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Post by diverdon on Sept 30, 2014 5:50:33 GMT -8
So, what gives punk? Why ain'cha usin' yer 'Lympic fer that fine piece a machinery: you tryin' ta get the Dacor gods mad at'cha? Looks swell buddy! Jaybird Doh! You caught that >:/ I was pretty busy and couldn't find the time (nor the parts) to tune it up. For a new device like the Nautilus I wanted to go with something I felt comfortable with and that was for sure going to work without a hitch. I'll have one of those bad boys tuned up and in the water for'n ya kno it! I forgot my Dacor fins too but I did remember my Dacor mask. Thanks bud! Don
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 1, 2014 18:04:08 GMT -8
Yesterday I went to the pool, and was able to clear my ears/sinuses several times to 18 feet (it's a competition swim/dive pool). So this morning I took off for the Clackamas River to dive my Nautilus for the first time since vacation, and with the new weights.
Dive Plan Dive Date: October 1, 2014 I was going to dive my original Calypso and it's 8-foot LP hose because the Nautilus likes a longer hose. But when I got to the site, it had a very slight second stage leak, and so I decided to use my Dacor Endura/Olympic combination. I had the weights in it already, wore a full wet suit with gloves (the river's getting colder) and had my float. I had one slight problem, in that my valet car key was on my Para-Sea BC, which I left home. I decided to take my driving key off the ring, dive it and then had to hook it to the line on my float, as there was no key pocket in my wet suit, and nothing to hook it to on the Nautilus CVS. I had a single steel 72 tank with a J-valve on it, and plan to test the J-valve activation during this dive; I had to hold the J-valev rod in place with duct tape, as the J-valve rod retainer was too deep into the Nautilus to actually get the rod to hold.
The Dive
I got everything on (really pretty pleasant, as much of the equipment is integrated into the Nautilus CVS). I wore an additional eight pounds of lead weight on a weight belt during the dive, bringing my total weight to 24 pounds. Walking down to the river was a bit different, as I had my fins and mask in one hand and the float in the other; normally with my Para-Sea BC I have fins, mask and helmet (if I wear it) and snorkel attached to an equipment strap on my chest. But it was easily managed. I put these items on a rock after walking into thigh-deep water, then put my fins, mask/snorkel on and then my gloves. Squatting down, I opened the water control valve, and then opened the air vent valve from the T-handle on the Nautilus CVS and it filled with water. As it got full of water, I submerged on the Endura second stage, and headed into the current which was traveling upstream at this point on the river. My float line needed managing, so I paid attention to it, got the float off a rock (it has a 3-pound weight right under it to keep the float upright, then pushed off and swam out into the main stream. I use the SeawiscopeEY on each dive now, and got to the bottom, hung on and lowered the lenses onto my mask so as to examine some freshwater sponge. The sponge is still green, and at this point has not begun its fall deterioration.
As I swam toward the other side, I noted that the Dacor CVS handled just a bit differently than last dive. I had loosened up the shoulder straps and again they were too loose, allowing the Nautilus to swing a bit when I turned my body. The extra four pounds did also make a bit of a difference in its handling. But I swam under the river current where the full river runs into a pool, splits the current on the far bank (half goes upstream--an anomaly in the river), and then continues downstream. I got into rather shallow water, and decided to get into deep water to equalize the Nautilus CVS. I had the water inlet valve open as I descended, because this unit does not have the automatic regulator on it, so not to have this valve open could cause pressure problems at depth. However, I only go a bit over twenty feet deep, and when I got to a convenient place, I hit the power inflator. Immediately there was an opening of the overpressure relief valve; the water inlet valve had gotten shut, so I opened it again, gave it about three seconds of air and checked my buoyancy. It was not quite enough, so I gave it another three seconds of air, which was just right and I shut off the water inlet valve. This captured the air inside the Nautilus CVS, and now I could dive without regard to depth.
During this dive I watched several small fish. Right at the beginning of the dive I had a school of shad following my bubbles. Then it was the usual customers, sculpin and small fish at the bottom.
I also looked again at the freshwater sponge, which on the vertical wall at High Rocks had turned white. Some of it had disintegrated and was now only small white balls, which this species uses to survive the winter. So it seems to depend upon the amount of light, and possibly the water temperature, to make this change.
