I arrived at the shop and the ladies were wonderful! They are very friendly, very helpful and made me feel right at home. The DM Matt was as helpful as he could be in getting nitrox rentals. He was, however, unable to get the exact mix I requested because they do not blend on demand, but bank their nitrox instead. Banked nitrox has advantages, but there are disadvantages as well.
The boat is nice and roomy, but as others mentioned, the tank racks are limited in their ability to accommodate a variety of tanks. This wasn't an issue for me, but it was an issue for lots of other folks. The tank racks could also use bungie cords, as some of them are seriously cracked and do not hold tanks securely.
I don't use either camera or mask tanks, so I didn't notice any issues with them.
Captain George and DM Matt were both friendly and professional. I was frankly amazed that this operation was willing to take us to both the Duane and the Eagle on one trip. They are a long way apart and this was above and beyond the call of duty in my opinion.
I've dived with Cristal Clear and had George as a captain before, so I know he's always friendly and very helpful. He was a little more stand-offish on this trip than what I've seen before. Perhaps Hillary scares him. I know she scares me.
In the past, when diving with Cristal Clear I've been with mixed groups and only dived shallow reefs. George's briefings have been very nicely done. Saturday, as I prepared to make my 82nd dive on the Duane and my 114th dive on the Eagle, I felt like George assumed we were all inexperienced divers right out of someone's joke of an AOW class. He started with, "We are diving according to PADI standards." Well, since I'm not taking a class, there are no standards to follow. Standards only apply to classes. Various agencies do have recommendations, but most of the rules George started to outline are not any I've ever seen in any agency's recommendations. We were told:
1. Do not exceed 100 ft. (PADI's recommendation is 130 ft, YMCA does have a 100 ft recommendation) The main deck is about 105, there is no reason why 100 ft should be used as a max depth on the Duane instead of the main deck.
2. Computers are required to dive this wreck. What is the logic of that? I can quite safely dive the Duane using tables, I know because I've done it many times. When I first dived the Eagle and the Duane, computers were rare and it was rarer still to find operators who did not insist you follow tables even when using a computer. Diving tables is actually safer than diving computers. While you are still making a multilevel dive, your calculations are for a square profile resulting in shorter bottom times and less chance of DCS.
3. No penetrations, although swim throughs were OK. He then explained the difference between a penetration and a swim through. I almost fell asleep during that explanation.
4. No swim throughs deeper than 80 ft. Does the Duane even have any swim throughs that shallow? Why not just say, "no swim throughs."
5. No swim throughs with less than 1900 PSI. Well, since there are no swim throughs shallow enough for George to allow, why bother setting such a limit? Assuming we were allowed to make swim thoughs, why would it be OK to start a swim through with a 63 cu ft tank with 1900 PSI (approximate 40 cu ft) but not OK to start a swim through with a 131 cu ft tank with 1800 PSI (has more air than the 63 full)? This doesn't even begin to consider different breathing rates.
6. Start back toward the up line with 1800 PSI. Again, what about different size tanks and different breathing rates?
7. No planned decompression dives. That one is pretty standard.
There were more, but that's enough to illustrate the point. The rules were arbitrary and not based on real safety considerations.
After all that, he said that our time limit was 35 minutes, but he wasn't saying it was safe to stay at 100 ft for 35 minutes, that we were all certified divers and we could all figure out our own safe time limits and were responsible for same. I did agree with that and in fact, I believe we are responsible for all aspects of our own diving. Briefings like this would give me pause before booking a trip with Cristal Clear to any of the deep sites in the area.
On the up side, there was no attempt to police the rules. No one checked computers after the dives. No one even asked max depth. Matt and George were both helpful, but not pushy, excellent traits for chart boat crews.
Upon returning to the dock, we were treated to a BBQ dinner at no charge. Again, this was above and beyond.
Sunday morning, I checked in and met Captain Pete when he arrived. Pete was like George, friendly and helpful, but not at all stand-offish. Again, Matt was the on board DM. Pete's briefings were better than the ones we received the day before. He was short, to the point and safety conscious without giving us poorly thought out rules. On the second dive, he set no time limits, but did ask that we refrain from staying down 2 hours.
Pete was, like Matt and George, very helpful without being pushy.
