![]() ![]() Since its cheapness makes it harder to breathe on, it actually works better for ice diving than your main since it is more resistant to free flows. Octo: the cheaper 2nd stage regulator that you use for a backup from your more expensive main 2nd stage. Then it started to free-flow just a little bit. The octo lasted for a bit, and I got to start exploring the iceberg. I tried going on my octo instead of my main reg, as a professional photographer in the group had suggested it based on his experience. My second dive, I took out some weights and rearranged things for better trim. The more prolonged the time spent under the ice, the crazier and more addicted they become, unless they stay under too long and run out of air. Icehole: a hole cut into the ice to allow people whose survival instincts are seriously compromised to jump into frigid water wearing dive gear. That way if one 1st stage went, I could breathe well off the other 1st stage until I could get back to the icehole. On one 1st stage I had my main 2nd stage and pressure transmitter, while on the other 1st stage I had my octo, my BCD inflator, drysuit inflator and backup pressure gauge. I was using a 12L steel tank with two valves, allowing use of two separate 1st stage regulators. I was breathing a bit raggedly, was over-weighted and unbalanced, and after a jaunt back to the surface to adjust some of my equipment, about 10 minutes later my regulator started free-flowing and I finished the dive.įree-flow: when too much of a good thing turns out to be a bad thing. Similar to what you get on a tropical liveaboard trip, except that it’s nearly impossible to stick to. Trip itinerary: The “ideal plan” for the trip, made months in advance, before seeing the actual ice conditions and iceberg locations, and assuming lovely springtime weather in Greenland. Instead, I spent the two weeks I was there diving on one iceberg trapped in the sea ice in Tasiilaq harbor, and it sure was amazing. The trip itinerary included a mix of dives in the harbor and in a neighboring fjord, but due to poor snow, ice and visibility conditions, the group decided it was not worth leaving the harbor. This, combined with the frigid water temperatures, limits most of the plankton and algae growth. In April, the surface water is still covered in a layer of sea-ice from the winter, which cuts off most of the light. However, due to all of the plankton in the water, visibility was not good enough to really take in or photograph the full scale of the icebergs. I had been on a previous trip in the summer, which was a fantastic experience. Why dive icebergs in April, instead of the summer? Amazing visibility. The dive site was a short ride by snowmobile from the edge of town out onto the sea ice. This was very remote diving I got there via an international flight to Reykjavik, a small plane to Kulusuk, and a helicopter to Tasiilaq. I was on a two-week April iceberg diving trip in Tasiilaq, East Greenland, run by Sven and Anja of Northern Explorers. Or maybe it was just the cold, pressing in from all sides, that was taking my breath away. As I got my bearings sorted out, got my safety rope untangled and took a real look at the iceberg, I realized I had just entered a breathtakingly beautiful world. It didn't help that the water was about as cold as it gets -2 C (~28 F). I was breathing hard and dealing with nerves, as it was my first ice dive in over a year. I had done ice diving before, and iceberg diving, but never together. Why am I doing this? Why aren't I on a Liveaboard in Raja Ampat, where I could be wearing 5 lbs instead of 35 lbs? Is it just me or is it hard to breathe? Why am I doing this? ![]() My drysuit with all these undergarments is so restrictive. ![]() This quickly turned into the Ice Diver's Litany, on high-speed repeat. Note: I have provided some key ice-diving definitions for non-ice-divers, in Italics.Ĭold and dark were the first two words that came to my mind as I dropped beneath the Tasiilaq Harbor sea ice for my first under-the-ice dive on an iceberg. ![]()
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