Mistress Amber is going into the hospital for surgery tomorrow (nothing too dramatic, but not day surgery, either). Please send vibes of serenity, health, and freedom from pain her way.
I'll miss her this next couple of weeks, but at least she won't talk too much when she returns. :)
Monday, July 30, 2007
Little Sara Gets Serious
Saturday, 28 July, I went on yet another dive trip to the gas rig "Little Sara." This weekend's dive gave me a couple of opportunities to practice a core diving skill: Avoiding panic.
The recent flooding throughout Texas has caused the rivers to pump massive quantities of fresh water into the Gulf. This stirs up silt, turns the water from blue to green, and affects the wildlife that live in salt water. Since Little Sara is so close to shore (around 10 mi), it was in the mixing zone of the flow from the Rio Grande river.
As you probably know, you are more buoyant in salt water than in fresh. As you descend, the increasing pressure compresses the air trapped in your wetsuit, your buoyancy compensating device (an inflatable bladder a diver wears on their back), and even your lungs. This makes you less buoyant and you sink faster.
As I entered the water and began my descent, all was normal. You could see distinct lines in the water where salt water and fresh water were mixing. You see a similar effect when you pour alcohol into water: kind of an uneven swirling in the liquid. When I hit the fresh water layer, I sank faster. What's worse, beneath me, at about 50 ft and getting rapidly closer, was an opaque silt layer where it got very dark and visibility dropped to less than a foot.
When I entered the cold, dark zone, I was trying desperately to keep my buddy in sight, I looked at my gauges to check my depth. My dive computer was off, indicating failure. This device reads the depth and time and tells me how long I can safely stay under water without suffering "the bends." I tried to restart it, but it was dead. The deeper I got the faster I descended, and I was distracted by the computer and couldn't compensate for buoyancy changes fast enough.
Luckily, I carry a backup computer and I moved it around so I could read it, juggling the camera rig lashed to my right wrist. Remember, the whole time I'm concentrating on my gauges, I'm falling faster and faster to the bottom through dark, murky water. I finally hit a rig crossbar on the bottom at around 97 ft. I signaled to my buddy that I was having gauge problems and that we should ascend to where I could see my gauges.
I learned later that my buddy was looking for stonefish that often sit, camouflaged, on top of the crossbars and in the silt on the bottom. Stonefish have a poisonous spine on their back that can inflict very serious damage on an unsuspecting diver. Like one that drops suddenly onto their back. Fortunately, we didn't find any stonefish.
I wish that were all. During my second dive I was hovering at around 35 ft, just watching the fish and the other divers. I slowly rotated around and found myself face to face with one of the largest barracudas I've ever seen -- probably 8 ft long. Its jaws were open and it was looking intently at me. I now know the feeling of ones "blood running cold." For the first time, I was afraid of a marine creature. It's funny, because I have dived with barracuda many times, and have no real fear of them. Even sharks don't really scare me, but having a 'cuda this size focused on me was a VERY unsettling experience. I found out later that I had a shiny metal tag clipped to the shoulder of my gear. The lesson: Don't hang shiny things from your gear.
Oh, well, at least I learned a lot from these dives! I kept my cool and kept the dives safe, and I am now a little better diver than I was before this trip.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Underwater Cameras
I have been very frustrated at how slow my underwater camera, a Sea and Sea DX-860G, was. There is a huge lag between the time you pull the trigger and when the shot is taken.
I compared the camera to several others during my Underwater Digital Photography class, and it was clear that mine was especially slow.
New digital cameras fire a "preflash" to help the camera set exposure settings. Most of the time, this preflash fires mere milliseconds before the main flash, so it looks like there's only one flash. With the damn DX-860, the preflash is a full 1/2 to 1 second before the main flash (which fires off a large external strobe). Needless to say, this gives skittish marine life plenty of time to get out of your shot.
The consensus was that my camera was defective and I asked the shop to send it in for repairs. The word back from the warranty center was that my camera was behaving correctly. That floored me -- it's almost worthless if you're shooting something moving, because it's so horribly slow. I'm going to try and completely obstruct the internal flash (the pre-flash) with black tape to see if I can keep from scaring off sealife, but the camera is still so slow that moving targets are really hit-or-miss.
