Nautilus Explorer shark cage dive question

[slingshot]

Couldn't find a good answer on their website, or here in the forum, so here goes. Anyone who has done the Nautilus Explorer trip to Guadalupe recently, could you please give me a detailed rundown of how you enter and exit the cages? I have a bum knee (healing fx) and am thinking climbing from the transom to the cage top wearing a weight belt or weight harness will be hard. Planning to use a drysuit, so figure will be porting a fair amount of lead. I'm wondering if there is any way to climb partway down the ladder into the cage and put the belt on, or lower the belt to the cage floor then put it on, presuming I have at least some lead on to allow me to reach the floor. Thoughts? Diagrams? Thanks.

 

[Pyro_]

i was was on the season opener for nautilus undersea last week and they have 30-40 pound weight harnesses pre setup on deck and help you on with them and then you climb down into the cage. I am overweight and the opening was only just big enough for me and the weight belt to fit through. cages are about 10 feet or so deep and the DM is holding onto the cage while you are trying to climb in. not sure if there would really be an easy way to get the weight harness on once you are in the water

 

[togatown]

Ironically, I had a torn meniscus out of the blue, right after we got home from our trip. Had no trouble getting in and out of the cages, but a strange coincidence.

 

[slingshot]

That's what I've been told weight wise from Nautilus. I remember taking the big step from their panga to the deck on a long ago Nautilus Explorer trip out of La Paz, thought it might be similar and thus perilous for my knee this go around. I was thinking of bringing my own Pinnacle pouch weight belt with say 20# on it, then putting on a harness with another 20# if they could leave it on the floor of the cage. Well, I'll figure something out.