I decided to surface, and change the strap tightness. As I went to the surface, the overpressure relief valve blurbed its presence at about ten feet. At the surface, I opened the water inlet valve and "blew the ballast" to attain maximum buoyancy. I then relaxed back and swam on my back for a minute, almost completely out of the water except for my legs. I rolled froward, then took off the unit. The left shoulder strap was easy to change, as there is a quick release buckle on that one. The right strap was more difficult, and I needed to turn the unit over, push the metal retaining ring out of the groove, and then looses it one side at a time. I took about an inch out of the shoulder strap. I may in the future put another quick release buckle on the other side to make this easier in the future, as with my neoprene gloves it took some effort. I had no problem getting out of the unit, adjusting it, flooding it to vertical, and getting back into it in deep water; this is important if I am to use it behind my canoe sometime.
I again flooded the unit, and went to the bottom, swimming a ways, looking for anything interesting. I had already found one fisherman's lead weight, which I had deposited into the float. Then I found a stick that beaver had gnawed on, stripping all the bark with those huge front teeth. I put it into the float too, again hearing the overpressure relief valve as I ascended. I passed under the foot bridge toward my exit point.
I decided to check out the head-down orientation, and after allowing the water to move a bit through the unit, I was able to maintain head-down about a foot above a sculpin and observe it at close range with my SeawiscopeEY.
I then looked at my pressure gauge, and saw I was down below 300 psig, and decided to get deeper to try the J-valve. I waited by a limb that had fallen into the water from a tree above, and then felt the regulator start to get harder to breathe. I reached behind me for the reserve pull rod, finally found it with my index finger, but could not pull to release the reserve. I tried getting my thumb into position, and could not. I reached behind my head to try to access the valve directly, and could not. I again tried with my fingers, but found that while I could hook one finger into the pull rod, my hand was in such a weird position that I could not exert any force down to open that J-valve. I gave up, surfaced and switched to my snorkel.
My exit was very easy compared to my first attempt this summer (when I had the straps too tight). I blew the ballast (water) out of the Nautilus CVS, stood in about four feet of water, took off my fins and threw them up onto the rocks, then simply walked out. It was a great dive.
Special Problems and Solutions
The main problem was that the J-valve could not be activated. I highly recommend not using the J-valve (keeping it in the "down" position), even though the Dacor advertisements for the Nautilus CVS show the unit with a J-valve and pull rod. The ergonomics to activate this pull rod simply are not there for this unit.
The unit behaved very well in the water. At one point, I had trouble making headway against the current, but that was caused by my depth and the fact that my float line was too short; I was trying to pull the float upstream with about a 60 degree angle to the line--it doesn't work well. The Nautilus CVS did not contribute to this problem.
I found that I still had about a liter of water in the unit when I got back to the car. I remembered just in time, and before I took it off in the back of my Honda Pilot, which has a rubber matt to catch water, and before it made a big mess. I stepped way, opened the water inlet valve and the water gushed out onto the pavement. So it is difficult to expel all the water from the unit in the water.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 2, 2014 12:07:12 GMT -8
Don, As you know, I have a great interest in zoology, and although I never worked as a zoologist (except for one summer as a zoology tech diver in subtidal clambed surveys), continue to be interested in little critters. That is why I spend time observing freshwater sponge, small snails, little fish that others disregard, and the ecology of the water systems where I dive. Since you are in the Great Lakes region, I thought of one potential problem with the Dacor Nautilus CVS that could affect lakes you dive in. There is an invasive species in the Great Lakes called the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) which is causing all sorts of problems in fresh water systems. It reproduced into a larval form, which then settles on just about any surface, attaches byssal threads, and becomes part of that system. The Dacor Nautilus CVS is an ideal vehicle for carrying these larva. As such, if you dive in an area which has these mussels, the Dacor Nautilus CVS should be treated as a bilge, and decontaminated before it is used in a pristine body of fresh water. I thought you and others would need to know about this possibility. There is a list of infested waters in Minnesota from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and other Great Lake states probably have similar websites/publications. Here is the procedure for killing these invasive mussels: wildlife.utah.gov/quagga/pdf/boat_inspection.pdfJohn
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Post by diverdon on Oct 2, 2014 17:06:18 GMT -8
