Back From Vacation

[Frosty_47]

Just your ear drums ripping apart.

I hope they at least taught you how to properly equalize your ears when going down! If not your lucky your not deaf now.

So I guess I need to see a doctor for ear inspection ?

I do equalize my ears every meter I go down, however I always experienced severe pain trying to go past 5-8 meters. I thought my head will explode during my first dive. Took me like 15-20 minutes to equalize. After that my ears opened up and I was fine from there (reached 36 feet). I find that yawning under water works better than plugging my nose and trying to blow the air through the ear. I was told that equalization is not needed when ascending.

 

[tcmtech]

Going up is rairly a problem unless you get a reverse block. That will typicaly let loose on it own but can become increadibly painful at times. The crackleing is just the compressed air inside your inner ear canal bubbleing out as you go up.
If your having trouble going down it may be a sign you have an inner ear blockage or natural restriction between your inner ear and throat.
It may be nothing but still its something that should be looked at just in case. If you did rupture an ear drum they do heal but rather slowly.

When going down equalization should be done about every 1-2 meters. I can only go about that far without pain myself. Some can go further others cant. Still dont push through it. If you cant get equalized properly it will cause damage at some point.

 

[Frosty_47]

Going up is rairly a problem unless you get a reverse block. That will typicaly let loose on it own but can become increadibly painful at times. The crackleing is just the compressed air inside your inner ear canal bubbleing out as you go up.
If your having trouble going down it may be a sign you have an inner ear blockage or natural restriction between your inner ear and throat.
It may be nothing but still its something that should be looked at just in case. If you did rupture an ear drum they do heal but rather slowly.

When going down equalization should be done about every 1-2 meters. I can only go about that far without pain myself. Some can go further others cant. Still dont push through it. If you cant get equalized properly it will cause damage at some point.

Ah, good thing you were just messing with me about the crackling noises

BTW, is there any helpful exercise I can do to make my Eustachian tube open-up more easily the next time I go diving?
Other than not smoke or drink before the dive

 

[Mikebits]

Ah, good thing you were just messing with me about the crackling noises

BTW, is there any helpful exercise I can do to make my Eustachian tube open-up more easily the next time I go diving?
Other than not smoke or drink before the dive

Clear you sinuses before going down, one trick I learned was taking a handful of saltwater and snorting up your nose. Kinda unpleasant but does the trick.

When ascending you do not want to do it to fast or you can give yourself an embolism. Rule of thumb is ascend at the rate of your bubbles. At 36 feet this is really not a big deal but deeper dives you have to be more careful when making your ascent.

 

[HiTech]

Aaaw shucks, had I known you were going to Cuba, I would've had you give my regards to Fidel Castro. Come to think of it, I have no regards for the has-been dictator.

 

[tcmtech]

When we dive we typically follow a 30 foot rule. At 30 feet or less you can come up and go down as often as you want within reason. At that depth you wont get the bends or suffer any ill effects if you are in good health. However any deeper than that there has to be a required 5 - 10 minute mid point stop for safety purposes in order to prevent possibly getting the bends.

I prefer not going any deeper myself at this time or at least until I get a dive computer system that can tell me exactly when I am safe and how fast I can come up.
The safety stop reason, the limited air I have, and the fact that around our lakes theirs not enough light past 40 feet to be able to see without bringing flashlights! Plus mud and weeds look the same at 100 feet as they do at 30 feet anyway!
And for me above all if I go deeper than that I have to do all that calculations crap on my dive log paperwork which can just ruin an other wise fun day for me!

I would highly recommend getting the full open water PADI or other recognized dive training. It will save your life some day and makes diving feel much safer and more enjoyable when you know the correct and proper what and why of diving!

 

[Mikebits]

I have only done decompression dives when diving at 100 feet. We would tie depth markers on the boat anchor chain which indicated decompress spots. Usually two stops on the way up. I agree with TCM about getting certified, my class was a week long and there are many important things one should know prior to making a dive. My cert is with PADI, I can dive anywhere in the world except for Africa which requires NAUI.
Or so I have been told.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

My daughter took her PADI when she was 12 (she had to wait for her 13th birthday to complete the open-water dives required) - although the SCUBA instructors did offer to take her outside the UK, where you can do your open-water dives without been 13.

