Deep-Sea Sherpa

This past Sunday, first hand reports and the swell models kept us home. On Monday, MAV was visiting Monterey for the first time so we scheduled to dive together. I crossed my fingers as the Monday and Tuesday swell reports where not spectacular. They were a significant improvement over the weekend though.

Monday, June 22nd. Long swells, causing big breaks outside outside of the cove. However, in the cove, pretty calm. Underwater, the cove was 2′ viz. Around Middle Reef, it was 15′ at best. Lots of substrate in the water. Below 60′ viz opened up, so Hole in the Wall and the end of Middle Reef was nice. Beto’s Reef at 100′ was even better, with at least 30′+ viz.

At Beto’s, the resident wolf eel was back.

Tuesday, June 23rd. Shorter swells, so both inside and outside the cove proved nice on the surface. Underwater, the cove was still 2′ viz. Middle Reef was also 15′ at best, and lots of stuff in the water. Things didn’t open up till Lone Metridium and we saw at least 40′+ viz. Three Sisters was incredibly nice.

Monday and Tuesday would have made very nice Technical 1 dives. Great conditions at 100′ and deeper, and not much to see in the shallows. As long as you’re comfortable doing deco in 2′ viz, it would be a spectacular dive.

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Dive Report by Don

While Internet forums are filled with discussions on DIR/UTD equipment configuration, I typically ignore most of the banter. Often times, these threads end up as nit picks on fine details, but miss the overall goal and value of DIR. However, the best discussions are typically improvements or recommendations that enhance the way we dive.

Based on recent discussions, we updated our light head configuration with a double-ender and bungee overtop. This equipment configuration now successfully serves multiple purposes.

1. Light can be clipped with head up on the D-ring
2. Light can be clipped with head down on the D-ring
3. Bungee provides convenient thumb loop
4. Bungee allows for temporary holds of cookies/arrows
5. Prevents Salvo lighthead from accidentally on unsnapping from the handle*

There’s a recent video on the UTD site about this DIR goodman handle light head configuration.

Equipment needed:

1. Stainless steel double-ender
2. 1/4″ bungee
3. Cave line
4. O-ring

*Personally, I think that if the Salvo clamp on the handle was a little bit longer, more of “C” shape instead of a “U” shape, it might make the accidental unsnapping a non-issue.

Filed under:
Equipment by Don

reposting our intro-to-cave / basic cave class report

We’re back from another great trip from Mexico. It just keeps getting better and better. Well, except for the multitude of mosquitos this time of year.

Day 1: Cenote Car Wash
Spent the first day getting sorted out, and are we glad we did. 7mm wetsuit with 7mm boots and double AL80s made for some extremely floaty feet.

First couple of dives, we work on trim, do our drills and practice some line skills. 3rd dive of the day we go on a very nice cavern dive. Algae bloom at Carwash, so the top 10′ is a brilliant green. Looking back at the entrance from inside the cenote produces a cool green affect.

Because of the floaty feet, I am exhausted at the end of the day. Elissa ribs me for sculling when we use the rest of our air for more practice. I am sculling with my feet for much of the day, but at the end of dive 3, I periodically scull with my hands to give my feet a rest.

Next day, both Elissa and plan on putting 2#s in each of our thigh pockets. Actually 1# each pocket would have been better for Elissa, but the smallest weight increment was 2#s.

Day 2: Cenote Ponderosa

First day with Intro-to-Cave (now called Basic Cave) with Steve Bogaerts and Dennis Weeks.

Start the day with a review of our gear. Steve has us go over every component and explain why we set-up the rig the way we did. It wasn’t a quick once over check, we spend some serious time. For example, Steve makes some recommendations on ports usage on our first stages, and this cleans up our routing significantly. Our routing looked okay before, so I am surprised how much things improved.

Then on to land line drills. We review the material from Cavern and add additional skills such as no viz OOA. Most of the new skills focuses on no viz situations - a sign of things to come.

First dive starts with trim, buoyancy and s-drills. The 2#s in the thigh pockets and Steve’s recommendation of putting the wing as high up as possible made a world of a difference.