Hey John, Thanks for the link and concern. I too am well aware of the dangers of invasive species in the Great Lakes. There are indeed Zebra Mussels in Fortune pond, many more than my last visit a couple years ago. It is indeed a shame and I agree, this could be a means to transport them if I were careless. I tried to get some footage of them as I watched them feed from scant inches away, but the lens' cover on my Gopro is a poor one that is dome shaped. I noticed an incredible difference in clarity between Eben's videos and my own even though we have the same camera. I'm so glad I brought my laptop with the intent to share videos as we live quite a few miles from each other. That is when he described having the same problem and suggested a fix which I'll have in a few days Anyway, I too enjoy micro and macro photography and I could spend entire dives watching crawfish and smaller aquatic life like these mussels. The lower lakes are literally infested with the mussels and many of my favorite wrecks are covered with them. Lake Superior has been spared for the most part but I worry that it too will be over-run in time. One benefit is the clarity they bring to the water. Dives that were poor viz now offer much better visibility, but at a cost of course. As to the CVS Nautilus, I emptied it as completely as possible onsite and it will completely dry before I use it in another body of water. Especially Lake Superior. I don't dive often enough for that to become a problem, especially this time of year. In fact, my next dive in Superior will be October 18th and 19th with university students. And I need to use similar gear to what the students use as we take them through their skills. After that I hope to use it while carving a pumpkin with other like (crazy) minded individuals. That'll more than likely be at the end of the month. Don
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Post by nikeajax on Oct 2, 2014 17:59:48 GMT -8
Huh? If I knew where they were near me, I'd get all my scuba buddies and make a day of harvesting the little-SOB's! Gosh, you could make a swell chowder with them for dinner: and yes, I just checked, they are edible... Yes, it would be a lot of work, but might be fun knowing that in a way you're getting a bit of payment, full belly at the end of the day: so the question is, red or white chowder!
Jaybird
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Post by diverdon on Oct 3, 2014 6:03:52 GMT -8
Hey JB, these little suckers would be a great diet food. With the amount of work required they would probably be net negative in the 'ol calorie department Personally, I'm waiting to try the Asian Carp which would be easier to catch and make a fine meal. Luckily I don't have to worry about transporting any of those in the CVS! As for the Z.M.s, they're pretty small. Just to give you an idea of size, I'll drop a couple in the mail for ya Bon Appétit Don
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Post by surflung on Oct 3, 2014 12:27:34 GMT -8
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Post by diverdon on Oct 4, 2014 5:37:34 GMT -8
Thanks for thinking of me Eben. I did see these on eBay and am currently "watching" them. I do have a similar backpack with only one set of bands though. I'll have to fish them out of the pile and compare them with the one in that auction. What I'd really like is a set of bands that Allan can make a harness for. Think the ones in that auction would work?
Don
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 4, 2014 8:39:10 GMT -8
Don, You can use these bands with a military harness, the way that it was done with our PJ tanks: Simply tell Allen that you need to wrap the harness around the bands, as they don't have the cutouts for the harness. He will probably give you a bit more harness to work with, and it would work really well. I've been using this method on my PJ tanks for years. This is the PJ tanks as I received them off E-bay, but I take a second around the bottom bands. Here they are after I fixed them up: I'm thinking about putting my Nautilus CVS into the water again today, as it is a beautiful day here for a dive. More on that later. John
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 4, 2014 21:11:22 GMT -8
I had a very nice dive at High Rocks on the Clackamas River today, and I did dive the Nautilus CVS. Today, I dove it with my Mossback Mk 3 double hose regulator. I'm probably the only diver ever to dive the Nautilus CVS with a double hose regulator; I did it several years ago with my Hydro-Twin regulator too. Because I had my Cobra computer on the Mossback Mk 3, I also have a record of the dive, which I will probably download tomorrow.
I changed out the steel 72 that I dove last week, and found it not too difficult. I unscrewed each of the four D-rings on the screws five turns each, then went through another five turns (actually half-turns), with the unit on its side. I then set the Nautilus CVS down again and simply pulled the cylinder out. I replaced it with a full one, turned it up on its side again (it was in the back of my Honda Pilot, so at waist level), and screwed those D-rings in five half-turns each, followed by five more until each was tight.
The Dive Plan
I put on the Nautilus CVS after donning my wet suit and weight belt (eight pounds), took my float, fins, mask and snorkel and walked down to the river. I decided not to flood the unit initially, but to swim on my back in the current across the river. I had the float, and would trail it, then flood the unit and commence the dive. I would test the use of the double hose regulator on the Nautilus CVS for the first time in a number of years.
