Humboldt Squid and Other Good Things

The Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as Jumbo Squid, Jumbo Flying Squid, or Diablo Rojo (Red Devil), is a large, aggressive predatory squid found in the waters of the Humboldt Current in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They are most commonly found at depths of 200-700 meters (600 to 2300 feet), from Tierra del Fuego to California. Recent findings suggest the range of this species is spreading north into the waters of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska ~ Wikpedia

We got the best of the days this weekend for our New Years Dive. We held our breath and watched the weather reports and waited...... Morning arrived as did my ride. Time is a relative thing ....we weren’t late. That is a good thing. 9AM is a civilized time to set sail.

The parking lot at the Belmar Marina is in the midst of repair and refurbishing. Unfortunately some precious parking spaces have been lost to the beautification and improvement process. Take note for next year.

My first Jersey boat dive of this year was on the Stingray, so it is apropos that my last one should be. There were seven of us and the good Captain this morning, Mark and myself, Steve (SteveR), Ernie (theRookman), Bob (PIR8), Jeff, and Sean (Martini), ready for whatever was in store for us. There was some frost this morning, and the skies were a bit gray but the heater was roaring and the Scuba Gods smiled on us with near flat seas and occasional wide troughed roller. We were headed for the Northeast Sailor. This site was on my list of places to revisit since my dive there earlier in the season was cut short. These are all good things.

This wreck lies in 75 feet of water and is the remains of an unknown wooden sailing ship. The absence of towing bits is an indicator that this was probably not a schooner barge. Low lying wreckage remains along with a huge anchor pile and some machinery and boilers. Ernie had predicted 42F water with 15-20 foot viz. I contemplated the calm water and incoming tides as I geared up. My last dive of the year, I was hoping not to be disappointed. I rolled in and came up in a bit of current, swimming like crazy for the line at the back of the boat. Mark followed and we headed on down. There were chunks of particulate in the gray green water as we went down but light was filtering through and as the strobe on the chain came into view I smiled.

Mark tied off a reel and we set out to look about. There were a few issues with the reel and he wrestled with it as I looked about. I had my reel but he was determined and so we continued. We followed some ribs out and looked about and then poked around the chain pile looking in the dents and holes. While filled with swimmy guys, they were all rather small, some barely worth poking. I grabbed an occasional tail or two for fun as we moved along looking about. Steve passed by us with his spear gun in tow just as I spied a nice sized fish tucked into a hole in the chain. I looked up, ready to signal Steve with my light, but he was too far passed, so....................I poked it.

As we continued to look about the reel was still behaving badly and so we turned around to head on up. There was still the occasional starfish lying about, some rather large, and lots of shells and Ernie was wrong. While we had the 15-20 foot visibility, the water temperature was 44 F not 42F. That is a good thing.

On the surface there was no one to greet me at the ladder.....it was a wee bit cold topside and everyone was taking advantage of the heater and I managed a respectable climb up on my own before Ernie came out to help. My first time up this ladder this year I did not fair so well. It wasn’t pretty. As I end the year, I am getting better. And that too is a good thing. We snacked and traded stories on the surface interval. There were many lobster on this wreck but they were all small or females with eggs. The wreck is known for its deep holes and several large sets of claws were tucked waaay back. Unfortunately Bobs suit leaked, he looked like he jumped overboard without it and he was sitting the next dive out.

We headed for our next site, a new one for me, the Spring Lake Wreck, an unidentfied turtled schooner barge named for its proximity to the town of Spring Lake. A buoy had been left on the site from earlier in the year and Ernie went down the line to check things out as we got ready. Just before we were ready to splash in he appeared on the ladder ranting and raving and carrying on. Apparently there was quite the current on the bottom....and the visibility was only 5 feet......and it was cold.....and there were no fish....and the chain moved....and he had a hard time......and there were sharp bars crisscrossing the interior of the wreck..... There were some fish but that was the only redeeming quality of this wreck.... it was the worst dive of his life. Jeesh Ernie...tell us how you really feel.