We then proceed to work the line, simulated no viz conditions. After a calm first circuit around the course, Steve turns up the heat on the next few runs. We start getting engangled, lose buoyancy (auto inflate and dump failures), multiple OOAs, etc.

Oversights on our part become obvious mistakes. During the no viz OOA, Elissa doesn’t clip off her primary reg, and Steve automatically engangles it. I later find out that I narrow escape the same fate when I remember to clip my reg off.

During my no viz OOA, I almost yank off Elissa’s mask. We were no viz anyways, so she wouldn’t have needed it right?

My favorite part of the first dive was while Elissa was cleaning up, reeling the primary reel, I turn around just in time to see Steve swoop in and shut down Elissa’s right post. Elissa casually reaches back, turns it on, and continues swimming like nothing happened.

Second dive of the day is our first cave. Steve’s dive briefing is incredibly detailed - in x minutes at y depth, you will see z, and head q. The entire dive is easily visualized.

We have been to Ponderosa for Cavern, so I am familiar with the cavern zone and am looking forward to revisiting. But to my surprise, we enter the cave through a different entrance, and it feels like it’s only 20′ before the warning sign. We descend from a primary tie at 4′, tie secondary at 20′, turn left and (Bam!) enter the cave.

The dive itself is amazing, though obviously much darker than the cavern. After the dive, Steve provides tips on more effiecient reel work, more efficient buddy checks, and reminds me of proper halocline swimming position.

The third dive of the day, Elissa leads. Since the primary tie is on 4′ of water, Elissa and I swim away from the cave entrance to do our s-drills in 10′. Steve teases us about it, since we should be able to do everything at 4′.

After we call the dive on time, we do lights out, simulated no-viz, touch contact exit. It’s freaking dark. Pitch black. It’s downright eery how black it is.

Elissa gets vertigo and flips on her light, and the vertigo immediately stop. Steve later recommends some techniques to stop vertigo in the dark.

On the ascent, we practically bump our way up. We are reminded that we need to be horizontal to the cave floor and not just horizontal in the water.

Day 3: Cenote Xta Bay
Intro-to-Cave Day 2.

Start the day talking about manifolds and failures. Dennis leads us through failures and procedures, and Steve talks about the different schools of thought of isolator first or right post first or both at the same time. We then play “what if,” and do dry runs of valve shut-off situations.

We are then directed to a line course and told to walk it. On the line, Elissa notices a directional arrow pointing in the opposite direction of our exit. The talk turns to non-direction markers and usage.

Next is gas matching calculations. Dennis leads off off with psi/volume calculations, but when Elissa mentions using tank factor, Steve switches the conversation without missing a beat. It was so seamless and effortless, it seemed like it is second nature to him.

First dive of the day and I lead. Wizard’s Den has some nice decorations and we take our time admiring the room. Shortly afterwards, before an arrow pointing in the wrong direction, I turn the dive on pressure and we head towards the exit. Writing in your wetnotes, swimming back along the guideline, with percolation coming down is kind of a surreal experience.

Of course, being a training dive, I find myself OOA. Donation is clean and Elissa unclips her SPG to show me her remaining gas and we make our exit. Elissa didn’t successful reclip her guage so we get punished by having it wrapped in the line.

We then go lights out/no viz exit. This time, it’s my turn to get vertigo, but before it gets worse, I drop to the floor and ground myself on some rocks.

Our exit is a little too hasty and not as efficient as it could have been. We end the dive with wetnotes logging the dive and valve drills

Second dive of the day and Elissa is numero uno. Her reel work is much cleaner and more efficient today.

Another group was training at Xta Bay as well, so Elissa passed her line underneath theirs. During the dive in the halocline, Elissa positions herself well, giving me plenty of space and visibility.

We enter the Wizard’s Room and she calls the dive on time immediately after the left turn in the line. On the exit, Elissa becomes OOA so we do touch contact airshare exit. We cruise for a few minutes and once we settle into a rhythm, we go no lights/no viz.

The exit is quite speedy, perhaps a little too speedy. I am accused of using Elissa as a human plow, which I can’t deny. There are times that we hit the ties a little too intensely.

