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This article was contributed on May 4, 2004.
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Even brand new equipment, or gear that has recently gone a long period of inactivity without being used should be serviced.
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The quarter turn twist convention is often taught as a preventative measure for ensuring the air is actually on. However the scuba cylinder valve was designed to be fully functional with the valve all of the way open. Older welding valves (the predecessors to the current scuba valves) had a habit of locking in position. If the cylinder locked in the fully open position you can imagine the diver not being able to get their gear off of the cylinder. To combat this, early divers started the habit of backing their valves off a quarter turn and this convention although unnecessary still remains with us today.
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BEACH DIVING IN CALIFORNIA
Where can I dive in California? This is a very common and fair question. The truth is California is home to some of the best and sometimes challenging diving in the world. Divers in California have the option of diving by either boat or shore dive. The purpose of this article is to help new divers to advanced divers prepare for their beach dive. Most divers, and all sane divers will agree that being prepared for a dive is proportional to the amount of time spent preparing for the dive. Below are some basic guidelines you should keep in mind before making the trek to the beach.
BEFORE THE DIVE
The day before you dive you should go through your gear and make sure everything is present. Now take an inventory of your gear ensuring everything has been serviced recently, and is up to specs for local laws and factory recommendations. Before you repack your equipment assemble it. This is particularly important for those who rent parts or all of their gear. In fact if you rent equipment make sure to bring your gear along. Before leaving the dive shop make sure ALL equipment is in working order. Through often no fault of the dive operator equipment can malfunction. For those who will be diving far away from their dive shop, a trek back to the shop to replace a faulty hose or free flowing second stage can be more than a nuisance; it can ruin a otherwise perfect day for diving!
In addition to your gear consider bringing a diving tarp to set up your equipment. This helps prevent getting sand in your equipment and also creates a great staging area for your dive. A large tub half filled with water can stay in the back of a truck, or water filled shower bags available in most camping stores is a great idea for cars. These items may be used to rinse off your gear in areas where shower heads are not available.
Other must haves for any dive include sun screen (15spf or greater), sun glasses, first aid equipment, a cellular or marine phone, change for a pay phone, save a dive kit (including O-rings, scuba tool, batteries for computers and uw lights, fin straps, mask straps.. etc), and oxygen bottle if available.
AT THE BEACH
1) ALWAYS have an alternate dive spot to dive at if your first diving location proves to be in conditions worse than your level of training. The first tip is a simple one, always dive in conditions similar or better than your level of training unless supervised by a professional. In other words if you have 1,000 boat dives but have never done a beach dive, and certainly have not done a dive with three foot surf in the winter time at Point Dume… you should strongly consider finding a new dive location and aborting that dive. If you are thinking about it, chances are you shouldn’t be going in the water.
2) ALWAYS do a pre-dive safety check! ALWAYS! Did I mention always? Anyone familiar with diving related accidents knows that many accidents could have been avoided had a buddy check been performed. The PADI acronym to remember the critical components of the safety check may be remembered by the following, and as alwasy remember this list is not meant to be an exhaustive list but a good starting point towards safety:
B-BEGIN - B stands for BCD. This step should detect the presence and security of all caps, the ability to orally as well as manually FULLY inflate and DEFLATE the BC, as well as secondary dumps once it has been determined the BC holds air.
W- WITH - W stands for weight check, including right hand release, dumpable & non-dumpable weight, ankle weights, tanks weights, and of course proper weighting for the dive conditions and cylinder being used.
R – REVIEW – R stands for releases. In the case of an emergency it is crucial that you be familiar with your buddies release system on their BC and any other equipment they may be donning. One commonly overlooked release is the scuba cylinder strap! Make sure the strap is threaded correctly and is holding the cylinder snug in place. One way of accomplishing this can be done when assembling the gear by laying the cylinder down and camming the strap instead of standing the cylinder up and camming the strap.
