# one hell of a deep dive



## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

well afteralmost a year of having the dive plan hanging in my office if finally got the opportunity to do it.

I HIT THE SAND AT THE ORISKANY ON AIR!!!!!

i rolled of the boat with double LP 95's topped to 3200 of regular ol' 21% air and a 40cuft of 100% O2. my plan was 

150' for 5, 

220 for 5, 

150 for 10,

120 for 10, 

100 for 10 

then deco out at 70 for 3, 60 for 3, 50 for 4, 40 for 6, 30 for 8, 20' on O2 for 12

i got down to 150, grew some balls and down i went, getting more and more hammered every foot past 190 i got. at about 210' it tookboth hands to turn my flash light on, but i had no problem checking my air/bottom time/elapsed time. i did however have issues figuring out my bouancy once down at 224' due to the rediculous amount of gas that it takes at that depth to make youneutral. after 3 minutes at 224'i had seen a large shark, some giant snapper and grouper and some pretty colors it was time to go. had to use the sideof the ship to get myself past the 200 mark where i finally got possitive bouancy and started making my way back up. 

the"O" is definatelya different wreck now with the deck at 150'. what an experience...i have over 1000logged dives and theone where i didn't even carry my gun is now my most memorable.

TIME FOR HELIUM!!!!!


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## [email protected] (Mar 20, 2008)

dang man...cool dive


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

Dang Sean! tHAT IS BADASS/SLIGHTLY CRAZY!! yOU GOT STONES BIG AS CHURCHBELLS AMN! bUT YOU DID IT! :toast


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Thats a good ways down on air. I would have been narced out of my mind.


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## Sig (Oct 4, 2007)

Did you s_ _ tB.B.'s when you got home?


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## sniper (Oct 3, 2007)

That is LOCO man!!! Glad you survived to tell the tale.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Sean,

I'll second your "time for helium" remark. I hope you don't have any more such dive plans hanging in your office.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Sean, glad you were able to do it and do it safe. Sounds like you planned it alright, and had enough redundancy to make it safer.I bet it was a quite an experience, helium and staged 02 bottles should be in your future! You won't catch me going past 135 anymorerecreationally unless its an emergency. I'm already on about life 5 or 6 and I'm tryin to save some for when I really need them the next few years. Cool post, hope to dive with you again sometime.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

> *FenderBender (10/26/2008)*Sean, glad you were able to do it and do it safe. Sounds like you planned it alright, and had enough redundancy to make it safer.I bet it was a quite an experience, helium and staged 02 bottles should be in your future! You won't catch me going past 135 anymorerecreationally unless its an emergency. I'm already on about life 5 or 6 and I'm tryin to save some for when I really need them the next few years. Cool post, hope to dive with you again sometime.


You won't go past 135 until you see that prize grouper hovering around 150' oke


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## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

narced out of my mind does not even cover the experience. it was closer to not eating for 3 weeks then doing a shot of jack daniels every 5 minutes for 12 hours.:hoppingmad

fenderbender, i don't care what you say...the next dive we do together will be deaper that 130 and i gaurandamntee you that you want to go shoot some fish...you need a speargun with a welding lead for a trigger handle. hope school is going well

i don't know about sh*tting BB's but i am still verticle not pretzel shaped.

cheers guys


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## G-Reaper (Oct 27, 2008)

Hello Sean......:angel

Good to see someone so fired up about diving.....you've obviously got the fever.

I't probably slipped your mind to let everyone know that you should be trained to that depth, and that you should be trained in the conditions and depths that you will experience.

To go and "touch the sand" flys in the face of safety and the instruction that we rely on to keep us safe and protect those around us from our actions.

