Ziray Studio Labs

On our fourth dive of the day, Laszlo and I performed our underwater navigation tests for our Advanced Open Water Certification (AOW). This was Juanca’s first dive as a certified diver, so he, Elena and Ana went off with my camera and took some pictures of themselves. We met back up after the test so some of the latter photos are mine as well.

If you are curious, it takes me 18 kick cycles to travel 50 feet underwater. We stayed under water for 45 minutes and even though we were only 24 feet deep at the max, we used a lot of our air performing the AOW tests, down from 3000 PSI to 850 PSI in the end.

Check out the photos below:

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After our deep dive on the USCGC Bibb, we used our second tank of nitrox (31% oxygen) for this very shallow dive to a max depth of 34 feet on Molasses Reef. The nitrox helped with fatigue and with a strong current. The current during our stay, we were told, was very unusual for Florida. Even so, it was a beautiful dive amongst beautiful animals and other ocean life.

Even though this was a pleasure dive, Laszlo and I practiced kick cycles and compass navigation in anticipation of our navigation dive for our Advanced Open Water certification.

Total bottom time was 52 minutes and I went from 3400 PSI in my tank to only 1800 PSI. Breathing nitrox definitely helped us consume less air, though the shallow depth also helps.

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After learning to scuba dive, I put diving the Bibb on my list of things to do in my life. The U.S.C.G.C. Bibb was the ship my grandfather served on in the Pacific theater during World War 2. I was very young when I learned that the Bibb was sunk off the coast of Florida as an artificial reef. It never occurred to me that I would ever get to see it in person. I had heard a number of stories about the Bibb and was told that during its service in WWII, it was the ship that carried the Admiral of the fleet since the Bibb, being a Coast Guard ship, was one of the smallest of the U.S. Navy fleet.

I brought one of my camera so I got some photos and video of the experience.

A Little Visual History

The United States Coast Guard has a page on the history of the Bibb with a bunch of photos of its early history, so be sure to check that out. Below are some photos my aunt sent me.

The picture above actually has my grandfather in it. He’s standing on the deck of the ship looking at the camera, to the left of another sailor in white, just to the left of the deck gun that’s in the center of the photograph. It’s hard to see in the photo of this size, but it’s him.

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On Virginia Tech’s Reading Day (the day between classes and the beginning of finals), the Scuba Club at Virginia Tech (SCVT) performed a clean up on the New River near Radford, VA. We picked up several trash bags of garbage, mostly that were left behind from the fishermen that frequent there. There were plenty of fishing line, beer cans and other trash to keep us busy for a few hours and we do this every year.

As it had been raining for the past several days prior, the river level was two feet higher than normal, and big trees were being swept down river. The visibility was non-existent and we didn’t want to get caught or crushed by the trees coming down, so we didn’t get to go diving. However, there is still a ton more beer cans and other trash left by the fishermen at the bottom of the river that we have yet to get to.

While we were there, a photographer from the Roanoke Times took several photos of us as we worked. I had passed up picking up some trash that was in the water because I was wearing shoes but since I had all my scuba equipment with me, I put on my diving boots and jumped into the water to pick up the pieces I had missed.

The photographer caught me just as I was walking out of the river and they put me as their main image. Pretty cool. Check out the image below and download the PDF for the full size.

SCVT May 7, 2009 River Cleanup

After we dived at the river that morning I then headed to a day on the lake. The water was cold but I still had my wetsuit so I made good use of it there as well.

April Trip to Claytor Lake

It may look innocent, but it was freezing cold water

 

Gabor up on the wake board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gabor is in a bit of pain after one of his falls