Life's a Beach and Then You Dive

[SlickTony]

We'd been under the impression that in order to go diving, we'd have to go somewhere out of town, like Key West or Key Largo, or the springs, thereby adding hotel and gasoline expenses to the expense of the dive itself.

Not so. We found a boat called the Native Diver that does local dive trips, and it turns out that the ocean floor around Jacksonville is stiff with good places to dive--all kinds of wrecks and old bridges that have been put there to create artificial reefs, and it's said the spearfishing is out of this world. We're going next Saturday, and hopefully I'll be able to take lots of pictures. (That's all we'll be shooting fish with, at least at first. The speargun and fishing licences, maybe later.)

I can hardly wait! I'm a little nervous because I only got certified just last summer and haven't been out since, but I'm still looking forward to it.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Hey Tony, spearfishing is better if you leave the tanks in the boat. Freedivers are more stealthy. Come visit the Hunting Section of DeeperBlue.net.

Sarge

 

[glynndah]

You actually go under the water?!? On purpose!?!

 

[DesertPirate]

You actually go under the water?!? On purpose!?!

I learned to swim at 3, at 13 I learned to swim on top of the water like everyone else.
Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges was a wonderful influence.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I still don't know how to swim and I am nearly 33.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I still don't know how to swim and I am nearly 33.

My mother, in desparation, hired a private teacher to get me swimming at the ripe age of 14. My traumatic experiences up to that point gave me a near-phobia about deep water. That's why I took up spearfishing, to get over it. Well, and to give me some hunting that is nearby, too, of course.

 

[JagFarlane]

We'd been under the impression that in order to go diving, we'd have to go somewhere out of town, like Key West or Key Largo, or the springs, thereby adding hotel and gasoline expenses to the expense of the dive itself.

Not so. We found a boat called the Native Diver that does local dive trips, and it turns out that the ocean floor around Jacksonville is stiff with good places to dive--all kinds of wrecks and old bridges that have been put there to create artificial reefs, and it's said the spearfishing is out of this world. We're going next Saturday, and hopefully I'll be able to take lots of pictures. (That's all we'll be shooting fish with, at least at first. The speargun and fishing licences, maybe later.)

I can hardly wait! I'm a little nervous because I only got certified just last summer and haven't been out since, but I'm still looking forward to it.

As it turns out, most coastal states have places that offer diving. I would check with PADI or NAUI for certified dive buisnesses, or your local dive shop. My dad used to go diving off the coast of NJ at several wrecks.

I learned how to swim at a younger age, and learned to use a scuba tank by the time I was 8. -chuckles- Haven't gotten certified yet, kinda dropped that course in college due to a busy schedule. However the parts of the class I went to were funny, esp that first time using tanks. Almost everyone came up to the surface to breathe because they weren't used to breathing underwater...then my instructor noticed I hadn't...looked around and found me laying at the deep end giving him a wave. -chuckles- he just shook his head, laughed, and asked how long I'd been using tanks.

 

[rgraham666]

Very cool. Have fun.

 

[glynndah]

I learned to swim at 3, at 13 I learned to swim on top of the water like everyone else.
Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges was a wonderful influence.

Oh, sure. For running around in the back yard, cutting other people's air hoses with knives or shooting harpoons, and going "glub, blub, glub"...

I still don't know how to swim and I am nearly 33.

I'm way older than that.

 

[oggbashan]

I was taught by an Army instructor when I was 10.

After showing me how to float, his method was to hurl me off a pier into thirty feet of water. I swam.

A couple of months later I was earning extra pocket money catching squid with my bare hands.

I still prefer swimming underwater with no artificial aids except goggles.

Og

 

[cloudy]

I don't know if it's still this way, but when I was in high school out on the west coast, everyone was required to take swimming for P.E. in tenth grade.

I think it's a great idea, to be honest, although I didn't at the time - making me take a swimming class when I'd been swimming like a fish since I was four, and already had my lifesaving certification seemed a little ridiculous (when the instructor found out I was certified, I was made "lifeguard" for the class, and my attitude changed from irritation to mere boredom).