The seas were picking up and we could see the promised foul weather coming in as we rolled over the side, with Jeff joining us Since Bob was remaining on top. The current was considerably stronger here as Ernie had mentioned and as I swam against it for the line I was having my doubts about making it. I could see me spending my projected 30 minute dive time kicking my heart out and swimming in place. We descended we had to watch for fish hooks caught on the line and unceremoniously arrived on the bottom. Not running a reel, we ran along the side of the wreck looking about and checking the wildlife hiding inside. The metal hull of this barge was slowly disintegrating and left many pieces having rusted and fallen to the sand below and the current was fairly strong so we stayed low to the sand as we moved about. As we swam along I suddenly spotted it. At first it looked odd and I couldn’t imagine what it was, it looked like long tentacles hanging below the ragged edge of the wreck, As we swam it moved down the line of the wreckage and Mark pointed so I knew he saw it too. Before I could move he stuck out his hand and grabbed for it. That’s my boy! I taught him well. We continued along peeking about but never encountered it again. We swam about and I poked at the occasional fish just inside the barge, and rescued two sinkers caught in the debris, and picked up my final shell for the year. While the water temp was just one degree colder we felt it and headed on up.

Our stop on the line was chilly but I took the time to consider the past year of diving and all that I saw and did, even on this last dive of the year. As we arrived on deck we quickly broke down our gear and headed into the warmth of the cabin.

I was telling Ernie about the tentacles we saw . I think it was a squid, maybe a Humboldt Squid, really, it could be. But I saw Mark shake his head. I guess he didn’t think it was a Humboldt, probably thought it was just a regular old Longfin Jersey Squid. Doesn’t matter.....it surely wasn’t just some algae, so it will forever remain in my mind as the giant squid on the Spring Lake Wreck.....this is a good thing....really.

We arrived back at the docks, safe and sound. Not the best of conditions. Not picture perfect dives. Jersey dives, typical Jersey dives....you know....the ones we all know and love. And that is a good thing.

New Jersey Museum of Maritime History

In anticipation of the Nor’easter a comin’...... we decided to visit the New Jersey Museum of Maritime History in Beach Haven, and I am very glad we did.
We spent a good part of the early afternoon browsing through the two floors of exhibits.

At the museums front entrance lies a huge anchor and chain, the possible weight of which we wondered out loud about as we climbed the steps to the front door. Upon entering the museum, you are immediately met by floor to ceiling exhibits covering all the walls and in cases and on tables everywhere you look.

I believe it is a 13 lb lobster that you immediately spy as you enter, and as much as I would love to claim victory over one of these monsters, I will admit, especially since things look measurably larger under water, I might.....just might now...not poke one of these. Awww ..... who am I kidding, I would probably be sorry, but I would do it.

To the right of the entrance is an antique Navy diving suit. The forerunner of today’s dry suits. There are lead weights covering the toes to keep you from having floaty feet. I have enough trouble climbing a boat ladder without lead weights on my feet that could kick a hole right through the boat. And just past that is a lighted display of hand painted slides of maritime themed pictures. They are absolutely intriguing.

As you walk down the hallway, it is lined with pictures and little comments on myriads of New Jersey wrecks hung in alphabetical order. To see these and be able to say, “Hey I dove on that one!“ makes your time here fly by.

From there you enter a large room with floor to ceiling pictures and antique postcards of local towns and follow their development into what they are today. I could not imagine trying to swim in some of the costumes displayed here.

In another room are more pictures of maritime rescues and local coastguard stations and storm devastation. While we were there a video was playing showing the local coastline being devastated by storms from the late twenties to the one in the sixties when “the ocean and the bay met” . There was some awesome footage on this video showing the power of these storms that have pounded our coastline with enough force that one time it beached a Navy battleship.

There is a huge display on the Morrow Castle catastrophe that brings a very personal side to the story to your mind and replaces the fact that you just knew that she burned and sank. From the beginning where they show you the poster advertising 10 and 20 day cruises for $200.00 and bills showing charges to rooms for 12 beers at a cost of $1.20, you look to see what other little treasures are among the hundreds of items spread before you. And then the story progresses to pictures of the fire and rescues. Showing the actual victims being pulled onto the beach while people try to revive them. Of children who have lost their entire family sitting with blank stares waiting for someone to claim them. It is a very powerful exhibit.

You then wind your way upstairs where you are greeted by a library of maritime reference books, a lending library and computer data base. There are several areas to sit and browse with tables and chairs, desks and a conversations pit of comfy stuffed furniture.

