^30 bar? I'd've escorted her up on her own air til it ran out

On hindsight i could've done that, i also could possibly have kept swimming to reduce the surface swim, at the moment though i'm aiming for caution/conservatism, I'm very glad it happened for a lrn2DM thing.

Was a balmy 22-23 degrees.

My buddy (a former DM) didn't understand my one handed remaining air signals (on the side) when I was in double digits until he saw I had 50 bar left on my gauge so I ended up surfacing with about 30 bar remaining after our safety stop.

I ended up just showing him every 50 bar until I had about 70 for my second dive.

Doing Tweed again this weekend. I like Tweed, it's not a brilliant dive but it's a cheap and easy way to kill half a day, and rack up some numbers.

It's kind of like happy hour at a dodgy local pub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPOKEYDOKEY

On hindsight i could've done that, i also could possibly have kept swimming to reduce the surface swim, at the moment though i'm aiming for caution/conservatism, I'm very glad it happened for a lrn2DM thing.

Yeah it's good to know how to do, I had do do one on my internship too, students reg started free-flowing like crazy so I brought him up on my occy. Poor bugger did well as my occy is one of those slimline ones and it's not very nice to breathe off (breathes a bit wet) but it does the job.

a quick screenshot from a dive down at ship rock, port hacking this morning.

I know I'm way off here, like probably until I'm in my mid 30's off, but at what point's a good time to start looking at getting into some tech diving? Saw the SSI XR and TXR programs, particularly interested in tech wreck and cave diving... Decompression and trimix courses, not interested AS much, but I know it's fundamental to the other two (As I said, I know I've got years ahead of me yet, but always good to have a bit of direction in life).

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

I know I'm way off here, like probably until I'm in my mid 30's off, but at what point's a good time to start looking at getting into some tech diving? Saw the SSI XR and TXR programs, particularly interested in tech wreck and cave diving... Decompression diving, not interested AS much, but I know it's fundamental to the other two (As I said, I know I've got years ahead of me yet, but always good to have a bit of direction in life).

Get really comfortable with your fundamentals first, and do a few reasonably deep no-deco dives. If you're still keen to look at it at that point, then it's gonna prolly come down to $$ more than anything else.

You might want to try to do a few dives in a Hogarthian setup (your standard backplate+harness setup that tech divers use rather than the traditional BCDs that you've probably dived in) as well to start getting a feel for wearing that sort of kit. Personally I love it, I'll switch to a backplate and harness when I replace my current BCD..

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

Did Julian Rocks yesterday, beautiful day for it, visibility was perfect, around 15-20m, saw plenty of colourful fish and coral, and probably 20-30 wobbegongs around where we were.

New fins made a hell of a difference as well, so much less effort getting around.

did you see the lepord sharks?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Get really comfortable with your fundamentals first, and do a few reasonably deep no-deco dives. If you're still keen to look at it at that point, then it's gonna prolly come down to $$ more than anything else.

You might want to try to do a few dives in a Hogarthian setup (your standard backplate+harness setup that tech divers use rather than the traditional BCDs that you've probably dived in) as well to start getting a feel for wearing that sort of kit. Personally I love it, I'll switch to a backplate and harness when I replace my current BCD..

Got ya, one of the girls at the dive shop has a Halcyon harness that she swears by, I think she said they also have one in the hire shop she was going to tee up so I can try sometime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

did you see the lepord sharks?

Nup, only interesting shark I saw was a wobbegong that was actually actively swimming instead of lazing about like they normally do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

Got ya, one of the girls at the dive shop has a Halcyon harness that she swears by, I think she said they also have one in the hire shop she was going to tee up so I can try sometime.

Defo have a crack with it, those Halcyon setups are fucking awesome. Overpriced though, you can put the equivalent together for a lot less SS if you don't need it to have swanky H logos plastered all over. You can pick up a complete rig with a 30lb bladder and steel backplate for $550, whereas you'd pay about $900 for the equivalent Halcyon.

Got ya, when it comes time to buy my BC i'll look into it a little more

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

Got ya, when it comes time to buy my BC i'll look into it a little more

Totally. Try to road test a few different types, then go with what you feel most comfortable with.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind a bp&w setup actually. They're cheap as chips from the US (assuming the dollar stays respectable). If I want to do any caves in mt gambier I need to side mount.