If you're in the market for an underwater camera, I strongly recommend that you compare a few models hands-on before you buy. The DX-860 was the latest-and-greatest point and shoot from Sea and Sea, so the shop had to order it for me. As a result, I didn't have much of an opportunity to try it out. If I were doing it over again, though, I would probably go with a name-brand point & shoot camera (Canon, Nikon, Olympus) with an underwater housing from either the manufacturer or a high-quality after-market supplier. Sealife also has a couple of good models in this price range.
Your mileage may vary, but if you're looking at the DX-860 think long and hard about how important speed is, and for God's sake try it out before you buy it.
I compared the camera to several others during my Underwater Digital Photography class, and it was clear that mine was especially slow.
New digital cameras fire a "preflash" to help the camera set exposure settings. Most of the time, this preflash fires mere milliseconds before the main flash, so it looks like there's only one flash. With the damn DX-860, the preflash is a full 1/2 to 1 second before the main flash (which fires off a large external strobe). Needless to say, this gives skittish marine life plenty of time to get out of your shot.
The consensus was that my camera was defective and I asked the shop to send it in for repairs. The word back from the warranty center was that my camera was behaving correctly. That floored me -- it's almost worthless if you're shooting something moving, because it's so horribly slow. I'm going to try and completely obstruct the internal flash (the pre-flash) with black tape to see if I can keep from scaring off sealife, but the camera is still so slow that moving targets are really hit-or-miss.
If you're in the market for an underwater camera, I strongly recommend that you compare a few models hands-on before you buy. The DX-860 was the latest-and-greatest point and shoot from Sea and Sea, so the shop had to order it for me. As a result, I didn't have much of an opportunity to try it out. If I were doing it over again, though, I would probably go with a name-brand point & shoot camera (Canon, Nikon, Olympus) with an underwater housing from either the manufacturer or a high-quality after-market supplier. Sealife also has a couple of good models in this price range.
Your mileage may vary, but if you're looking at the DX-860 think long and hard about how important speed is, and for God's sake try it out before you buy it.
OK, Now What?
DIVEMASTER!!!!
I'm not going to be studying anything else, and the major financial impact I was planning isn't going to happen. So I decided to go ahead and sign up for the training required to become a NAUI Divemaster.
I'll admit it -- I'm a SCUBA junkie. Duh - have you noticed the pic at the top of this blog, or the name of it, or have you ever met me? Anyway, if you want to see me light up, just get me started talking about diving (for other topics, see the end of this post). I also haven't gotten out to interact with people as much as I need to, and I've become socially retarded (no, what you've been calling me is a different kind of retarded).
As a Divemaster, I'll have the opportunity to assist instructors with SCUBA classes, so I'll be able to help people learn about a subject I love. I'll even be able to lead "discover scuba" sessions, where someone who thinks they might like diving gets to try it out in a swimming pool for free. I'll be working with the motley crew of instructors, divemasters, and ne'er-do-wells that haunt the dive shop I use (Deep Blue Adventures); people I've dived with, learned from, insulted, and annoyed.
As if that weren't enough, once in a while I'll be able to lead dive trips where my way is paid! I'll have to work my butt off, but the cost of one or two trips to dive the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary more than offsets the cost of the class.
Of course, this doesn't come without a cost. The physical and mental requirements for the rating are significant, so I'll be working hard for it. Most of the instructors already have it out for me, and the NAUI instructional program lets them abuse me shamelessly. Even after certification, assisting with classes will take up much of my "free" time, and I'll be doing grunt work, like hauling equipment. I might have to get liability insurance for some tasks.
OK, I'll keep you posted on my progress. As promised, here are
Other Conversations that Light me Up:
- Anything scatological
- Criticizing taxes
- American healthcare system
- Reproductive freedom (education, contraception, abortion)
- Who's the best Doctor in the Doctor Who TV show
- Excuse me, you appear to be on fire
- Appropriate uses for the epithet "douchebag"
- Australia
I'm not going to be studying anything else, and the major financial impact I was planning isn't going to happen. So I decided to go ahead and sign up for the training required to become a NAUI Divemaster.
I'll admit it -- I'm a SCUBA junkie. Duh - have you noticed the pic at the top of this blog, or the name of it, or have you ever met me? Anyway, if you want to see me light up, just get me started talking about diving (for other topics, see the end of this post). I also haven't gotten out to interact with people as much as I need to, and I've become socially retarded (no, what you've been calling me is a different kind of retarded).