Everybody should know how to swim, at least enough to keep themselves afloat if they need to. Y'all that don't know how, you really should take a class. It'd be a shame to lose your life over something that simple.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I don't know if it's still this way, but when I was in high school out on the west coast, everyone was required to take swimming for P.E. in tenth grade.

I think it's a great idea, to be honest, although I didn't at the time - making me take a swimming class when I'd been swimming like a fish since I was four, and already had my lifesaving certification seemed a little ridiculous (when the instructor found out I was certified, I was made "lifeguard" for the class, and my attitude changed from irritation to mere boredom).

Everybody should know how to swim, at least enough to keep themselves afloat if they need to. Y'all that don't know how, you really should take a class. It'd be a shame to lose your life over something that simple.

I come from a line of genetic anchors. Really, my dad could take a deep breath and sit on the bottom of the pool. He never did learn to swim. Mom was of Cloudy's mind and she was bound and determined that I was going to learn. Finally succeeded but I must have swallowed a couple of gallons of chlorine before I got there. Now I'd love to have my own pool but I've run out of room. Damned tiny suburban lot, anyhow.

 

[colddiesel]

One of the great Australian rituals was the immediate prelude to learning to swim. All the 3 & 4 year year olds turn up at the pool with their mums.

The coach announces "All the Mums will now leave"

Cue wailing - there's always one or two.

Three weeks later all the kids can at least tread water.

It's much harder on the mums than the kids, and by the way it's always the mums , the Dads are too soft hearted to take the kids in the first place

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I don't know if it's still this way, but when I was in high school out on the west coast, everyone was required to take swimming for P.E. in tenth grade.

I think it's a great idea, to be honest, although I didn't at the time - making me take a swimming class when I'd been swimming like a fish since I was four, and already had my lifesaving certification seemed a little ridiculous (when the instructor found out I was certified, I was made "lifeguard" for the class, and my attitude changed from irritation to mere boredom).

Everybody should know how to swim, at least enough to keep themselves afloat if they need to. Y'all that don't know how, you really should take a class. It'd be a shame to lose your life over something that simple.

Our school didn't have a pool. I only had access to a pool once a year at a friend of the family's summer party.

And we never went to any of the lakes in the area.

 

[shereads]

I envy you. I haven't been diving in...I don't know how long it's been; that's how long it's been!

Edited to add: swimming and salt-water scuba diving have little to do with each other, in reality. Tanks, neoprene, fins etc. all add to the body's natural buoyancy, which is why ocean divers have to wear lead weight belts. I'm not much of a swimmer, either. (I passed the swim test for ceritification because the instructor was a friend. Sue me.)

SLICK: Be careful down there. There are reasons other than stuff to look at that make the Keys and the freshwater springs so popular with divers from other parts of Florida - strong currents and poor visibility can be scary as hell.

I did a wreck dive off of Bimini once, after years of open-water diving in the Keys and the Caribbean, and the current was so strong that it kept trying to shove me to the surface from sixty feet. We were fine as long as we were on the wreck itself, which kept us sheltered from the worst of the current. But we had to control our ascent by clinging to the anchor line and I mean CLING. The up-current had me pushed up against the diver ascending ahead of me; when I turned my head, the current ripped my mask off. I was never more relieved to climb back on a boat.

Even an experienced diver can feel panic in less-than-ideal conditions. Take care.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I envy you. I haven't been diving in...I don't know how long it's been; that's how long it's been!

Edited to add: swimming and salt-water scuba diving have little to do with each other, in reality. Tanks, neoprene, fins etc. all add to the body's natural buoyancy, which is why ocean divers have to wear lead weight belts. I'm not much of a swimmer, either. (I passed the swim test for ceritification because the instructor was a friend. Sue me.)

SLICK: Be careful down there. There are reasons other than stuff to look at that make the Keys and the freshwater springs so popular with divers from other parts of Florida - strong currents and poor visibility can be scary as hell.

I did a wreck dive off of Bimini once, after years of open-water diving in the Keys and the Caribbean, and the current was so strong that it kept trying to shove me to the surface from sixty feet. We were fine as long as we were on the wreck itself, which kept us sheltered from the worst of the current. But we had to control our ascent by clinging to the anchor line and I mean CLING. The up-current had me pushed up against the diver ascending ahead of me; when I turned my head, the current ripped my mask off. I was never more relieved to climb back on a boat.

