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Ken Tough wrote:
>
>Rosalie B. wrote:
>
>>FWIW, I mostly snorkel from our own boat or from the dinghy of our
>>boat. I check very carefully before I go in to see if I have any
>>current. If I do (like if I see water trails on the anchor chain) - I
>>don't go or if I must go (to check the anchor) I would make
>>arrangements to be tied to the boat.
>
>you might as well let your boat drift all the time, and have a
>longline to it, mightn't you? [Even if your husband is in it.
>I suppose with a wind you might not drift and the boat might, though]
No - if the boat is anchored it won't drift but I might. If I'm
snorkeling from the dinghy, my husband is in it and he could row it to
me if needed, but if I'm doing that I don't do it in areas with
current.
>
>>A lot of time when I say snorkeling, what I am really doing is free
>>diving (as above on the anchor), and a snorkeling vest would make that
>>more difficult. I'm often cleaning the prop or the hull of the boat,
>>and I just don't think I could do that with a snorkeling vest. As a
>>matter of fact, I'm so buoyant that it is very difficult for me to
>>free dive, and impossible if I wear a wet suit unless I also wear
>>weights.
>
>As I mentioned in the other post, a snorkel vest doesn't have
>any floatation at all if it's not inflated.
>
>The best thing I ever did for my diving was advanced PADI with a
>very good teacher (Sea Wolf, in Montserrat). Wolf is a master at
>bouyancy (and a scientist) and he proved to me that bouyancy, for
>-anyone- is simply a matter of air in the lungs. Meat (whether
>it's fat, bone, or muscle) is slightly negative bouyant. If you want
>to sink, relax and breath out. You'll sink. The air in your lungs
This is backwards from my experience. I had a student who could float
perfectly well if she was relaxed. If she tensed up, she sank right
to the bottom.
>doesn't help you with time under water. On dive trips, leaders have
>told us we need 5 or even 10 kilos of lead. When we say no, three
>kilos is plenty they refuse to believe it. But we're very very happy
>with it.
I am familiar with this concept. And I considered doing the AOW, but
there are some things in there that are required that I just don't
want to do.
I used to teach swimming and one of our instructors claimed that she
could teach 99% of people to float on their back without movement.
And she showed us how. But when I relax and breathe out, I don't sink
enough to get under the water all the way.
grandma Rosalie |