Truk lagoon 70th Anniversary of Operation Hailstone aboard Odyssey

[tripntx]

Odyessy replied to me yesterday. Banked 21/36 Trimix is $1.50/cuft. I can afford that for one dive on twin al 80's to have a clear head while diving San Francisco Maru. Rest of the dives I plan on using banked 30% nitrox. Deco will be with 100% O2, which is $2/cuft, but lets face it, a 30 cuft pony bottle used for moderate deco can last quite a while.

Unless you are on a rebreather you might want to reconsider the trimix. If I remember correctly they charge $6/cuft for trimix and $2/cuft for O2. If you are on open circuit the gas cost alone for this using trimix and O2 would probably cost more than your trimix class. I did this dive using air for backgas and 2 aluminum 80's with the standard 30 percent nitrox for deco. If you are on a standard trip air or 30 percent are included. On a tech charter they include the O2 for I think $300 more. The water is warm and the visibility is great so a lot of deco time and narcosis are not that bad. 200 feet on air in Truk is a common practice due to the cost of trimix there. Now if you are CC then that is a different story.

 

[bamafan]

Maybe the $6/ cuft was for helium. I remember someone saying it maybe I was wrong. I do believe they charge for the whole tank not what is used like in cave country. If that is correct the gas bill for that one dive will be $300. I considered using trimix in December but after several dives in excess of 140 feet on air and even a 200' dive on the Oite I decided to do it on air with 30 percent for deco. The water is warm the vis is good and there is no current. You can penetrate the SanFrancisco Maru but you probably won't on the first dive as the holds have so much to see. In my opinion if this was a more challenging dive I would pay for the mix but it is such a simple dive I decided against it. You might feel the same after a few dives.

If you have the time go dive the Oite with Rob at the Truk Stop. It was the best dive of the trip to me. I intend on going back and I will stay several days at the Truk Stop and dive with Rob if he will have me. Have fun I really enjoyed the trip and can't wait to go back. Oh I also forgot to mention that I am just a poor construction worker so $300 in gas for a 30-40 minute bottom time is a good bit of money. Everyone is different and has different priorities I am sure you will have a good dive either way.

I recommend taking a few stage kits as I don't believe you will have enough gas in 2 al 80's and 1 30 cuft bottle of 100% O2. Alot depends on your profile but I did 40 minutes of bottom time and you will probably want to do 30 minutes or so and if you drop down in the holds or engine room you will be around 180'. Also I would recommend at least a single al 80 of 30% just in case something happens to your backgas and you don't have to go like crazy to 20'. I hope you don't take this as I am trying to tell you how to dive it is just my suggestion from my experience.

 

[tripntx]

Not at all, you are stating your experience diving Truk, which provides me with more options to consider. Yes, $240-$300 to fill a set of twin AL80's is expensive, and I'm just a retired enlisted AF person simply trying to make sure I plan this right and work as much overtime as possible to properly pay for this trip. Should I dive with banked Trimix, then it'll only be one dive on SFM. Don't think Odyssesy will take us to Oite.

I hope you don't take this as I am trying to tell you how to dive it is just my suggestion from my experience.

Cutting out Trimix completely would help fund a stop to Guadalcanal on the way back. I might not ever have the ability to dive South Pacific again. So, depart Truk to Guam, Guam to Honiara, make a couple of dives around "Iron Bottom Sound", before flying back to US Mainland.