Posted by Dick Analog on April 19, 2005 at 08:00:34:
We tagged along with some friends this past weekend who extended their basic diver training with PADI-instructed 'adventure dives' at the Avalon dive park. As has been reported on this BBS for the past few days, visibility was not great by Catalina standards: 10-15ft on Saturday, improving to maybe 20ft on Sunday. But we still had some nice dives, with a fun bunch of folks. Of course, each day was concluded by the all-important, post-dive de-briefing at the Marlin Club.
I took the opportunity to make some final 'tweaks' to the pony-bottle based alternate air supply system described earlier on the BBS. All of the weight distribution issues have been resolved, so now I fly 'straight and level'. And by pushing the pony bottle tight up against the BC's frame and positioning the bottle's SPG hose so that it spans the gap between the bottle and main tank, I had no problems with kelp entanglement (except for my &^%$# fin buckles) during several day dives and one night dive. The last dive on the last day was concluded by breathing 10 minutes from the alternate air system for the final ascent (from about 25ft) and safety stop. Everything checked out OK. Thanks again to all who provided input and suggestions for alternate air systems.