Cold water tolerance

[m2b]

How do you get used to diving into/through the thermocline layer/sizable temperature drop? I'm talking on the mental side of it.

I have two lakes that I frequently dive. They are separated by a mountain, err I live 10 minutes from each dive location.

Lake Sunapee is spring fed and is significantly larger than Gunnison Lake(Goshen Ocean as the locals call it). Lake Sunapee is the fourth or fifth largest lake in New Hampshire, depending on who you talk to. Goshen Ocean is a man-made flood control lake, that is fed by streams running off Mount Sunapee.

The surface temperature on Lake Sunapee, being larger, takes longer to warm up than Goshen Ocean. As of today I would say their is probably a 3-4 degree temperature difference at the surface between the two lakes.

The real difference lies when you get beneath the surface. The water temperature on Lake Sunapee is fairly constant until you hit thermocline, at least that is what I noticed last fall and is what I'm noticing again this spring. Their is no real temperature difference between the surface and 20-25 feet down, last fall down even as much as 30-35 feet there was no real difference in temperature.

Right now on Goshen Ocean you get around 20 feet and you really notice the temperature drop. Generally down to the lower 50's or colder, surface temperature in the mid 60s...at least. Right now I would say the notice in temperature drop occurs around 18-20 feet beneath the surface.

Last fall I was diving on Lake Sunapee and making it down to 30-35 feet without even thinking about it. I would go to Goshen Ocean and bail everytime before I got down to 27 feet. I would always bail about the time I hit the temperature change. Today while diving at Goshen Ocean I was bailing around 18-20 feet down. It's not an equalizing issue or anything like that. It is definitely from the change in water temperature. Today I noticed it big time. I have questioned the situation ever since last fall when I first noticed it.

Without changing gear, is their an easy way to condition yourself to accept the temperature drop without caving in and heading back for the surface? How do you mentally condition yourself to accept the condition when freediving. Scuba diving would be easy but when you are holding your breath I see there being more to it than just toughening it out.

I know...this is easier said than done, but I figure I might as well try.

Ryan

[fleshy]

Do not think, simply do. Matter over mind. I spent the majority of my life (until I met jimdoe earlier this year) diving in the fridged spring lakes of central wisconsin without a wetsuit. Sometimes we could stay in for an hour, if it was a super hot day, with the sun shinning, but either way underneath the thermocline it was mid 40's. I just did it, I didnt feel I had any other options.

[apneaboy]

I actually enjoy the thermocline. It drops to about 4-5 degrees celsius anywhere between 6m and about 25m depending on the time of the year. The surface is between 7degrees celcius to about 20 degrees in summer if we are lucky.

When i hit the thermocline it relaxes me, it reminds me i'm diving and then you get a hot bath just before you get back to the surface.

Its just a case of getting use to it, i dress for the surface temperature and just accept its a little chilly. In terms of a positive thought for your descent just remember how good cold water is for that diving reflex :-)

Once you accept its probably a good thing and then just dive you will relax enough to not let it bother you or actually help.

Enjoy

[m2b]

Well, the story gets a little stranger after this morning.

I was back out at Lake Sunapee today. I decided to add a small ski wax thermometer onto the dive line to get an fair idea of what the water temperature was both at the surface and at depth. I played around quite a bit in the shallower water with FRC before I headed on out to the 25-26 foot deep water area.

The surface was 17 degrees C. Down at 5m it was still running 15 degrees. Right around 6-6.5 meters is when the temperature started to take the nice drop down to 10 degrees. Strangely, I never had any goggles leakage trouble today until I went for the final dive, and then it was barely noticable but it did happen...makes me wonder if the temperature drop caused the leakage to form.

After driving the 10 minutes home and put everything out to dry before the rain hits shortly, I decided to take the 10 minute drive on down the Goshen Ocean and see what the surface temperature was down there. Like I said yesterday I was guessing 3-4 degrees F difference. WOW...did I call that one right on the money. It was 20 C at the surface, err 64 F on Lake Sunapee and 68 on Goshen Ocean.

Now the real question...do you notice more of a reaction when you have a wider spread of temperature? When I took the dive down to 25 feet on Lake Sunapee today I noticed the change in temperature but it didn't seem like I was noticing as big of a response to run, err swim for the surface like I was yesterday on Goshen Ocean. Does the wider spread normally also give a much bigger mental reaction?

Ryan

[m2b]

To clarify things a little more now that I think about it. I didn't notice the big reaction to the change in temperature today that I noticed yesterday. Hence why I was asking about the 'bigger' temperature change causing a bigger reaction.

Actually, today I did go all the way and checked the thermometer and then came back up slow to see at what depth I was seeing the temperature drop. If I wouldn't have already been getting chilled quite nicely I would have taken a couple more dives down but I knew to play it safe and headed back for shore after the first dive.

Also, this will sound a lot strange and crazy to ask this question. Do you guys normally do nothing more than relax/breathe up in between dives when you know you are dealing with the colder water below or do you spend more time on the surface finning/swimming around to help keep the body temperature warmer. I have always been going from diving to breathing up and as a result I have no body movement/body heat generation taking place between dives. It's only the 64/17 degree surface temperature and about the same, maybe a little warmer, air temperature that allowed me to have a nice 40-45 minute session this morning.

Ryan

[naiad]

Originally Posted by m2b

Now the real question...do you notice more of a reaction when you have a wider spread of temperature? When I took the dive down to 25 feet on Lake Sunapee today I noticed the change in temperature but it didn't seem like I was noticing as big of a response to run, err swim for the surface like I was yesterday on Goshen Ocean. Does the wider spread normally also give a much bigger mental reaction?

Yes, the contrast of temperature makes the cold seem worse.

[Hugh.]

You should really look into getting a wetsuit...

[trux]

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