Had a great time in Crosby past weekend. I'm going up again to Louise on July 25,26,27.<br>Small group going for AOW and Rescue. I'll be there for Rescue on Sat and early Sun, but will dive Fri pm and Sun afternoon.<br>Anyone interested? Good campsite, good dive site, good class group.<br>Dan<br>
I can probably go that weekend, 26-28 will you still be there? Im planning on putting together a OMS backplate system and I'll be dieing to try it out!
Dan,<br>I was up to Louise yesterday morning.. I was to over halfway to the second boat freediving, hate to push it when my diving partner is Bymi Selph (my wife was along but she's a surface dweller, a fine one at that). I'd never been there before and was pretty pleased with the vis and the wall? although it was a bit more horizontal than I had hoped for. Next time I'll use a drop rope to 60' + to save the horizontal swim along the rope that's in place.<br> <br>Vis was good.. could see the first boat at 30' from the surface. <br><br>I would like to meet some divers there sometime for backup - My goal is to make that second boat sometime this summer but without good freediving support I'm hesitant to go for it. My schedule just isn't going to cut it for the end of July though.. another time? Maybe I could tag along.<br><br>I visited with Lori at MSD and she told me of some other spots that possibly have a bit more verticle walls in the area.<br><br>Fred Johnson
My mistake - the dates are Fri-Sun, July 26,27,28!
Hi freedivernd,<br><br>What kind of support do freedivers require? If I'm ever up at Crosby the same time as you, I'd be glad to help out and see you in action.<br><br>The deepest I freedove/snorkeled was to about 25 feet on the DC-3 in cozumel. My ears hurt after a couple plunges. I couldn't reliably equalize without the tank on my back
<br><br>Dan
Dan,<br>Briefly, the main support I should have is from -30' to the surface, and then I should be monitored for several minutes at the surface, that is the most critical time of a freedive. I would instruct you as to what to do for me "just in case". It would be nice to have someone down at -100' + just in case... cramps, lose a fin, or other fluke problems, but I'm pretty comfortable without anyone at depth... at least I would be to that depth I believe. If I had another breath hold diver or scuba diver to meet me at around -30' as I ascend from depth that is a big comfort and safety factor in freediving. I've been trying to limit myself to -60' dives without support..especially here where no one can see you after you leave the surface, but as my comfort at depth is increasing.. a -60' dive is fast becoming my "warm up" dive and the temptation to go deeper is overwhelming. I always stress to new freedivers not to dive alone, so I should really practice more of what I preach, but finding people with my same passion for freediving isn't easy.<br><br>Thanks for the offer of help, maybe I could help you with some equalizing technics that could get you beyond that -25' mark. You could probably do better just givin the fact that you've done more scuba now and that in itself helps open and makes it easier to open the eustacheon tubes. Your trouble might have even been related somewhat to mask squeeze. That used to affect me between -25 and -30'. <br><br>I guess that wasn't so brief.<br><br>Fred Johnson
Oh yeah, I forgot about the shallow water blackout thing. Yeah, if I'm every around I'd be glad to be help out.<br><br>Dan
Yup.. SWB.. the dreaded shallow water black out. Blacking out on the way to the surface is not so much of a problem if you have the support there. I try to be nuetrally bouyant anywhere between -40 - -60' so from -30' on I'm ascending easier and easier. so getting to the surface should be fairly easy. Aside from that, the body has natural defenses against water getting into the lungs (up to a point) so the main thing is to get to the surface, remove the mask, keep the face out of the water, keep calm and let the bo'd diver recover on their own.<br><br>I've been training all winter and really wouldn't expect to black out on a -100' dive but, like scuba, it's better to be safe and prepared then be sorry or dead. Freedivers rarely, if ever, black out from a short duration trip to that depth and back.<br><br>I've swam a comfortable 75 yds (225') horizontal under the water (including 3 turns, it was in a pool) many times and using a freediving formula for dynamic apnea (swimming under water) verses constant ballast (leaving the surface, diving, and returning with the same weight) that should put me at about -150' as a closer figure to my max for now, and since it was a "comfortable" 75 yds, I would imagine my max is beyond that.<br><br>Fred Johnson<br>
Freediver.<br>Count me in. If ever you want support give me a shout and your on:-) <br>If the dive for the weekend of the 26th is on then please count me in.<br>Mark
Boy I wanted to go on this trip but I am currently unemployed. If you know of anyone who could use a project manager or software developer let me know so I can increase my underwater time.