flower gardens soon....couple questions

[donnad]

hi everyone! i have a few questions about stuff to take or not for trip to flower gardens........going july20/21. (can't remember right now if it will be the Fling or the Spree). anyway, hubby and i have mesh dive bags to conveniently pack/carry our dive gear, but i think i remember someone saying on here before, that bringing along one of the hard plastic milk crates to put your small stuff in like mask/snorkel,gloves, save-a-dive kit, whatever, and stow that under your "seat" on the deck makes a convenient way to keep your stuff together, etc. is that correct? it'll fit underneath your seat? sounds like a convenient idea, then stow our mesh bag in the bunk area. also, we need to bring our own towels, washcloths if desired, right? next........i won't give a hoot about drying my hair, except after the night dive it would be nice to not go to bed with wet hair.........you bring your own hair dryer, right? place to plug it in near where you sleep? or should i just deal with wet hair? don't want to overpack. last question........we will be renting computers from Seasports. don't have a dive watch or bottom timer. are you required to have a back-up for timing your dive? i know that would be ideal of course, but we're still working on getting regs and computers of our own first. please advise. thanks in advance for answering my questions!!!! you all are always awesome!!!! can't wait to go!!!! three weeks and two days!!! any other advice/tips are welcome. i'm definitely planning on taking seasick med. and starting it early to be pro-active.

 

[PvilleStang]

I would indeed have a backup timer (a watch, maybe with stop watch function). If your computer craps out on you during the trip, you'll still have the option to run tables if you record your profiles. The crate idea is pretty good. I just took my nice large dive bag, and between dives, just buckled down most of my gear to the BC. There are plugins right next to your bunk if I remember correctly (I had my laptop there and was powering it in the bunks).

 

[Crazyduck]

It all comes down to choices.
I would take a camp towel-
Example- http://www.rei.com/product/48001598.htm
Regular towels get wet and stay wet. This has a loop- and tie off to anything. That way it dries between dives. After a shower I do prefer a regular towel but for during the day this is easier. I usually bring a shirt and shorts that I can wear in between dives. Remember that someone has to fill tanks, and you have to test your nitrox before the next dive.

Rinse off after each dive with all your gear on and rinse off the computer. Salt water sometimes plays havoc with the touch contacts. Then sit down and take everything off.

I tend to put my gear on the outside wall of the (gear area) boat. They hang wetsuits on the inside rails so after the first dive it is like parting the neoprene sea to get to your gear if you are in the center section. There is some room under the seats but not a ton. I bring a stall sac (soft gear bag) and stuff it under the bench.

Watches- the simple answer is yes.
This is considered open water gear. Casio G-shock- Target $40 to 60.00 each. Buy one every 8 to 10 years of diving and I wear it till I break it. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.htm...6?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B00000DM9J
Easy to wear, run and push button light. $69.00

Sorry- I don’t have long hair.
We take sea sick med’s at least one day ahead of the trip. It helps a lot.
It might effect your (discretion here) toilet cycles. Just a heads up.

Side note- Try working out some dives on tables with 2 hours sit (surface interval times) times. Make sure the computer shows you NDL limits (no decompression time) and think of planning your day a bit. The computer will be different since it is updating during your dive.

At first hang around the up line, you don’t want to do open water ascent- especially if you have never experienced it before. If you know someone team up them for a dive or two.

I drink a glass (plastic) of water before each dive. Stay hydrated.

Enjoy yourself…

 

[BrianV]

Is it true that if you enter deco dive profile once you're done for the trip, or is it done for the day?

 

[bnajdrovsky]

Is it true that if you enter deco dive profile once you're done for the trip, or is it done for the day?

I've never seen anyone do deco dive out there (you normally need a shovel to go much deeper than about 75 - 80 feet on most of the dives), but they do have that rule for if you run out of air. Despite that, on a trip a couple of years ago, we had some idiot do precisely that, but Melanie (Capt. Frank's wife and DM on the Spree) let him back in the water after giving him an earful. Unbelievably, this guy ran out of air again on the next dive, so that was it for him. Sadly, the seas picked up, and we all headed home early after the third dive, so everyone's diving was cut short. (I also became very personally acquainted with the white plastic bags, but that's a whole other story... )

Anyway, to answer your question, according to Gulf Diving's FAQ, they do not allow decompression dives, so they may possibly make you sit some dives out. On the other hand, if you do happen to enter decompression and correctly do the deco stops as your computer tells you, they probably wouldn't even know. They only ask you for max depth, bottom time, and remaining tank pressure as you get back onboard from your dive.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

Is it true that if you enter deco dive profile once you're done for the trip, or is it done for the day?

If you Deco once you sit a dive, twice and you sit the rest of the trip, same with OOA. You have to get back on the boat with at least one breath in your tank.

Check out these posts for more info:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=135541

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=135701

 

[BrianV]

Running out of air isn't a concern, but I heard everything there is at around 80' and if you're not diving Nitrox your BT at that depth becomes a concern. I also heard portions go as deep as 110'. I know that I can long outlive my air at 80-110' when under NDL constraints. If I were to go past my deco for 5-10 minutes, I'd still have plenty in the tank plus reserve to more than double the deco reports from my computer (which is my rule for diving on deco tables). For the record, I feel my air consumption is better than most (including women). I guess you could take the chance of them not knowing, but if they were to force me to show them my computer profile, it would say DECO on it in big letters, also a DM may notice you spending A LOT of time just chilling on the line at 40-50'.

I don't see it as a problem for one dive, but 3-4-5 dives in one day, I could see BT being a concern; I guess I may have to look into Nitrox before I do those dives.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

I heard everything there is at around 80' and if you're not diving Nitrox your BT at that depth becomes a concern. I also heard portions go as deep as 110'.

The average depths of all my dives out there were around 75 feet, I did make 113' on Stetson first dive on Sunday. The boat rules are 130' max on first dive of the day and 100' max on each other dive. On the East and West Banks you don't have to venture a long way from the Mooring line to see a lot (especially if your navigation skills aren't the best) there's lot's of nooks and crannies that the fish are in and out of; your average depth will be around 75' for the dives and remember to look up in the water column, the Hammerhead I saw was on the way back about 60' from the mooring line. If there is a current swim into it from the mooring line and stay low in the coral troughs, you won't have to fight as much then just raise up and drift back.

 

[redacted]

I don't see it as a problem for one dive, but 3-4-5 dives in one day, I could see BT being a concern; I guess I may have to look into Nitrox before I do those dives.

Thanks for the comments!

With any reasonable SAC, air will leave you NDL limited for the entire trip. With Nitrox, all your dives will probably be gas limited: with room to spare on NDLs. I get 10 to 15 more minutes out of each tank diving nitrox.

I use a mesh bag and a regulator bag to store thing under the benches. The plastic milk crate may be a bit large but should work.

 

[Lukiedukie]

Great timing for the post. I will be adding a few things to my shopping list. Thank you all