Barge 2-12-11

[g1138]

That's a very thorough explanation Guy.

I'm currently in possession of St 72's though, and would rather use those and not rent any tanks for the time being.
I'm trying to save up some money to make some major gear purchases.
So maybe someday on a single tank, just not soon. I'm content with my current choice of sites......for now ;]

 

[g1138]

That should do it:

Awww, but then you have your mask stuck to the face shield ;P
Yes, I'm nit picky

 

[Guy Alcala]

That's a very thorough explanation Guy.

I'm currently in possession of St 72's though, and would rather use those and not rent any tanks for the time being.
I'm trying to save up some money to make some major gear purchases.
So maybe someday on a single tank, just not soon. I'm content with my current choice of sites......for now ;]

Whatever you're comfortable with, but if you can get a shop to give you a slight overfill (say 2750 PSI or so) you'll have the same gas as an AL80 (actually 77.4), although as previously stated an 80 does restrict most people a bit. The first couple of times I did the barge, with an AL80, I surface swam out direct from the beach to it instead of heading out from the wall, which will conserve gas. I dropped on Chuck's back lineup (Google "GPS for the Monterey Diver") and a cross bearing on the light at the end of the BW, deliberately leaving myself somewhat inshore. You've got to be comfortable descending in limited viz for 60-65 feet or so if you do it that way.

All I had to do when I reached the bottom was turn and swim the reciprocal of the back bearing, and I hit the barge in a minute or two (the second dive). The first dive I was a bit off line and had never been there before, so wasn't aware that I was passing over the debris field just SE and out of viz of it, and continued past for a few minutes. I turned around and found the SE end as I came back. But I knew about what the depth should be, so I knew when I was definitely too deep and needed to turn around.

With a buddy and a reel it's no big deal to swim an arc search, provided you're comfortable being out of sight of each other. Otherwise, a parallel line search with the long legs perpendicular to the barge's long axis works just fine, using depth as your leg end points.

Guy