The Dive
I started out on the surface after releasing the float on its line, which was tied to my waist strap. I use the line because I dive solo, and at my age nothing is guaranteed so I want someone to be able to find me in case of a problem. However, I have all the confidence that there will be no problem--it's just my safety professional mind that requires it. But on the surface, the line becomes a real problem; I get tangled. I flood the unit, but cannot figure out where the line is going, and it seems tangled on the Nautilus CVS. I surface, blow ballast, and decide to take the unit off in the water to untangle things. I find that the line is actually tied to the "T" handle of the air release valve. After a few minutes I get things in order, then flood the Nautilus and descend to the bottom.
On the bottom, I head downstream with the current from the other side of the river, and go under the rapids. I am carefully monitoring the line now, so it's not a problem. I stop and observe freshwater sponge in this upper pool, where it is green and still intact. Then I head for deeper water, get to about twenty feet (with the water inlet valve open so as to ensure the pressures equalize as I descend), and insert air through the LP inflator. After the second 3-second inflation, I'm at neutral buoyancy and close the water inlet valve, thereby sealing the unit and its buoyancy characteristics.
In the deep area I study the freshwater sponge, which here is white and not green (no symbiotic algea in the tissues). It also is forming nodules, and becoming less thick--it's preparing for winter. So some of this is temperature, but some also has to do with light levels, or so it seems.
The Mossback Mk 3 is working very, very well. But I can only use it because it is equipped with superflex hoses, as it is further behind my head and higher than it would be with my doubles. I can feel the extra inhalation resistance, but I orient myself head-down so as to minimize this difference in vertical height between the center of my lungs and the demand regulator on my back. With the Nautilus dialed in, I can maintain my head-down position just off the bottom almost without effort. I can hold onto the bottom rocks or rebar (from bridge construction) and observe the crawdads, turn over rocks to see the insect larva (each bottom side of a rock has 1-3 helgrimites).
Toward the end of the dive, I decided to surface and swim again on my back. Usually with a double hose regulator, this is not easy as the regulator will free flow. But with the Nautilus CVS, there is enough buoyancy to ride the regulator out of the water unless I really lean back. I hear a free flow, than straighten up just a bit, but can swim on my back easily with the double hose regulator. I did this several years ago, and today's experiment simply confirmed my earlier finding.
I submerged again, swam below the bridge and got into shallow water near my exit. I surfaced, and blew ballast again, then switched to my snorkel. To my surprise, the scuba tank on my Nautilus CVS did not push me down, but instead was floated above my back in a very comfortable manner. I got to the shallow river bank, and stood up in about five feet of water. I took off my fins, held them, and simply walked out of the water and up the rocks. I had to gather the rope to bring the float in, and then put my mask/snorkel into the float and grabbed the float. Walking up the rocks and river bank is part of my workout, and this was actually pretty comfortable.
The buoyancy characteristics of the Dacor CVS is different than when using a weight belt, as the weights are in line with, and above, the spine. This means that rolling provides different center of gravity (CG) vectors than rolling with a weight belt, and my experience is that the roll becomes quicker than expected until I got used to the different roll characteristics.
That's about it, and I enjoyed this dive a lot. After the dive I found that the outdoor rest room was locked, and so my backup was going to McDonald's to use their bathroom. I don't drive on a full bladder, and my bladder was at capacity. This is a characteristic of negative pressure breathing, and because the double hose regulator in many positions is much higher than normal, it will produce this effect. But the head-down position negates that situation.
Special Problems and Solutions
--Line tangles again; not much to do but be more aware of the line.
--I leaned to my right when blowing ballast the last time prior to getting out, and seemed to empty more water than last time out. When I got to the car, and opened the water control valve, there was a "woosh" as the unit was slightly pressurized (got much warmer on the walk to the car), but much less water than last time came out.
