First cold water boat dive

[mweitz]

Did my first cold water boat dives today on the Monterey Express (It was a class dive or I'd been helping clean up). Went to Butterfly House and Point Joe I think (I could have the names wrong, please correct if so). 50' vis at Butterfly WOW. Had a great time, and the crew was top notch. Had a great time. I'll be picking up garbage next year, I promise!

Mark

 

[coreypenrose]

Did my first cold water boat dives today on the Monterey Express (It was a class dive or I'd been helping clean up). Went to Butterfly House and Point Joe I think (I could have the names wrong, please correct if so). 50' vis at Butterfly WOW. Had a great time, and the crew was top notch. Had a great time. I'll be picking up garbage next year, I promise!

Mark

Did you hit that finger on the outer edge of the reef at Butterfly House? Incredible wall, if the conditions are good. One of the best in Monterey.

 

[Brian Gilpin]

Did my first cold water boat dives today on the Monterey Express (It was a class dive or I'd been helping clean up). Went to Butterfly House and Point Joe I think (I could have the names wrong, please correct if so). 50' vis at Butterfly WOW. Had a great time, and the crew was top notch. Had a great time. I'll be picking up garbage next year, I promise!

Mark

How about a few details Mark. Was the boat trip rough? What was your depth? yada,yada yada. I am particuliarly interested in Butterfly House.

Thanks

 

[tel-scuba]

You were out on the 18th? I think I was just a mile or so south of you, and my weak stomach was having hard time with the swells. Not so bad at Butterfly? I guess I'll have to do better recon next time...

Glad you enjoyed those incredible dives!

 

[northcoast_diver]

Did my first cold water boat dives today on the Monterey Express (It was a class dive or I'd been helping clean up). Went to Butterfly House and Point Joe I think (I could have the names wrong, please correct if so). 50' vis at Butterfly WOW. Had a great time, and the crew was top notch. Had a great time. I'll be picking up garbage next year, I promise!

Mark

Yes, they are truly a great boat.

They carry the label of "beginner boat" but as you saw on Saturday morning, they go to great sites as well.

You were lucky that Sat morning there was a brief calm in the gale winds that had been blowing Friday through Sunday, all weekend long.

 

[mweitz]

Sorry, I posted when I was pretty tired.

So, there were large swells, which contributed to a mild case of seasickness (I am usually bulletproof). It got worse as the day progressed so I don't remember the dives as well as I would like.

Lets see, BH, 82' with a minimum temp of 52F. Super clear, the water looked almost Emerald colored from the surface. Total dive time was 35 minutes. Saw a few yellow nudi's and a white one with black spots. A LOT of fish, possibly a smallish ling. Saw some brittle stars in the rock crevices. I really liked swimming through the rock formations.

Point Joe, 75' with a minimum temp of 52F. Same type of deal with the vis. Dive time was 38 minutes. The swells had increased a bit from BH, and you could feel the surge down to 50 - 60 feet. So much too look at.

I didn't really like diving on Steel LP 80's. I felt our dive time was very short for the price, but the ship / crew / amenities seemed top notch. Any idea why they would use LP 80’s?

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

80 Cu. Ft. tanks are the industry standard. What tanks
should they have used?

And thank your computer. Your first dive exceeded the
Navy tables, and your second dive proabably did if you
factor in the residual nitrogen from the surface interval.

 

[mweitz]

I *always* thank my computer. Almost all of my dives exceed the tables, even my shore dives in fairly shallow water. Even my checkout dives. Is that uncommon / not a good idea? I have been trying to figure that part out about diving. A lot of people here talk about diving the tables, but the dives are fairly short. Am I missing something?

When I was on vacation we were doing 55 minute dives to 85'. Of course the dives started fairly deep then worked its way into shallower water. So, I anticipated maybe 40 - 45 minute dives in colder water. I am probably posting that incorrectly though. My computer calculates the dive time from the moment of descent till it gets to 2'. So, I am incuding the ascent and safety stop... 11 minutes on the first dive and 10 minutes on the second dive.

My question about the tanks was the LP part. With an LP tank you simply get less air than an HP tank, right?

Be gentle, I'm still learning!

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

An LP80, HP80, and AL80 all hold about 80 cu. ft. of 1
atm. air. The LP80 is at lower pressure so it has to be
bigger inside, but they still have about the same number
of air molecules when full. I say "about" because "80"
is an approximation. In the case of the AL80, AL77 would
be more accurate.

They probably have LP tanks because a given compressor
can fill them more quickly -- as the pressure goes up,
the compressor has to work harder and it takes longer.
The Express fills their tanks from a trailer-mounted
compressor while they are picking up their afternoon
passengers. Time counts.

As you do more dives and relax, your air consumption
will go down. Fitness helps too. Gills, like Adm. Linda's,
are great ;-)

 

[mweitz]

Uh, DOH. You mean 80 is 80 no matter how you cut ... er fill it.

Thanks for the clarification.



Mark