Logbook Scuba Dive # 112 - Portsea Pier

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Date:	Entry Time:	Dive Time:	Max. Depth:
Sun, 15-Jul-2007	12:33:00	36 minutes	5.2 metres
Dive Location:		City / Island:
Portsea Pier		Port Phillip, VIC
Country:		Dive Master:
Australia		-
Dive Shop:		Dive Trip:
-		-
Buddy/Buddies:
Dave Kelly
Dive Details:
Entry:	Boat Name:
Shore	-
Start PG:	Entry Time:	Exit Time:	End PG:
A	12:33:00	13:09:00	-
Altitude:	Rep. Dive:	Surface Interval:
0 m	No	00:19
Max. Depth:			Avg. Depth:
5.2 metres			3.69 m
	Dive Time:		Deco. Dive:
	36 minutes		No
Conditions:
Weather:	Air Temp.:	Water Temp.:
Clear	12 °C	11 °C
Water:	Waves:	Current:
Salt	No Waves	No Current
Visibility:	Horizontal Vis.:	Vertical Vis.:
Good	-	-
Equipment:
Weight:	Dive Suit:	Dive Computer:
25 kg	Drysuit	Suunto Vytec DS
Equipment used on this dive:
Apeks ATX100 Regulator \| Apeks ATX40 Octopus \| Apollo Bio-Fin Pro \| Apollo Ecodiver Dive Boots \| DUI Weight & Trim 2 Harness \| Faber 12.2L Steel Cylinder \| Northern Diver CNX2-RI Dry Suit \| Northern Diver Superstretch 2mm Neoprene Gloves \| Northern Diver Thermalskin \| Oceanic Spinner Pointed Dive Knife \| Oceansuits 3mm Hood \| OMS Compact Quick Dump Weight Pockets \| OMS Dual Bladder, Banded Wing - Rec \| OMS IQ Pack BC Harness \| Princeton Tec Impact XL Dive Light \| Sonar Explorer Blue Silicone Mask \| Suunto CB-Two-In-Line Combo Console - 1 \| Suunto SK-7 Compass Wrist - 1 \| Suunto Vytec DS Dive Computer \| Waterborne Safety Strap - Vytec

Cylinder Set #1
Cylinder Type:	Cylinder Size:	Working Pressure:	Supply Type:
Steel	12 litres	232 bar	Open Circuit (OC)
O2:	He:	Min. PPO2:	Max. PPO2:
21%	0%	-	1.4 bar
EAN 21	MOD:	EAD:	END:
EAN 21	56.6 m	56.6 m	56.6 m
Start Pressure:	End Pressure:	Diff. Pressure:
158 bar	78 bar	80 bar
Avg. Depth:	SAC Rate:
-	-

Avg. Depth:	SAC Rate:
3.69 m	19.48 litres/min
Gas Mixture:
Air

Dropped in at The Scuba Doctor to meet up with Dave Kelly and the others. Dave was going to do his second dive in his new Northern Diver dry suit, with me doing my first ever dry suit dive, at Portsea Pier. Andy Lowther was taking two Open Water students for a pier dive and would be on hand to offer advice and assistance. Eventually we left the dive shop and headed down to Portsea. Geared up into the dry suit. The neck seal was really tight. Headed out onto Portsea Pier. We only had access to the first part of the boat landing as the rest of the pier was under going a major repair programme. The dry suit neck seal was really getting to me. You know you're not doing well when those around you are asking, "Are you alright Lloyd?" I was comforted by the way they were looking out for me. Eventually I was fully geared up and stepped into the water. I was like a cork. I dumped all of the air in my BC, plus any air in the dry suit. I was still like a cork. Dave was also a bit too buoyant, though not nearly as bad. We headed into the shore and added an extra 4 kg of lead I'd bought with me to my weight harness. It wasn't enough. And did I mention that the neck seal was really, really getting to me. After a while Andy came by having finished the dive with the two students. He started to transfer lead weights from his weight belt to us until we were both negatively buoyant. Then we started the dive proper. Diving in the dry suit was certainly very different. I was soon getting on top of inflating and deflating the dry suit, but getting my trim right was a bit problematic. Leaning slightly to the right to turn caused all of the air to transfer to the left, tipping me further to the right than I wanted, and vice versa. Same for head and leg trim. I got myself well out of shape on a number of occasions, but always managed to sort it out okay. I figure if I can manage to do this at such shallow depths, where the pressure differentials are greatest, without going to the surface, then I'm doing reasonably okay. The repair work being done to take out and drive in new pier piles had certainly changed the underwater landscape of the pier. It was like a construction site, not a marine habitat, in the area being worked on. We both slowly headed out to the far end of the pier, and then headed back. About then I noticed that I wasn't really much warmer than in my semi-dry wet suit. I made a mental note that I might have to think about warmer garments. The Northern Diver Thermalskin with just cotton tracky-daks and a cotton polo top wasn't doing the job as well as I thought it would. While diving the neck seal wasn't a problem. But once we came out of the water back in the shore area, I was again struggling to get blood to my head. I took my time getting my gear off and getting back to the car. On taking my dry suit off I found I was pretty wet all down the front of my polo top and the arms. Back and legs were still dry though. Obviously while yanking the neck seal away from my throat while trying to get some blood to my head before diving, I had caused this area not to seal properly. All earlier thoughts of heading out for a second dive on the Eliza Ramsden with Andy and the Open Water students were abandoned. Obviously I need to make some changes to that neck seal and do some more pier dives to get properly used to dry suit diving. As with most gear I add to my setup, it takes time and practice to get it sorted while diving. On arrival back at The Scuba Doctor, I unloaded my weight harness and worked out how much extra lead had been added. I did the dive with 25 kilograms of lead, 10 kg more than I would with my wet suit. No doubt less lead will be needed once I'm more adapted to the dry suit. In summary, right now I have a semi-dry wet suit, and a semi-wet dry suit. Diving certainly is a constant learning experience.

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