Back at the primary reel, we end the drill and write our notes and work the tables. Elissa does some self rodeo action as she tries to stow the primary reel on her butt D-ring. Mental note to lower butt D-ring.

After valve drills, we practice breathing from the power inflator. Let’s just say that I’m glad that it’s a last resort thing, I wouldn’t last long breathing this way. In theory it’s easy, but in practice, oh not so good. Maybe I need a longer inflator hose

Day 4: Cenote Taj Mahal
Intro-to-Cave Day 3.

Cenote Taj Mahal was our first cenote dive. I remember being transfixed on the beams of light cutting down through the water. Brilliant pillars of pure white. But in the cave, there is no light…

The first few days in Mexico, there are mosquitos, but at Taj Mahal they are out in force. We spray, but if we miss any area we receive bites. I get bitten on the sole of my foot and Elissa on her back between her shirt and pants.

We start the day talking about safety reels and spools, the pros/cons, and most likely failures of each and correction techniques. This leads to lost diver - when and why it happens and appropriate procedure. After dry runs of Elissa and I getting lost, we then discuss lost line. Similiar to all skills, a generous amount of time is spent on most likely scenarios and what ifs. In the dry run of lost line, I have trouble with my primary tie but fortunately find the mainline and correctly identify the exit.

First dive of the day and Elissa leads. Third day of training, and I’m a mess. Jump in and my fin slips off. In the water, my back-up second stage is routed wrong. I ask Elissa to fix, but change my mind and do it myself. Not surprisingly, I didn’t do it correctly, and the s-drill shows that my long hose is trapped.

After putzing around, we finally get underway and Elissa ties in at 6′ and a secondary tie at the bottom of the decline. The ties today are slower.

By the time Elissa ties into the mainline, I have 15 minutes of bottom time. We swim for 5 more minutes and I call the dive on time. I then proceed to crowd Elissa on her line clean up.

At the valve drill, I forget to turn on my right post (first time ever). After the dive, Elissa notes that it was my fin retrieval that caused my clock to start sooner. Ugh, what a cluster dive.

On the surface, I try to shake it off, and refocus. Elissa slaps me around a little to wake me up.

Second dive and it’s now my turn to run the primary. Taj Mahal surprised me in that I was mesmerized by the light in the cavern. But in the cave, I still found the system quite interesting. At the point I am enjoying the dive, I notice Elissa’s beam lose intensity and within a blink, her light is out. Turn around and see that Elissa is indeed lost.

I go through the steps for lost diver but know that I should really look into the smallest, darkest hole possible, and I will find her. If Elissa was to be lost, she’d be there. About 20′ back, I see Elissa’s bubble trail so I tie off and go retrieve her.

Signal attention, Elissa looks up and in her eyes I see that she’s thinking, “the Intro limits include single line penetration, but I wanted to check out this area, so here I am.”

We make our exit and my primary light fails. Elissa immediately helicoptors around and checks on me. I signal ok with my back-up and we switch places. Then Elissa’s primary light fails. Then almost immediately, Elissa goes OOA. You would think that someone with that good of a SAC rate, she wouldn’t go out of air so often.

The ceiling is low at spots so we press ourselves as flat as possible and exit.

Finish with dive with notes, tables, and valve drills.

Third dive and Elissa runs the line. The secondary tie isn’t fully locked, so I flip it forward, and cause the line to slack. Whoops.

During the dive, I’m supposed to become lost, but Elissa won’t let it happen. When my light fades, she slows. When my light is not clearly in front, she covers her light to check for my existance.

The dive is turned on time, and shortly after it’s lights out for no viz exit. Like all dive ends - it’s notes, tables, and then valve drills.

Day 5: Cenote Chac Mool
Intro-to-Cave Day 4.

First dive and it’s my turn with the primary. Tie in 6′, drop over the edge and quickly drop to 20′, wait for Elissa to mark the line, and then proceed to the bottom. In the debrief, I learn that I can just descend all the way to the bottom and let Elissa place the cookie when the line is taut.

