DEEP diving photos from Grand Cayman Tek Week

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

I just got back yesterday from Tek Week in Grand Cayman. The event was hosted by Dive Tech (www.divetech.com) and Cobalt Coast (www.cobaltcoast.com). There were morning boat dives with everyone stratified by level of training – recreational, normoxic trimix, and full trimix. The afternoons were free for unlimited shore diving with a several thousand foot dropoff just a few minutes offshore. There were both open circuit and rebreather divers and run times were up to 2 ½ hours. A trip to Stingray City was included the last afternoon so everyone could “off-gas”. One afternoon there was a “rebreather experience” where participants could demo closed circuit rebreathers in the pool. There were units and instructors from Jetsam (Kiss), Silent Diving Systems (Inspiration/Evolution), and Dive Rite (Optima). The evening activities included a welcoming party, a mini trade-show by the various manufacturers and a raffle of some great prizes the final night of the trip. If you’ve not been to Cobalt Coast and Dive Tech you really should go there. The attention to detail is unmatched, the dive staff is incredible, the rooms are large and very comfortable, and the food rivals any place I’ve ever been. It was truly a great event and one I would highly recommend. I’m already planning next year’s trip!

Here are some photos from the week:

Kim Smith (owner of Jetsam – KISS rebreathers) and Curt Bowen (editor of Advanced Diver Magazine)

Kim Smith with a VERY large barrel sponge at 220 fsw

Carrie Lee wreck – stern at 170fsw with the bow at around 260 fsw

Diver on the Carrie Lee

Deco on the Carrie Lee

The walls from 150-250 fsw were amazing!

Here’s a few shallow shots:

The rest of the photos are here:
http://debersole.com/layout/0001/gallery_view.cfm?g=114

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Nice pictures and summary looks like a great week.

 

[PerroneFord]

Thanks for sharing Doug! Kim got a new wetsuit!

Frist time I've seen pics of someone on a KISS below 200. Good stuff.

I wonder where are the naysayers are who claim that the "good stuff" is all above 60ft? "Nothing to see down there."

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Very Cool!!!!

 

[frankc420]

Nice pictures! Makes a n00b like me want to get into technical diving

 

[wb416]

I wonder where are the naysayers are who claim that the "good stuff" is all above 60ft? "Nothing to see down there."

Exactly... I always love hearing that!

 

[Larry C]

Very nice, Doug. Almost makes me want to learn tech diving. Still not sure about an hour deco for a 20 min. dive though!

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Larry:

Thankfully, the water was warm and there was no current so deco wasn't a big deal. Also, for most of the sites other than the Carrie Lee you could simply deco along the main wall and then swim to the mini-wall and deco up that. Basically, most of the dives were simply 2 hour multi-multilevel profiles.

The only real "problem" I had was that my Sea & Sea housing is only rated to 200fsw. For the dives deeper than about 230 fsw I carefully watched the housing for leaks and inched my way down. Everything went well except that I couldn't adjust the f stop or shutter speed at depth as the controls were "frozen" in place from the pressure.

Doug

 

[JillGadget]

They are awesome pics... I gotta get a good camera

 

[wkowalski]

Great pics... what camera setup did you use?