piikki
Contributor
How long is the boat ride to Poling?
About to dive Poling for first time!
- Thread starter DavidInNH
- Start date
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Soggy
Contributor
piikki:
Depends on where you leave from. It's spitting distance from Gloucester Harbor.
OP
DavidInNH
Contributor
Thanks to all who responded with guidance for this dive. The wind was up high (reportedly around 25 MPH, gusting to 43 according to the weather channel a couple of hours before we were due to depart) but had died down somewhat when we left. We were on Captain Fran Marcoux's "Daybreaker" and were treated extremely well. (I'd recommend them to anyone.)
The ride out was much easier, calmer and shorter than I'd expected. (The Poling is almost a shore dive, isn't it?) Suited up and Fran left a weighted line trailing from the back of the boat to the descent line. I had a small bit of difficulty getting below the surface because I was breathing too heavy - a little stressed, I guess. Weighting was exactly as I've found to be correct for my configuration, possibly even a pound or two heavy. Like I said, I was breathing too heavy - worked my way down and was down around 2100 PSI already. (My buddy was behind me on the way down and was taking a very long time to get down.) We cruised around for a brief visit turned back at around 1200 PSI since we were so close to the line. We surfaced slowly with about a 4 minute safety stop at around 20 feet. Boarded the boat with about 700 PSI left.
Total dive time was about 26 minutes. Max depth: 84 feet. Temp: 44 degrees.
Conditions on the Poling were reasonable. Very slight current and probably 10-15 ft viz. (I never can be too sure of my estimates.) I got a few nice shots of growth and sea-life on the deck but nothing of the caliber of Tampico-Ed's pictures. (Ed: They are excellent!) This dive was for familiarity - future dives will be for more intensive photography.
Everyone's expectation of the dive being gated by gas quantity rather than nitrogen uptake levels was correct. I guess that's what happens when you blow 1/3 of your gas on the way down! Next time I'll either borrow bigger tanks (although my buddy's AL80 would have brought me up early anyway) or at least expect to make a quicker descent.
Second dive was nearby at Kettle Island Wall. Max depth of 58 feet, 30 minutes (buddy was getting cold) and 45 degrees.
All-in-all, a nice day! Once again, I'd highly recommend Captain Fran and the Daybreaker.
And once again - thanks to all who assisted me!
The ride out was much easier, calmer and shorter than I'd expected. (The Poling is almost a shore dive, isn't it?) Suited up and Fran left a weighted line trailing from the back of the boat to the descent line. I had a small bit of difficulty getting below the surface because I was breathing too heavy - a little stressed, I guess. Weighting was exactly as I've found to be correct for my configuration, possibly even a pound or two heavy. Like I said, I was breathing too heavy - worked my way down and was down around 2100 PSI already. (My buddy was behind me on the way down and was taking a very long time to get down.) We cruised around for a brief visit turned back at around 1200 PSI since we were so close to the line. We surfaced slowly with about a 4 minute safety stop at around 20 feet. Boarded the boat with about 700 PSI left.
Total dive time was about 26 minutes. Max depth: 84 feet. Temp: 44 degrees.
Conditions on the Poling were reasonable. Very slight current and probably 10-15 ft viz. (I never can be too sure of my estimates.) I got a few nice shots of growth and sea-life on the deck but nothing of the caliber of Tampico-Ed's pictures. (Ed: They are excellent!) This dive was for familiarity - future dives will be for more intensive photography.
Everyone's expectation of the dive being gated by gas quantity rather than nitrogen uptake levels was correct. I guess that's what happens when you blow 1/3 of your gas on the way down! Next time I'll either borrow bigger tanks (although my buddy's AL80 would have brought me up early anyway) or at least expect to make a quicker descent.
Second dive was nearby at Kettle Island Wall. Max depth of 58 feet, 30 minutes (buddy was getting cold) and 45 degrees.
All-in-all, a nice day! Once again, I'd highly recommend Captain Fran and the Daybreaker.
And once again - thanks to all who assisted me!
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