As you walk along up here you still have to remember to look up as things are everywhere. There are so many portholes on display that you find it hard to believe there are any left in the ocean. If you have never been lucky enough to find your own, you come away with a respect for how heavy these are and how thick the glass in them is
There is a display on the Andrea Doria and on this visit a video documentary on the sinking was playing. There are personal items and china and several cases of artifacts as your read your way along the display. Attached to the walls and ceiling are lights and bells and pieces of various ships, many of which are on loan from divers and local people through out the state.

There are display cases with recovered artifacts from dozens of wrecks and displays of antique navigational tools and even a cannon. Antique logs of shipwrecks and letters and articles and personal pictures that bring the history to life. Just a never ending display.

In one small alcove is display of the submarine S-5 which was visited by a group of local divers this summer. Center of the display is the recovered coffee urn from the mess room of the sub. I could not imagine swimming out of that sub dragging this piece behind me.

There is another room dedicated to local wildlife and displays of different shells and several areas where you can see they are still a work in progress. The building has been lovingly restored and the huge amounts of natural light make walking through a pleasure. The displays are varied from sea life to local history and covering rescues and diving. Admittance is free and donations are accepted. I am positive you can revisit this place several times and still find something new or something you missed every time. I know I will be back.

http://www.museumofnjmh.com/photographs.html The pictures are from the website, visit it to see more and visit the museum to see it all.

The Locomotives and the Macedonia

I could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air. Was like a cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me. ~Helen Keller

My friends and family think I am crazy.....it doesn’t help when they ask where I am going...and I say diving....but its winter, what are you going to see?...choo choo trains.... Sometimes diving is hard to explain.

Sometime in the 1850’s, two small locomotives fell into the Atlantic Ocean and landed side by side, about 7 feet apart, upright, in 85 feet of water. They remain upright instead of sinking into the sand because there is a stone ledge not far below the sand forming a solid platform beneath these engines. And there is a Federal Court Order of Protection on these trains and no artifacts may be taken nor is any damaging of the trains allowed. You tie into a sand spike between the two instead of onto their wreckage and diving this with two members of the New Jersey Historical Society gives you some additional insight into the site and the plans to retrieve the trains.

As we readied to dive, Rich G. rolled over first to tie us in. His theory was that with the site being so small there would only be one fish worth taking on the wreck and he was going to get it.

Josh and I readied to follow him. As I geared up Ernie mentioned that other divers referred to me as “Flash“ due to my lightening speed. It is good to be recognized and know some people appreciate me. I did have usual my blonde moments, but must mention that I did have help this time. The gauntlet of my new 5ml gloves does not easily fit over my dry suit arms and I asked for some assistance. Ernie had to call in reinforcements and with Howard braced against the benches with my arm against him and Ernie pushing on the gloves they finally managed to get a recognizable imitation of the gloves on my hands, although they did mention that I might not want to try and run a reel or anything with them on. They then sat me on the gunwale and I rolled over...into the water....and couldn’t kick myself upright.....without fins.... We had worked so hard on the gloves, no one noticed. I climbed back aboard and was assisted into them and rolled in again.

The seas were flat and we dropped down and passed Rich on the line, both times down. About half way down the line Joshes suit started to flood and we surfaced to adjust his zipper before continuing to the bottom and about 20 foot of viz.

While much of the wooden structure of the engineers cabin has rotted away, and the salvageable hardware and the brass has long been removed, as you come upon this unusual sight there is no mistaking that they are trains. While encrusted in a thick growth of barnacles, hydras and anemones, they form a natural encasement of the engine, boilers, wheels and stacks of the engines and a definite outline of a train.

After a swim around each engine you have seen the entire sight. The six spoked wheels still fully intact in the special 2-2-2 (o0o) design of these engines which are center of the wreckage. The boilers and smoke stacks above. The doors to the engine furnaces encrusted over in sea life.

The rear of the engines have the most enormous anemones I have seen. They are impressive and we swam a second circuit to check out the locals. Towards the rear of the engine, just above the last wheel, the wooden cabin is no longer there allowing you to see through to the other side. And sitting in this space, framed by the rest of the engine sat an enormous blackfish, close to 3 feet long. Just hanging out. Josh and I looked at each other, I could not imagine what Rich had speared if he left this guy behind.

