Flower Garden 'Tech Trips'..

[amascuba]

I'm curious, what's involved in the Flower Garden 'Tech Trips'?

Does the boat supply gases? If so, what do they supply? If not, do we bring our own, or does the sponsoring shop bring the gases?

What type of profiles are typical on the trips?

How much money are the trips running for?

Any other details that you guys can supply would be great!

Thanks.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Hopefully Capt Frank will ring in here shortly.

The July 19-20 trip is $650. It's a tech trip.

TwoBit

 

[Debraw]

Does the boat supply gases?
Only 32% Nitrox and Air
If so, what do they supply?
Only 32% Nitrox and Air

If not, do we bring our own, or does the sponsoring shop bring the gases?
Depending on what you need for the type of profile you are running. Our shop has a tech trip in July/Aug and we are assessing all profiles on the people diving, what they are certified to and what level their buddies are at.

What type of profiles are typical on the trips?
Our shop is still assessing that, and all though most are certified through tri-Mix here they may or may not be doing those types of dives. I know the people that have inquired with us are looking for extended bottom times not necessarily all that deep.

How much money are the trips running for?
Our 3 day trip July 30-Aug 1 is $850.00 per diver. The boat is limited to 12 divers.

 

[Wookie]

After running 1 tech trip last year, here is what we found (Lesson's learned). Most divers want a place to practice skills in good conditions (warm, clear water). The Flower Gardens is great for that. Some moorings allow for 180+ foot dives, and rigs allow for up to 450 feet. We did some exploration at Bright and Guyer bank, and while they were cool dives, we lost dive time due to anchoring. We intend to install a mooring at Bright this year and maybe at Guyer in the future. Even though the boat is limited to 12 divers, gear storage is still a problem, so we are limiting each diver to one set of doubles, one scooter, and one rebreather. That should be enough toys for anyone. We will have a booster, helium, and oxygen onboard, as well as a certified gas blender and all of the software to refill cylinders. Last time we took 14 divers and never had a problem with fills. I bank 21/35, but will custom mix whatever your dive plan calls for. The only limitation on dives is a 2 1/2 hour runtime, and YOUR level of certification. If you don't have a card for it, don't expect to dive it. Shops on the trip will have a great say in how their divers are allowed to dive. Some shops are using these trips as a training experience, and will therefore be more focused on training and skills building. Some shops will be using these trips as practice with new toys for experienced divers, and some folks like myself are recently certified as tech divers and will be using the trips as a way to get better. The Gulf has some really cool features in deeper water (mud volcano, brine seep, spanish shipwrecks) that would require some very advanced skills to dive, as well as proving to me that the divers are capable of carrying out the dives. These tech trips are designed to develop those skills and a chance for me to meet those divers. The boat supplies a diving safety officer, who is certified to instruct whatever level of diving you are performing. He is not there as an instructor, but as a vessel crewmember. They will have helpful advice, but will not guide dives nor provide instruction.

 

[amascuba]

After running 1 tech trip last year, here is what we found (Lesson's learned). Most divers want a place to practice skills in good conditions (warm, clear water). The Flower Gardens is great for that. Some moorings allow for 180+ foot dives, and rigs allow for up to 450 feet. We did some exploration at Bright and Guyer bank, and while they were cool dives, we lost dive time due to anchoring. We intend to install a mooring at Bright this year and maybe at Guyer in the future. Even though the boat is limited to 12 divers, gear storage is still a problem, so we are limiting each diver to one set of doubles, one scooter, and one rebreather. That should be enough toys for anyone. We will have a booster, helium, and oxygen onboard, as well as a certified gas blender and all of the software to refill cylinders. Last time we took 14 divers and never had a problem with fills. I bank 21/35, but will custom mix whatever your dive plan calls for. The only limitation on dives is a 2 1/2 hour runtime, and YOUR level of certification. If you don't have a card for it, don't expect to dive it. Shops on the trip will have a great say in how their divers are allowed to dive. Some shops are using these trips as a training experience, and will therefore be more focused on training and skills building. Some shops will be using these trips as practice with new toys for experienced divers, and some folks like myself are recently certified as tech divers and will be using the trips as a way to get better. The Gulf has some really cool features in deeper water (mud volcano, brine seep, spanish shipwrecks) that would require some very advanced skills to dive, as well as proving to me that the divers are capable of carrying out the dives. These tech trips are designed to develop those skills and a chance for me to meet those divers. The boat supplies a diving safety officer, who is certified to instruct whatever level of diving you are performing. He is not there as an instructor, but as a vessel crewmember. They will have helpful advice, but will not guide dives nor provide instruction.

Thanks divewookie. That's pretty much what I was looking for. The only question I have is: You said that each diver will be allowed to bring one set of doubles, one scooter, and one rebreather. What about stage and/or decompression bottles?

Thanks again!

 

[ianr33]

How many dives are expected to be done/allowed on these trips?

Does the trip price include the cost of helium fills?

 

[Wookie]

Helium will be charged at whatever I pay for it by the cubic foot. You may bring stages, deco bottles, etc. I will only fill O2 above 40% in a containment fill station, my containment fill station is designed for aluminum 40's and 80's, although others may fit. If you bring 80/20 or 50/50, don't expect a fill above those percentages, as I will not O2 clean your cylinders on the boat. On the first day, we will allow for a morning dive, early afternoon, and twilight slipping into night. Most folks on the last trip only wanted two dives a day, one or two teams made the night dive. The last day will be a single dive on Stetson, with all divers back on the boat by 1100. Middle days of three day trips will look alot like the first day. Rig dives will only be made if conditions are perfect (I have to hang off the rig for 3 hours), but will be attempted in those conditions. Remember, store owners have a lot of say in how the dives are planned. I suggest that you bring your own buddy so that you plan your dives with that person. Single divers are allowed, but you all know how much you like to team up with a stranger, especially during tech dives. If you plan to dive solo, you must be a) certified and b) convince me that you are not completely incompetent, and c) comvince Melanie of the same thing, and d) convince the DSO of the same thing. Our DSO's for this year are Eric Kiebler from Oceanic Ventures in Houston and Randy Diercoff from Lonestar Scuba.

 

[texdiveguy]

Our DSO's for this year are Eric Kiebler from Oceanic Ventures in Houston and Randy Diercoff from Lonestar Scuba.

Capt. Frank... which of the 2 trips will Randy D. be DSOing on???

 

[Wookie]

There are 4 trips, Randy will DSO the August trip.

 

[texdiveguy]

There are 4 trips, Randy will DSO the August trip.

My typo on the trip count---sorry...thanks for getting back that quick..I just talked with Randy.