OP
Gear packing for NJ wreck diving
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If you are diving single tank, set up one of the tanks with your BC and regulator. Then wear it when you walk from your car to the boat, and set it down on the bench. The second tank goes in a designated area with people's deco bottles, bailout, etc... Yup, you carry all your stuff on and off the boat. The crew will help you, especially if there is a big tidal gap betwen the dock and the deck, but don't expect them to carry your gear from the car and set it up for you.
Don't worry about that, the crew will ask you and help you esitmate if you haven't done this before, but you do need to know some things.
Unlike guided resort diving, everyone here is responsible for planning their own dive. Many people are doing deco and one long dive. So the crew needs to know how long you plan on being in the water, since if you don't come back by that time, someone will have to go look for you. DO NOT OVERSTAY YOUR ESTIMATED DIVE TIME, even if you have "extra" gas and NDL at the end. You will not be invited back!
You will figure out your run time by knowing how deep the wreck is, what your profile is, what your gas consumption is, and how much gas you are carrying.
Hood, gloves, reel, spool, SMB, strobes, toolbox, GPS/PLB/Radio, mask, lights, defog, etc...
Stuff like that. The duffle has your dry underwear and drysuit. You put it on before gearing up to go in the water, and leave it on the deck over your gear on the way back (try to keep wet stuff out of the cabin).
Duffel bag is for dry suit, car keys ect. (dry storage) it should be 95% dry suit, don't bring a bunch of stuff in it. Mine has drysuit and a few snacks, that's it. When I put my drysuit on, I put my clothes hat ect in the bag and back down below, so it's dry.
Stuff you need to dive goes in the milk crate
When you want to dive, sit in your seat, don your BCD, get hoses, regs, gauge situated, don fins then lean forward and pull your milk crate out and between your legs. Grab mask, reel, gloves ect and put them on. slide it back in and off you go. If you have a pony and sling it, the crew will help you.
As a foreigner on the other side of the Atlantic, am curious about how the dive goes on a typical NE boat dive.
On our side, it's all of the above when loading on to the dive boat. Then helping out with the lines & fenders (our skippers are frequently solo; not always, but very common). "Steaming" times obviously vary, but normally at least an hour to the dive site.
At "D minus 60m" as in an hour before the target dive time, there's some movement in the divers. Typically get changed into their underclothes and start moving out to the deck. I like to get my drysuit on 30 mins before the drop time, ensuring pee valve and heater's connected before zipping up. Then load pockets; sort out the 'rig' so it's ready to climb into (with CCR, this will be turn on the diluent (suck and check ADV), turn on drysuit inflate) route the hoses, heater connector, attach the big SMB & reel, tidy up. Get hood and drygloves ready.
Then sort out the stages/bailouts. If there's space, put the stages on the bench either side of the rig and wedge in/clip on so they don't slide around. Breathe from both to check all's well, check pressures. Close valves.
D minus 15 (ish). Often the dive boat would have arrived on site and the shot's thrown over. Skipper checks the shot's in, then gives a rough prediction of when he thinks the slack will appear (we've 2+kts of current, and it's a pig descending the shot in the current; we like slack water!). Fins on; hood on; spit in mask and behind head.
Face rig; turn on oxygen; quick check that all's in place. Untie rig, turn around and sit into the harness. Belt up checking no cables/hoses in the way; drysuit hose; heater connector; Petrel on arm with cable wrapped. Loop over head; turn on Petrel & Nerd; check dil; change SP to 0.7; breathe in mouth, out of nose to fill loop with O2. Start pre-breathe.
Bailouts clipped on; hoses tidied. Drygloves on and checked. Mask on (suck to prove seal).
D minus 5 (ish):
Pre-jump check (1st): Check drysuit dump open; drysuit inflate; wing inflate (partial); quick dil check squirt; oxygen squirt; check cells are all reading the same and over SP 0.7.
(Revo only: wait for RMS (~= tempstick) shows more than 45 mins.)
Boat should be close to jumping now. When "my" turn, slide off of bench and waddle down to the lift/elevator exit holding on to the side rails. Pre-jump check (2nd) ensuring wing's at least half inflated. Stand forwards on the dive lift with fins sticking out (stupid clowns shoes!). Boat getting closer to shot and will slow down. Wait for hooter signal; jump!
Swim/drift into shot line. Avoid getting caught in trailing ropes to two small buoys. Right hand on shotline; left hand holding wing inflate/dump; dump wing air (drysuit should be empty by now as vertical in water); slide down shot line, checking trailing rope's not caught up. Descend to wreck.
On bottom, stabilise buoyancy (drysuit and wing). Sort out bailouts (sidemount bungees); sort out any other crap (tap down); quick bailout (BOV); and... relax. Optional: unclip scooter and check it's ready. Go diving.
Some deeper dives require your tag on the shot line where the lazy shot is clipped on (circa 30m/100ft). Also when 5m/16ft to 10m/33ft above the wreck, clip strobe to the shot line.
Then dive!
Ascent differs according to the plan. If must return on up a shotline, you'll go up that, retrieving strobe and clipping it off. Ascend to first stop. When passing the lazy shot, collect your tag. If the last person, unclip the lazy shot from the main shot. Continue up doing your stops. Meet everyone on the trapeze.
When done, ascend waving to anyone left over. Boat will be close by and swim away from the lazy shot.
If NOT on a lazy shot, will be "bagging off". SMBs are sent up from the wreck as the skipper wants to see one bag per diver come up over the wreck -- they get quite stroppy if you don't send one up from the wreck ("team" divers be aware!). Ascend under the SMB doing your deco. With the tides, you could well be drifting a good couple of miles from the wreck depending on your deco time.