It was something like a six or eight week course, one night a week - with the open-water dives at Stony Cove (main in-land dive centre in the UK). She was the youngest on the course, there was another girl slightly older (already 13), and a lad about 15 or so. The three kids absolutely thrashed the adults on the course, they finished with a week or two to spare, some of the adults required extra time, and at least one adult took multiple attempts to pass his open-water dives. Being of a mathematical bent, Melissa also coached many of the adults (and the lad as well) on the use of dive tables.

As I had to take her to the classes I sat and watched, it was really pretty intensive, and you can see why they don't like the rushed holiday diving classes.

I would have loved to do the course as well, but I don't swim well enough - I seem to have negative bouancy, and have to work too hard just to stay on top of the water

I did pay for a trial SCUBA session, and absolutely loved it - no problem swimming with SCUBA tanks where drowning isn't a concern - but there's a 200m swimming requiremnt

 

[tcmtech]

I would have loved to do the course as well, but I don't swim well enough - I seem to have negative buoyancy, and have to work too hard just to stay on top of the water

I am also negative buoyant. I did the 200 meter swim and the required 15 minute unassisted float back to back without stopping. I didn't find it hard at all.

I know a lot of people who say they cant scuba because they cant swim. I just keep telling them that staying underwater is the whole point! Once your properly weighted while waring scuba gear anyone can swim!
I rairly go in the water without it now!

My two piece 6.8 mm suite, BCD and gear takes 26 pounds of lead to make me neutral. Without the lead I float shoulder hight out of the water. But without the suite and gear I am about 3 pounds heavy and sink.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I am also negative buoyant. I did the 200 meter swim and the required 15 minute unassisted float back to back without stopping. I didn't find it hard at all.

I know a lot of people who say they cant scuba because they cant swim. I just keep telling them that staying underwater is the whole point! Once your properly weighted while waring scuba gear anyone can swim!

I have no problem with the SCUBA gear on, but they want 200m swimming without it

To make matters worse my daughter swims like a fish, she can breast stroke a 25m pool in about four or five strokes. She also uses very little air, on all the training and the open-water dives she used far less air than anyone else.

Here's a picture of Melissa and I when I did my test dive, she was already PADI qualified by then - I certainly swam a lot further than 200m that day, it's easy if instant drowning is removed from the equation

 

[gabeNC]

I'll weigh in with my experiences...

I have found that I need to overweight myself (12-15 pounds) so when the tank goes positive.... I don't. On one of my training dives, I ended up holding a large piece of coral to prevent from "missing" my safety stop.

There was a question about tank size, I generally dive with a 100 unless it's a pair of shallow dives then i'll use compact 80's. The last wreck dive I did was the Tokia Maru in Guam ( **broken link removed** ) goes to 140'+. The boat we were diving off of was nice enough to have regulators dangling at 15' in case you were stupid enough to not have enough air to decompress.

As far as equalizing, I've never really had a problem with it, but have had dive buddies that take FOREVER to finally get down to depth. I feel pressure around 45 feet, "pop" my ears, yawn, fart... whatever and then i'm okay. I've heard of people that have had air pockets in tooth fillings and that can cause pain.

Been narc'd once around 90' feet. Felt like I was really stoned, came up to 75' and the effects went away. On another dive I went to 150' and never had any of that kind of sensation. weird.

This **broken link removed**has got to be my all time favorite dive.

 

[Mikebits]

I can relate Gabe, I once had to dive with a bag of rocks to stay submerged, I guess I am buoyant. Funny thing is that I am skinny.

 

[tcmtech]

Scuba gear is buoyant by design. To sink all of my gear without me in it takes about 2 -3 pounds more lead than with me in it.

 

[HiTech]

To sink all of my gear without me in it takes about 2 -3 pounds more lead than with me in it.

I think I might have accumulated 2-3 pounds of lead in me from all the soldering I've done over the decades!

 

[bienafv]

My cert is with PADI, I can dive anywhere in the world except for Africa which requires NAUI.
Or so I have been told.

Not true, my cert is PADI obtained in South Africa and I have being diving without a problem with it, mostly south africa and mozambique, the other african countries do not have a problem with PADI.

 

[Bob Scott]

They actually rented me a scooter every day even though I don't have a licence to drive one. So I rode nearly every street in the downtown Varadero. It's good thing my parent's didn't see my driving:

*Drinking & Driving (had 11 beers the first time)
*Speeding in front of police
*Not wearing helmet

Oh yeah, I always get drunk on two sixpacks before mounting my MC in a communist dictatorship. After the accident, if I'm not dead, the beer buzz kind of reacts with the intravenous morphine drip to give me the mother-in-law of all heavenly sweet highs. Everyone should do it!

