Posted by kelphead on August 22, 2000 at 16:26:03:
In Reply to: Two novice divers rescued by Lifeguard at Leo Carillo posted by JC on August 19, 2000 at 06:19:04:
but just wanted to say that i, too, have been caught
in the 'rinse cycle' at leo carillo.
= : )
1st of all, i'm glad to hear that the ending was
a happy one.
2nd of all, the mistake me and my buddy made was
to dive at the wrong site--we dove off lifeguard tower
#1 instead of off #2 or #3 as mentioned in the book
and as we had planned (i got confused w/the map and
the info the park ranger gave me).
it was STILL a beautiful dive, but a lot of work for
me to get over all those stupid rocks.
anyway, the only other couple pieces of advice i
wanted to add were:
**remember that the earlier in the morning you plan
your beach dive, the better. GENERALLY, the surf picks
up later in the morning (ie, mid-morning) so it's
best to get there super early (ie, 6am/7am/8am). treat
this as a general statement, as some beaches will still
get beat up more than others even in the morning,
and depending on conditions.
**get hold of the tide charts which will tell you
when low and high tides are. it's always easier to
dive during high tide than low tide (low tide was
also my enemy at leo carillo as we waited a little
too long in the day to make our 2nd dive and it was torture
for me to climb over those rocks that were now out
of the water).
**one thing i noticed w/my 'seaquest diva qd' b.c.
is that though i do like it, i've learned that
b/c of the design, i get b.c. squeeze. i'm wondering
if part of the reason you had trouble breathing may
have been due to b.c. squeeze. i know that it makes
a TON!!!!! of difference for me when i use a backpack
style vs. my jacket style b.c. so, if you had
your b.c. inflated a little (or a lot), coupled w/your
panic, that may have contributed to your difficulty
in breathing, but you don't mention if you even had your
b.c. inflated and if so by how much. don't know
what to tell you to alleviate this, if it was a factor,
but just wanted you to be aware that it may have been
a factor.
anyway, though it may have seemed harrowing, you went
through what a lot of cal divers go through, and that
is a learning curve.
= : )
congrats, and hope to see you in the water some time.
kelphead.