First boat dive - A complete success!!

[hoochykoochy]

I've just got back from Arcachon, SW France having completed my first 4 boat dives..and what a fantastic experience.
The boat was a small RIB with only 9 divers, and 3 were the Dive shops divemasters, so it was 1 DM to 2 divers.
The first 2 dives were to an old WW2 German bunker, that had slid to about 16.5 mtrs depth. Full of rays and fish (those rays just love to be gently stroked!!). Surface temp was 34 deg and bottom temp about 19 deg.
The next day we dove an old fishing boat that sat at about 17-18 mtr max. We descended the line, again same groups, and spent 55 mins going round the bottom and then the deck. Again full of rays and this time plenty of conga eels, the largest at least 5 -6 ft long. On all the dives the bouyancy control just got better and better, as did the air consumption, going from 45 mins to 55 mins on the 4 dives, starting with 2000 psi. The brand new Suunto Favor S was broken in and was a great help. All the safety stops were observed and carried out perfect.
The DM's and all the staff were superb and I can thoroughly recomend them to anyone who is in that part of the world..

Can I give them a plug on this board??

 

[art.chick]

What a wonderful report. The animal stories alone made it exciting. I'd love to know who your operator was. Were you quoting temperature in Farenheit or Celcius? (Oh, wait, that's ridiculous; if you were diving in 19F, you would be in a Sno-cone!) OK, that sounds better.

I want a Suunto, too. My current computer is inaccurate & hard to read. I'd also love to see WWII wrecks. Good work, Hoochy!

 

[Welshman]

Glad your dives went so well. What was the vis like? Presumably the first dive was just offshore but how far offshore was the boat dive?

 

[hoochykoochy]

I suppose that was the ownly "downer", as the vis was no more than 5mtrs, but they equipped us with powerful torches and it also made sure we stuck together as buddies.
Both dives were made from the boat (backward roll entry), the second probably 800 - 1000 mtrs offshore, the 1st no more than 200 mtrs.
I took a 5mm wetsuit, but wore no hood or gloves and the cold just was'nt even an issue.

I'm gonna give them a small plug anyway...VSM L'Oceana can be contacted via e-mail vsmplonge@wanadoo.fr or on 0033 55 68 39 895. They are based in Arcachon which is about 45 miles west of Bordeaux.

 

[art.chick]

Thanks for sharing the info, Hoochy! Sounds like you focused on the positive; it does not have to be 100' viz to be a great day to dive!