The entire dive feels like we’re in a halocline, but being the primary diver, I get a clean view.

After turning the dive, both Elissa and I have primary light failures. Then I’m OOA and we touch contact swim back in simulated no viz.

Back at the primary reel, we are individually taken down the line and then off it to do no viz lost line. It takes a little bit to find a suitable primary tie. After a couple attempts at a secondary, I’m off to find the line. After the third pattern, I hit the gold line and navigate back past an arrow marking the exit and to my primary reel.

Elissa finds success sooner, and I clean up the line, we check our tables and finish with valve drills.

Second dive and Elissa runs the line. By now, Elissa is doing one handed ties and zipping along. What a showoff.

I know that I will become a lost diver so I’m checking for nooks or corners or boulders that I may be swept off to, but I see nothing for most of the dive.

We then enter the large room with the mound, and I feel Steve grab my arm. For the entire length of the room, Steve swims me along the line, holding my light.

At the top of the mound, Elissa looks between her legs and I clearly see her eyes staring back at us. Don’t know if she actually sees Steve or only the brightness of my light.

When Elissa crosses the mound, I am squirrelled away. While hiding, I see Elissa approaching. In my excitement I do a wee backwards kick and am slowly enveloped in silt. My visibility disappears by the inch. This is when I’m glad that I learned to dive in Lake Austin, where silt is so common.

Fortunately, I don’t wait long as Elissa finds me and we head back to the line.

After do a couple of kicks down the line, Elissa is OOA. Then primary lights failure. Finally, it’s lights out. The more OOA/no viz drills, the more comfortable and efficient Elissa and I become. We are moving quickly and easily to the exit.

At the primary reel, we do blind lost diver again. This time, Elissa again finds the line quickly. Unfortunately for me, I had many close calls, but no success. I learn that I swim straight for 10′ and then start to turn right. I would like to blame me busted boot, but it’s most likely only me. Another thing to practice when I get home.

Filed under:
Training by Don

There’s a lot of variation on how people route their hoses on sidemount tanks. The basic method I learned from Steve Bogaerts for use with his Razor side mount harness is very simple, streamlined, and similar to the Hogarthian hose routing for backmount divers.

Left Tank contains:

1. Regulator on short hose and necklace - routed behind the neck, and into the mouth from the right side.
2. SPG on 6″ hose - routed straight back to minimize entanglement.
3. LP hose for drysuit. Note I used my drysuit for buoyancy and no add’l BCD. The hose in the picture is too long, and a 6″ hose would be ideal.

Right Tank contains:

1. Regulator on the long hose - routed across the chest from the tank to the left shoulder, around the back of the neck, and into the mouth from the right side. One loop is captured in the tank bungee, similar to tucking excess hose under a canister light in Hogarthian configuration.
2. SPG on 6″ hose - routed straight back to minimize entanglement.

Filed under:
Equipment by Don

Maui holds a special place in our heart as it was the place of our first scuba “a-ha” moment. Five years ago, as we drifted weightlessly around the back wall of Molokini, both Elissa and I knew that scuba diving was for us.

As a shake down dive, we chose Ulua Beach on the recommendations of some friends. We started a little later in the morning, and plenty of divers were already in the water - clearly a popular dive spot. At the reef, we saw a jack and spotted eel chase each other though cracks, rocks, and coral. We also spied our first Hawaiian turtle as he sped northbound across the reef.

For our trips to Molokini, we dove with B&B Scuba. After a discussion of our dive experience and watching us on our first dive, we were given the leeway to dive on our own given time and gas parameters. For example, maximum 60 minutes and back at the boat with 500psi.

Both Elissa and I appreciate any dive operator that allows us to plan our own dive, but at the same time we also enjoy following the local dive masters (they have a better eye for local fish and critters). As the result, B&B’s flexibility towards us was perfect. They even allowed us to splash first, as they helped other divers get ready.

We’ve dove with many dive ops and a few in Maui, and we definitely liked B&B’s laid back and family run feel.

Our first dive was the backwall of Molokini. We made a special request when booking our trip, and fortunately, B&B and the weather were able to comply.

