How to do live drops

I'm looking at some interesting boat dives off Monterey, but due sea conditions (currents and swell) the boat may decide to do live drops. I've done this with compact cameras before, but never with a full DSLR rig.

Does anyone have advice on how best to accomplish this/

thanks!

John

I'm looking at some interesting boat dives off Monterey, but due sea conditions (currents and swell) the boat may decide to do live drops. I've done this with compact cameras before, but never with a full DSLR rig.

 

Does anyone have advice on how best to accomplish this/

 

thanks!

John

John, I often hot drop with a housing w/ 2 strobes, or a scooter, or both. It's not that tough.

>First, make sure you will be close to last for the drop. The boat will then have the least amount of way.

>BC fully inflated, and extra air in the suit.

>I have the strobes folded in, and have a deck hand meet me at the platform with the camera.

>When it's my turn, I do a quick assessment: how fast are we going?

>If no speed at all (happens more often than you think) hop in, turn around and take housing.

>Any motion: take housing with both hands, giant stride with a very positive up-and-out of the leading leg, and hold the housing up in front of my face so that I can see the horizon under the bottom of the housing.

If your form is good, with widely spread legs, the impact is practically zero on the housing. If the boat still has some way, it will be taken by your butt and tank. Entering with a deflated BC or "tripping" over the leading fin will raise impact significantly.

Working on timing will help dramatically, too. As the platform goes up and down with the swells (there's a reason you're live boating!) try to begin stepping off as the platform is about 2/3rds of the way to the lowest position. This way you actually step off at the closest approach to the water, and not at the top, where free fall is involved.

I have also used a roll sideways technique that ends up with me entering on my back while the housing is clutched to my chest. This I found to be less reliable for me, occasionally ending up on my side.

Taking a scooter along also is simple, just sling it like a stage bottle.

Depending on the boat, they can take care of you if you talk it over. Tim on the Express is very good at giving you zero way if you really need it, and the platform on his Newton is superb. And Jim on Escapade is well used to us with a ton of extra stuff strapped on as we waddle off.

I should hasten to add that housings are more durable than you think. Keeping in mind that floods are most likely at or near the surface, I still am amazed at what I have gotten away with.

All the best, James

Many thanks, exactly the sort of little detaile I need to hear.

Feel much better about trying knowing that others have had success.

Take care,

John

Many thanks, exactly the sort of little detaile I need to hear.

I often jump with housing in hand rather than have it handed to me. The only time I have seen a camera lost at sea, was when a deckhand let go of a housing before the diver, bobbing in the waves behind the still-moving dive platform, had a firm grip on it.

I know that some manufacturers and books advise against jumping with camera in hand but I can not see how there is much difference between that and lowering the housing from the deck. In both cases, the o-rings need to cope with the change in pressure. If the o-ring has a decent pre-seal (i.e. already has some pressure between the o-ring and the surfaces) I don't think that jumping in with the housing in hand is going to cause water to "squirt" past the o-ring. I have done it hundreds of times without hassle.

If possible, rather than do a giant-stride entry, I'll sit down on the edge of the dive platform and do, what I call a "forward roll entry with half twist". The camera is held to one side in the right hand. As you roll forwards, just before hitting the water, roll slightly sideways so the left shoulder hits the water first. The camera housing follows down into the "hole" created by the body entering the water. The housing will get covered in bubbles which you will need to waft away during descent.

Regards

Peter