Bob

 

[Frosty_47]

Oh yeah, I always get drunk on two sixpacks before mounting my MC in a communist dictatorship. After the accident, if I'm not dead, the beer buzz kind of reacts with the intravenous morphine drip to give me the mother-in-law of all heavenly sweet highs. Everyone should do it!

Bob

How on earth do you find drugs in Cuba ?
I mean it's a 20 year sentence if you get caught with it down there...

As for drinking and driving in Cuba, no body gives a **** unless you cause an accident. I've been drinking beer with a cab driver on the way to the diving spot.

I find that the locals are excellent drivers (at least when compared to drivers in Toronto). The only ******** and dumb asses I've seen on the roads in Cuba were the tourists (red license plate).

 

[tcmtech]

I find that the locals are excellent drivers (at least when compared to drivers in Toronto). The only ******** and dumb asses I've seen on the roads in Cuba were the tourists (red license plate).

Now theres an idea! Anyone who gets three or more driving violations in a year or less gets mandatory bright red license plates to warn the rest of the world they are a danger to everyone else!

I would vote for it!

 

[Mikebits]

How on earth do you find drugs in Cuba ?
I mean it's a 20 year sentence if you get caught with it down there...

As for drinking and driving in Cuba, no body gives a **** unless you cause an accident. I've been drinking beer with a cab driver on the way to the diving spot.

I find that the locals are excellent drivers (at least when compared to drivers in Toronto). The only ******** and dumb asses I've seen on the roads in Cuba were the tourists (red license plate).

It is not a good a idea to drink and dive, no pun intended. If you go deep you might puke into your regulator.

I copied this text from a dive site. The text is written by a doctor and addresses the issue of drinking and diving. Please take heed from the warnings, I once drank a bunch of beers and went diving, threw up under water and almost drowned. Dive sober.

It certainly will not come as a surprise that excessive use of alcohol is not favorable to your health. It contributes directly to many problems (social as well as health) and adds useless calories to the diet. No doubt one has heard this preaching before, but it is true. :yelling: I did not pay that much attention either when I was younger.

I will only comment on alcohol and decompression. As far as diving is concerned, and decompression in particular, alcohol has the tendency to dehydrate the body. Naturally, one will ask, how can drinking a fluid that is mostly water cause me to lose water? This is because alcohol inhibits the antidiuretic hormone that causes the kidneys to retain water. Thus the well know effect of drinking beverage alcohol is to cause one numerous trips to the bathroom. **broken link removed**

The loss of water from the body has the effect of reducing the volume of blood for circulation. While this might be good for reducing gas update on the bottom portion of the dive, it will reduce gas elimination on the surface (decompression) phase of the dive.

Further, the ability to form stable gas bubbles, and thus decompression sickness, is related to the amount of surfactant in the blood and tissues (in a way not completely understood). Removing the SOLVENT has the same effect as increasing the SOLUTE. Everyone knows that adding more soap (a surfactant) to a bathtub increases the number and stability of bubbles.

While alcohol is part of a good time for many people (or so the advertisements would have you believe), daily consumption coupled with daily diving is most likely a bad idea. It is difficult to say what this could do over a long period. I once met a lady, who worked as a dive guide for 28 years, at a DEMA meeting where I was lecturing. She was on crutches, diagnosed by a physician well versed in hyperbaric medicine, as having Dysbaric Osteonecrosis (DON is a disorder well known among compressed air workers). She was not (I believe) a long time user of alcohol, but I could imagine that this habit would not have helped, since alcohol abuse is also one precipitating factor for DON. This practice is another time bomb. :boom:

"Dr Deco"

Aside from the medical problems that may occur, a diver must keep his or her wits about at all times. Otherwise you may endanger yourself or your dive buddy, consider the latter next time you want to pop open a beer before a dive.

Sorry for the lecture.

 

[gabeNC]

One of the funniest things I've seen diving was a lady in our group who could blow air bubbles out of her eye sockets. She would pull her mask off, pinch her nose and small little bubbles would shoot out. I started laughing so hard, i broke the seal on my mask, starting snorting sea water and or course wasting air.