John
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 8, 2014 15:29:08 GMT -8
As promised, here is the photo of the Mossback Mk3 mounted on the Dacor Nautilus CVS as it was used during my last dive on October 4, 2014. I'll do a bit more analysis when I got more time. John
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Post by SeaRat on Nov 3, 2014 15:58:32 GMT -8
Well, I took my Dacor Nautilus CVS into the pool yesterday. I wanted to dive it with the "new"ly hydroed AL80 that I had mothballed several years ago. I did the dive, and even did a standing jump (not giant stride, but close) into the water. As expected, I bounced to the surface with about fifty pounds of buoyancy, and proceeded to flood the Nautilus to go down. I was using my Force Fins, just because on the other board we had a discussion of Rocket vs Jet Fins, and one guy mentioned the Force Fin as a viable rival to Jet Fins (not). The Force Fins are great on the down stroke, but nothing on the upstroke; therefore it takes some getting used to in order to maneuver, especially with the Nautilus CVS. I got down with the water entry valve open, added air and got neutral (I was wearing the shorty wet suit, and so had some buoyancy--about 7 pounds). I was able to swim around for a while with the Force Fins, swimming just off the bottom, and found that the grates over the pool's outlet were getting a lot of junk, so I cleared these, taking the "stuff" up to the pool edge, then descending again. As I ascended from the 18 foot bottom (competition platform diving pool), the Nautilus CVS "burped" from the overpressure relief valve.
I went down again, and changed fins. I had thrown my Duck Feet fins and my home-made Plana Graphite FF fins into the deep end. The Duck Feet felt better on me, and allowed better maneuvering with the Nautilus CVS than the Force Fins. After about ten minutes on the Duck Feet, I switched again to the Plana Graphite FF fins, and continued to descend. Upon descent, I need to keep the unit's water intake valve open, as I still don't have a regulator on this unit. At the bottom, I went to add air from the LP BC push button, and noticed it was leaking air badly. I added a bit more, and blow the unit apart. I had glued this unit together last spring, and thought I had a safe repair, but the increased pressure used in the Nautilus CVS blew the repair apart. So I now had a Nautilus CVS that I could not add air to, and decided to surface and get it out of the water. I'm glad this happened in the pool. But climbing up the ladder, instead of blowing ballast, I had to simply open the water intake valve, then open the air valve at the top to allow the water to flow out as I climber slowly up the pool's ladder. That worked, and I didn't have to lug a full cubic foot of water out of the pool to the deck! The Nautilus CVS was heavy enough without the added water.
I got out of the Nautilus, put on a seven pound weight belt, and did a ditch of the weight belt just to show myself that the quick release system I like performs exactly as designed. It does, and I'll post some photos of that quick release a bit later.
John
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Post by diverdon on Nov 3, 2014 17:07:20 GMT -8
Hey John, Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Nautilus. I hope you're able to get it in the water again soon as I enjoy reading your entries. They inspire me and I feel I learning some about my own Nautilus through your writings. You may have already explained how you came to own it in its current state, that is, without a Dacor regulator, if so then I apologize in advance, but I'm curious why you don't you have the Dacor valve on that particular Nautilus? I know you have two and the second is on loan, so to dive a Nautilus you must use your second with the makeshift valve. Mine is complete and I would truly enjoy taking it out once more before the season is through but my opportunities to do so are slim to none. I hope you get a few more dives in this season.
Don
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Post by SeaRat on Nov 3, 2014 18:00:30 GMT -8
Don, I got this Dacor Nautilus from Eugene Skin Divers Supply, and the regulator was not on it. So my initial work was with this incomplete one. Mike at ESDS had the original weights for it, but they were in Eugene and I never got down there to pick them up. So I used weight belt weights for quite a while on the Dacor Nautilus CVS.
I have already changed out the inflator that broke yesterday; I only changed it because the older one had an inflation button which was a bit harder to push. I'm glad, as I said, that this particular malfunction happened in the pool.
I have some plans to make a regulator for this unit out of an old Dacor Dart. I did that originally with one regulator, but found it a bit too sensitive for use in open water. Now, I may go ahead and try it as a fill-in until I get the newer one back. This would make using it easier, as I would not have to worry about the descent with air in the unit.
When I got the newer Dacor Nautilus CVS, it came with the regulator, and I really enjoyed diving it. The latter unit also came with the Nautilus CVS weight mold.
John
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Post by diverdon on Dec 9, 2014 17:53:31 GMT -8
I've been meaning to put this article on the Nautilus up for a while now. Its from the June 1977 edition of Skin Diver magazine. It is one of my favorites because of this article but also because of another article about the movie The Deep. Well I scanned them both and uploaded them to photobucket so that I may share them with anyone interested in using a Nautilus. Don
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