new ice diving challenge

[DetectorGuy]

Another thing to consider is obviously a 15-20 minute long ice dive wouldn't cut it. When Nate did the 91 minute ice dive and I did the 81 minute ice dive, we were using HP 120's. How far the average Gilligan can swim in 15-20 minutes is anybody's guess. ;D ;D ;D

[Shooter]

Would there be prizes and trophies on the table like the first challenge  ??? :? Count me out on this one. Would hate to see you guys make the news in a bad way.
I am going to stay focused on the shipwreck challenge. ;D As I write this post, the [glow=red,2,300]master dive plan[/glow] is being expanded to international proportion  :o with 6 figure prizes on the table, table, table! It may be a long shot, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take 8)

[Hydro]

Well, one thing you forgot john, is calculating work, doing one hole all day staring at muck is pretty low on the work scale, so I can see how you overlooked it.... so in order to increase the air consumption, what if we had a golden anchor you had to drag through the water? Drop the anchor, use your pony, get towed back, you disqualified.

[Terry]

                        You guys do make me smile,,,,, I remember how impressed I was with John's mathematical model, and his calculation of close to 30 miles traversed under the ice by you two, and to figure his circumferences to the "half a foot", (curious, was that figured from the center of the hole, or from the leading edge, cause maybe you could claim more square footage covered that way, any stretch,,,, well, poly doesn't stretch much, any bow in the line, (we have had some) or were you pulling taught the whole swim?) Well, how close the stated model is to reality, only you two guys know, sure does sound impressive though.
                        If, for a fact (an average schmuck  :-*) like John, can swim 3300' on the, bottom, pulling a line perpendicular, to his movement (on an 80 cf cylinder). Should be easy enough to verify Johns numbers, especially since we'll be just under the ice, not the bottom, and pulling the line parallel to our movement, not perpendicular. Sounds like a good spot to start.
                        I appreciate you guys concern for our safety, and I'm sure Isanti Co. regrets not keeping you two funded, but we'll go forward with this, to me it sounds like a good adventure. I've been icing more then 3 decades, and anyone who jumps with me and feels that their personal saftey was not kept front and center, should speak up.
                        You guys enjoy the warm water!                                                Trinity

[popolarbear]

"Have to unclip and reclip every 300-400' what do you guys say? "


or have prelaid line running the course(probably will need atleast half mile of rope). and clip onto that line. distance or speed. i think these are two separate goals.I can swim farther at a slower pace per breath than if trying for speed. speed trials also sound fun though.

[popolarbear]

ohhh if we did it as night dive might be able to use surface lights for added path guidence.

[DetectorGuy]

My SAC rate is generally not good, but I think its better in the winter for some reason. I get kinda zen-like with my breathing during the ice dives. To add more confusion to the 12.5' intervals... I always held the required distance in my right hand which was approximately 4.5 inches lower than my left hand and overhanging the hole by about 9". As far as keeping the rope tight while swimming in circle... it was not the easiest thing to do but at your age, a little bow in the line wouldn't be surprising :o.

I get the fact that some things just need to be done because they can, but then again that's why a dog licks himself... just because he can. I am not the smartest carpenter, but I try to at least think about doing a "risk / benefit analysis" before committing to a task. I just can't see what the benefit would be for cutting 15 holes, following the compass from one hole to the next, having someone (or several different people) un-clip and re-clip my life line in at each of the 15 holes, only to get to the last hole and say "now I can cross that one off the bucket list". I guess if there were prizes or trophies it would increase the benefit meter quite a bit ;D.

Thanks for all the good humor!
John

[popolarbear]

sure i agree in the cost. but bragging rights have some value. every participant has to fork up $5 or $20 and finalist takes all.

[Shooter]

Well said popo! ROTFLMAO, Actually, speaking from personal exp., I don't think I could put a $ value on it. It was and continues to be a valuable asset! Kind of like the gift that keeps on giving, day after day, week after week, etc, etc etc

Terry, by the way, the county didn't stop funding us. I hadn't planned on "going public" but since you brought it up, I will provide an explanation. Fortunately, we didn't have to make any recoveries of persons in our county during the years of our volunteer services. At times we put our lives and equipment in harms way. We had been given assurances that in the advent of any damage or liability, it would be replaced and or covered. We didn't have 100% backing from the people we volunteered our services too. We had a team meeting and decided that we couldn't afford to do so. It was a great exp., and I would do it all over again. To be able to give back and help others doing what I enjoy most, was very rewarding. If anyone has further questions and is interested in doing something similar, I would gladly share my exp. with them.  8)

[Terry]

                      Sorry Nate, I thought it was the expense of the modifications to your drysuits, air for all your training dives, and such the county didn't want to cover, for all your volunteer services, my bad.