Backwall of Molokini

The second dive with B&B Scuba was to St. Anthony’s Wreck. Sunk in 60′, the small wreck is surrounded by a tire reefs. As opposed to other attempts around the world, Maui’s appears to be thriving as planned.

St. Anthony’s Wreck

Our fourth boat dive was at Pu’u Olai (Red Hills). A shallow site, it’s amazingly rich with life. We saw turtles stacked on each other, spotted eagle rays and a coral head with scorpion fish, moray eel, cleaner shrimp, and damsels.

Pu’u Olai (Red Hills)

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Dive Report by Don

One of the most often used, and often disagreed upon, scuba hand signs is numbers. The following hand signals are used by cave divers and other technical divers because it can be implemented with one hand. In addition, these signs work as an alphabet, and does not require addition or counting of subsequent signs (ex. flashing 5’s).

Filed under:
Training by Don

This past week has been spectacular. The cold upwelling has provided us a week of great visibility. At deeper depths, viz is easily 60+.

The original plan was to dive with Mike G and help him sort his gear. Unfortunately for Mike, Dan showed up with his small inflatable and promised Great Pinnacle. How can I say no to such a generous offer?

Second dive, I kept my promise to Mike and dove with him and Brian. Mike lead us out, and overall was a very fun dive.

Filed under:
Dive Report by Don

Before we put the basic levers for trim in use, it’s very important to review the horizontal trim position. For the majority of scuba divers, the horizontal trim position is not natural.

Horizontal Position

Consider the body in the horizontal plane. Now consider where the head needs to be for the body to be in the horizontal position. Yes, the head needs to be back against the 1st stage or tank manifold.

In addition, the legs (or more appropriately the knees) need to be up. This requires the flexing of the glutes and consideration of not “dropping the knees.”

Lastly, your back will be in a slight arched position (as shown in the diagram below.) A fellow diver, Lynne, makes a good recommendation regarding this position: “With regards to the part about body positioning, I always have a little bit of an issue with telling people that they should arch their backs. Too often, they try to make the whole movement with the small of their back, which results in significant back pain. I tell people to make their body as long as it can possibly be from the shoulders to the knees, and then contract the glutes to flatten out the hip joint. That seems to avoid the hyperlordosis issue.”

Getting familiar with the horizontal position on dry land is the first step. Using either a bench, a bed, or the floor, assume the prone position and look straight ahead. Do not cheat, and lift the knees off the ground. Remember what muscles are used, since these will be the ones needed in the water as well.

While on dry land, having an instructor or a knowledgeable buddy review your position will be beneficial. In lieu of a buddy, a mirror can be used.

Below are scuba divers in an Essentials class getting into horizontal trim.

Once in the water, it is initially difficult to tell if one is in horizontal trim. As the result, video taped class sessions are often eye opening for many divers. Besides video, a good buddy can simply signal the degree of attack that he is seeing. Some instructors employ mirrors in pools to aid the diver as well.

If possible, free dive a swimming pool or the ocean. Drop down and hover in horizontal position (a few pounds on a weight belt will be sufficient). Without the extra buoyancy of wetsuits and additional weight of gear, getting into the correct positioning will be easier. Once this position becomes familiar, then don all the scuba gear.

Proper Weighting

Proper weighting cannot be stressed enough to new (and some experienced) divers. Overweighting is the root of many problems in scuba, and trim is definitely one of them.

The more weight that a diver carries beyond keeping him neutral, the more air must be carried. More air equals larger bubble. Larger bubble equals more management and exaggerated vertical movement. For example, you rise a little, the bubble expands generating more lift causing you to rise more. As the result, it’s best to minimize the amount of air carried.

Appropriate BC Lift

Another common mistake is selecting a BC with too much lift. The actual issue isn’t the lift, but it’s the excess material of the BC that’s needed for generating the lift. In order to provide more lift, the larger BCs need to be wider and or longer.

While more material generates more drag, it impacts trim as well. The extra material ultimately requires more active management from the diver and in some cases lead to trapped air.

Use of Levers

Once the diver knows and feels what horizontal trim feels like, then we can begin using buoyancy, weight and leverage to aid him.