We moved on up to the front where the cow catcher grate would be and as we approached, I saw it. It was just a tail and it stuck out about 2 foot, but it was big around and I headed straight for it. I peeked inside and this eel ran the whole width of the train inside and with his head in and his tail out....he begged to be poked. My hand went out and like a shot Josh grabbed it and gave me the international sign for “No Cheryl, we don’t poke these, choose something else.” And he nudged me along just to be sure. For a small site it had some mighty big inhabitants.

We moved on to the second engine and as we poked around we came across two nice sized blackfish in the 5lb range hiding between the spokes of the wheel and the side of the boiler. I swear the one played dead. He just laid on his side and didn’t move like “oops, you don’t want this one...move along“. I took my flashlight and clocked him right on the head. Apparently I didn’t hit him hard enough because as I grabbed him to pull him out he came to and wiggled out of my grasp and wedged himself farther inside the wreckage and out of my reach. I was “thiiis” close.

One more quick look around and up we went, heading right for the heated cabin and a snack. Rich had not gotten a goliath black fish, his reputation as a hunter must have preceded him and the big fish hid in fear while he was there.

Our second dive was to be the Macedonia, a 280 foot freighter sunk in June of 1899 in a collision with the ocean liner Hamilton, in 60 feet of water. It was rammed so hard by the Hamilton that she was wedged 12 feet into the freighter and most of the crew jumped onto the deck of the Hamilton before she broke free and left a gash so huge the freighter sank in half an hour. The Macedonia was owned by the Ward Lines. Sound familiar? She was part of the same fleet as the Mohawk, the second Mohawk, the Morro Castle, the Havana, the Algonquin, the City of Washington......

There was a bit of a surface current here and Ernie tied us in. I was using my new regs and computer for the first time and they were working out well for me, I switched to my trusty 3ml gloves, kitted up and reclaimed my title of Flash as Josh and I splashed in. There was a slight current at depth here and the visibility was about 10 feet with water temps around 48F.

This is really a sweet wreck. All you guys who pass up the chance to dive it because it is only 60 feet deep really are missing out. This is a huge contiguous debris field with impressive boilers and two propellers and all kinds of goodies.

Josh ran a line as we found ourselves jumping back and forth over hull plates looking about. The debris is covered in the usual sea life and there were a large assortment of blackfish begging to be poked with a spear and not a finger. I believe Howard accommodated them. Tucked in among the regular wreckage were several anchors, lost by unwitting fishermen, and a sinker garden where I stopped to harvest a few while Josh adjusted the reel. This is a wreck I could go back to.

Not a bad day on the water........Thank you Captain Howard, well done.....And Ernie great history lesson on the Locomotives....and Rich great suggestion of the Macedonia.....and Josh, my younger better looking dive buddy (his description by the way) (you better duck when you see Mark)we had fun. I will have to do this again.

The Locomotives and the Macedonia

I could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air. Was like a cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me. ~Helen Keller

My friends and family think I am crazy.....it doesn’t help when they ask where I am going...and I say diving....but its winter, what are you going to see?...choo choo trains.... Sometimes diving is hard to explain.

Sometime in the 1850’s, two small locomotives fell into the Atlantic Ocean and landed side by side, about 7 feet apart, upright, in 85 feet of water. They remain upright instead of sinking into the sand because there is a stone ledge not far below the sand forming a solid platform beneath these engines. And there is a Federal Court Order of Protection on these trains and no artifacts may be taken nor is any damaging of the trains allowed. You tie into a sand spike between the two instead of onto their wreckage and diving this with two members of the New Jersey Historical Society gives you some additional insight into the site and the plans to retrieve the trains.

As we readied to dive, Rich G. rolled over first to tie us in. His theory was that with the site being so small there would only be one fish worth taking on the wreck and he was going to get it.

Josh and I readied to follow him. As I geared up Ernie mentioned that other divers referred to me as “Flash“ due to my lightening speed. It is good to be recognized and know some people appreciate me. I did have usual my blonde moments, but must mention that I did have help this time. The gauntlet of my new 5ml gloves does not easily fit over my dry suit arms and I asked for some assistance. Ernie had to call in reinforcements and with Howard braced against the benches with my arm against him and Ernie pushing on the gloves they finally managed to get a recognizable imitation of the gloves on my hands, although they did mention that I might not want to try and run a reel or anything with them on. They then sat me on the gunwale and I rolled over...into the water....and couldn’t kick myself upright.....without fins.... We had worked so hard on the gloves, no one noticed. I climbed back aboard and was assisted into them and rolled in again.