Safe Diving........G-Reaper......:hoppingmad


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Yeah your probably right Vlado... but I'm really trying to use self control and not do some of theunwise things I've fortunately gotten away with in the past. I'll be hitting 200+ plenty in the next few years (with a deco chamber on board  ) so maybe they'll let me take a gun with me for those long deco times and I won't feel the urge to do it on scuba. Looking forward to our next dive Sean maybe we can hit the Chevron my favorite. And as far as a welding lead for a speargun handle no thanks I burned the crap out of my hand underwater welding today! Its a weird blister type burn. Schools going great though less than a month left. I caught a small 8 inch bass behind the house a couple of weeks ago and took hinm to one of our diving tanks. I hand feed him worms. He also survived underwater welding without electrocution! I hope the next class keeps feeding him and I'll visit back in a few years and he will be a 12 lb lunker! 

dive safe all


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## Caver2130 (Jul 8, 2008)

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Mr. Reaper, you make some excellent points. While I've had the occasion to meet you several times, unfortunately I have never stuck around long enough to become one of your friends. I have done many dives that I maybe shouldn't have done andIhave seenmany depths that I wasn't qualified to see. While I am still here and still diving, I realize now that it was by the grace of God that I am still alive and well. Diving is a verysafe sport that does have its own unique set of risks. The training agencies have spent many hours developing educational systems that both manage and reduce those risks. By going outside of thoseguidelines by either going deeperthan certified and trained, diving without a buddy, or pushing the limits ofsafe diving, you are taking a safe sport and increasingly making it more dangerous. A good parallel is driving. Driving, if done well, can be inherently safe. But, as you start straying away from standard safe driving practices, you greatly increase your risk. Using a cell phone while driving, driving after a couple of alcoholic beverages, or watching movies while driving won't instantly kill you, but it does make the task more risky. While some might see this dive as "successful,"I would call it lucky. With the narcotic effects you experienced, your reaction times to any arising problems might have been too slow to respond.


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## kennethmandel62 (Oct 3, 2007)

Sean you're nuts man...I'm glad you had your plan laid out for a while (yeah right...you made it up about 2 sec before you hit the wateroke). You're a good guy and I'm definitely glad everything went as planned and you are alright.

Secondly....I do not recommend anybody being like Sean!!! Nobody, Nobody, Nobody. Sean has a lot of experience and a lot more training then most divers. 

You know onebit of advice I'll never forgetis what an olddive shop owner here in hattiesburg told me after I told him about Fender's AJ. He said,"You know that's stupid...Guys get away with doing stupid things all the time in divingand don't get hurt, then a young diver like you thinks it's ok and it's not!." 

Like I said before Sean has a lot of experience....and DO NOT BE LIKE SEAN!! 

Hey Sean was it worth doing again? Try not to be so inspiring to others in your response LOL


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

> *kennethmandel62 (10/27/2008)*Sean you're nuts man...I'm glad you had your plan laid out for a while (yeah right...you made it up about 2 sec before you hit the wateroke). You're a good guy and I'm definitely glad everything went as planned and you are alright.
> 
> Secondly....I do not recommend anybody being like Sean!!! Nobody, Nobody, Nobody. Sean has a lot of experience and a lot more training then most divers.
> 
> ...




And that dive shop owner you speak of in Hattiesburg would be Jim Toombes... ha ha ha ha I got my nitrox cert from him back in 2002. Strange guy for sure. But he is right.. diving is serious and the consequences can certainly be unforgiving. We all need to never lose our respect for the ocean and diving and spearfishing and the dangers that they entail.


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## GMan (Oct 17, 2007)

Congrats brother. Wish I would have been there...well maybe above there like 100' or so. Training and more training, you have become one with the force. Good job!!:clap:clap


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## no woryz (Oct 2, 2007)

Sean, Congrats on returning safely from your dive but I have to say that I hope you get your trimix cert before you consider a dive like that again. I have had the pleasure of diving with you and I consider you a friend which is why I share the concern for anyone taking risky chances while diving. I would be lost without my scuba diving and I also have taking it to the highest levels of training but I also vividly rememberthe manymissions whereI have had to recover the body of someone who acted careless or unsafe and that has given me a different perspective on these things. Scuba diving is dangerous under ideal conditions but even so I feel thatit is truly one of thegreatest things we will get the opportuinity to do, butit isnt worth dying for.......Dive Safe my brother and I will see you soon.....


