How to Learn about DIR?

[danvolker]

Hi Dan,

Can you give me the details of those dives in Feb? I would definitely be interested. I probably will not have bought gear by then but would probably rent a tech/DIR rig from Brownies or, if you have a shop that you particularly recommend, please let me know. I would need the BCD/Reg/Light plus a wetsuit. Have mask and fins but that's all. I would be alone and in need of a buddy.

If you all are arranging it, I would like the cost of the trips plus rental of a complete (except for mask and fins) DIR BC/Reg/Gauge/Timer/Light set-up, or if I need to rent that stuff myself can you refer me to a shop? Also, I will get my PADI nitrox cert beforehand so I can finally bring myself to the 21st century.

Guy

I actually wanted to take that course but cannot get five days off of work. Will need to have a evening/weekends course. Do you know of any that are upcoming in the Ft. Laud area?

I hope I get to meet you in person in Feb, and thanks for the feedback on your experience with the transpac. I know one problem my wife is having is getting her bouyancy right and in particular completely dumping her BCD, so that is an important consideration.

Also, do these wing rigs have the shoulder dump valve that you can operate by pulling the corrugated hose (that was always my preferred method because it was very easy to stay in position and not have to rotate my body to get the hose elevated enough to dump), or any other way to dump than using the hose?

Guy

From Errol,
Details and costs finally for Adventure trip
Hello everyone, I will begin with a brief narrative of the weekend and follow it with the details for everyone which you can find near the end of this post where you can see a summary of distances and prices. As a side note, when I checked out the hotel and its food today with Dan Volker, I was treated to the site of 2 very large manatees swimming through the surf along the beautiful beach which I consider a great sign of things to come. So everyone can plan exposure suits accordingly, the water temp during that weekend in February may be in the low 70’s which is cold for us down here but bathwater for many of you  Dan Volker deserves a shout out for his tireless efforts working on putting this together, thanks Dan!!!

As many of you know, Bob Sherwood and I will be co-teaching a Fundy class from Feb 14-18th. The classroom will be conducted out of our host hotel and the dives the first 3 days will be out of a local pool close to the hotel. The final 2 days of class will be conducted aboard squared away local boats that are within 3 miles of the hotel as well. These final 2 days of class, we welcome any early arrivals to join us on the boat and Dan Volker will dive and guide you on these spectacular dives while the students are working separately on their class. Dan is also available earlier in the week as are some other local GUE guys as well.

The adventure weekend will officially kick off Friday night at the Hilton in the early evening with a social/dinner to welcome everyone and get to know each other a little better. We will layout the agenda and itinerary for the weekend and most likely have some presentations on what to expect to see on the dives during the weekend and have team project ideas that divers may elect to undertake for fun. Our local GUE Project Baselines may be up and running by that time, if so, divers can contribute to the Project during the weekend.

Saturday morning may start with an optional Yoga class for everyone by the ocean or optional group run and then quick breakfast before heading to the boat for a 9am trip. Again there is no pressure to participate in the morning exercise option but thought it could be a fun value added activity. Arriving at the boat, our tanks will be filled and waiting for us on the boat. We will be doing a 3 tank dive that day which will not only be at simply spectacular sites but give everyone a chance to get settled in and work on your group project if you elect to undertake one. We are thinking of an area where 3 wrecks lay relatively close together so that the adventurous can navigate around between them. The other 2 dive sites will consist of some awesome reefs with dramatic relief and wildlife. Bob, Dan and I will each dive separately with various groups and video will be taken of the dives to be shown later that evening. A nice catered lunch, soft drinks and water will be provided aboard the boat. When we return to the dock around 3pm, everyone will have a chance to unwind and then meet back at the hotel later for dinner, presentations and video show.

Sunday may begin with an optional exercise component again, breakfast and a field trip with us heading north a bit via a possible shuttle to dive out of Jupiter for another 3 tank trip. These dives will include the famous “Hole in the Wall”, “Area 51” and “Tunnels”. For those wanting to swim through the Hole in the Wall, you must have a technical certification and dive 21/35 (although a single tank is fine) as you will hit at least 137 fsw minimum. For the non-technical certified, you can stay on top of the Reef in 100’ or less and see just about everything minus the experience of swimming through the “small cave” down through the reef and popping out into blue water. This dive is unbelievable and sometimes has very interesting marine animals lurching around when you pop out  Lunch again will be included and filled tanks will be waiting for us on the boat. Returning to the dock again around 3pm we will have a group dinner back at the hotel with more video and presentations, perhaps a few give aways and closing remarks. I am certain everyone will have the dive trip of a lifetime, make some new friends and be generally very well pleased to have participated in our first adventure weekend.

Now for the details of logistics and costs:
While you must book the hotel and flights directly, you will pay me for the dive trips and rental gear as the operators want to just deal with me directly to speed up the process and make the trip smoother for everyone rather than trying to collect from each person individually. I am passing on the cost without markup directly to you the Clients so please be considerate and fair with me as I am putting myself at risk financially for everything without any profit and for no reason other than generating good will, giving back to the GUE community and trying to enhance everyone’s experience. I will need payment in advance via paypal I suppose. errol@tdsdivers.com I need to figure out how to set something up so you can click, pick and pay for what you want to do or… email me what you are chosing and I will send an invoice in paypal if I can???