Even an experienced diver can feel panic in less-than-ideal conditions. Take care.

That's why I free-dive/spearfish. There are plenty of fish in the top twenty feet of the sea and the top twenty feet covers a lot of water.

 

[shereads]

That's why I free-dive/spearfish. There are plenty of fish in the top twenty feet of the sea and the top twenty feet covers a lot of water.

I like breathing too much to free-dive.



Edited to add: I'm told that sharks appreciate spear-fishermen. Any close calls?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I like breathing too much to free-dive.



Edited to add: I'm told that sharks appreciate spear-fishermen. Any close calls?

I haven't ever even seen a shark while diving but then, I'm a beach diver, bug-grabber, halibut stabber. Big sharks don't get that close to shore, here.

 

[shereads]

I haven't ever even seen a shark while diving but then, I'm a beach diver, bug-grabber, halibut stabber. Big sharks don't get that close to shore, here.

Yet.

 

[SeaCat]

Hey Slick,

Good deal. Let it be known though that even though I live in a kind of Mecca for divers and am surrounded by dive boats much of my diving still is Shore Diving.

Cat

 

[SlickTony]

As it turns out, most coastal states have places that offer diving. I would check with PADI or NAUI for certified dive buisnesses, or your local dive shop. My dad used to go diving off the coast of NJ at several wrecks.

The dive shop where we got our certification from is a PADI school; the people we're diving with next Saturday are the other outfit, I think. They're the only people who offer local dive tours--the other places all conduct dives from other Florida locations.

Cat, I told my husband what you said and he pointed out that the viz near shore is about a foot and a half. He snapped the camera underwater when we were at the beach today testing the camera's underwater housing, and all there was, was a green blur. I'd attach it here if he hadn't deleted it.

 

[JagFarlane]

I come from a line of genetic anchors. Really, my dad could take a deep breath and sit on the bottom of the pool. He never did learn to swim.

Yup yup that usually has to do with the amount of muscle mass vs fat. A good example of this is "Minority Report" with Tom Cruise sitting on the bottom of the pool. Muscle, by definition is more dense then fat. Thus why a woman with a decent sized chest is more likely to float, natural buoyancy.

 

[SeaCat]

The dive shop where we got our certification from is a PADI school; the people we're diving with next Saturday are the other outfit, I think. They're the only people who offer local dive tours--the other places all conduct dives from other Florida locations.

Cat, I told my husband what you said and he pointed out that the viz near shore is about a foot and a half. He snapped the camera underwater when we were at the beach today testing the camera's underwater housing, and all there was, was a green blur. I'd attach it here if he hadn't deleted it.

Yes Vis near shore can be low. Hell where I learned to dive that was all we had. (On a fantastic day we might get ten feet.) We refered to it as Braile Diving. Yet there are things you can look at and see even in low vis that will blow your mind.

There are challenges diving in low visibility that can't be found in diving in clear water. Not only the challenges of navigation but also the challenges of orientation and the subjugation of fear. There is also the challenge of observation.

Now don't get me wrong I truly enjoy diving in clear water, just as I enjoy diving in warm and calm water. There is nothing quite like ghosting along on a drift dive expending no more energy than is needed to breath as you observe the waters and the creatures around you.

Cat

 

[JagFarlane]

Yes Vis near shore can be low. Hell where I learned to dive that was all we had. (On a fantastic day we might get ten feet.) We refered to it as Braile Diving. Yet there are things you can look at and see even in low vis that will blow your mind.

There are challenges diving in low visibility that can't be found in diving in clear water. Not only the challenges of navigation but also the challenges of orientation and the subjugation of fear. There is also the challenge of observation.

Now don't get me wrong I truly enjoy diving in clear water, just as I enjoy diving in warm and calm water. There is nothing quite like ghosting along on a drift dive expending no more energy than is needed to breath as you observe the waters and the creatures around you.

