Tech diving off dive boats

[astr0b0y]

If you’re heading back to Melbourne, I’d recommend chatting with Karl and Sally at SDS Altona. They often have a couple of tech dives scheduled each month and run a great dive club (I’m a member).

 

[Johnoly]

Sometimes that doesn't work out and I wind up with new people.

For all types of diving(tech/wreck/cave/etc) @Tracy described it perfectly.
It's just like Dating,,,,,some people just don't work out and you move on to the next one.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

For all types of diving(tech/wreck/cave/etc) @Tracy described it perfectly.
It's just like Dating,,,,,some people just don't work out and you move on to the next one.

Very much so!

 

[tomfcrist]

As it pertains to deco, ideally you and your buddy should communicate and run the same profile. The biggest issue would be the gas switch/s. the 70 ft switch would have everyone together even if the team is running different profiles, but the o2 switch could be 5 minutes or more apart at 20ft. Not the biggest deal, since in my opinion the O2 switch is the least problematic from a "Wrong Gas" standpoint, but ideally a team will be on the same profile, same depth, and be able to buddy verify gas switches.

All that being said, at the AN/DP level, the buddies would likely never be further than 10' apart from each other on deco. The more aggressive profile diver can just hang out at 20' until the conservative buddy finishes deco so that they can finish the dive together.

 

[sheeper]

As a tech instructor, i'm kind of picky about who i dive with. I have a few tech friends and when we setup a yech trip we have everything pre-planned. The dive operator checks with each team about dive profiles, protocols, etc. And, of course, the op briefs us on what they need us to do.
I'll do baby-tec dives without a set buddy (recreational depths or near that) but dive my profile and my GF. I'll even dive my rebreather with OC folks!

 

[Tracy]

Thanks Tracy! Out of interest, what do you mean by 'conservatism'? I.e. deep stop advocates would have a lower GF low, while the 'shallower deep stop' school of thought (advocated by Simon Mitchell) propose higher GF lows of more like 50 (I actually meant to type my preference as 50/70 in my original post).

Personally, in cold water, I run a 70/70, that has worked best for me for years. I sometimes run higher in warm waters with easy diving. If somebody normally runs higher GFs and we are diving together, I ask them to drop to my settings. Most will, some don't. That is their perogative.

 

[formernuke]

I'm going to be in the same boat, except I will also likely be combining OC with CCR.

 

[100days-a-year]

I don't do charters so my experience is somewhat different.
For routine minimal deco to 180' or less it's a free for all and people do what they want.
When diving deeper or longer I think it's best if everyone is on the same page. We mostly anchor dive and vis is typically good so it pretty easy to track divers from the boat as well.

 

[Nick_Radov]

Hi all

I recently completed my ANDP course and am excited about doing frequent modest local tech dives (45m, ~1hr run time).

The main avenue for tech diving in my city is off a charter boat. The boat advertises regular tech dives at varying qualification levels.

Getting on a tech charter with random divers following different procedures is a CF waiting to happen. Get your buddies together and charter a whole boat so that you can run the show and do things in a consistent manner.

I'm just wondering what the convention is regarding decompression... I'm keen to do a deco profile with GF low of 40 and GF high of 70. But I assume other divers have their own preferred profiles (which of course I respect; it's a very individual thing).

For dives in the 45m range it really doesn't matter. Anything reasonable will get you out fine. Or if you do get bent then it will be because of some other problem, not because you used GF values slightly different from current recommendations.

What have your experiences have been in these situations? Should the dive operator link us up by email so we can discuss deco prior to the dives? Do you just 'go with the crowd' and do the profiles the other (more experienced) divers are running? Or do you stick to your own profile and turn it into a bit of a solo dive on the way up?

It's always a good idea to plan deco profiles before showing up at the boat. But you also need to know how to adjust deco profiles on the fly in case conditions dictate diving on a different site. This is one of the key benefits of GUE tech training: everyone is on the same page and following the same basic procedures with very little variation so we don't have to waste a lot of time on that.

I understand that in a perfect world, we would all have our regular dive buddies that share the same deco preferences. But this really isn't practical where I am, if I want to dive regularly.

Why isn't it practical? Join a local dive club and find some like minded buddies. Or if a suitable club doesn't exist then start one. That's what some friends and I did years ago.

 

[Wibble]

What about diving with a lazy shot?

Who cares why deco people are doing, they’re all floating together on the free-floating shot line / trapeze.

Those running shorter bottom times will be out first, longer bottom times or slow deco setting get out last.