Buoyancy is one of the most critical skills in a Scuba divers’ training regimen. It is more art than science. Continuing to build on the skills with the right training is essential. Following are ten tips to help you develop better buoyancy!
On June 6th and 7th, the Bonne Terre Mines (Outside St Louis) is hosting a $30,000 treasure hunt. The Academy of Scuba and Hotsuits US will be at the event. There will be $15,000 worth of giveaways each day.
Each participant diver will dive twice in four different areas of the Bonne Terre Mine and collect poker chips hidden in the cavern. At the end of the day, there will be a BBQ and an auction. Divers can use their poker chips to bid on prizes. There are some amazing prizes ranging from equipment (large and small) to Caribbean dive vacations.
For complete details and to reserve your spot in the treasure hunt, click on the following URL.
http://www.2dive.com/articles/th09/
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Practicing skills does not need to be a massive endeavor. In fact, you can incorporate many key skills into your every day pleasure dive. There is no reason you can’t work with your dive buddy on every dive to drill on five skills over a 45 minute dive. One of the skills I would love to see everyone practice is orally inflating your BCD at the surface.
Practicing skills does not need to be a massive endeavor. In fact, you can incorporate many key skills into your every day pleasure dive. There is no reason you can’t work with your dive buddy on every dive to drill on five skills over a 45 minute dive. One of the skills I would love to see everyone practice is orally inflating your BCD at the surface.
In an out of air or low on air situation, orally inflating your BCD is a critical skill. Especially, if you are in a current or choppy seas. A little bit of water down the windpipe and a negatively buoyant BCD could mean sinking below the surface, with no air in your tank. This could lead to a very dangerous situation. This is a skill you can practice, easily, on every dive. In fact, after a few dive days of doing this, it will become routine. On your next dive outing, at the end of every dive, come to the surface and orally inflate your BCD. You’ll be a better diver because of it. More importantly, in the unlikely event that you came to the surface short on air, you will have the motorskills, muscle memory and confidence that you can attain positive buoyancy in short order.
A great diver is not only always learning … they are always practicing!
The Sage Power of this article comes from John Flanders of Academy of Scuba in Peoria, Arizona Please visit him by clicking the link!
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Last time (Jul 07) I was on Ambergris Caye, the Nurse sharks were beautiful and abundant. It’s sobering articles like the following that make us all realize how fragile the ocean environment can be. Depletion of the shark population and poor conservation activities will result in a decline in tourism and put a lot of people, who earn their living off the sharks, out of business.
Please read the following article:
http://sanpedrosun.net/09-092.html
If you wish to curtail the activity, contact the Belize Tourism Board
http://www.travelbelize.org/cont.php
Thank you from all of us at the Academy of Scuba!
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Diving at altitude has inherent risks and requires special procedures. Following are a few tips for divers planning at diving depths that are over 1000 feet above sea level. I did a lecture on Altitude Diving last night and it made me thing about putting a “Tip Sheet” together. Following is a list of tips to remember when Altitude Diving.
1. Any dive between 1000 feet and 10,000 feet is an Altitude Dive
2. There is relatively little test data for altitude diving, flying after diving or driving to altitude after diving.
3. At sea level, the diver is surrounded by one atmosphere of pressure. At 10,000 feet, the pressure is .714 atmospheres (a 30% decrease in pressure). This is the same pressure change as 10 feet of seawater, which we know makes a big difference in our no-decompression limits. As we’ll see, this must be accounted for when using the RDP or any other dive table or dive computer.
4. Besides decompression sickness, there are heightened concerns for Hypoxia and Hypothermia when divng at Altitude.
5. Unless the actual depth is converted to a theoretical depth for table use and special procedures are followed, at altitude the pressure ratio can exceed the maximum limit intended by the table or dive computer, increasing the possibility of decompression sickness.
6. There are several equipment considerations when diving at altitude: (1) Air, trapped inside the cells of a wetsuit, expands at altitude, possibly making you more buoyant. Do a buoyancy check. (2) Different Gauges act differently at altitude, check with your gauge manufacturer and know what kind of gauge you have and how altitude effects it. (3) Computers either automatically adjust for altitude, need to be manually adjusted for altitude or have no adjustment for altitude. Know your computer!
For Tips 7-14 Go to John’s Blog at the Academy of Scuba!
If what you read here is even .01% meaningful to you, please Digg us, Stumble us, or save us to Del.icio.us using the icons following each post. Be sure to subscribe to this blog’s RSS Feed and our newsletter too, if so inclined, deposit your email address by using the form to the right or click here! Thanks for visiting and dive safe out there, will you?
