Geaux Dive

Day 2 at Vortex started out great, made the most of the boat issues by practicing more bottle drops, gas switches, air shares, and ascents. And the freshwater eels came out to play today.

Unfortunately, getting back home hasn’t been the best of experiences with ungrateful tires and missing lug nut keys but, hey we’ll get home eventually. 😁

These guys did great today working on their Advanced Nitrox, Deco Procedures, and Helitrox certs!

Boat is out of commission tomorrow so we’ll have to go to plan B.

Also, showing off my awesome new swag Rachel busted her butt to finish for me in time for this trip.

Another successful convert over to the sidemount side. Chris was a natural and did great in his TDI Sidemount class!

Took a good group out to dive the Oriskany this past weekend!

Let me know if you’d like to join the next trip or maybe interested in training to be able to do some technical dives on the O. 😁

I've had a few people as about cleaning/sterilizing dive equipment. We're using Steramine to clean and sanitize all of our dive equipment. Here's a link to DAN's direction on COVID-19 and dive gear including the use of Steramine:

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/news/dan-encourages-divers-and-dive-operators-to-properly-disinfect-dive-gear

In addition to DAN's recommendation the active ingredient in Steramine, a quaternary ammonium compound (Myristalkonium Chloride), is on the March 2020 EPA list of antimicrobial agents for use against COVID-19.

Steramine doesn't cause skin irritation, is non-corrosive and doesn't stain. I've used it for years to sanitize rebreather loops and counterlungs and highly recommend it. You can get a bottle of 150 tablets for about $10 which makes up to 150 gallons of sanitizer.

We've got some extra at Scuba Ventures if you just want a few tablets or if you need to get your gear serviced, we'll sanitize it when we're done as well.

Stay safe everyone!

Divers Alert Network

Full boat today assisting with a Cave Apprentice class. Conditions on the Mill Pond are excellent! 😁

While I generally agree with this, I think they left off the most important differentiation between technical and recreational diving - becoming a "thinking diver".

I typically describe recreational diving as being able to fall off the boat and ride your computer. And I don't mean that in a demeaning way, but in that we've created a set of rules and training that is robust in nature and designed to keep the vast majority of people in a wide range of environments safe. We've created rule sets that include recreational depth limits, NDL time limits, ppO2 limits, "if-this-happens-do-this" scenarios, etc. They're easy to understand, follow and remember.

When you begin your journey into the tech world, those hard and fast rules and limits are slowly stripped away as your skill level and confidence increases. You may have a trimix card, but does that mean your first post-dive class should be on the Doria? You may have a cave CCR card combined with a cave DPV card, but does that mean it's a good idea to go 30K feet back in a cave just because you're technically allowed to? Heck no, but the only person that's going to stop you is you.

You have to be able to understand the risks of each decision you make and weigh the pros and cons of those. What gear do you need for the dive? How much extra gas do you need? Which gas mixes will be best? There are certainly general guidelines and best practices (and one agency has gone so far as to recommend standard gas mixes) but the ultimate decision is up to you to decide what's best for you and for your dive. You need to understand the "why behind the how" to make a competent decision. That's a "thinking diver".

Oh, and don't get me wrong, there are tons of recreational level thinking divers - and those make great tech students :) - my point is just that, IMHO, your willingness to adjust your dive mentality to becoming a "thinking diver" is the biggest stepping stone to becoming a tech diver and entering into an amazing world of challenging and rewarding dives.

Happy diving!

5 things you should know before you start tech diving - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI Are you considering tech diving? If it’s making you nervous, firstly, take a deep breath. Second, read these five things and feel comfortable in the learning process. Know that you’re on your way to exploring even more of what the underwater world has to offer.

Big shout out to Bobby at Underwater Light Dude for hooking me up with a loaner heated vest so I could enjoy my new UWLD heat controller...gotta say being able to warm up a bit at the end of the dive is a game changer! Plus, adding one to a UWLD primary light is super simple with the stack cap.

Bobby's customer service is second to none in the industry so if you're looking for a primary light, video light or heater, give him a shout!

We got in pretty late last night so here are some photos from Day 2. So proud of these divers for overcoming equipment issues, cold temps, anxieties and more just to work on improving and becoming better divers...not to mention having a good time in the process!

Also, glad we got to make some new friends with fellow LA divers from the NOLA area, Sanjay and Jason!

Day 1 of our FL diving weekend and a great day for diving. 😁