First liveaboard advice

[UTscuba]

I'm debating on bringing one as trusting anyone that much makes my brain scream "what are you thinking?" But I'm not real comfortable leaving it on the RHIB either and with the tight space I can't think of a solid solution to keep it safe, dry, and out of the way.

you should go with whatever makes you most comfortable, and thus you should probably dive on air.

 

[rongoodman]

you should go with whatever makes you most comfortable, and thus you should probably dive on air.

The nitrox on these boats comes from a membrane system, not partial pressure blending, so it's not like the system is going to start pushing an overly rich mix with no one noticing. The potential for injury climbing into or out of the pangas on rough seas, OTOH, is real. The RHIBs on the Aggressor boats at Cocos have a sort of console where the steering wheel and controls are located and small items can be stored, but it doesn't appear that the ones on the Socorros boat do. (The other boat that goes out to Cocos has actual pangas, not RHIBs.)

 

[MrBigfins]

you should go with whatever makes you most comfortable, and thus you should probably dive on air.

That's the dilemma, I'm not really comfortable diving air that many times in a week and I'm not really comfortable not testing my tanks. Guess I will do some soul searching and determine which is worse to me

 

[UTscuba]

That's the dilemma, I'm not really comfortable diving air that many times in a week and I'm not really comfortable not testing my tanks. Guess I will do some soul searching and determine which is worse to me

you're making a mountain out of a molehill,

as rongoodman says it's a membrane system, so absolute worst case scenario is they put 40% in there instead of 32%.

the point of testing a tank is to establish its MOD

40% has an MOD of around 85 feet at 1.4ppO2 and 99 feet at 1.6ppO2 which while not recommended is still considered by many to be 'safe' for a short time.

On none of these dives will you be lead below ~80 feet, with the possible exception of Roca Partida so you will always be within the MOD of your worst case. The 80 feet will be the apex of the dive and you will spend the majority of the dive in the 40-60ft depth.

Chances of you toxing are therefore vanishingly small, while the chances of someone being injured because you want to test your tanks every single dive are pretty high.

You can test your tanks every evening when they're back on the boat, both before and after filling.

But like I say, you shouldn't dive if you're not comfortable

 

[MrBigfins]

you're making a mountain out of a molehill,

as rongoodman says it's a membrane system, so absolute worst case scenario is they put 40% in there instead of 32%.

the point of testing a tank is to establish its MOD

40% has an MOD of around 85 feet at 1.4ppO2 and 99 feet at 1.6ppO2 which while not recommended is still considered by many to be 'safe' for a short time.

On none of these dives will you be lead below ~80 feet, with the possible exception of Roca Partida so you will always be within the MOD of your worst case. The 80 feet will be the apex of the dive and you will spend the majority of the dive in the 40-60ft depth.

Chances of you toxing are therefore vanishingly small, while the chances of someone being injured because you want to test your tanks every single dive are pretty high.

You can test your tanks every evening when they're back on the boat, both before and after filling.

But like I say, you shouldn't dive if you're not comfortable

Incorrect, the point of testing a tank is to verify its contents and then calculate MOD based off of that information. And worst case is not 40%, it is contaminated gas or 100% o2. Either of which could prove fatal. Kind of flabbergasted by the amount of people that would scream in another thread to always test your own tanks, that now that logistics are alittle difficult suggesting the opposite.

Understandable that with a membrane system it is less likely to be a major shift in o2 content. That doesn't make it non existent. The morning and evening check the first couple days may be the best compromise, that doesn't mean that my concerns are unwarranted or unreasonable.

 

[UTscuba]

Incorrect, the point of testing a tank is to verify its contents and then calculate MOD based off of that information. And worst case is not 40%, it is contaminated gas or 100% o2. Either of which could prove fatal. Kind of flabbergasted by the amount of people that would scream in another thread to always test your own tanks, that now that logistics are alittle difficult suggesting the opposite.

Understandable that with a membrane system it is less likely to be a major shift in o2 content. That doesn't make it non existent. The morning and evening check the first couple days may be the best compromise, that doesn't mean that my concerns are unwarranted or unreasonable.

a membrane system cannot put out more than 40%

your O2 sensor will not tell you if your gas is 'contaminated' with anything other than O2

snorkelling might be more to your taste...

 

[FinnMom]

Extra mask & extra computer. We actually lost 1 set one night when things got really bouncy, was very nice to have a backup set. Might take an extra weight belt (the belt, not the weights) in the future too: on our last trip I lost 2 belts (only 1 was my fault! ) and we were down to the last belt. Have a tyre pen (white paint pen) for labeling black stuff and a darker marker for labeling other stuff - label everything you can think of. I accidentally switched masks with a guy once; God must love us because by some miracle we had very similar corrective lenes so neither of us had our dive messed up - but I don't plan to risk that happening again (paint pen). It will also help if your fins can be quickly IDed from among all the others hanging wherever the fins are stored - again a job for the marker or the paint pen.

 

[rongoodman]

Where were the mask and computer stored when they were lost?

 

[MrBigfins]

a membrane system cannot put out more than 40%

your O2 sensor will not tell you if your gas is 'contaminated' with anything other than O2

snorkelling might be more to your taste...

Cootwo does and you sir can piss off with your condescending attitude

 

[UTscuba]

Cootwo does and you sir can piss off with your condescending attitude

language, language mr prima donna