DeloiVarden Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Been diving a lot lately and have had some productive days and some not so much. On to today. I checked out a new spot on the river today in hope of landing some nice megs. The first tank was pretty wimpy with a few 1" - 2" teeth in okay condition and a few whale ear bones. I love how everyone leaves these for me since they are better than nothing. As if the tank hadn't gone poor enough, just as I hit the surface after that first tank I felt my weight belt slip. I tried to grab it but it was a hopeless effort with thick wet neoprene gloves on. I floated to my bow and grabbed the anchor line wondering what in the world I was going to do. After all, for those of you who don't dive, the weight belt is pretty crucial as it is hard to near impossible to get to the bottom of the river, let alone stay there long, with strong current and wearing a bunch of slightly positively buoyant gear. As I hung on the rope whipping in the current like a big fat chunk of gator bait, I contemplated giving it a go back down the anchor line. Besides, I had a whopping 500psi still in the tank. So there I went down the anchor line as I deflated my bcd. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to get all the way down to depth, but after a low decent there I was on the bottom. I used a combination of the anchor and my screw driver dug in the bottom to keep front floating up or blowing away in the current. Maybe the whole endeavor was a bit dangerous or stupid, but I figured it would be darn near impossible to drown since all it would take for me to get to the surface would be to stop fighting to stay down since my wetsuit was the most buoyant piece of gear. As I looked, I thought to myself how grateful I was that I had just switched to a little thinner wetsuit (less buoyant) for today's dive. Needless to say, a few hundred psi I later and it was time to get to the surface whether I liked it or not. I quickly got in the boat and threw on another tank. After all, I had just managed to stay on the bottom with a near empty tank (positively buoyant), so a full tank (slightly negatively buoyant) should be a breeze. Once at the bottom I began to sweep the area again. It had to be around there somewhere. The low vis was not helping, but at least there were only a few logs to bounce around on. It took about 15 minutes, but all of a sudden the familiar looking belt came into view. I rolled it on and aborted the dive since I was done wasting air on that spot. I went to another spot a bit down the river in hopes of finding a fresh deposit of teeth. Sure enough, I found a new deposit and was able to salvage the day. The finds were not as good as some of you guys are used to pulling, but given the amount of air I used up finding my belt, I was pretty satisfied. The biggest tooth is just over 5" and there was a good assortment of meg, mako, and even one angustidens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Foilist Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Fossil Foilist -----)---------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyersfan805 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I'm not sure how anyone could consider that anywhere close to a bad day?? Really beautiful teeth Deloivarden. Let me ask, how much does it cost to get your tanks filled. I see some of you diving fellows talk of tank 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 but what is the true cost of a daily adventure for you, minus the obvious travel expense of gas for the truck and boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeloiVarden Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) I'm not sure how anyone could consider that anywhere close to a bad day?? Really beautiful teeth Deloivarden. Let me ask, how much does it cost to get your tanks filled. I see some of you diving fellows talk of tank 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 but what is the true cost of a daily adventure for you, minus the obvious travel expense of gas for the truck and boat. The tanks usually cost between $6 and $10 for one fill, and that multiplied by the number of tanks which will depend on depth, energy, and window of time. The true cost of the use of tanks though must include the perodic hydro and vis testing required on each tank. This can add up as well, but varies drastically from shop to shop. The biggest expense actually isn't gas for me, but rather gear. Whether you are talking about bigger expenses like the BCD or Wetsuit (need a nice one to dive winter), or the less expensive stuff like gloves and goodie bag, etc., you go through gear pretty quick if you river dive on a regular basis. There is a lot of branches, limbs, scrap metal, broken bottles, oysters, sharp teeth , etc. that can ruin gear in a hurry and sand is probably the worst. Oh yeah, and there is the regular cost of ear infections for me. To throw out a number of true expense is tough for me since I dive so often, but I would have to add up all my gear purchaes and service, tank fills and tank service, Dr. visits, gas, wear and tear on the truck and boat and then divid by the number of dives. I would roughly estimate $50+ per day. Edited March 9, 2012 by DeloiVarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyersfan805 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 not as bad as I had imagined cost wise... I had one ear infection last summer from "diving" in our creek so much. It was the first one I have had in thirty years... it felt like there were maggots squirming around in my head eating my brains... needless to say it sucked. There has got to be a better way for you if you are constantly getting them?? earplugs? wax? some magic dry powder. I couldn't do it if I was getting those a lot Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeloiVarden Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 (edited) not as bad as I had imagined cost wise... I had one ear infection last summer from "diving" in our creek so much. It was the first one I have had in thirty years... it felt like there were maggots squirming around in my head eating my brains... needless to say it sucked. There has got to be a