I finally managed to get into the water for the first time this year. I headed down to White Star Quarry for their unofficial opening on March 30th. There were several things I was hoping to accomplish on this dive and I got part of the way there.
Dive Log:
| Dive Number | Entry Time | Bottom Time | Max Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11:33 | 28 min | 45 ft |
| 2 | 13:41 | 28 min | 49 ft |
Goals for the day:
- Get in the water
- Try out a Whites Fusion Dry Suit
- Test my SCBT for the first time in the water
Work out trim weight for diving with 30 cft pony.- Meet new people
I had called a few people that I have dove with before and they were not interested because of the cold water. So I drove down knowing that I would be able to dive with someone. Before the weekend I really didn’t have time to prep so I was a little rushed and managed to leave one of my integrated weight pockets for my BCD. I pack enough extra weight that I just moved more to my belt and solved that issue. It did however prevent me from testing my pony weight and trim as I spent more time playing with my buoyancy than I had planned. There was some thin ice when I arrived around 9:30am but that was long gone by the time we got in the water. I ended up diving with an instructor that was there alone with the same thought that there would be someone to dive with.
I have used dry suits before but this was my first time with a Fusion and I’m totally impressed. All other things being equal I found trim orders of magnitude easier. That is about the only major difference I found between that and the DUI Tri-Laminate that I had used in the past. Between this and the price this is without a doubt the route I’m going for purchase. (Now accepting donations for my dry suit fund).
That covered my first two goals.
The SCBT did not go well. It seemed to be running fine for the first part of the dive, then it just shut off. The iPhone was totally powered off. When I powered it on I made it to the lock screen and it shut down again. There was no indication of water (This was later confirmed by looking at the moisture indicators in the phone). The log in the app was 0 time. The most likely cause was the temperature change. The air temperature was around 50°F and the bottom temp was 37°F. It looks like the temperature change may have caused a current drop in the battery output shutting down the phone. I did not both trying to test it again for the second dive.
I met a few new people that I hope I’ll have many chances to dive with in the future.
