Staged decompression training

[jbd]

Great

Your ready, I have a couple expeditions coming up. Want to go?

If I had the experience to go I would really like to go--BTW where are you going? What are the planned dives. This might give me some fodder for the planning machine

Seriously I would like to know the where and what of these expeditions so I can work through some diving planning and gas planning problems.

 

[Whitelightnin]

A buddy of mine said he saw a *technical* class crawling up the bottom at a local training site from stop to stop. Makes you wonder.

YOU HAVE A BUDDY ?!?!?!

(just funnin ya)

James

 

[Curt Bowen]

If I had the experience to go I would really like to go--BTW where are you going? What are the planned dives. This might give me some fodder for the planning machine

Seriously I would like to know the where and what of these expeditions so I can work through some diving planning and gas planning problems.

Thats the problem, we dont really know the dive plan till we get to the bottom. All the caves have never been explored, thus we do not know the profiles. So we plan simple. Set a max depth and max time and anything less is great. Such as the last dive into Megadome cave in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Max depth 350 feet, max time 15 minutes. We hit 350, but the cave was still dropping, so its re-plan, re-mix and back for 425, if it makes it.

Next expedition is to Abacos, Bahamas, then back to the Yucatan, maybe Roatan deep wall caves?

Always looking for new places if anyone has any ideas or locations they know of?

 

[jbd]

Thats the problem, we dont really know the dive plan till we get to the bottom. All the caves have never been explored, thus we do not know the profiles. So we plan simple. Set a max depth and max time and anything less is great. Such as the last dive into Megadome cave in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Max depth 350 feet, max time 15 minutes. We hit 350, but the cave was still dropping, so its re-plan, re-mix and back for 425, if it makes it.

Next expedition is to Abacos, Bahamas, then back to the Yucatan, maybe Roatan deep wall caves?

Always looking for new places if anyone has any ideas or locations they know of?

That sounds alot like the cave in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that was written about in the magazine issue you sent me. Can't tell you the anme though as the magazine is out in the car to take to work and read if I get a lunch break. BTW I'll be sending in my subscription next week.

On the return trip will you be following line or markers to the 350 foot and then add more until you get to 425 if it goes that far?

Curious as to how you found these places and even more curious as to their origin geologically speaking :06:

Thanks for the info. It will give something to crunch on.

 

[Curt Bowen]

That sounds alot like the cave in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that was written about in the magazine issue you sent me. Can't tell you the anme though as the magazine is out in the car to take to work and read if I get a lunch break. BTW I'll be sending in my subscription next week.

On the return trip will you be following line or markers to the 350 foot and then add more until you get to 425 if it goes that far?

Curious as to how you found these places and even more curious as to their origin geologically speaking :06:

Thanks for the info. It will give something to crunch on.

Its actually a new one, the last was Diamond Rock Cave. A buddy of mine found the small entrance from numbers he got from a fisherman. He did the first exploration dive to 225, then set up a trip with me and a couple deep freeks.

This one is very interesting and could become the deepest in the gulf if it breaks 435' (Green Banana Sink, 1994). The 3 foot diameter shaft drops straight down from 120' to 175' and opens into the side of a giant room. The walls cut under as you drop into the room and at 310 feet you hit the top of a small silt mound. The closest wall I found was about 100 feet from the mound with a max depth of 340. But the furthest wall should be over 250 feet away from the mound and unexplored to date.

 

[jbd]

Its actually a new one, the last was Diamond Rock Cave. A buddy of mine found the small entrance from numbers he got from a fisherman. He did the first exploration dive to 225, then set up a trip with me and a couple deep freeks.

This one is very interesting and could become the deepest in the gulf if it breaks 435' (Green Banana Sink, 1994). The 3 foot diameter shaft drops straight down from 120' to 175' and opens into the side of a giant room. The walls cut under as you drop into the room and at 310 feet you hit the top of a small silt mound. The closest wall I found was about 100 feet from the mound with a max depth of 340. But the furthest wall should be over 250 feet away from the mound and unexplored to date.

Yes, thats the name of the one in the magazine article! How did the fisherman find the place??

 

[Kriterian]

Sorry for the interuptions, just thought I would ask a few questions. (For some reason I feel like I'm at a party eavesdropping on a conversation, hehe)

If your planning on getting into techincal diving, all your basic skills such as bouyancy, mask clearing, reg recovery should have already been MASTERED.

Do you have any tips (or back issues of your magazine) for ... hmm, what's the word... quotas for these items? I still don't think that's the right word. A list of more specific skills in those categories to gauge how close you are to mastery.

For example, sort of like the GUE requirements as far as buoyancy, kicking, etc for each of the levels of Tech training?

Even better, some practice drills. I tried to do stuff like this in OW training. I know my mask or regulator isn't going to come off after I inhale but WHILE I'm inhaling. So I tried to jerk them out at odd times instead of taking a breath first.

The next question is for jbd, but I can't quote since I'm in reply mode.

What was that book you mentioned, it had like GTW or BTD or something as the initials.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Curt Bowen]

Yes, thats the name of the one in the magazine article! How did the fisherman find the place??

Old time commercial fisherman know everything. If your ever looking for a new site, never ask a dive shop, normally they know nothing except where the recreational wrecks and giant reefs are.

But the commercial fisherman know every piece of structure and fish holding spots out to 500 feet +.

The problem is getting them to trust you not to give out the GPS numbers.

 

[jbd]

The next question is for jbd, but I can't quote since I'm in reply mode.

What was that book you mentioned, it had like GTW or BTD or something as the initials.

Thanks a bunch!

The books are by Bruce R Weinke, hence the intials BRW which is also his board name here on scubaboard. I have a couple of his books. The one I'm working through now in preparation for my tech nitrox and decompression courses is titled, "Basic Decompression Theory and Application" 2nd edition 2003. You can get it by going to www.bestpub.com

He has other books out and I will pick them up when I fully understand the few I have now. Trust me when I say that there is lots of science and math in his books. The math I'm weak on but my chemistry, physics and phsiology foundation was strong enough(decades ago ) that I can follow the text fairly well. These books are really helping with the "why" we do what we do in regards to ascent rates, deep stops gas switches etc etc etc. I highly recommend his books.

 

[jbd]

Old time commercial fisherman know everything. If your ever looking for a new site, never ask a dive shop, normally they know nothing except where the recreational wrecks and giant reefs are.

But the commercial fisherman know every piece of structure and fish holding spots out to 500 feet +.

The problem is getting them to trust you not to give out the GPS numbers.

I wondered if it had to do with fish hangouts. Now I'm curious as to why the fish would hangout over a site like Diamond Rock and Megadome. :06: Is it temperature, nutrients O2 content or ???