better way for you if you are constantly getting them?? earplugs? wax? some magic dry powder. I couldn't do it if I was getting those a lot Mike The expenses are not that bad as long as the main goal is to have fun. After all, the fast majority of dives are not as productive and I spend a lot of time looking for new spots and often come home pretty much empty handed. As far as the ear infections go, when the water is warm enough, I dive with special goggles that have ear cups. They don't keep your ears completly dry, but they keep most of the dirty river grime out. I can't use those in the winter, but now flush my ears with warm water in the shower using a syring after every dive and I sometimes squirt alchol in there as well. If I feel one coming on, I start antibiotic ear drops asap. If I don't catch it early enough, it is off to take oral antibiotics. The trick though is to go into the docter when it goes from being an outer ear infection to being an inner ear infection. I usually go the same day that I am pretty sure it is an inner ear infection. Edited March 9, 2012 by DeloiVarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Nice haul! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taffie Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Great trip report and great teeth. What a haul. :greenwnvy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Deloi that is alot of teeth there. I see you collected alot of broken megs. What do you do with all those broken ones? My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbyte Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Great finds. There are some nice teeth in that group and I see a partial Mastodon tooth cap to boot. Great job. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Confucius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Govinn Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Great report DV!! Thank you for posting it. I am getting certified next week. This is something that I've been wanting to do for soooo long! Your report gave me some things to think about that I hadn't previously planned on... like different wet suits and wear-n-tear on them... I'd love to have a haul like that one day... History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. ~Sir Winston Churchill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wRick Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 What do you need a weight belt for? You found enough teeth to stay down in any current! "There is no difference between Zen and Purgatory and Time Warner Cable, and they are trying to tach me this, but I am a dim impatient pupil." ----- xonenine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Taylor Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) NICE finds! Looks like minimum $2600 market value. The medium Megs and Mako will likely go first. Which river? Looks like Cooper except the quality is too high. Doesn't look like the Edisto because there are too many Megs. Looks too big and not the right color for the Wando. Looks to be Morgan or Savannah or Ace Basin specimens ??? Will be doing some closed circuit, underwater TV, river surveying next weekend. Will be geo-tagging some targets. Definitely looking forward to this! I felt my weight belt slip. I tried to grab it but it was a hopeless effort with thick wet neoprene gloves on. I floated to my bow and grabbed the anchor line wondering what in the world I was going to do. I swear... I hate using rocks. Anything but rocks the weight belt is pretty crucial as it is hard to near impossible to get to the bottom of the river, let alone stay there long, with strong current and wearing a bunch of slightly positively buoyant gear. pulling oneself down the anchor line without weights is not so bad in my opinion, its the 50mph current in ones face, coupled with no weight belt, that i dislike As I hung on the rope whipping in the current like a big fat chunk of gator bait, and don't kid yourself, they DO know you are there Besides, I had a whopping 500psi still in the tank. which translates into an easy 30 minute river dive for me but I figured it would be darn near impossible to drown since all it would take for me to get to the surface would be to stop fighting to stay down since my wetsuit was the most buoyant piece of gear. and you will not suffer any internal damage due to an uncontrolled ascent in "shallow" water (add depth... change mentality) Edited March 10, 2012 by Lee Taylor Fossil Hunting in Charleston SC Charleston Shark Teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeloiVarden Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) Hey Lee, If that was a $2600 haul, then I am selling to the wrong crowd. Definetly a little optimistic estimate there. More like $500 to $750 for the entire lot if I sell direct to end buyers, less if I wholesale to a dealer and that doesn't take into account expenses. None of the teeth are rare and megs are not selling as good as they used. Thanks for the post though. Edited March 10, 2012 by DeloiVarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Taylor Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 wow... i see the large Meg as a $900 value by itself, but then my frame of reference is from 15 years ago. i am also thinking finder selling to collector. i am sure re-seller offers are way below the market value. you are right in that things have changed significantly... especially since the public has basically caught on to what is actually going on in Wash DC collectors items are notoriously slow sellers, but with corner sandwiches getting close to $10, gasoline predicted to sell at $5/gallon, and predatory lenders at every turn, i can see where most have unhealthy bank accounts Fossil Hunting in Charleston SC Charleston Shark Teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Very cool finds and great story. Thanks for sharing. It's amazing how many ear bones you find too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svillej Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Great report and finds. You do have your problems with weight belts. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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