Freedive scootering?

[Frank O'Donnell]

I get out freediving on a regular basis on charter boats that draw many scuba divers, including several friends who bring along Gavins. One of these trips I was thinking of bribing them into lending me one to play with for a few minutes during one of their surface intervals.

Is freedive scootering just a matter of breathing up, pressing the trigger and letting er rip? Or is there any technique or other considerations that should be kept in mind for a safe dive? (I'd think with anything that speeds up descents you'd want to be careful with equalizing.) Thanks for any input.

 

[Jon]

Frank,

I use mine all the time. I put a scooter ring and crotch strap on a weight belt and took off all of the lead. I also use a regular nylon scuba belt and not a rubber freediving belt for this. This allows me to clear my ears with one hand while driving with the other.

A few years ago I met Kirk Krack at DEMA and he convinced me to carry a Spare-air along with me. I keep it on the right hip of my belt and only use it with my scooter- never while just plain freediving. I figure that if the scooter would flood I could get a breath and dump the scooter. Since I don't wear any lead I would get back to the surface without a problem.

Using a scooter allows me to retrieve weightbelts that the bubble blowr's always seem to be dropping. I wouldn't want to try and drag a 30+ pound belt up from depth on my own.

My father-in-law just got a Gavin and I hope to use it this summer. Right now I have an old Dacor Seasprint. I have used a friends Aeris which was pretty nice because it balances out better and it has a battery meter. It is very easy to see when your running out of juice and need to get back to the boat.

Jon

 

[Frank O'Donnell]

Scooter brands

Jon, thanks for the tips, those are all really helpful ideas.

By the way, pleading guilty to a fairly high cluelessness quotient in this particular area, I'm not all that clear on one make vs. another. After checking out some online pictures I can see that although my scootering scuba buddies are DIR-oriented, it's Makos rather than Gavins they're driving. (Still a nice DPV.)

 

[Jon]

Frank,

You can get a Mako, by Oceanic, for a LOT less money than a Gavin. I believe that a Gavin has rewound Mako motor in it.

Most divers I know go with Mako's until they can afford a Gavin. George even has a trade in policy for Makos towards buying a Gavin.

I'm lucky to just be able to afford my old Dacor.

Jon

 

[Parapsycho]

Ebay...

I saw some on e-bay for as low as $340. I might have to save up for one during the summer. Heck, since im going to be majoring in electronics engineering, I could build my own for less than $200... Anyone else want one???
See ya,
Parapsycho

 

[efattah]

You must be very careful not to get decompression sickness while freediving with a scooter (Kirk Krack got bad DCS from scooter diving). You can stay down just way too long.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[Jon]

Kirk was also going to 257' at the time.

My scootering all takes place in 100' of water and I always double my surface time before I go down again.

Jon

 

[efattah]

According to most freediving tables, diving with a 2:1 ratio (surface:bottom time) at 30m results in a DCS risk after 2 hours. With a scooter it will be even worse because most of the time will be spent on the bottom, as opposed to in midwater during the slower ascent/descent with fins.

Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[Jon]

So would you recommend a 3:1 or a 4:1 ratio?

Jon

 

[DeepThought]

oo, i've been out there for too long. :hmm
how can i get hold of those freediving tables?

 

[efattah]

Laminar and I follow a few rules during deep recreational diving:
30m 2 minute dives are followed by a 4+ minute surface interval, taking care not to keep this up for more than 1 hour
40m 2 minute dives are followed by a 7+ minute surface interval, taking care not to keep this up for more than 1 hour

With a scooter, due to the different profile (more bottom time) and much faster ascent rate, I would double those surface interval times.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[ivan]

hi Eric

That seems like unusually long surface times for someone like you, World spearfishing champion Alberto March apparently does Repetitive dives at the World champs in Tahiti a couple years back to 45m some of his dives were over 3mins he keeps this up for 6 or more hours. If I remember correctly he took a bubble to the brain a couple of times so maybe that is what you are trying to say about Surface times. Btw is a bubble to the brain DCS.

cheers

 

[pkotik]

SCOOTER VIDEO FOOTAGE ?

If anybody has high-quality, preferably digital video footage of scooter freediving, please contact me with a PM.

I am interested in acquisition.


Paul Kotik

 

[Jon]

I don't have any right now, but I could get some in the next month or two.

I know that there's a video out there somewhere of me "hamming" it up for the camera right before I slammed my head, and scooter, into the side of a shipwreck.:head

Luckily that hasn't surfaced anywhere that I have seen.

Jon

 

[efattah]

Ivan,

The surface times I listed are what you need to avoid DCS. These are not the times that laminar and I need to recover. We typically recover within about 2.5-3 minutes, but must force ourselves to wait for the required interval to go back down.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[ivan]

hi

Oh right thanks bud, come to think of it thats pretty insane freedivers kinda using tables like the scuba guys except you guys have got no tanks :duh

cheers

 

[DeepThought]

Tables.

10x Eric.
although i'm not yet in the phase that those rules would help me.
since i dive shallower, and i dive in (much) warmer water, more chance that i'll be diving for 4 hours or so at the 20's.
are there real tables for that?

 

[DeepThought]

Scootering.

Does anyone has a clue about changing the dive style during the dive?
for example: taking a ride down with a scooter to a wreck 35meters down, parking it on the deck (imagine yourself it's a sunken scooter carrier), swimming inside, and when time comes, going out and taking a ride up.
is that a good idea or a bad idea?

So Paul, going the american way? more expensive, less effort?
should be good fun, i'de be carefull not to get addicted to the easy ride.:hmm