Step 1: Find a comfortable spot and drop to 20′ of water. Get into horizontal position and do not move. Do not move the hands, do not move the fins. If need be, cross the hands and fin tips so there is no subconscious movement. The body should simply be pressing in the horizontal position.

Step 2: Count to 5. 1-2-3-4-5. Is there instability in pitch? Are the feet lifting you to the surface? Are the feet sinking even though you are flexing to keep the knees up? Is the head being driven into the ground? Is the torso being lifted up?

Step 3: Repeat 1 and 2, adjusting arm and leg position as levers to correct trim issues. For scuba divers in warm water (minimal weight and exposure protection), body positioning is often sufficient to correct trim issues.

Step 4: If these adjustments do not resolve the issue, then check buoyancy and weight locations. These will need to be adjusted.

For example, let’s assume that a properly weighted diver is in head heavy doubles rig. What are the options?

1. Move tanks down
2. Move wing up
3. Get longer tanks
4. Get a tail weight
5. Move to an aluminum plate and use a heavier tail weight
6. Weight belt
7. Get heavier fins
8. Ankle weights (*gasp*)
9. If diving dry, dive with air in your arms
10. If diving dry, add a vest
11. If diving dry, use fin keepers and/or gaiters (maybe it’s floaty feet)
12. Use a wing with lift at the shoulders

There are pros and cons with each of these approaches.

For in water training, I recommend UTD Essentials or GUE Fundamentals. Both courses have proven track records of cultivating the basic diving skills.

Filed under:
How To, Training by Don

The horizontal trim video below is part of the UTD Essentials DVD:

Overview

The horizontal position is often called prone, superman, or skydiver position. For a scuba diver, the horizontal trim is the most efficient way to move through the water. In addition, the horizontal trim provides vertical drag, helping divers maintain a constant depth.

However, getting into this position is often difficult for most new divers. On the various scuba boards, there are daily questions regarding: “too head heavy”, “floaty feet”, “can’t stay trim”, etc. Fortunately, this problem is solvable.

In managing trim, there are two major forces that the dive must balance - buoyancy and weight.

• Buoyancy is the upward force on the diver. This may include BCD, wetsuits, boots, fins, tanks, and of course our own personal floatation.
• Weight is the downward force on the diver. This may include weight belts, trim weights, backplates, lights, fins, tanks, regulators, and any additional item on the diver that sinks in water.

A diver’s trim pivots around a point, and this is usually around the divers midpoint. In the diagram below, this is denoted by the red triangle. Think of the diver as a see-saw across this pivot. For example, if the diver has too little buoyancy or too much weight in the upper body, he will be head heavy.

Buoyancy

The buoyancy compensator (BC) or buoyancy control device (BCD) is what scuba divers think of when required to manage their position in the water. Whether you have a jacket/vest, back-inflate, or a hybrid, it’s important to be familiar with the specific ways your BC manages air and learn to use it to its maximum potential.

Unless there is an obstruction, air will migrate to the highest point of the BC. As a consequence, the BC’s buoyancy is also concentrated at this point and this will have impact on trim. The BC’s shape, width, length, and of course location on the body can all come into play.

Also consider the buoyancy of the wing at the beginning of the dive and at the end of the dive. At the beginning of the dive, the wing will have its maximum lift - enough to offset gas in tanks and any exposure suit protection compression. At the end of the dive at 10′, the wing will be empty with 500 psi left in the tank.

The diagram below highlights the horizontal diver’s wing BC’s buoyancy in blue. Please note the position of lift compared to the pivot point.

In addition to the BC, the scuba diver’s exposure protection also provides buoyancy. For a dry suit diver in particular, the suit can be actively managed to offset trim issues and fine tune his attack in the water.

The diagram below highlights the drysuit’s buoyancy in blue.

Weight

While weight is needed for a diver to be comfortably submerged under water, the placement of weight can be used to a diver’s advantage regarding trim. Because weight is constant throughout the dive it is effective in managing trim and is often the first gear adjustment that divers will look to make.

