Bonaire Trip Report 11/14-11/21

[wwguy]

I'm pretty sure it's mostly just a reflection of the dive shop's break/fix maintenance strategy for o-ring replacement, rather than scheduled maintenance such as tank VIP or hydro testing.

Whenever I find a leaker while checking fill pressure at the shop I put the tank aside and point it out to to staff for o-ring replacement. Whenever I use one of my o-rings at a dive site I ask for a replacement (or two) at the dive shop when I return the tank. Dive Friends has been very accommodating and grateful for help in identifying leakers. There's no practical method for them to find slow leakers when filling tanks en masse on a manifold setup.

I've occasionally seen other divers put leakers back into the full and/or empty tank piles without pointing the problem out to shop staff. This just passes the problem along to the next diver.

 

[KeithG]

I've done 2 trips to Bonaire (some years ago though) and I'm convinced the dive ops leave it up to the tourists to freshen up all the tanks' O-rings.

need orings? head down to the dock at the divi. they always leave a handfull of spare orings by the tanks. no need to supply your own...

 

[gbf]

If you're planning to do an on-site fix for leaky o-rings make sure you have an o-ring pick - and not one of the soft brass ones - I mean an O-RING PICK. I get SS dental picks from a dentist/friend. Just be careful with the SS - it's harder than the valve.

Sometimes the o-rings seem to be welded into the groove...

 

[Kharon]

The People
I initially got the impression they were standoffish and a little rude. Once I spent some time interacting, I came to the conclusion that most are very friendly, but only if you are to them. I think they don't always quite know what to think of us. Have there maybe just been too many rude tourists that they don't bother trying unless you do? Have too many foreigners looked down on them as a local servant class that they decide not to interact? I hope not, because by and large, they seem to be genuine and kind people. I look forward to meeting more of them on our next trip.

I always found them very friendly, perhaps because I learned a few phrases and used them liberally. Always before speaking to anyone and immediatly on entering a shop - Bon Dia, Bon Tardi, or Bon Nochi (depending on time of day). It's like USVI. It's tradition to greet someone with Good morning, etc before getting on with what you want to ask/say. It's considered rude to not greet someone.

As far as leaking O-rings - I've always used Dive Friends and so far never had a leaker. I must just be extremely lucky.

 

[djtimmy77]

When we get a bad o-ring we return the tank with no o-ring, forcing a replacement. We do bring extra orings and tool so we can do our dive.

 

[MN Lakeman]

'Just have to chime in on this o-ring issue - based on now 5 visits to Bonaire. Toward the end of our 1st trip nearly a decade ago, the 4 folks in our group were getting pretty tired of noisy bubble trails coming from our valves (actually, this is JUST a nuisance - how much air do you really think you lose even after an hour dive??). We realized it really isn't worn or bad O-rings as much as it was the damaged grooved orifice that HOLDS the ring. Think about those tanks being thrown in & out of pick up beds. We then visually checked for this damage & afterwards hardly had a leak again. Subsequent trips, we always go Nitrox 'cuz (1) it's usually free, (2) the tanks are nearly always in better shape with undamaged o-ring grooves.