As a Divemaster, I'll have the opportunity to assist instructors with SCUBA classes, so I'll be able to help people learn about a subject I love. I'll even be able to lead "discover scuba" sessions, where someone who thinks they might like diving gets to try it out in a swimming pool for free. I'll be working with the motley crew of instructors, divemasters, and ne'er-do-wells that haunt the dive shop I use (Deep Blue Adventures); people I've dived with, learned from, insulted, and annoyed.
As if that weren't enough, once in a while I'll be able to lead dive trips where my way is paid! I'll have to work my butt off, but the cost of one or two trips to dive the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary more than offsets the cost of the class.
Of course, this doesn't come without a cost. The physical and mental requirements for the rating are significant, so I'll be working hard for it. Most of the instructors already have it out for me, and the NAUI instructional program lets them abuse me shamelessly. Even after certification, assisting with classes will take up much of my "free" time, and I'll be doing grunt work, like hauling equipment. I might have to get liability insurance for some tasks.
OK, I'll keep you posted on my progress. As promised, here are
Other Conversations that Light me Up:
- Anything scatological
- Criticizing taxes
- American healthcare system
- Reproductive freedom (education, contraception, abortion)
- Who's the best Doctor in the Doctor Who TV show
- Excuse me, you appear to be on fire
- Appropriate uses for the epithet "douchebag"
- Australia
The Nursing Baby Has Been Smothered in its Crib
If you know my little secret, then you know what that means: it wasn't meant to be.
If you don't, then please rest assured that no small, tender, delicious, juicy, man-calves were harmed in the making of this post.
If you don't, then please rest assured that no small, tender, delicious, juicy, man-calves were harmed in the making of this post.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
My Inner Troll
Good News!
I think I've got my inner troll tranquilized. Nothing wakes him up like Mondays, though (it's Sunday as I write this), so I don't want to make any firm commitments until then. To any of you reading this that have had to put up with my BS in person, I apologize for inflicting my bad attitude upon you.
Just remember, "If nothing changes, nothing changes." My motivation for haunting the "fitness center" had faded dramatically during the period of my infirmity, and the last two sessions I was really pumping bad vibes at Mistress Amber, who has been helping me get fitter. In penance, I have increased my efforts to be diligent in following her suggestions (even when she's not around) so that she can get some satisfaction in seeing me improve.
My vacation & money budget for 2007 is pretty much spent, and the outlook for 2008 is very much up in the air right now, as some of you know. My dive shop recently started teaching more NAUI courses than PADI courses, and I'm particularly interested in taking the NAUI divemaster class. That is the first in the series of "professional" level courses, and it would qualify me to conduct "Discover SCUBA" sessions, assist in instruction, and lead dive trips. It carries with it a lot more responsibility, but the training I'd receive would be extremely valuable (and very enjoyable). However, I'm already working and studying a bunch of other stuff and I don't really have time to spend on it, so it's one of those "if only. . . ." goals I'll try and achieve some day.
My final note for the day: I have decided to limit my use of the word "douchebag" to refer to politicians. I know you were concerned about this.
I think I've got my inner troll tranquilized. Nothing wakes him up like Mondays, though (it's Sunday as I write this), so I don't want to make any firm commitments until then. To any of you reading this that have had to put up with my BS in person, I apologize for inflicting my bad attitude upon you.
Just remember, "If nothing changes, nothing changes." My motivation for haunting the "fitness center" had faded dramatically during the period of my infirmity, and the last two sessions I was really pumping bad vibes at Mistress Amber, who has been helping me get fitter. In penance, I have increased my efforts to be diligent in following her suggestions (even when she's not around) so that she can get some satisfaction in seeing me improve.
My vacation & money budget for 2007 is pretty much spent, and the outlook for 2008 is very much up in the air right now, as some of you know. My dive shop recently started teaching more NAUI courses than PADI courses, and I'm particularly interested in taking the NAUI divemaster class. That is the first in the series of "professional" level courses, and it would qualify me to conduct "Discover SCUBA" sessions, assist in instruction, and lead dive trips. It carries with it a lot more responsibility, but the training I'd receive would be extremely valuable (and very enjoyable). However, I'm already working and studying a bunch of other stuff and I don't really have time to spend on it, so it's one of those "if only. . . ." goals I'll try and achieve some day.
My final note for the day: I have decided to limit my use of the word "douchebag" to refer to politicians. I know you were concerned about this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)