Overall, I was very impressed with Cristal Clear. If not for the dive briefing from hell, a problem with tank racks and an inability to get EAN 30, I would have absolutely nothing but praise for this operation, both in the shop and on the boat. They have excellent people.
The boat is nice and roomy, but as others mentioned, the tank racks are limited in their ability to accommodate a variety of tanks. This wasn't an issue for me, but it was an issue for lots of other folks. The tank racks could also use bungie cords, as some of them are seriously cracked and do not hold tanks securely.
I don't use either camera or mask tanks, so I didn't notice any issues with them.
Captain George and DM Matt were both friendly and professional. I was frankly amazed that this operation was willing to take us to both the Duane and the Eagle on one trip. They are a long way apart and this was above and beyond the call of duty in my opinion.
I've dived with Cristal Clear and had George as a captain before, so I know he's always friendly and very helpful. He was a little more stand-offish on this trip than what I've seen before. Perhaps Hillary scares him. I know she scares me.
In the past, when diving with Cristal Clear I've been with mixed groups and only dived shallow reefs. George's briefings have been very nicely done. Saturday, as I prepared to make my 82nd dive on the Duane and my 114th dive on the Eagle, I felt like George assumed we were all inexperienced divers right out of someone's joke of an AOW class. He started with, "We are diving according to PADI standards." Well, since I'm not taking a class, there are no standards to follow. Standards only apply to classes. Various agencies do have recommendations, but most of the rules George started to outline are not any I've ever seen in any agency's recommendations. We were told:
1. Do not exceed 100 ft. (PADI's recommendation is 130 ft, YMCA does have a 100 ft recommendation) The main deck is about 105, there is no reason why 100 ft should be used as a max depth on the Duane instead of the main deck.
2. Computers are required to dive this wreck. What is the logic of that? I can quite safely dive the Duane using tables, I know because I've done it many times. When I first dived the Eagle and the Duane, computers were rare and it was rarer still to find operators who did not insist you follow tables even when using a computer. Diving tables is actually safer than diving computers. While you are still making a multilevel dive, your calculations are for a square profile resulting in shorter bottom times and less chance of DCS.
3. No penetrations, although swim throughs were OK. He then explained the difference between a penetration and a swim through. I almost fell asleep during that explanation.
4. No swim throughs deeper than 80 ft. Does the Duane even have any swim throughs that shallow? Why not just say, "no swim throughs."
5. No swim throughs with less than 1900 PSI. Well, since there are no swim throughs shallow enough for George to allow, why bother setting such a limit? Assuming we were allowed to make swim thoughs, why would it be OK to start a swim through with a 63 cu ft tank with 1900 PSI (approximate 40 cu ft) but not OK to start a swim through with a 131 cu ft tank with 1800 PSI (has more air than the 63 full)? This doesn't even begin to consider different breathing rates.
6. Start back toward the up line with 1800 PSI. Again, what about different size tanks and different breathing rates?
7. No planned decompression dives. That one is pretty standard.
There were more, but that's enough to illustrate the point. The rules were arbitrary and not based on real safety considerations.
After all that, he said that our time limit was 35 minutes, but he wasn't saying it was safe to stay at 100 ft for 35 minutes, that we were all certified divers and we could all figure out our own safe time limits and were responsible for same. I did agree with that and in fact, I believe we are responsible for all aspects of our own diving. Briefings like this would give me pause before booking a trip with Cristal Clear to any of the deep sites in the area.
On the up side, there was no attempt to police the rules. No one checked computers after the dives. No one even asked max depth. Matt and George were both helpful, but not pushy, excellent traits for chart boat crews.
Upon returning to the dock, we were treated to a BBQ dinner at no charge. Again, this was above and beyond.
Sunday morning, I checked in and met Captain Pete when he arrived. Pete was like George, friendly and helpful, but not at all stand-offish. Again, Matt was the on board DM. Pete's briefings were better than the ones we received the day before. He was short, to the point and safety conscious without giving us poorly thought out rules. On the second dive, he set no time limits, but did ask that we refrain from staying down 2 hours.
Pete was, like Matt and George, very helpful without being pushy.
Overall, I was very impressed with Cristal Clear. If not for the dive briefing from hell, a problem with tank racks and an inability to get EAN 30, I would have absolutely nothing but praise for this operation, both in the shop and on the boat. They have excellent people.