Confirmed I'm extending my trip in Chuuk and pohnpei \o/ ... can't wait. 3 weeks of tropical diving.

I'm currently doing stretches on top of a park bench, watching the night take over day. In front of me is the sea, and the coast line north of south west rocks. I'm facing north, confirmed with the southern cross after it appeared as the sky got darker. The moon is NNW in front of me and looks like it's chasing the sun that's now over the horizon behind the hills.
Today was two dives at fish rock, sharks of course, some amazingly gorgeous different wrasse, a bloody big bull ray, a turtle and great viz with warm water.
I'm in bliss right now.

So insanely jealous. DiveXsite's going in August but I don't have $3K lying around atm

Just got home from Tweed. 15m Vis which is really good for there. Also won an underwater film camera as part of the treasure hunt.

Doing my deep and night dive specialties next weekend, giving the Halcyon wing a try at some point too.

I may be starting a bit of a debate here, but if you're interested at all in becoming a DM or instructor then a jacket bcd may be a better option.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

I may be starting a bit of a debate here, but if you're interested at all in becoming a DM or instructor then a jacket bcd may be a better option.

No debate here, I'd agree with you. Wings and back inflation BCs keep you horizontal, so not so great if you're gonna spend lots of time floating upright at the surface talking to students. For most actual diving though they're brilliant.
Also did a quick price check on Leisire Pro last night, a full OMS BPW setup comes to USD$460, but by the time you pay for shipping its prolly cheaper to buy locally from Divetub, who have a full package for AUD$550.

Some instructors i know have two bcd/dive sets, one for teaching, one for diving, the simpler jackets for teaching. I'll be getting a new one, probably an oceanic probe or excursion, though for my diving i want the biolite.

From the shark gutters this morning;


shark by genericitis, on Flickr

NEMO!


Clown FIsh in Anenome by genericitis, on Flickr

some sort of snail in a shell...


Shell Snail? by genericitis, on Flickr

if you're going to keep teaching get the probe. the excursion is a travel BCD, probe is far tougher, heaver material.

the downside to the probe is that it's heavy for travel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPOKEYDOKEY

Some instructors i know have two bcd/dive sets, one for teaching, one for diving, the simpler jackets for teaching. I'll be getting a new one, probably an oceanic probe or excursion, though for my diving i want the biolite.

Yeah for sure. I'm keen on getting a BPW setup but I'll keep my old Oceanic Baja around as well.

first video's up from fish rock

Media Player

Descending down the line and the first Grey Nurse Sharks at Fish Rock, Dive 3, Part 1 - YouTube

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Yeah for sure. I'm keen on getting a BPW setup but I'll keep my old Oceanic Baja around as well.

when are you looking to buy? I need gear for my sling tank I was thinking of adding a BP&W to the order from Frogdive if the price is right. Dennis might be more willing to give a good discount if i get 2 setups.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

when are you looking to buy? I need gear for my sling tank I was thinking of adding a BP&W to the order from Frogdive if the price is right. Dennis might be more willing to give a good discount if i get 2 setups.

Not for a bit mate, I'm not exactly flush right now.

Moar sharks

Media Player

Underwater Christmas Tree, Wobbegong and Grey Nurse Sharks at Fish Rock, Dive 3, Part 2 - YouTube

some bloody huge sharks there! awesome

I won't lie, the first decent sized (3m) grey nurse I saw, green turtles weren't the only colour turtle in the ocean that day. Especially when you're in jervis bay in less than perfect vis... it takes a while to get used to being confronted by an animal that big, dangerous or not, without a plate glass between you and it.

Had some bull and eagle rays hanging around as well

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

I won't lie, the first decent sized (3m) grey nurse I saw, green turtles weren't the only colour turtle in the ocean that day. Especially when you're in jervis bay in less than perfect vis... it takes a while to get used to being confronted by an animal that big, dangerous or not, without a plate glass between you and it.

Imagine how I felt when we were out at sea and jumped into the tuna net one morning to check it.... "ok we've got a shark... 2 sharks.. 3 sharks...... fuck, eight sharks!!"

Yeah, its just one of those things, like jumping into a pen with multiple steers that need castrating... as you cross the point of no return you think 'how did I come to be this stupid'

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPOKEYDOKEY

Had some bull and eagle rays hanging around as well

In my mind spotted eagle rays are just as majestic as a manta.