Tanks’ buoyancy characteristics affects trim. Whether singles or doubles, moving the tanks up and down along the body will adjust trim, respectively. For example, if the diver is too head heavy, a tank can be moved lower on the body.

Hard weights are very effective in managing trim. Getting familiar with trim weights is beneficial, especially in cold water where more exposure protection and weight is used. Feature rich BCs often have trim pockets to help with adjustments. However, single weight pockets, such as the XS-Scuba weight pocket, can be used on cam bands. Some divers even thread weights into their shoulder harness.

Backplates are popular since it helps place weight in an area that promotes good trim. A stainless steel backplate will move up 6 lbs. With a heavy singles tank adapter (STA) or weight plates, even more weight can be moved up the diver’s body.

Doubles or twin tank divers also employ tail weights and v-weights to adjust their trim.

For an example of how different divers employ different weights, it’s worth skimming the drysuit weighting thread on Dive Matrix - backplates, weight belts, no weight belts, cam weights, tail weights, v-weights, STAs, etc.

Fins can also be a source of weight. Many drysuit divers prefer the negatively buoyant ScubaPro Jet Fins for this specific reason.

The diagram below highlights the areas of weight in green.

Leverage

To maximize the use of buoyancy and weight to affect trim, we must also discuss leverage. In addition to the obvious use of buoyancy and weights at the ends of the body, the scuba diver’s body itself can provide leverage.

It is important to note that many trim issues can be resolved by proper body position. In addition, improper body position exacerbates trim issues. Head looking down position often leads head heavy trim. As the result, the first fix to any perceived trim issues is body adjustment.

The diagram below highlights how body position (extensions and contractions) can change leverage and therefore impact trim.

Next: Buoyancy, Weight, and Leverage to affect trim

Filed under:
How To, Training by Don

Today, Kevin and I meet up with some friendly UTD divers visiting from SoCal. It’s their first trip to Pt. Lobos, and Kevin and I are eager to show them a good time.

By the time I arrive at 8:30am the parking lot is already full of divers. It’s one of those rare Fridays that a reservation is required - 5 divers were already turned away by the time I arrive. It’s also one of those Fridays that looks absolutely beautiful. The cove is glassy flat and viz, even top side, looks impressive.

I attempt to take an iPhone photo to taunt my friends with, but the iPhone freezes. Hurray for the iPhone — the most overrate electronic device ever. Fortunately, Christian has his camera and is gracious enough to share (including the pictures below).

As we gear up, Kevin and I marvel at the amount of gear that keeps coming out of the SoCal divers’ van. The picture below is missing 3 add’l sets of doubles, Cubas, and bags and bags dive gear - all of it which went into one vehicle.

Ted and Matt pull up and we trade dive plans. Our first dive with the LA crew is a kick dive to Hole in the Wall. Ted and Matt will scooter west of Lone Metridium and play in walls and valleys towards Marco’s Pinnacle. Although uncommon, that’s a spectacular dive.

In addition to taking our LA friends on a tour, I am eager to get in the water and try out the Razor harness. A couple weeks prior, I had used my wife’s old sewing machine and made a cover for my camelbak BCD. Today would be my first cold water sidemount dive.

First task is to stage the sidemount tanks in the water. Low tide can be dangerous and uncomfortable for doubles divers. However, carrying one tank at a time, navigating the slippery ramp proves to be far less challenging. +1 for sidemount.

As the backmount divers start getting ready, I jump in the water and start donning my gear. Since it’s the first dive, I want to the dive the rig as I did in Mexico. As the result, I am using the mini 1/2 inch D-rings. Definitely not that smartest decision, but I wanted a baseline for comparison.

Well, as you can imagine, I struggle to don the tanks. Clipping small bolt snaps onto even smaller D-rings proves to be chore with drygloves. I climb up onto the ramp and use the low tide to my advantage. The conditions couldn’t have been better, but it still takes me almost forever to get set-up. -1 sidemount (with warm water harness gear)

I finish donning just in time for the LA divers to get in the water and I help here and there. It’s mostly Kevin providing good direction on entry.

