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limeyx · April 21st, 2006, 06:05 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by GLOC)

Following on from our trip to Plymouth this week where 3 of the board undertook a night dive (planned I may add

), we came across a problem which is alluded to in Garf's trip report (I'm still typing mine up), how to run the ascent on a night dive.

The problem arose because it was pitch black and we were ascending using a spool. The process we used we realised was flawed in that Garf did not use another team member to hold position (although we were there) and provide depth reference, but rather reeled, used the main light and tried to read the depth gauge.

The solution we came up with was to stow the main light for the reel man, use one of the other 2 to provide the vertical reference and probably use the back up lights rather than main lights - a 24W HID is a bit of an overkill for reading your depth gauge!

What are the thoughts from those who have done this more than have (which is once)!

Regards

We dont bother with a line at night really. We have two cases:

1) Shore dive -- usually can follow the bottom up to 20 feet or so.
2) Where that's not possible, we dont shoot a line, just keep the HID in hand and do a free ascent. Guy running deco is supposed to maintain depth, but obviously each person in the team has to maintain their own depth if he screws up.

April 21st, 2006, 06:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
limeyx(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 736	Quote: (Originally Posted by GLOC) Following on from our trip to Plymouth this week where 3 of the board undertook a night dive (planned I may add ), we came across a problem which is alluded to in Garf's trip report (I'm still typing mine up), how to run the ascent on a night dive. The problem arose because it was pitch black and we were ascending using a spool. The process we used we realised was flawed in that Garf did not use another team member to hold position (although we were there) and provide depth reference, but rather reeled, used the main light and tried to read the depth gauge. The solution we came up with was to stow the main light for the reel man, use one of the other 2 to provide the vertical reference and probably use the back up lights rather than main lights - a 24W HID is a bit of an overkill for reading your depth gauge! What are the thoughts from those who have done this more than have (which is once)! Regards We dont bother with a line at night really. We have two cases: 1) Shore dive -- usually can follow the bottom up to 20 feet or so. 2) Where that's not possible, we dont shoot a line, just keep the HID in hand and do a free ascent. Guy running deco is supposed to maintain depth, but obviously each person in the team has to maintain their own depth if he screws up.