Dive logs!

After reading Sarah’s blogs, I have figured that I should keep a dive log within the blogs as well. So, to catch up, here are the dives I’ve logged so far. Future blogs will contain logs within the blog itself. (if the blog is about a dive)

Dive #1 - November 6, 2007 - The Crack - Turks and Caicos. Anchored boat dive. First dive in OW certification course.* Max depth 40 feet, bottom time 27 minutes (2200 psi remaining at end of dive) (no residual time). Water temp 83°, visibility good (not sure of feet), slight surge with a fast current. Practiced skills: cramp removal, tired diver tow, snorkel/reg. exchange. Instructor (Adrienne Katz) pointed out various sea creatures. Showed us how to wave water in front of an anemone to get them to close up. Relaxing, easy dive. Safety stop on the drop-line at 15 feet for 3 minutes. Surface interval: 46 minutes. Ate sandwiches and went over the evaluation of the dive with Adrienne.

*Actually did “Scuba Diver” certification course in May 2006, with 2 dives. But those dives were not logged. So beginning dive log with these dives.

Dive #2 - November 6, 2007 - The Ampitheater - Turks and Caicos. Anchored boat dive. Second dive in OW certification course. Max depth 40 feet, bottom time 33 minutes (residual time: 16 minutes, did not look for PSI remaining at end of dive) Water temp 83°, visibility good, slight surge with a fast current. Relaxing dive. Practiced skills: remove water from mask, remove replace mask, buddy breath, recover regulator. Safety stop on the drop-line at 15 feet for 3 minutes. Last dive of the day. Approximately 30 minutes back to the dock. Seas a bit rough.

Dive #3 - November 7, 2007 - The Chimney - Turks and Caicos. Anchored boat dive. Buddy - Alex Rivera. Third dive in OW certification course. Max depth 41 feet, bottom time 42 minutes (no residual time, did not record PSI remaining) Water temp 83°, visibility good. Practiced skills: remove/replace scuba (surface), remove replace weights (surface) CESA. Saw: sea turtle (swam next to him, until he turned and swam in the opposite directions … directly below me!!!), baby nurse shark (approx. 4’), giant crab, angel fish, Nassau grouper, spider fish, etc. Safety stop on the drop-line at 15 feet for 3 minutes. Surface interval: 45 minutes. Ate sandwiches and went over the evaluation of the dive with Adrienne.

Dive #4 - November 7, 2007 - Garden Eel - Turks and Caicos. Anchored boat dive. Buddy - Alex Rivera. Fourth (and final) dive in OW certification course. Max depth 40 feet, bottom time 42 minutes (residual time: 31 minutes). Water temp 83°, visibility fair, fast current, cloudy. Practiced skills: surface swim w/ compass, underwater compass navigation, fin pivot (6 pound weights with the fast current made this difficult to do). Saw: barricuda (I HATE these!!!) that kept acting funny. Jerking around a lot. Made me nervous! Had rented all equipment, and had to use children’s size fins. Made it hard to keep up with buddy and instructor. Need to purchase equipment!

After the final exam and the pool test …. I’M FULLY OPEN WATER CERTIFIED!!!

Dive #5 - January 18, 2008 - Quast Rock - La Jolla, California. Anchored boat dive. Buddy - Todd Moseley. First dive as a certified scuba diver. Max depth 60 feet, bottom time 35 minutes (no residual time). Water temp approx. 57°, visibility poor, very murky. Underweighted - which caused a problem on ascent. Luckily Todd was able to hold me at the safety stop (18’), but did not get to stay full time. Saw California Golden Gorgonian coral, crowned sea urchins, elk kelp, Garibaldi, lobster, red sea urchins, senorita fish, spined stars, warty sea cucumber, and even a lost fishing rod! VERY cold by the end of the dive. Had to surface rather than navigate (well, Todd was the navigator) back towards the boat. So we had a 300 foot surface swim back to the boat. Once on board, I was so cold, I couldn’t control my shaking hands! Surface interval: 50 minutes.

Dive #6 - January 18, 2008 - Chuck Rock - La Jolla, California. Anchored boat dive. Buddy - Todd Moseley. Max depth 60 feet, bottom time 35 minutes (residual time: 19 minutes). Water temp approx. 57°, visibility poor, very murky. Weighted fine this dive - added 5 more pounds. No problems completing full safety stop of 5 minutes at 18’. Saw all the same things as the last dive, but also nudibranch eggs AND a seal!! He was hanging out next to the boat when we got in the water. He even kissed the boat (told the boat’s owner that it had been blessed). Then when we called the seal, he looked up at us, and disappeared. We immediately looked into the water, and there he was, at our fins!! Unfortunately, he didn’t hang around. Lost buddy for a few seconds, because I stopped to take a picture and it was so murky, when I looked up, he was out of sight. But was able to find him, but noticing area that was more murky than the rest, caused by his moving through it. Again, very cold once on board again, but it was the last dive of the day, so I changed into warmer dry clothes!! Good dive experience, but I prefer warm water dives!