Cat

-chuckles- I always remember my dad telling me his experience about diving in the Bahamas after having spent a lifetime diving off the cost of NJ. Off the coast of NJ you need at least one knife to help free you from the hazards of fishing lines and nets. He gets down there...they looked at his gear and go "You're from the NorthEast aren't ya? Won't need that stuff here"

 

[SlickTony]

Anatomy of One Failed Dive

Chest size doesn't have that much to do with it--it's a matter of evenly distributed subcutaneous fat. When I was my son's age I only weighed about 125, at 5'8". I was a B- cup until I had my babies, which brought me up to a C. And I couldn't sink for sour owl poop. I took the water safety instructor course and I had no]/i] trouble fetching a weight off the bottom of a pool, 15' down, after I'd struggled down there in the first place. As for playing the role of victim, forget about it.

Well, we had our dive and while my husband had a great old time down there, it all kind of went wrong for my son and me. I went down first, and I had a lot of trouble equalizing my ears, but I kept on trying, and finally I was able to get down 60 feet without them hurting. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for the guys to come down and they never did. And then I let go the anchor line and started to swim around, and next thing I knew a divemaster was hauling me back up to the surface. On the way up I sort of burped a bolus of something into my regulator; I spat it out and cleared out the mouthpiece and came on up the rest of the way. When I took of my mask, I couldn't figure out what had happened: I'd burped into my regulator, not the mask, and anyway, what had I eaten that was red? Come to find out, I had a nosebleed. My mask was full of blood. My face was covered with blood. What I'd burped into my regulator must have been blood draining out of my sinuses, because it had just happened, I hadn't felt sick. I was made to take off my gear and come out of the water. In the meantime, Henry said he felt uncomfortable and didn't want to go down. So he lay down on that square thing in the middle of the deck where you put stuff--I'd gone back there to keep out of everyone's way and he put his head in my lap and wanted to sleep. He'd been seasick as soon as we'd weighed anchor, but we figured he'd be OK if he'd just go down into the water. Not so. He went about five feet down and said he didn't feel good and came back up. They told me I couldn't go down again on account of the nosebleed. The divemasters also said I should have taken a refresher course or gone on a springs dive, to get reacquainted with the equipment, since it had been a year since I was last down. Well, that's all very well, but we had to wait for our Bush Tax Rebate to go on this dive. So I stayed up top watching bubbles while everybody else dove. My husband went down and took a bunch of pictures. Everyone came back up and we went to a different location. I stayed up top watching bubbles while everyone else dove. The second dive ended and we started back. While we were under way I packed everybody's boots and fins and masks and weight belts into their respective gear bags. The skinsuits went last, and was I glad we had them--if I'd been given a dollar for every jelly there was, I could pay for my next dive. I put mine in. I got my husband to take his off and I put it in. I got my son's boots off and unzipped the front of his skinsuit, but that was as far as I got. You can't strip an unwilling man. We got back. We took the stuff we'd rented--the regulators and BCDs and tanks--back to the dive shop. There'd been a sign on the boat saying that the divemaster and crew worked for tips and all I had in my wallet was $3. We went to the bank and took out $40 and left it at the shop for the divemaster and crew. We were then going to go to Crisper's or somewhere for lunch, but my husband got a cramp in his foot and we went home instead. Henry crashed almost immediately. We rinsed off our gear and took showers. I am the only human being in the house who's awake.

My husband said later that where we'd gone wrong was not making Henry go down first. I waited and waited and waited around for the guys to come down and they never did. My husband said the kid had held us up. The kid, by the way, has decided that going out on the ocean in boats is not for him. They both popped Dramamine like it was candy and still got seasick. I did not. I rather enjoyed the boat ride. For sure, I enjoyed it better than they did.

BTW, the viz over the wrecks is better than it is ashore, but it's nothing to write home about. They said I wandered off the wreck. I couldn't tell wreck from non-wreck. Course, it could have been the blood.

I've decided that if we're going to do this, we need to own our own equipment so we can take it out and use it more often, even if we have to put everything on layaway and buy one BCD/regulator at a time.

One thing I forgot to mention--there's awesome spearfishing around here. There were some serious spearfishermen and they brought up big snappers, 18" or more, and flounders as big as serving plates.