Diver missing on Andrea Doria

[dumpsterDiver]

I did not realize it is that far from NJ, that is a long run. I've allowed people to ascend alone many times without too much thought.

Does that boat allow divers to dive solo or does the boat mandate buddy diving. A long time ago, when I dove NJ, our group of divers would be solo, but were were diving 60 to 130,nothing like the Doria.

 

[RJP]

I did not realize it is that far from NJ, that is a long run. I've allowed people to ascend alone many times without too much thought.

Does that boat allow divers to dive solo or does the boat mandate buddy diving. A long time ago, when I dove NJ, our group of divers would be solo, but were were diving 60 to 130,nothing like the Doria.

From FAQ page on JJ website:

"Do I Have To Dive With A Buddy? The John Jack does not force you to dive with any one. We strongly encourage all divers to dive with a buddy, and to be a responsible buddy."

Pretty typical of NJ/NY boats. I've not been on a Doria trip on JJ, so I have no specific information as to whether they have a different "formal" policy on such a trip, or merely factored that in when inviting/approving divers to come. It's also common for groups/shops chartering boats here to have/impose more conservative buddy policies than the boat itself does.

 

[Wookie]

A potential charterer inquired as to how much to move the Spree to Montauk to run 3 back to back charters for next year. I replied that the price to move the Spree along would be in the $60k range, with the actual charter fees on top of that. The charterer did not blink. There are so few boats in the NE that can run the trip for various reasons (John Jack, Garloo, Dave Sutton's Explorer, Dan Bartone's Deep Expeditions), and none of them mix trimix on the fly like we do, etc. and stay on station for 5 or more days.

But to answer your questions, these operators are top notch. I have great respect and admiration for anyone who can make a living in the northeast, with the short season and big seas. No, they won't let you dive a single with a pony as a non-tech diver. Yes, you will have to come with a recommendation from someone they know or bring a buddy they know well with you. This isn't like heading to JDC and getting on the boat for an afternoon 2 tank.

 

[RJP]

Dan Bartone's Deep Expeditions

For clarity Dan's company is Deep Expeditions... his boat is the aforementioned Independence II. ("the Indy" if you're a local.)

 

[kwinter]

And for more clarity, Rich took the John Jack up to Point Judith, Rhode Island for the Doria trips. It would be nuts to try to run from NJ.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[ffdiver]

For clarification, the JJ leaves out of port Judith RI for its Doris trips.

 

[Drin]

Does that boat allow divers to dive solo or does the boat mandate buddy diving. A long time ago, when I dove NJ, our group of divers would be solo, but were were diving 60 to 130,nothing like the Doria.

Most people who dive the Doria are china hunters, and diving her never used to lend itself to close together buddy teams. For a long time the standard seemed to be that a buddy pair to descend together, and enter the wreck together. Then one would wait at a predetermined point while the other would enter whatever compartment was planned and recover artifacts. When they completed their task they'd come back and meet their buddy and the two would attempt to ascend together conditions permitting. On the next dive they would reverse roles. Now that the wreck is collapsing on herself I don't know what penetrations are still attempted or how they're done.

-Adrian

 

[RJP]

And for more clarity, Rich took the John Jack up to Point Judith, Rhode Island for the Doria trips. It would be nuts to try to run from NJ.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

For clarification, the JJ leaves out of port Judith RI for its Doris trips.

Right... but he didn't wave a magic wand and zap it from Point Pleasant to Rhode Island, so the cost of the boat going from Point Pleasant to the Doria and back are built into the operating cost of the boat/charter.

 

[kwinter]

Right... but he didn't wave a magic wand and zap it from Point Pleasant to Rhode Island, so the cost of the boat going from Point Pleasant to the Doria and back are built into the operating cost of the boat/charter.

No doubt. But that's one round trip between NJ and RI, spread over 4 Doria charters.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[KevinNM]

The John Jack isn't a big boat either, I was kind of surprised when I looked at the web site. Obviously it's "big enough", but I always visualized the boats doing those sort of dives in out that far as significantly bigger.