Preparing for the Flower Gardens

[TwoBitTxn]

It isn't a partial pressure fill, but that is still up to the boat. They would be the best ones to ask about putting nitrox into an air tank.

5 dives in one day at those depths, if you have good air consumption you can start running into nitrogen loading on the 4th and 5th dives if you are diving air. They will provide you with an 80 for Nitrox. Not sure why you want the bigger tank unless your air consumption is less than stellar. Bottom times range from 15-20 minutes to almost an hour. Not everyone stays glued to the bottom.

 

[ligersandtions]

It isn't a partial pressure fill, but that is still up to the boat. They would be the best ones to ask about putting nitrox into an air tank.

5 dives in one day at those depths, if you have good air consumption you can start running into nitrogen loading on the 4th and 5th dives if you are diving air. They will provide you with an 80 for Nitrox. Not sure why you want the bigger tank unless your air consumption is less than stellar. Bottom times range from 15-20 minutes to almost an hour. Not everyone stays glued to the bottom.

What's the water temperature like? I can imagine some people (like me) who would want thick wetsuits or drysuits for as much diving as they'd be doing on a two day charter. In that case, steel cylinders (which are generally higher in capacity than Al80's) would be preferable over the boat-provided Al80.

I'm a small diver with a low SAC rate, but my cylinder of choice is an HP130....I also dive with the philosophy that I always keep enough gas for my buddy and me to ascend while sharing and hitting all of our planned stops. So having a large cylinder ensures we're rarely gas-limited.

 

[Guba]

Nitrox is $75 for the three day (eleven dives) trip. I know because I booked my trip on Monday. Tanks are provided as long as you let them know you need one (air or Nitrox). Personal tanks are allowed, but as ReefHound said, you need to call beforehand to ask about bringing a tank that is oversized. The literature specificly mentions an additional cost for oversized Nitrox tanks.

I don't know when you're thinking of going, but water temps in mid-July through August will run mid-80's or better all the way to depth.

 

[chrpai]

Not sure why you want the bigger tank unless your air consumption is less than stellar.

Is that a serious gas planning question or a subtle insult? To me "stellar" means exceptionally good which would by definition exclude most divers.

Personally, I'm not Jim Lapenta (sp?) who claims he can make an AL80 last for 2 hours at 30'.

10 years ago my RMV was .45. My last few dives in Lake Travis have been .65. I'm not sure what it might be in current so let's estimate .75. Maybe it'll be less because I'm not as cold. Setting aside a min of 500psi on an AL80 leaves me about 65cf of gas. That's fine for 21% but it seems to me that if bump it up to 32% and want to enjoy longer bottom times in the 60 - 100 range... I'm going to need more gas.

Anyways I'm just dreaming at this point. I need to get some more practice dives, hit the gym some and make some more money doing sidework before I can commit. August would be ideal I agree. I've been out rig diving that time of year and it was really nice.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And I should add that my air usage while good is not exceptional. My GF is way better than me. She uses the same amt in psi out of an al63 that I do from an 80. My OW instructor seemed to just sip air. He put me to shame. It's all about relaxing and moving slowly. Mine got much better when I went to a modified frog and Hollis F-1 fins, stopped using hands for any non essential movement and took notice of my relaxed swimming breathing rate. It's about 6 breaths a minute. Regardless of depth. Cold temps tend to jack it up to about 8. Good trim is also essential. Less drag.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ianr33]

From the Fling website:

<<Nitrox prices aboard the Fling remain the same as last year,
with tanks larger than 100 cf charged 1 1/2 x the posted price>>

I've dived the FG with steel 95s. Nice to have the extra gas. The tank filler may or may not notice that's at a pressure of 2640............

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Is that a serious gas planning question or a subtle insult?

It's a serious question. I really try hard not to insult people around here. I worked crew a number of years ago. Most people I saw who wanted to carry bigger tanks it was because they knew their air consumption was poor (15 min bottom time with an 80) so they carried more gas.

Even in the late summer, by the 5th dive of the day and sometimes late into the 4th, I'm cold. But then, I'm don't carry much extra natural insulation. I normally only carry a full 3mm. Guba gives good info on water temps. I think I have always found Stetson cooler than the banks as far as water temp goes. I could almost always find a thermal on Stetson. Like I said earlier, there is ALOT of information in past reports. Maybe worth reading if you haven't.

 

[chrpai]

I've dove 4 times a day for several days on Blackbeards and wasn't cold. They only do air and the depths are shallower so an AL80 is fine. With 32% and depths as much as 110 (MOD) I'd want to bring something a bit bigger. I saw others in this thread also mention that on air you'll hit NDL limits but on EANx you'll hit gas limits.

 

[ianr33]

The Gardens were made for nitrox.

 

[chrpai]

Any sites in Lake Travis make nitrox worth while? I think the fathest I've been down was around 80' to see the memorial off of Mansfield. Seems hard to justify the extra $8 to get EANx.