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## gstetlerg (Feb 6, 2008)

Did you find my JBL Magnum while you were down there?


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## seanmclemore (Aug 20, 2008)

everyones comments, where pros or cons are valid and the most important one is the "was it worth doing again" NO

the only reason i even considered it was to confirm to myself only that further training is a must and as it has been said multiple times, we all push the limits (especially me) and get away with it, but what about that 1 time that we don't. litterally, had something gone bad down there, i know that i would not have been able to fix it where i would normally be able to in the 0-150' range. my original message should have been titled "dont try this at home"

me even going to that depth put people other than me at risk, which i never intended (i.e. selfishness) but in a way i'm glad i went because it just stresses that fact that you have to respect the sea or you won't make it...i'm luckier than most i guess but i am definately "back in check"

cheers to all, sorry to the ones that i put in jeopardy.:bowdown


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## G-Reaper (Oct 27, 2008)

> *Caver2130 (10/27/2008)* <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Mr. Reaper, you make some excellent points. While I've had the occasion to meet you several times, unfortunately I have never stuck around long enough to become one of your friends. I have done many dives that I maybe shouldn't have done andIhave seenmany depths that I wasn't qualified to see. While I am still here and still diving, I realize now that it was by the grace of God that I am still alive and well. Diving is a verysafe sport that does have its own unique set of risks. The training agencies have spent many hours developing educational systems that both manage and reduce those risks. By going outside of thoseguidelines by either going deeperthan certified and trained, diving without a buddy, or pushing the limits ofsafe diving, you are taking a safe sport and increasingly making it more dangerous. A good parallel is driving. Driving, if done well, can be inherently safe. But, as you start straying away from standard safe driving practices, you greatly increase your risk. Using a cell phone while driving, driving after a couple of alcoholic beverages, or watching movies while driving won't instantly kill you, but it does make the task more risky. While some might see this dive as "successful,"I would call it lucky. With the narcotic effects you experienced, your reaction times to any arising problems might have been too slow to respond.


 <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Yes, pushing ones limits is what learning is all about, but in deep diving it's important to have someone there to save your a** the first few times you screw up. A good instructor will even cause a few problems on purpose if you are sailing along too smoothly to be learning anything. Alone, at 200+ feet isn't the time to learn what to do if you loose your mask with an hour of deco to do, or how to figure your deco without any gauges, or that throwing away a $1000 deco rig may save your life, or how not to get caught in one of the million little traps that you can unknowingly get yourself into if you haven't already been busted doing them a few times already. <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> This is still an experimental sport, but it's arrogant to experiment before you have learned all that your instructors can teach.


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## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

> Yes, pushing ones limits is what learning is all about, but in deep diving it's important to have someone there to save your a** the first few times you screw up. A good instructor will even cause a few problems on purpose if you are sailing along too smoothly to be learning anything. Alone, at 200+ feet isn't the time to learn what to do if you loose your mask with an hour of deco to do, or how to figure your deco without any gauges, or that throwing away a $1000 deco rig may save your life, or how not to get caught in one of the million little traps that you can unknowingly get yourself into if you haven't already been busted doing them a few times already. <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> This is still an experimental sport, but it's arrogant to experiment before you have learned all that your instructors can teach.


<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Extremely well put! :clap


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## bmoore (Oct 10, 2007)

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=smalltxt vAlign=top><SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_lblFullMessage>"well afteralmost a year of having the dive plan hanging in my office if finally got the opportunity to do it. 