I once was dumped into a pen with a bunch of cows and shown how to tag them, putting a ziplock round the top of their tail, hoping they wouldn't kick you....great, now you're faced with a pen full of cow bums with legs primed and ready to kick

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

Yeah, its just one of those things, like jumping into a pen with multiple steers that need castrating... as you cross the point of no return you think 'how did I come to be this stupid'


In my mind spotted eagle rays are just as majestic as a manta.

saw a beautiful spotted eagle ray in fiji.
longest bloody tails. like 2 meters long

Dave, you don't have a set of tank bands I could borrow for Truk do you?

fuckers are expensive as! I'll only be using them for truk so I don't see the point investing in them. If i go and do the deep cavern course I'll be doing sidemount.

edit: feck me this trip is getting expensive

Passed my deep and night/limited visibility exams last night, only got one question wrong on each other them, signed up to do Nitrox as well, not looking forward to reading that manual it's thicker than the other ones

Nitrox is the only actually interesting speciality imo. The physiology I think is fascinating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

Dave, you don't have a set of tank bands I could borrow for Truk do you?

fuckers are expensive as! I'll only be using them for truk so I don't see the point investing in them. If i go and do the deep cavern course I'll be doing sidemount.

edit: feck me this trip is getting expensive

Nah sorry bud, don;t own any.

Agree on Nitrox, handy to have. Dive med/physiology is pretty fascinating, we had to go into it in a bit more depth than you do on the reccy courses. I find myself reeling off lists of decompression injuries that people would suffer whenever I see unrealistic shit on TV nowadays.

I do agree, reading the wreck/deep/night manuals are a little bit dull, mainly because most of it's just common sense/no brainer material. You do need 4 specialties for SSI AOW and 4 plus search and rescue for your master diver though.

If you are interested in that side of diving, I recommend 2 books... 1 the padi encyclopedia for recreational diving which is part of the DM pack. Despite being PADI it's well written and explains most concepts well. The only annoyance I had was with the physics, they made it unnecessarily complex. Quite a few tech guys/instructors will admit to going back to it for some topics. Nfi how good/bad the SSI one is...

The other one is the deco book I listed above. It's a stop gap between recreational books and tech books. I'm still reading it so can't give a full review but so far I'm loving it.

Also anyone read the new DAN magazine? AWESOME read about diving injuries on CNS O2 seizures just in time for me to go to Chuuk :-/

Did you read that spreadsheet I linked of diving injuries and fatalities? Made for cheery reading

the current mag also had an article analysing the data on all diving fatalities.

fuck.yeah.

Cheers I'll check 'em out.

I've got this to read through but I'm not a very good non fiction reader.



Really want this for fish identification but can't find it for less than $100 anywhere

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

the current mag also had an article analysing the data on all diving fatalities.

fuck.yeah.

90% human error from what I've seen. Very few deaths are unavoidable.

Angus, there are heaps of fish ID books around, I'll see if I can find one a bit more economical.

Fuck me Chuuk is getting expensive. New reg set for twins (no occy) which is a deco hollis, gauge with hose, twin tank bands and PADI deep book was $700

Leaving the mouth of the cave at Fish Rock

Media Player

Leaving the cave at Fish Rock, Dive 4, Part 2 - YouTube

There'll be a couple more up by the end of the day including approaching the cave (already up) and more wandering around, bull rays, eagle rays and more in those.

Don't play with sharks and raaaaaaaays!

Media Player

Eagle Rays, Bull Rays, Gropers and an Eel at Fish Rock, Dive 4, Part 4 - YouTube

man itching to go diving again but not keen on sub 19 degree water with 3 meter visibility that sydney has after all the amazing diving i did in fiji

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarrardscott

man itching to go diving again but not keen on sub 19 degree water with 3 meter visibility that sydney has after all the amazing diving i did in fiji

Winter vis can be awesome on the right day. Just wear a thicker wetsuit, cold is like <13 degrees.

Agreed, i've been out of the water for a couple of weeks due to a cold, will be dry again this weekend too until it improves. I hear Botany Bay's mud right now after this rain, but the couple of weeks before when i was last in we've had the best vis we've had in a while.

It's nowhere near tropical vis, sure, but it never will be and it's still diving. When you're used to these conditions as well, any warmer diving makes you feel absolutely spoiled.

Diving's been cancelled for the past few weeks here, hoping to get out again this weekend, Straddy next weekend, then live aboard the weekend after