Do You Do Your Own Underwater Maintenance ?

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by sarafina

Certified and Certifiable....

and I would kill for a dry suit. Last trip under the boat was for a jammed rudder and I wound up scraping her with a mudding knife to get rid of the beasties growing on her... and it was cold...

I've never dived wet. Did the Florida Keys dry and the rest of the boat looked at me like I was nuts. Pulled the drysuit up over jeans and tee shirt and jumped in.

I learned to dive in Alaska where it's a winter sport because the algae blooms are so bad in the summer. Because I hate being cold (I'm a wuss) I carried lots of lead to bring down all the insulation I wore. That with the steel 93s I used (and still have), working the snow banks after the dive was challenging. But I was younger and stronger then.

Having said that, I haven't dived in several years and pay people to change my zincs. Muy bad.

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by DennisM

I have no problem with having my sanity questioned. My veracity, however, is another matter.

I need to say in defense of sharks that they are not the mindless killing machines they are made out to be in the movies. They are beautiful, sentient creatures, and I consider it an honor and a privilege to swim among them. I have never felt threatened in their midst.

I've swam with small to medium sharks in Florida (15') and agree.

However, I've had some very bad experiences in Alaska with sea lions, and they scare the crap out of me. My air gets shot when they come in.

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by jrd22

Our zincs are gone in 9-10 months, plus I like to clean the bottom and prop on a regular basis.

I get an easy 12 months, but then I don't plug into the marina.

Clean bottom, what's that??

[DaveC]

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but when I do my own maintenance I just put my swim trunks and googles on, and hold my breath. Changed a cutlass bearing, cleaned the bottom, put plugs in the seacocks for greasing, etc... You have to come up for air alot but it's not a problem usually.

Of course it's always in the summer time with the water temp in the 70's.

It'd be nice to have a tank of air, however.

-Dave

[Stillraining]

Great responses...I really like the long hose on the tank Idea For boat work ...never thought of that for some reason.

Those Hookahs are just too darn expensive for me...And as been said we want or like the freedome of tanks... to venture off independent of towing around a surfface mounted compressor.
I have been looking at Craig's List just for grins, Im not buying anything right now...there are some deals out their on used equipment..and a lot of junk as usual...Also some of the stuff is just plain cheaper new now then years ago...I think I paid 400 for my BC and now an equeal one brand new on sale is 200.

Regarding just snorkeling and holding ones breath and getting much work done...boy your a better man then I am in 46/43 degree water......I usually breath the hardest and fastest the first 10 minutes waiting for all that cold water on my spine to warm up...

Now....How many of you divers hear have difficulty equalizing your ears?...this is the main reason I pretty much stopped diving..my mask is always full of blood ..very painful, let alone waisted a lot of air just getting down and I felt I risked blowing an ear drum....What remedies is there?.

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Now....How many of you divers hear have difficulty equalizing your ears?...this is the main reason I pretty much stopped diving..my mask is always full of blood ..very painful, let alone waisted a lot of air just getting down and I felt I risked blowing an ear drum....What remedies is there?.

S,

I am not an easy ear clearer. The trick for me is to start above water and clear like crazy the first 5 feet. If it's not going well by then, it's too late.

[ozdownunder]

Hi if you have blood in your mask, I would suggest that u go and see a underwater medical Dr.

Its proberbly not the preasure of diving so much but could be that the blood vessels inside your nose are very close to the skin surface and therefor rupture easy, if this is the case you can have a Dr quaterise then fixing the problem.

Also equalise more frequently while going down, could help if your just toughing it out and not equalising when you should, don't allow too much preasure on your ear drums.

Hope this helps regards Terry

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Now....How many of you divers hear have difficulty equalizing your ears?...this is the main reason I pretty much stopped diving..my mask is always full of blood ..very painful, let alone waisted a lot of air just getting down and I felt I risked blowing an ear drum....What remedies is there?.

I'm a retired scuba instructor, both PADI and NAUI, first certified in 1972. I've logged over 5,000 dives, and I'm at a point where it's becoming more difficult to equalize my ears. This happens with age, especially among those of us who have done a few too many descents. I understand that Cousteau, once he reached his seventies, often required a half hour to descend to a depth of 2 atm.

Descend slowly, feet first, and equalize early. If you've waited until you feel pressure or pain, you've done wrong. Ascend until you can equalize easily, and then begin your descent again. I found that with students who had trouble equalizing, holding onto an anchor line helped a great deal. Take it slow, and concentrate on relaxing your breathing as part of the descent process.

If your mask is "always full of blood," you should certainly consult a physician before resuming diving.

Realize, please, that the above advice comes from someone who is no longer qualified to teach. (At least not scuba, anyway.)

[jrd22]

Good advice Bash, my son has a lot of trouble equalizing so I'll pass it on. Thanks.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by jrd22

Good advice Bash, my son has a lot of trouble equalizing so I'll pass it on. Thanks.

Is he young? I found that when I was training juniors sometimes the problem was that while they descended in the foot-down orientation that facilitates equalization, they couldn't stop fixating upon the bottom to which they were descending, which means that their heads would be bent forward. So I'd tell them to keep their hands above mine on the anchor line, stop when I stop (which would be at a depth of 3-5 feet), and then look me straight in the eyes while they equalized. And I wouldn't permit them to go down another foot until they gave me the OK sign that their ears had cleared.

Worked like a charm.

[barnakiel]

Not certified and a lame skin diver here. Can go only to some 30'. Still, do everything by myself.

When not cleaning the hull, love to mess around the boat and play with the creatures. Even them silly barnacles look quite amazing up close and personal.

I like the small scuba tanks (I believe they are about 6 liter tanks) but all pros say they are good for nothing. Unfortunately, they are the only ones that I could store onboard.

b.

[Stillraining]

The last dive I was on was a 45' drop on the anchor road...it took me 20min to get down...I have know Idea where I was looking but I will give the heads up a try.

The best way for me is to just start my dive off the beach and just play around at whatever level, following a gradual sea floor out..stopping and playing around where ever needed till I get cleared...but that's no use off a boat or a steep drop off.

I think I will make an appointment to see an ear doctor and have him "mine the tunnels" to see whats up though.

My problems started at around 26 after 7 years of diving so I don't think it is age related.

[delmarrey]

Dry suites are nice but they have to fit well, which mean$$$ custom made.

I bought one that was a little loose (maybe not anymore, gett'n fat) and it use to pinch me so much I would come up with line bruises across my chest and back. And the neck piece felt like it was choking me while I was out of the water. It had to be tight otherwise water would seep in.

The nice thing is one can use them as a survival suit in a pinch.

[hummingway]

My son surfs in a wet suit. He's always threatening to get me one because he wants me to surf with him. You can't dive in the PNW in a wet suit can you? Even for maintenance purposes?

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

I think I will make an appointment to see an ear doctor and have him "mine the tunnels" to see whats up though.

My problems started at around 26 after 7 years of diving so I don't think it is age related.

I'd recommend going to an ear guy who also knows diving. A buddy of mine was told not to dive anymore by a well-meaning ear doc that apparently didn't understand the medical side of diving. A second more informed doc helped him solve his equalization problems and get him diving again.