The seas were flat and we dropped down and passed Rich on the line, both times down. About half way down the line Joshes suit started to flood and we surfaced to adjust his zipper before continuing to the bottom and about 20 foot of viz.

While much of the wooden structure of the engineers cabin has rotted away, and the salvageable hardware and the brass has long been removed, as you come upon this unusual sight there is no mistaking that they are trains. While encrusted in a thick growth of barnacles, hydras and anemones, they form a natural encasement of the engine, boilers, wheels and stacks of the engines and a definite outline of a train.

After a swim around each engine you have seen the entire sight. The six spoked wheels still fully intact in the special 2-2-2 (o0o) design of these engines which are center of the wreckage. The boilers and smoke stacks above. The doors to the engine furnaces encrusted over in sea life.

The rear of the engines have the most enormous anemones I have seen. They are impressive and we swam a second circuit to check out the locals. Towards the rear of the engine, just above the last wheel, the wooden cabin is no longer there allowing you to see through to the other side. And sitting in this space, framed by the rest of the engine sat an enormous blackfish, close to 3 feet long. Just hanging out. Josh and I looked at each other, I could not imagine what Rich had speared if he left this guy behind.

We moved on up to the front where the cow catcher grate would be and as we approached, I saw it. It was just a tail and it stuck out about 2 foot, but it was big around and I headed straight for it. I peeked inside and this eel ran the whole width of the train inside and with his head in and his tail out....he begged to be poked. My hand went out and like a shot Josh grabbed it and gave me the international sign for “No Cheryl, we don’t poke these, choose something else.” And he nudged me along just to be sure. For a small site it had some mighty big inhabitants.

We moved on to the second engine and as we poked around we came across two nice sized blackfish in the 5lb range hiding between the spokes of the wheel and the side of the boiler. I swear the one played dead. He just laid on his side and didn’t move like “oops, you don’t want this one...move along“. I took my flashlight and clocked him right on the head. Apparently I didn’t hit him hard enough because as I grabbed him to pull him out he came to and wiggled out of my grasp and wedged himself farther inside the wreckage and out of my reach. I was “thiiis” close.

One more quick look around and up we went, heading right for the heated cabin and a snack. Rich had not gotten a goliath black fish, his reputation as a hunter must have preceded him and the big fish hid in fear while he was there.

Our second dive was to be the Macedonia, a 280 foot freighter sunk in June of 1899 in a collision with the ocean liner Hamilton, in 60 feet of water. It was rammed so hard by the Hamilton that she was wedged 12 feet into the freighter and most of the crew jumped onto the deck of the Hamilton before she broke free and left a gash so huge the freighter sank in half an hour. The Macedonia was owned by the Ward Lines. Sound familiar? She was part of the same fleet as the Mohawk, the second Mohawk, the Morro Castle, the Havana, the Algonquin, the City of Washington......

There was a bit of a surface current here and Ernie tied us in. I was using my new regs and computer for the first time and they were working out well for me, I switched to my trusty 3ml gloves, kitted up and reclaimed my title of Flash as Josh and I splashed in. There was a slight current at depth here and the visibility was about 10 feet with water temps around 48F.

This is really a sweet wreck. All you guys who pass up the chance to dive it because it is only 60 feet deep really are missing out. This is a huge contiguous debris field with impressive boilers and two propellers and all kinds of goodies.

Josh ran a line as we found ourselves jumping back and forth over hull plates looking about. The debris is covered in the usual sea life and there were a large assortment of blackfish begging to be poked with a spear and not a finger. I believe Howard accommodated them. Tucked in among the regular wreckage were several anchors, lost by unwitting fishermen, and a sinker garden where I stopped to harvest a few while Josh adjusted the reel. This is a wreck I could go back to.

Not a bad day on the water........Thank you Captain Howard, well done.....And Ernie great history lesson on the Locomotives....and Rich great suggestion of the Macedonia.....and Josh, my younger better looking dive buddy (his description by the way) (you better duck when you see Mark)we had fun. I will have to do this again.

Does my SAC Rate Really Matter?

