spot, then walked out without them on exit (ouch! No padding). I also used the Mossback Mk 3, with a Calypso octopus and my dive computer. My Para-Sea BC was great, but I miss my equipment strap (reconfigured early this year, and took a different outer shell without that strap). My mask had the SeawiscopeEY mounted on it too for close observations. My dive buoy/flag was carried to the river, and used during the entire dive. I also used my Hammerhead Unit for swimming.
Dive Plan: Dive High Rocks on a beautiful, sunny October day. After using the Scubapro Mk VII/Pilot & Mk V/A.I.R. I last dive, I decided to take a bulletproof regulator, my Mossback Mk 3 double hose regulator on this dive. I wanted a simple dive, without testing anything.
Observations: Visibility was really great for this river--about 15 feet. Upon my initial descent into the current, I noted the green freshwater sponge on the rocks, and stopped for a minute to observe them. They had not yet broken down like they do in the winter. I then saw a lead sinker, and got it into my BC pocket. There were several more in the current, but I could not stop to get them. So I simply continued downstream, and swam toward the far bank. At about twenty feet, I did fine the wrecked SUV, and stayed there a minute too, then pushed off downstream. I was seeing no larger fish at all. So I simply went on downstream, making sure not to tangle with the float line. I stopped a few times to look closely at the crawdads, to see their worms that sometimes are on their claws--not much today though. Further downstream, I stopped to see the very small fish on the bottom, juvenile sculpins, and observe them. Then I was headed toward my exit, and in the mud saw something familiar, a mask strap. It was attached to a scuba mask by Aqualung, and I grabbed it. With that, I surfaced right in front of a sleeping duck, which immediately woke up, and flew about twenty feet way.
The other ducks somewhat downstream stayed where they were. So I got out of my fins, crawled out of the water, and stood up. It took a couple of minutes to gather up all my stuff--my two Fara-fins (which are large and unwieldily out-of-water), mask/SeawiscopeEY, other mask, buoy with the line handle, and my Hammerhead Unit. Standing there, I figured out that I needed the major pieces in my other hand,and took another minute to change hands, then started up the hill. After five or ten or so minutes of climbing (with a couple of stops to catch my breath--this is the workout),
I got to top of the paved trail, where there was a woman in a seat/walker sitting there watching me. We talked for a minute or two, and she asked if I got any treasure. I told her, "I found this dive mask," and showed it to her. I then proceeded to my car, and got out of my gear. I wanted to be quick, but needed to retrieve my booties that I had left at my entry. Getting back to the car, I sent a text to my wife telling her that I was out of the water, and headed home with an ETA of ~11:30 AM (she was out on a trot). I got home a couple of minutes before her, and we then had a great brunch together.
Special Problems and Solutions: No major problems today. I did miss my equipment strap for my Para-Sea BC, and so over the winter will change the outer shell to get that feature back.
John
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Oct 16, 2017 14:51:47 GMT -8
In what may be the last dive of the season (rainy season here tomorrow), I dove Saturday again at High Rocks on the Clackamas River. It was a solo dive. I dove my twin 45s, with my Mossback Mk 3 regulator with a Scubapro Pilot as my safe second. This was a fairly short dive, at about 35 minutes, with a max depth of 22 feet per my dive computer. I had the SeawiscopeEY on my mask, and was able to observe freshwater sponge and small invertebrates (mostly crawdads and insect larve) as well is immature sculpin on the bottom. It was a rather dark dive, as the sun is down on the trees and cliffs, and when going through the deeper parts of High Rocks, the light levels dropped off to almost nothing (shadows). So I didn't stay there long, and continued to shallower water downstream.
One of the reasons for this dive was to again try out my Scubapro Pilot second stage. So I replaced my Hope-Page mouthpiece on the Mossback Mk 3 with the Pilot five different times. Because the pilot valve is very, very sensitive, I again experienced "chatter" with the air flow. I have a setting on the venturi orifice that was pointed more toward the mouthpiece, and it really pushed air out of that regulator. After a minute or so, each time, I would replace the mouthpiece with my Mk 3 mouthpiece and again get a consistent flow from the double hose regulator. Sometimes with the Pilot, the chatter would stop and I would get really great performance. Once when I took the mouthpiece of the Pilot out of my mouth, even though the switch was set to "Pre-Dive" position, it free-flowed a tremendous amount of air until I blocked the mouthpiece.
I ended the dive just short of two fishermen, and the closest one asked, "Did you see any fish down there." I said "No, not the type you're fishing for." He was fishing for salmon. He said that the second fisherman had landed two salmon already; they were probably together, as I think the daily limit is two and he was still fishing.
So when I got back home, I again re-set that venturi orifice to a position further into the regulator (less flow to the mouthpiece), and it seems to have quieted the "chatter."
It was a cold dive, with water temperature about 45 degrees, I estimate (snow in those mountains), but clear, beautiful weather overall. My hands got a bit chilled even with my neoprene gloves on. I wore a full wetsuit, and used my White Stag Super Stag fins. They performed very well, except at the end it was hard to get them off with my booties' sole sticking the heel strap; took about five minutes after crawling out onto the rocks to get the fins off. But these rubber fins really are nice in the water.
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Oct 22, 2017 22:09:12 GMT -8
It looks like the above dive will be my last of this season. We just had drenching rains here, with 6-10 inches in the Cascade Mountains which feeds the Clackamas River. So it will be un-diveable for the foreseeable future. Well, time to see about a pool, but unfortunately my normal pool for the winter is not available until January (20 year rebuild).
John
|
|