Off to Truk - any advice

[idiot fish]

Hi guys,

I am taking my YBOD to Truk Lagoon in two weeks time, anyone have any RB diving experience/advice/suggestions for Truk?

I understand, although it was briefly, Helium is once again not available so I guess I wont be enjoying much below 45m - how frustrating! :upset:

What are the 'Must dives' what should I look out for/avoid?

Not sure if its true but Ive heard reports, and seen some pics, of the locals bringing things out of the wrecks and positioning them around on the more accessible upper decks for divers to 'ohh and ahhh' at. I hope this is not true as that kinda artificial amusement park stuff is a real turn off for me. (Some of the pics Ive seen you can clearly see that this is the case (a tea cup and plates wouldn't normally be found resting perfectly on a table of a ship wreck thats been bombed, torpedoed and sunk)

I'm looking forward to diving on my first sub!


Cheers

 

[padiscubapro]

idiot fish once bubbled...
Hi guys,

I am taking my YBOD to Truk Lagoon in two weeks time, anyone have any RB diving experience/advice/suggestions for Truk?

I understand, although it was briefly, Helium is once again not available so I guess I wont be enjoying much below 45m - how frustrating! :upset:

What are the 'Must dives' what should I look out for/avoid?

Not sure if its true but Ive heard reports, and seen some pics, of the locals bringing things out of the wrecks and positioning them around on the more accessible upper decks for divers to 'ohh and ahhh' at. I hope this is not true as that kinda artificial amusement park stuff is a real turn off for me. (Some of the pics Ive seen you can clearly see that this is the case (a tea cup and plates wouldn't normally be found resting perfectly on a table of a ship wreck thats been bombed, torpedoed and sunk)

I'm looking forward to diving on my first sub!


Cheers

My favorite wrecks are (please excuse spelling)
Aioku maru, shinkoku maru, shotan maru and of course san fransisco maru..

The sub was ok... I don't think its a must do.. I did them all without helium (I wish I had), but I kept the po2 down to 1.3 so besides the narcosis I was able to do 220-230 (66-70m)withought otox problems..

I did all my diving off the thorfinn, no problems getting oxygen and had the scrubber chemical shipped in ahead of time... ANALYZE your gas carefully (make sure your sensor is good on your analyzer) All my 02 fills were around 92% - all the o2 on island is made (or at least it was) from a PSA system, so don't expect 100%.


there were plenty of human "artifacts" withing the second deck of the aikoku maru, I had to do solo penetrations as the guides didn't really penetrate the wreck at 200+..

 

[idiot fish]

Padiscubapro: Thanks for the info on those wrecks - Ill certainly take a look at them.

Yes subs are not the most exciting dive (unless you can get inside em ) But this will be my first sub dive so for me its a 'must do'

I will be diving on the two Dutch subs KXVII and O16 in Malaysia next April, but they are a lot deeper so there will be not much going on in the way of photography.

70m on air dil set point 1.3! Wow you must have been truly narced off your head!

Without Helium I think Ill stick to my self imposed 45m limit for air dil, especially with penetrations. Damn frustrating.


Thanks for the advice on the O2% Ill be sure to check carefully.


Cheers

Mike

 

[padiscubapro]

idiot fish once bubbled...
Padiscubapro: Thanks for the info on those wrecks - Ill certainly take a look at them.

Yes subs are not the most exciting dive (unless you can get inside em ) But this will be my first sub dive so for me its a 'must do'

I will be diving on the two Dutch subs KXVII and O16 in Malaysia next April, but they are a lot deeper so there will be not much going on in the way of photography.

70m on air dil set point 1.3! Wow you must have been truly narced off your head!

Without Helium I think Ill stick to my self imposed 45m limit for air dil, especially with penetrations. Damn frustrating.


Thanks for the advice on the O2% Ill be sure to check carefully.


Cheers

Mike

Narcosis level was pretty high. definately had to concentrate on the task at hand.. the dives aren't as difficult as you would think.. there is zero current and viz well in excess of 30m, plus the water is in the mid 80sf (sorry I dont think metric when it comesto temp)

I knew what to expect, prior to mix being commonly available I used to do OC air dives in the 70plus meter range but this ws many moons ago...

 

[MstrDiver]

idiot fish once bubbled...
Hi guys,

I am taking my YBOD to Truk Lagoon in two weeks time, anyone have any RB diving experience/advice/suggestions for Truk?

Just as a cutural thing, you will make more friends if you refer to the islands as Chuuk rather than Truk. The Chuukese are very prowd of their name and their islands.

 

[MstrDiver]

MstrDiver once bubbled...


Just as a cutural thing, you will make more friends if you refer to the islands as Chuuk rather than Truk. The Chuukese are very prowd of their name and their islands.

Cultural, that is.