One of the big concerns I had before the dive was surface floatation. In Mexico, the Razor harness system is optimized for under water movement. Surface floatation does not exist. The good news is that my makeshift BCD keeps my head above water. The bad news is that every time I raise my left arm, the cuff dump burps and I’m at eye level. If sidemount becomes a cold water habit, I’ll have to plug up the cuff dump on those days. -1 for cuff dump.

We surface kit to above the worm patch, and it’s visible from the surface. After a minute to regroup the teams, we descend. I do a masterful job tangling my lightcord and twisting the canister so Kevin sorts me out at the bottom.

Under water, the sidemount tanks feel pretty good. Movement is easy and trim is spot on. With the LP77’s -6.8# buoyancy on each side of me, I’m physically locked into horizontal trim. In fact, when I rotate laterally, the tanks will snap my back to the horizontal plane. Personally, I like the ease of movement with lighter sidemount tanks, but overall it’s still a pleasure to dive. +1 for sidemount.

Dumping air from the camelbak BCD is more involved because of the cuff dump. When I raise my left arm to dump the BCD, the cuff dump would activate. As the result, I end up unrouting the BCD hose and dump from the right side of the body. Fortunately, I only had to do this a couple times during the early parts of dive. The BCD was sufficient to offset the extra weight of the gas in the beginning of the dive. In the later parts, I compensate buoyancy with my drysuit. -1 for cuff dump.

As we head away from the the worm patch, I immediately regret not taking my camera. Given the Razor harness’ maiden cold water voyage, I thought it best to leave my small point-n-shoot on shore. Visibilility is stunning, at least 50′. With the bright sky above, the entire ocean is lit up. I have a ton of dives at Lobos, and it was still nice to see a certain area and say, “Wow that’s what it looks like in it’s entirety.”

Not too long in the dive, teams start to separate and head their own way. Our team consists of Kevin, Christian, Tim and I and we continue to Hole in the Wall. As we round the rocky reef just passed Hole in the Wall, I spy a 3′ leopard shark. I enthusiastically wave down my dive buddies and point out the shark chilling on the ocean floor. Kevin says that my shark motion was so enthusiastic that he thought I saw a great white.

Most leopard shark sitings are fleeting, however this one is different. The shark allows for pretty close encounter and doesn’t move an inch as four divers hover nearby. We effectively swim 270 degrees around the shark, without causing a stir.

After the shark, we reach turn pressure and head home. Kevin leads our team to Middle Reef and we meet up with Itchy, the male wolf eel. His head gets bigger every time I see him. Kevin and I insure that the Christian and Tim get a chance to look and then we kick home.

Doffing the sidemount tanks is easier, but still cumbersome and finger numbing. If I choose to dive the tanks again, I’ll definitely replace the D-rings and bolt snaps. I’m tempted to try AL80s as well, but the prospect of wearing another 12 pounds on my waist isn’t that enticing.

Second dive, we plan to scooter to Beto’s. After two 25/25 dives to Beto’s, this will be my second 32% dive to the reef.

This time donning, I need assistance. Kevin swims over and even remarks that it’s hard. Probably just to make me feel better.

As we surface scoot out, the visibility in the cove has decreased. At the worm patch, the water is no longer clear and viz drops to about 30′.

After a little coordination and corralling by Kevin, our entire group of divers arrive at Beto’s. You can see Kevin be a model diver by checking his gas and then checking the team at the destination. Sorry for the last scene on the video, my camera must have gotten narc’d at the deeper depth.

At Beto’s, Kevin and I look for the wolf eel and the ling cod guarding her eggs, but both are no longer there. Though we miss our animal friends, there’s still a lot of Beto’s to see. Both Kevin and I take turns swimming through the crevices and cracks of Beto’s.

After 20 minutes of wandering Beto’s, we head home. With additional SoCal divers with us, we make a return trip to Middle Reef to visit our wolf eel friend.

By the time we reach our 20′ and 10′ stops, I’m very low on gas. As the result, I do an automatic weight check and could add a couple of pounds to be extra comfortable. However, as is, the weighting is pretty good.

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Dive Report by Don