Trip Report March 19th Double Dip USNS Vandenberg - Key West, FL

[Fishhy]

I had the privilege to dive on the USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg this past Saturday.
The conditions were great with very little current. We were able to free descend/ascend and do a lot of exploring.
Sunny day, about 80F
Visibility was about 50-60ft and a nice 78.5F average temperature underwater (3mm wetsuit).

I was scheduled to arrive by cruise ship at 8am which made the 9am push-off time with Captain's Corner a bit close. It was made all the more stressful with the ship arriving late and immigrations not starting until 8:30am.
I worked with Jen and Kristen at Captains Corner a few weeks ago and let them know my situation. They were so willing to work with me and made the process very nice. My guide was waiting for me at the street corner as I arrived - about a 12 minute walk from "Pier B" to the boat will all my gear.

I had all my own gear except for fins, weights, and tanks- I opted to use their AL100's with 30% Nitrox for a little more bottom time; though I probably could have managed the same dive with the AL80 but I wanted to have a little buffer of available air.

Unfortunately the cruise cancelled a dive I had scheduled in Grand Turk very last minute so I wasn't able to dive with any of the island operators either. This was my first real dive since I switched to a new BCD.

The crew at Captain's Corner was great and I would not hesitate to book with them in the future!
He're a video from the day- I tried to tag locations but there were a couple I wasn't 100% sure of.
Cheers!

 

[scubadada]

My son and I did a triple on the Vandenberg off the M/V Spree in 2015, great dives, I would love to get back someday.

 

[Shabaday]

Nice video! I would have worn a rash guard or some type of skin protection...How much weight did you have to use?

 

[Catito]

I had the privilege to dive on the USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg this past Saturday.
The conditions were great with very little current. We were able to free descend/ascend and do a lot of exploring.
Sunny day, about 80F
Visibility was about 50-60ft and a nice 78.5F average temperature underwater (3mm wetsuit).

I was scheduled to arrive by cruise ship at 8am which made the 9am push-off time with Captain's Corner a bit close. It was made all the more stressful with the ship arriving late and immigrations not starting until 8:30am.
I worked with Jen and Kristen at Captains Corner a few weeks ago and let them know my situation. They were so willing to work with me and made the process very nice. My guide was waiting for me at the street corner as I arrived - about a 12 minute walk from "Pier B" to the boat will all my gear.

I had all my own gear except for fins, weights, and tanks- I opted to use their AL100's with 30% Nitrox for a little more bottom time; though I probably could have managed the same dive with the AL80 but I wanted to have a little buffer of available air.

Unfortunately the cruise cancelled a dive I had scheduled in Grand Turk very last minute so I wasn't able to dive with any of the island operators either. This was my first real dive since I switched to a new BCD.

The crew at Captain's Corner was great and I would not hesitate to book with them in the future!
He're a video from the day- I tried to tag locations but there were a couple I wasn't 100% sure of.
Cheers!

Nice video

 

[Fishhy]

Nice video! I would have worn a rash guard or some type of skin protection...How much weight did you have to use?

Thanks, I wore a 3mm. I prefer to have something on when diving wrecks.

I used 14lbs with the 3mm and the AL100.

 

[drrich2]

Glad you had a good time. I've never dove that wreck. Was were your max. depth, average depth and total dive time?

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @drrich2

When my son and I did our 3 dives on the Vandenberg in 2015 off the Spree, we pushed it pretty hard. Max depth was 96-121 ft, avg depth 68-72 ft, dive times 42-54 min. We had good SIs, dived 32% in slightly underfilled steel 100s. My RMV was a bit higher than avg, would not have been able to do the 1st two dives with AL80s. Went to 0 NDL on 1st dive, light deco on 2nd and 3rd, 3 and 4 min. We had a blast, would love the opportunity to do it again, will not likely happen.

 

[drrich2]

Max depth was 96-121 ft, avg depth 68-72 ft, dive times 42-54 min.

Thanks for the info.! I was curious as to whether gas remaining or NDL's tended to limit dive times on the Vandenberg, and what a typical dive time was.

Richard.

 

[Fishhy]

I had plenty of air left on both dives (~1000+psi back on the boat) but even at the top deck my NDL was about 3min, so we just called it when we were back to our ball. I was definitely out of NDL before I was out of gas.


Max depth: 115ft and 120ft
Avg depth: 70ft and 73ft
Length: 34min, 32min.

 

[vokain]

I got to do my AOW wreck dive on Vandy. It was awesome swimming through some of it