A – AND – A stands for air. Make sure the scuba cylinder is opened all the way. Ensure the air is on my watching your computer or gauge while breathing off your second stage. If your air is off you will see drastic drops in the amount of air pressure on your computer. If your air is on you most likely see small drops in air pressure. During this step also make sure you have enough air to complete the dive plan both you and your buddy discussed. If not it is a good idea to swap out your cylinder with one that has more air.
F – FRIEND - F stands for final okay. Before making the final trek to the ocean make sure you have all of your gear including any diving tools needed for the dives activities in addition to mask, fins, snorkel, booties, and gloves, dive knife, and signal device. Prior to the final step you should discuss these things before entering the water:
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Where and how you plan on entering and exiting the surf zone.
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What navigation headings you wish to follow while doing the dive, as well as alternates in the event visibility, surge, or surf changes during the dive
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Go over all of the signals you may need during the course of the dive.
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Dive buddies should also discuss how much air they plan on using throughout the dive, or agree upon specific events to happen at specific times. Safety stops, and transitions from deeper depths to shallower depths are good examples of this. As a general rule of thumb, many divers use the 1/3 rule. For example two divers diving with AL 3,000 psi, 80 cu ft cylinders might swim underwater until 1,000 psi has been used. Upon reaching a total of 2,000 psi these divers would notify each other once one of the divers reached this limit. Now these divers would return to the beach using the return headings they agreed upon before the dive. When done properly, this 1/3 rule will allow a diver to return to the surface with 1,000 psi at the end of the dive for emergency use.
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Divers should also agree upon buddy techniques. When diving in teams it is important one diver always leads, and the other follows. Kelp etiquette including who will follow who, or how thick kelp will be navigated in the team is also important. Low visibility is normally a concern in Southern California and ideas should be discussed to ensure the buddy team stays together despite low visibility.
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Separation techniques should also be discussed. Such as what to do when separated. Most divers will look around for one minute in optimum conditions and then make a slow and safe ascent to the surface to reunite.
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In the event a diving accident does occur it is important your dive team understands what to do. Rescue training is recommended for every diver, regardless of how often they dive. Both divers should be familiar with the location of first aid equipment, cell phones, and local emergency numbers. Lifeguards if present should be consulted on emergency protocol, and it is always a good idea to give them an end of dive time frame.
AFTER THE DIVE
Now that you have completed your dive it is a good time to remove your gear and start reflecting on the dive. While you are thinking about the dive it is also a good time to log the events of the dive while your memory is fresh! Keep track of nitrogen levels, bottom time, exposure protection, weight, and bottom temperatures for when you find yourself diving in that location again next year! It is also a good idea to keep track of what you saw while you are down there! In the future you may begin to notice trends of what you will find at one particular beach spot as you dive that spot year in and year out.
Hydration is very important. Always make sure you have plenty of fluids, water and Gatorade® or good choices. If you plan on making a repetitive dive (more than one dive in a day), then you will definitely want to make sure you bring something to eat. Bananas and kiwis are great sources of phosphates and should be eaten to help avoid cramping in the leg muscles during a dive. Other alternatives include nutritional bars and other fruits.
Now that you have taken care of yourself don't forget to take care of your gear! When done with your diving for the day, many divers find it handy to bring a large tub to rinse their scuba gear after their dive! Always use fresh water and be careful not to use detergents which may damage your gear and the environment! Always hang your gear in cool environments with lots of air circulation. Most gear should be aired out without direct sunlight contacting the gear. This will help prevent bleaching and cracking on various components of your gear.
A contribution by Matt Wahlrab
Matthew Wahlrab is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer with over 1,030 dives logged throughout Southern California.
REFERENCES:
PADI Open Water Multimedia Lesson Guides, PADI International, 1999
Does this article help? Drop us a line at info@calcoastdivers.com and let us know what we can do to improve it or answer more questions you may have!
Copyrighted by Ryan Jaeger & Matthew J. Wahlrab 2002 - 20032