I HIT THE SAND AT THE ORISKANY ON AIR!!!!!

i rolled of the boat with double LP 95's topped to 3200 of regular ol' 21% air and a 40cuft of 100% O2. "

*Congrats!*

I did this about a year ago thinking I would find some gear...didn't find any that time...... 

It is a different experience being on the sand there looking up at that huge chunk of steel rising out of view is'nt it!

You sound like you had the right set up for it and planned it out accordingly. On your doubles, did you have a first stage, second stage and pressure guageon each post?If you are diving deep, alone,( and there are mixed feelings on the subject), you need to bring your buddy with you and have *total redundancy*. 

If I am making a dive at the 200ft level I will have two (or even three) of everything including computers. I also bring an analog gauge and a timer with some tables incase all else fails. Mask in a pocket on the old harness is coming along as well!

Here is a link with some equipment configurations you might befind interesting:

http://www.gue.com/?q=en/Equipment/Config/index.html

Read up and be safe.

*Congratulations again!*</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## Mike aka FishWerks (Oct 22, 2007)

> *G-Reaper (10/27/2008)*Hello Sean......:angel
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Very well said and it needed to be said. Your post count makes me wonder; Who are you really Mr. Reaper?


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## cmufieldhockey8 (May 6, 2008)

Mr. Sean, I saw that you have over 1000 dives, would you mind telling us who don't know you what your certification level is?


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## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

He's Tech certified, Adv Ean, Staged Deco at least, maybe more. He pushed this one a bit though.


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## Crayfishtom (Oct 31, 2008)

I just saw the dive posted and am amazed at this attempt without anyone with you and even one or more at deco levels. having been a navy trained diver and certified NAUI,PADI and YMCA scuba instructor for many yrs. I to was very safety oriented with thousands of hrs u/w including under ice,cave, rescue and deep diving. However, sometimes things occur at depth we don't remember. I spent 7 days in a chamber at Duke University after a dive, they(Duke Dr's) could not pinpoint the cause,:did not exceed the time at depth per tables.After recovery and able to walk again it will wake you up, next time could be your last. So my suggestion is to not exceed the sport diving limit for scuba unless you are Highly trained and have resources (chamber,Dr.'s) to help if needed. Good diving

Crayfishtom


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## spearfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

> *Mike aka FishWerks (10/28/2008)*
> 
> 
> > *G-Reaper (10/27/2008)*Hello Sean......:angel
> ...


Mike,G-Reaper isone of the most qualified divers I know to speak on the subject.


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## FLYBOY (Oct 3, 2007)

Glad to see you finally did it:bowdown....see anything we can shoot down there...save me a few fish...96 days and counting


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## KeyLargoKip (Nov 17, 2008)

Whoa!



I always like to read DAN's annual report on DCS, scuba incidents and fatalities. One of the most interesting (and consistent) statistics is that the vast majority of dive fatalities occur with "experienced" divers who have 6 or more years of experience. Check it out: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/index.asp



I don't know your level of certification, obviously not trimix but hopefully you are at least trained for deep air and decompression procedures. Reading about it in a book and cutting tables using some computer generated algorithm can be done by anyone. The vast majority of training for technical diving is about what to do when things don't go as planned and things NEVER go as planned!



I spent more than 10 years "in the business" teaching scuba, teaching instructors and driving charter boats and the dead divers I pulled out of the water were almost always the ones who came off as having the most experience.



Trimix was developed for a reason - to keep your END as close to 130' as possible. And the reason for that was too many divers were dying because the deeper they got the stupider they got.



Diving beyond your training and experience and beyond recommended limits for gases isn't brave, isn't pushing the envelope, and isn't to be congratulated - its dangerous and serves no purpose.



My advice: if you want to know what its liked to be really narced drink a bottle of Jack Daniels and have someone drive you to the emergency room. Your chances of survival will be higher.


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## Biller48 (Oct 1, 2008)

sounds like a wild dive, man i'd probally still be there after narking out and chasing colors. great post.:clap


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