Boat comes to you. Typically picked up on the starboard side. Often there's a rope in the water to grab so you don't go past the stern. Lift/elevator dropped down; climb on; when ready nod head and you'll be lifted out on the lift; waddle back to your place. Hopefully someone will help you off with the stages and fins. Out of rig; tie it on.
Should then be handed a decent strong cup of tea, maybe some biscuits too
Talk diving crap for the journey back!
A lovely day out for everyone.
On our side, it's all of the above when loading on to the dive boat. Then helping out with the lines & fenders (our skippers are frequently solo; not always, but very common). "Steaming" times obviously vary, but normally at least an hour to the dive site.
At "D minus 60m" as in an hour before the target dive time, there's some movement in the divers. Typically get changed into their underclothes and start moving out to the deck. I like to get my drysuit on 30 mins before the drop time, ensuring pee valve and heater's connected before zipping up. Then load pockets; sort out the 'rig' so it's ready to climb into (with CCR, this will be turn on the diluent (suck and check ADV), turn on drysuit inflate) route the hoses, heater connector, attach the big SMB & reel, tidy up. Get hood and drygloves ready.
Then sort out the stages/bailouts. If there's space, put the stages on the bench either side of the rig and wedge in/clip on so they don't slide around. Breathe from both to check all's well, check pressures. Close valves.
D minus 15 (ish). Often the dive boat would have arrived on site and the shot's thrown over. Skipper checks the shot's in, then gives a rough prediction of when he thinks the slack will appear (we've 2+kts of current, and it's a pig descending the shot in the current; we like slack water!). Fins on; hood on; spit in mask and behind head.
Face rig; turn on oxygen; quick check that all's in place. Untie rig, turn around and sit into the harness. Belt up checking no cables/hoses in the way; drysuit hose; heater connector; Petrel on arm with cable wrapped. Loop over head; turn on Petrel & Nerd; check dil; change SP to 0.7; breathe in mouth, out of nose to fill loop with O2. Start pre-breathe.
Bailouts clipped on; hoses tidied. Drygloves on and checked. Mask on (suck to prove seal).
D minus 5 (ish):
Pre-jump check (1st): Check drysuit dump open; drysuit inflate; wing inflate (partial); quick dil check squirt; oxygen squirt; check cells are all reading the same and over SP 0.7.
(Revo only: wait for RMS (~= tempstick) shows more than 45 mins.)
Boat should be close to jumping now. When "my" turn, slide off of bench and waddle down to the lift/elevator exit holding on to the side rails. Pre-jump check (2nd) ensuring wing's at least half inflated. Stand forwards on the dive lift with fins sticking out (stupid clowns shoes!). Boat getting closer to shot and will slow down. Wait for hooter signal; jump!
Swim/drift into shot line. Avoid getting caught in trailing ropes to two small buoys. Right hand on shotline; left hand holding wing inflate/dump; dump wing air (drysuit should be empty by now as vertical in water); slide down shot line, checking trailing rope's not caught up. Descend to wreck.
On bottom, stabilise buoyancy (drysuit and wing). Sort out bailouts (sidemount bungees); sort out any other crap (tap down); quick bailout (BOV); and... relax. Optional: unclip scooter and check it's ready. Go diving.
Some deeper dives require your tag on the shot line where the lazy shot is clipped on (circa 30m/100ft). Also when 5m/16ft to 10m/33ft above the wreck, clip strobe to the shot line.
Then dive!
Ascent differs according to the plan. If must return on up a shotline, you'll go up that, retrieving strobe and clipping it off. Ascend to first stop. When passing the lazy shot, collect your tag. If the last person, unclip the lazy shot from the main shot. Continue up doing your stops. Meet everyone on the trapeze.
When done, ascend waving to anyone left over. Boat will be close by and swim away from the lazy shot.
If NOT on a lazy shot, will be "bagging off". SMBs are sent up from the wreck as the skipper wants to see one bag per diver come up over the wreck -- they get quite stroppy if you don't send one up from the wreck ("team" divers be aware!). Ascend under the SMB doing your deco. With the tides, you could well be drifting a good couple of miles from the wreck depending on your deco time.
Boat comes to you. Typically picked up on the starboard side. Often there's a rope in the water to grab so you don't go past the stern. Lift/elevator dropped down; climb on; when ready nod head and you'll be lifted out on the lift; waddle back to your place. Hopefully someone will help you off with the stages and fins. Out of rig; tie it on.
Should then be handed a decent strong cup of tea, maybe some biscuits too
Talk diving crap for the journey back!
A lovely day out for everyone.
Nosmosis
Registered
I dive in NJ lots. Not on Gypsy Blood much (although I am diving with them to the Resor in August). Generally in NJ, milk crate for gear. I like setting up my gear at home meaning regs, wing backplate, etc ready to go on cylinders when i get on the boat. In the crate is all the other ****. Mask, Fins, computer, etc. Oh yes, and it’s Jersey so goodie bag. Dry suit bag should be fine and gets tossed in cabin.
I’m sure they have told you that you need a second tank on Jersey boats. Either doubles or a pony. Don’t forget.
OP
Thanks everyone! This community is the best!
Yep picking up tanks and pony bottle today. If the T-storms forecast tomorrow don't cancel the trip I'll get everything setup at home for a 4:30am departure.
Yep picking up tanks and pony bottle today. If the T-storms forecast tomorrow don't cancel the trip I'll get everything setup at home for a 4:30am departure.
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