Need recommendations for in-depth snorkeling

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Rosalie B. <gmbeasle@> 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]

>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
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.

--
Ken Tough

x-no-archive:yes

Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:
>
>Rosalie B. <gmbeasle@> 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

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Rosalie B. <gmbeasle@> wrote:

>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.

All I can say is that you just aren't breathing out enough.
Try dropping your shoulders. Anyway, if you wanted to do
some advanced training without doing the whole AOW course,
I'm sure you could find a lot of instructors who would be
willing to give a lot of good advice. It does make diving
much more pleasurable, and really the merit badge doesn't
count for anything at all.

--
Ken Tough

x-no-archive:yes

Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:
>
>Rosalie B. <gmbeasle@> wrote:
>
>>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.
>
>All I can say is that you just aren't breathing out enough.
>Try dropping your shoulders. Anyway, if you wanted to do

I'm floating vertical in the water with just the top of my head out.
Perhaps I don't breathe out enough, but I don't think dropping my
shoulders will have an effect.

If you are judging on your own experience, I might say that men are
generally less buoyant than women are. Most of the people that are
unable to float are men.

>some advanced training without doing the whole AOW course,

I have done a bunch of the things that the AOW includes - actually
most of it except for the items that I wasn't interested in doing.

>I'm sure you could find a lot of instructors who would be
>willing to give a lot of good advice. It does make diving
>much more pleasurable, and really the merit badge doesn't
>count for anything at all.

Agree 100% with this.

grandma Rosalie

x-no-archive:yes

>I'm floating vertical in the water with just the top of my head out.
>Perhaps I don't breathe out enough, but I don't think dropping my
>shoulders will have an effect.

It makes you relax, and that allows more air to get out of
your lungs. Think about when you get worked-up/nervous about
anything and your shoulders climb up around your ears. Naturally,
you hold more air in your chest. Relax & drop your shoulders
and the first thing that happens is you breathe out (more).

--
Ken Tough

x-no-archive:yes


Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:

>
>>I'm floating vertical in the water with just the top of my head out.
>>Perhaps I don't breathe out enough, but I don't think dropping my
>>shoulders will have an effect.
>
>It makes you relax, and that allows more air to get out of
>your lungs. Think about when you get worked-up/nervous about
>anything and your shoulders climb up around your ears. Naturally,
>you hold more air in your chest. Relax & drop your shoulders
>and the first thing that happens is you breathe out (more).

Oh - when I'm trying to relax, I start with the scalp. I'm really not
at all tense in the water.

Maybe I should tell the story about when I was qualifying some
students for their Red Cross Life Saving certification. Someone else
(a guy who swam on the swim team I coached) had taught the class, but
I was going sign off on them. One of the things they had to do was to
tow me around the perimeter of the pool and pick me up out of the
pool. One of the guys had me in a cross chest carry, and he said
that towing me was 'like having your own personal floatation device'.
I was in my mid to late 30s at the time and was pretty fit i.e. not
fat.

One of the other things I did was pretend to be drowning and have them
get in and save me. I got one teenage boy in a front headlock, and he
panicked and could not get out, so I wouldn't pass him. His mom was
furious - she said it was sexual harassment. But my pov was if he
couldn't save a buxom lady old enough to be his mother, he wasn't safe
to be lifeguard.



grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. <gmbeasle@> wrote:

>One of the other things I did was pretend to be drowning and have them
>get in and save me. I got one teenage boy in a front headlock, and he
>panicked and could not get out, so I wouldn't pass him. His mom was
>furious - she said it was sexual harassment. But my pov was if he
>couldn't save a buxom lady old enough to be his mother, he wasn't safe
>to be lifeguard.

Fair enough. It was part of our lifesaving training to try and
drown the saver, who then had to get themselves out of it. (Best
thing is a backward roll and a good kick in the chest.) We also
did mouth-to-mouth, actually inflating each other's lungs. Quite
an odd feeling you don't forget.. Don't see that much anymore,
since ResusiAnny was born.
--
Ken Tough