Deep Diving 108 feet w/ a single AL 80 (Air.) No redundancy.

[Basking Ridge Diver]

So I was curious what I have done - this is a Vandenberg dive - several that I had done on an Al 80 with a dive buddy - my son.
AL 80 is not an issue - common sense and watching your gas is an issue.

 

[scubadada]

Hey @scubadada How are you?
Awesome post. I love those sites. You've basically just made me homesick.
I always enjoyed Cape Ann Divers...now defunct...I believe?
Is it called that because it's "Halfway." between Gloucester, and Boston?
Oh, and don't forget...It's pronounced Lobstah.
Cheers.

That would be a shame if Cape Ann Charters is no longer in business. The Daybreaker was a very nice boat. Fran and his son Matt were wonderful.
If I can remember, I will send you a picture of my Cape Ann Charters t-shirt next time I am down in Florida

 

[scubadada]

You know Fran Marcoux? I have known him since 1987 but lost touch with him in early 2000's.

I only met Fran and his son, Matt, when I dived with them 10 years ago. If I remember correctly, Fran retired and Matt continued the business. @Boston Breakwater believes they are no longer in business, their website appears to be gone.

 

[Boston Breakwater]

I only met Fran and his son, Matt, when I dived with them 10 years ago. If I remember correctly, Fran retired and Matt continued the business. @Boston Breakwater believes they are no longer in business, their website appears to be gone.

I suggest calling Undersea Divers in Danvers, Mass. That's the Dive shop I worked for....Although, they were in Beverly, Mass. then.
I'm positive, Whitney would have information.
Cheers.

 

[AfterDark]

Hello. I was thinking back over the years. I worked for a Dive shop years ago as a Divemaster.
We did our deep dives on the Chester Poling off Gloucester, Mass. for the P.A.D.I. Advanced Open Water Course.
At high tide the the wreck sits in 108fsw. It always amazed me that people would do this dive "Normally." on single aluminum 80's without any type of redundancy.
I always thought it was insane???? Divers would come back on board with extremely low pressure readings on their gauges. Too me, it left no room for error, or any type of contingency whatsoever. At that time, I was diving with an Aluminum 100 cubic 3300 P.S.I. (Air.) with a 30 cubic pony bottle.(Air.)
20 years ago the shop did not have "Nitrox." (This is not an enriched air scenario.)
Staying within N.D.L.......I don't care how long you've been diving, or if, your'e the best breather on the planet your max bottom time is approximately 18 to 20 minutes, at 100fsw, not including the 3 min Safety stop.
So, I was curious? The question is: Would you personally make this dive, staying within N.D.L. on air........No redundancy?
Cheers.

That would have a been a routine dive 40-45 years ago for me using a 72, no pony no 2nd 2nd stage and a horse collar orally inflated BC. The ascent would have 60FPM without a safety stop and about 200 psi left in the 72.

Sometime during the mid 1980's I started using IDs for 100+FSW dives, still do today.

 

[BoltSnap]

website appears to be gone.

Cape Ann Divers are out of business, Dave and Mary retired closed the shop and sold the two boats.

 

[BoltSnap]

Undersea Divers in Danvers, Mass.

Didn't Bobby Boyle own Undersea Divers? I thought it closed down after he passed away. It was in Beverly, MA, WAY back then.

 

[Darnold9999]

Whenever possible I like to dive with 100cf of gas - gives me more bottom time, however it would not bother me at all to dive to 100 feet on a single 80. I typically don't go deeper than that because bottom time starts to get very short beyond 100 feet, but if there is something there I want to see would have no issues at all. Not even sure why this is questionable, yes you need to watch your air and NDL but frankly you have to do that no matter what depth you are at. If something goes wrong you have exactly the same amount of time to fix it at 100 feet as you do at 60 - you are just a little bit further away from the surface.

 

[lexvil]

Without a second thought

 

[king_of_battle]

Matt Marcoux (Daybreaker) is focusing on his family right now. He still has the boat and is diving but not running charters. Maybe one day in the future but not now. Its tough diving up here right now. We're down to 3-4 boats running charters consistently from Portsmouth, NH to Boston. Add maybe one more if you pull in what charters Red at Giant Stride can get in Rhode Island. I hear the boat that's been supporting the Portsmouth area is finished doing charters after this year. Gauntlet ended the season early....The ongoing Rockport NIMBYism is making it more difficult to even shore dive. Cape Ann Divers has been closed for a couple years as has Northeast Scuba.

To answer the original question I did the Poling on an AL80 many many times. Then I got smarter and added a Pony. Then I added HP tanks. Then HP tanks and a pony. Then doubles. The driver for extra gas was that i was solo diving it more and more so I wanted a redundant air source. I've never used it in an emergency thankfully - as other have said with proper gas planning an 80 would work. I've seen plenty of AOW classes on it, though I can't remember a time they weren't in HP tanks.

Location really doesn't matter for the core question - more depth - but for those of you wondering about the wreck the stern sits right outside Gloucester harbor and for the areas is in great shape making it an ideal dive location. The deck is at about 70-80 feet. Great viz is 20ft and in late summer bottom temps are between 48-50F.

** edit **
To clarify why i went with bigger tanks it was all about ROI. If I'm driving 2 hours each way and paying $100+ i wanted to maximize bottom time. AL80s regardless of your sac don't last that long at 3ATM.