This SAC rate thing.....could it be over rated?

When I first started diving, I was diligent about writing down numbers, exact numbers, starting tank PSI and ending PSI and bottom time and hang time and then dividing and multiplying and dividing again and then factoring in depth and gear and currents and water temps and then taking into consideration the phase of the moon, the icecream flavor of the month and the price of tea in China.... I would have an exacting SAC rate which I would double check against the online SAC calculator. I still have a multifunction Scientific Texas Instrument calculator in the bottom of my dive bag because of this.

What I found was:
1. I didnt have a bad SAC rate
2. I didnt know any other girl divers to compare my rate to
3. All the guy divers I knew had higher SAC rates
4. Everyone knew girls have better SAC rates than guys and
5. No one cared what my SAC rate was.

I also found that for the diving I was doing.....my SAC rate really didn’t matter in terms of gas management. I was running out of NDL before gas, even with nitrox.

My dive planning was always around run times and NDL and my gas always more than sufficient. Life was good. I went to the bottom, poked the fish, saw the sights, came up and had gas to spare.

I logged my bottom time, my depths and kept up on my weighting, which I still struggle with. Noted what there was to see, which wrecks were best for the lobsters and where the mussels were. But starting and ending PSI slowly gave way to the variety of fish to poke and what was scattered about in the way of debris to put the ship whole again in my minds eye and unusual events. Which conditions of depth, temperature and visibility put the boogeyman at the end of the line and how I dealt with it. Boat ladders, crew and dive buddies. All details.

I always check my starting pressure when I set up my gear, I always check my PSI as I dive, and use it as a gauge of when to stop sightseeing and start back, and I always get back onboard with gas to spare. But I stopped tracking the actual numbers at some point.

Now, I am being called on the carpet for my laxness. I am looking towards doubles and when discussing it with my dive buddy I have been given a list of considerations to take into account as I move forward. My biggest considerations are weight and maneuverability. If I cant carry it, I do not think I should be diving it. So the big question comes down to size. HP 100’s, LP 85’s, or even 74’s are in the running. Hmmmmmm, how do I decide. Apparently, according to “someone”, gas management answers this question.

So, I consider what I want to dive, where I want to dive and how I want to dive it. I then consider how often that will happen.

For the immediate time being I will be diving the recreational limits and upsetting my computer with occasional 10-15 minute deco obligations. Soon...heliox and some of the deeper and more interesting things just outside my door. After that and some experience....advanced deco and more bottom time and a little deeper.....I just am not limited ever.......how do you plan for what you just cannot imagine.

There are so many things out there to see. More than enough under 100 ft to keep me busy the rest of my life, I am sure. But the history draws me. And the stories. And so many of them are right there, right out my back door, and just a little bit deeper than I should go right now. The big boy wrecks out by the canyon and the mudhole.... where the artifacts are found, the scallops are laying about, the big fish swim. The stories of the S-5 and the Texas Towers. I want to dive a submarine, the towers, a wreck with portholes still intact, see where the big fish swim and the octopus live, watch sea lions and dolphins play, see a wreck that hasn’t been dragged by the Coast Guard and pounded by the weather, do a dredging dive and a numbers run and discover something totally new. The things to see and the fish to poke........more than I can imagine....how do you finalize a list like this?

So what is the next question? How big a tank do you need? How do I find this out? Using math and my SAC rate. Jeesh!!!

Does my SAC rate really matter? Get out my trusty calculator and a pencil, then run the dives on V-planner and then figure that if I see a really big shark, or a whale, or I am dragging 100 scallops stuffed in my goody bag and my pockets that my SAC rate is out the window anyway. And in an emergency situation I think my condition would be more than “my heart is all aflutter” ...... so.....

Does my SAC rate really matter or should I figure my tank size on the average for where I want to dive and a little measure of added safety for me and my air hogging buddy. It troubles him that I dont track my air consumption. He cant see how I can choose my tanks without it. I cant see how I can limit myself with all there is out there.

I have no problem admitting...there is so much I dont know, have not seen, cannot imagine...and I promise to keep better track of my air consumption.....but in the end, does my SAC rate define the future of my diving or do I plan my dive around the moment. This wreck..... in these conditions...... using this set of tanks and equipment.....I can visit this long. I think doing the math is a guy thing.