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View Full Version : Mermet Aug 18, 2007


DeepDiverBob
August 19th, 2007, 12:42 PM
This had to be one of the best Vis days I have seen there in a long time. In between dives, we would stand on the dock, and watch the students perform their skills on the platforms, and you could see it crystal clear.

Oh yeah, the dives...

Dive number one, me and buddy Chris dropped down to 20 foot, and did out bubble check, which he did not pass, so we surfaced. I shut down his left post, removed the 1st stage being carefull to not let let in, and reseated the connection. Did another bubble check on the surface, which this time was good, and we continued to descend onto the 100 foot platform. Leaving the platform, we headed to the far wall, and made a right turn. We stayed at 110 foot, passing the rock coffer and the boat, heading back to the main dock. Water temp was the usual 42-44 degrees, and vis at depth was about 20-30 foot as well. I had bumped up the conservatism one notch on my VR3, because I felt it was letting me get out of the water too quickly. Well, that didnt happen this time. As we was swimming along, I glanced ahead of us, and we saw the 85 foot platform coming into view. I decided that was enough fun for this dive, and thumbed it. Chris shot his lift bag from 80 foot, and we did out simulated and real deco along this line. My VR3 was calling for 35 minutes of deco. I completed my 2 deep stops at 66 and 43 foot, and ascended to 20 for 5 minutes, then 15, and switched to my 100%, which greatly reduced my hang time. Even when that was finished, I hung out a few more minutes, just because I could. After surfacing, me and Chris completed out surface decompression for 15 minutes, and exited the water.

We went over and saw Bill aka butterfingers (at least when we saw him) doing his shop duties, wearing a single tank and snorkel. We walked around talking to a few other folks me know, making sure we was drinking plenty, especially after a dive like that.

Dive 2, we dropped down just to relax. Dropped down inbetween the 85 foot platform, and the near wall. We followed that wall up to the 65 foot platform, and then started on the circuit out to the 727. Vis was still 15-20 foot out here, which surprised me, because it was a pretty crowded day. We took peaks into the luggage compartments in the 727, then did the traditional swim through the plane, and headed back to the platform area to look for lost weights and snorkels that people may or may not have dropped. Vis under the platforms was terrible, 2-3 foot in the best areas. Me and Chris got separated, here, but I could hear his bubbles, so I knew was close. When I finally couldnt hear his bubbles anymore, I headed up to the platform to finish my safety stop, then rejoin him on the surface.

Short day, but as always, I enjoyed my dive time, seeing good friends and longing for next weekend already.

regul8r
August 19th, 2007, 03:12 PM
sounds like fun.. I can't wait to get next weekend. Hope the vis is as good that day as well

theskull
August 19th, 2007, 11:46 PM
Yes, I didn't feel too bad about dropping the first weight, but the second one definitely qualifies me as a "butterfingers". LOL.

I was limited to shallow water all weekend, and as Bob said, in a wetsuit with single tank and snorkel. I do, however, refuse to kneel on the platforms while working with students, instead hovering just off the platform--sometimes upside down or in full lotus position. I had a great time, though, since the viz was as great as Bob reported, and OW class is much easier when you can see all of your students from any spot on the platform.

I'll be there next weekend, in my preferred gear of doubles and drysuit, with only 2 tasks on my mind -- fun diving and recovering the weights I dropped while trying to get OW students to sink.

Hope to see and dive with many of you. And I have a plan for getting some pizzas there for us.

theskull

SLIM
August 20th, 2007, 12:06 AM
I wsa going to say my cave buddy brother bill kneeling OMG he shall never do thta or he might die. For him to display great exceptional bouncy skills to the students sounds like him. Guess you just needed an extr ahand and you would not have dropped the weights. Now you see what some of us have had to deal with. Hope the weights were painted a easy color to find. LOL

SLIM

regul8r
August 20th, 2007, 10:37 AM
Well unfortunatly I will be in a 5/3 wetsuit and single tank. Never dove doubles before. Perhaps one day I will, that will however be several dives from now perhaps when I get more into the tech side of things.
A single tank will allow me to check out the plane and other wonderful aminities that i Have heard about at Mermet

DeepDiverBob
August 20th, 2007, 10:45 AM
Single tanks will get you to see everything you want to see. Have no worries. A few of us dive doubles just because we like it. And we dont like swapping out tanks after every dive. And we dont like making trips to the air fill station after every dive. And...

theskull
August 20th, 2007, 10:46 AM
I wsa going to say my cave buddy brother bill kneeling OMG he shall never do thta or he might die. For him to display great exceptional bouncy skills to the students sounds like him. Guess you just needed an extr ahand and you would not have dropped the weights. Now you see what some of us have had to deal with. Hope the weights were painted a easy color to find. LOL

SLIM

Thanks for the compliment.

The weights were Sea Pearls gray, but at least they were dropped in 70 ft. water with 6 inches of silt at the bottom. A couple buddy teams have already failed to find them, but I have blind faith that I will get them next weekend if someone hasn't already come up with them by then, as often is the case at Mermet.

theskull

theskull
August 20th, 2007, 10:52 AM
Single tanks will get you to see everything you want to see. Have no worries. A few of dive doubles just because we like it. And we dont like swapping out tanks after every dive. And we dont like making trips to the air fill station after every dive. And...

Yeah, what Bob said. He just beat me to it by minutes. I still enjoy diving single tanks as well. The snorkel I'm required to wear with classes I DO find annoying. And the shallow water was so warm that I was only wearing a 3mm wetsuit--so it would have been very uncomfortable to do a dropped-weight search down at 70 ft.

This is the perfect time of year to do wetsuit diving at Mermet. In a 5/3 you can see all of the major attractions fairly comfortably, and then warm up during the shallow portion of your dive and safety stop. This weekend the water was 84 F all the way down to 30 ft. depth, and it only got down to 56 F at 43 ft. at the nose of the 727 plane.

theskull

regul8r
August 20th, 2007, 11:45 AM
Yea. wasn't to worried about cold. I'm warm blooded anyway so I don't get cold very easy. Dove a 3MM most of last year and put a 5MM core warmer on when going deep at Beaver. Also dove a 7MM last year but found it to constricting and actually was a little to warm in it. If the 5/3 isn't heavy enough i'll pick up a skin to put under it which should do the trick. One day I will be able to afford a dry suit. Which I enjoy diving with. Besides I am wanting to dive some of the great lakes which will require a dry suit... But again.. some day some way.. some place..sheesh