-The Hotel is less than 14 miles from Palm Beach International Airport.

-The boat we will be using for the last 2 days of the Fundy class and for those diving with us for fun on those 2 days of the 17th and 18th (prior to the start of the weekend’s adventure) is located 2.5 miles from the Hilton. Dan Volker will be guiding these trips and the cost will be $70 including 32% nitrox, tanks and weights for the 2 tank dives.

-The cost for Saturday and Sunday’s 3 tank dives including lunch and 3 single tanks with 32% Nitrox and weight is $140 per person per day. If you do not need tanks then your cost will be a bit less of course. Those getting 21/35 for Hole in the Wall will have slightly higher cost for the additional cost of helium. For those coming earlier in the week than the 17th or staying after, we will gladly arrange dives and one of our local guides for you as well. Diving from Blue Heron Bridge may be possible as well and is free though tide dependent. The boat on Saturday is located 2.5 miles away from the Hotel and the one Sunday is 13 miles away.

- I will have a van shuttle to take divers from the hotel to the boats and back, but may have to make 2 trips. Cost for the shuttle is only a total of $10 per person for the 2 days which covers hopefully most or all of my cost in renting the van and paying for fuel, etc.
Single tanks with nitrox fills are included on the adventure trip.

Note: Lunch is included both days but breakfast and dinner are not included but the hotel will try and make it easy and affordable for us.

Rental gear is available but needs to be arranged with me in advance as follows:
Category Item Cost per day
Tank Double AL 80* $20
Single AL 80* $10
Deco Bottle AL 40* $10
V Weight $5
*Gas not included

Regulator
Single $15
Double's Reg Setup $20
Stage $10

Lights
Primary $35
Back Up $5

DPV
Halcyon 14 $100
Halcyon 16 $100
Gavin $100

Wing & BP
30# Halcyon (for singles) $15
40# Halcyon (for doubles) $15
SS Backplate/ Harness $15
Single Tank Adapter $10
Complete System $25

Finally, the Palm Beach Airport is less than 14 miles from the Hilton Singer Island located at 3700 North Ocean Drive. Singer Island, FL. Don’t forget We have a special rate at the hotel for anyone coming to the Fundies Class or the DIR Adventure dives. Please call the Hilton Reservation number 561-472-0316 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 561-472-0316 end_of_the_skype_highlighting and ask for Nicole Nie... Each diver coming should say they are in the GUE/DIR Adventure Dive Group

 

[Blackwood]

dive 21/35 (although a single tank is fine) as you will hit at least 137 fsw minimum.

odd. Bouncing never struck me as a particularly GUE-ish thing to do. Maybe with a 120 or 130, but with min gas in the range of 60CF, seems like an odd singles profile, as does helium with what I presume would be backgas deco (unless singles + stage).

 

[TSandM]

Guy, DIR setups don't have a pull dump, because they're not felt to be necessary, and they introduce a failure point. (Either the wire can break, or you can pull the whole corrugated hose or elbow off.) Wings DO have a butt dump on the left-hand side, that you can use either without breaking trim, or in a slightly butt-high position.

Edited to add: I don't believe the 137 fsw is a bounce. It's a multi-leveled dive with a maximum depth of 137. I also believe that they are requiring a tech cert if you are going to do the deeper portion of this dive.

 

[Blackwood]

Edited to add: I don't believe the 137 fsw is a bounce. It's a multi-leveled dive with a maximum depth of 137. I also believe that they are requiring a tech cert if you are going to do the deeper portion of this dive.

They are (requiring tech). It's obviously doable, but singles w/ helium @ 140' isn't exactly what I expected to see in a GUE trip description (even as minimum requirements). Granted I have no clue what the profile looks like (I'm picturing Punta Sur in Coz).

Anyway, off-topic-ignorant-to-the-dive-hijack over.

 

[danvolker]

odd. Bouncing never struck me as a particularly GUE-ish thing to do. Maybe with a 120 or 130, but with min gas in the range of 60CF, seems like an odd singles profile, as does helium with what I presume would be backgas deco (unless singles + stage).

Most dives I have done with an 80cu foot tank on the Hole in the Wall dive were around 15 minutes to 20 minutes.....My understanding is that Bob wants everyone in doubles that plans on doing the cave, so that the minimum gas requirement is met and duration is practical ( ie, 15 to 25 minutes).

We can get a bunch of doubles to put under the seats for the 2nd and 3rd dives.

For those that don't feel like renting or bringing doubles, the coolest part of this dive is just being on the ledge...actually going through the cave is NOT the best part of the dive..it is cool, but being on this monstrous ledge, escalatored along it by a power current, seeing massive schools of pelagics mixing with reef life--this is what the dive is really about.......so hopefully no one will agonize too much about the doubles rule. Going through the cave means the liklihood of going to 137 or deeper, meaning we are into "course guideline issues"...and we have a GUE Course Director with us
Bob will be bringing so much to the table, that in the overall experience everyone gets on this weekend, I do not believe any one will have a problem with this condition.

 

[TSandM]

I know we're planning on doing the deep section of the dive, but in doubles and with appropriate gas.