raxafarian
Contributor
Arrived last thursday. Did some shallow reefs on friday just to get in the water. Saturdays weather was questionable so we decided to concentrate on moving from the hotel to the condo (which we have sat. - sat.). Out to the Speigel Grove on sunday with a shallow reef after. Tons of fish on the SG. Pretty much all surfaces are now covered with growth.
Started my adv. nitrox / deco classes on monday. I was having some sinus issues, so we spent the morning rigging doubles and deco bottles, and just bsing.
First dive in doubles on tuesday. We went to a shallow reef for the morning. Did 2 dives with plenty of OOA, valve drills, varying kicks, helicopter turns, OOA again, LP inflator autoinflate, etc. etc. 1st dive was without the 2 deco bottles. 2nd dive included the 2 deco bottles (50 and 100%). Everything went pretty well. My valve drill times were slow, but I was down to 1/2 my first time by the end of the 1st dive. Oh yea.... every dive ends with shooting a bag, even the 'fun' dives before the class started.
Wed. found us at the speigel grove for 2 dives. 1st dive was planned to a max of 100ft (he said that was my max, don't pay attention to his depth). As soon as we reached the wreck he ducked into a hole. I peeked in and he was gone. Hmmm.... I waited by the hole and he came out another hole below me (he later said he was glad I didn't follow him... guess he was testing me
) My air consumption basically sucks. Had a couple more valve drills and an OOA. We were diving 1/3rds on all dives. The plan was for a drifting ascent with switches to deco gasses at appropriate times. I shot the bag and up we went. I switched to the 50 at 70ft, and the 100% at 20ft. Slow ascent with a 3 minute stop at 20ft, and a 3 minute stop at 10. Stops went well, even while drifting. I was a little concerned with the 10 ft. stop, but no problem. Current was light.
During our hour SI, other boats were on the radio saying how bad the current was, and the 2 boats that were there left for other spots. We tried to not laugh too hard
2nd dive was a little more current... nothing major. Plan was 90 ft. I don't think he gave me any problems on this dive. Shot the bag as planned (by the way.... the halcyon reel that I have seems to really suck. I used his manta reel with a squeeze handle to release the line lock... seems to work a whole lot easier). Took me a minute or so to rig the bag and shoot it. After shooting it, I looked over at Bob to give him an "ok", and noticed him pointing upwards. I looked up... whale shark. I just got a glimpse, but he later said it passed right behind me. Current was up a little... we drifted 1/2 mile or more during our ascent. Boat was following my bag and picked us right up.
Wanted to do the Bibb today, but fishing boats were tied up to both moorings. We decided to dive the duanne, rather than try and argue with them. Did a 20 minute dive to the sand around the bow. Found an old dive light, but it didn't look salvageable, so we left it. Lots of barracudda. Ran my stops as if it was a 20 min. dive to 135ft. (could only get to 120 or so on the Duanne).
2nd dive was a 'fun' dive, but I still took all the gear. Just Lisa and I. Poked around a shallow reef using up the rest of the gas in my doubles. Practiced removing stages, setting them down, and putting them back on. Shot my bag from 20 ft. and ascended to the boats ladder.
I think we are going to try the Bibb again tomorrow.... or maybe back to the Grove.
We stayed 2 nights at the Travelodge. Clean basic accomodations. Moved to the condo on saturday. Moon Bay condos. Very nice. Cheaper than a hotel. 2br. Full kitchen. 1 1/2 bath. Patio.
All diving has been with divers city . They are in the process of moving to Tavernier. Very good op. Very capable, very experienced. Great boat. Limited to 10 divers. Bob is a great instructor. He has around 6500 dives. Lots of experience. He definitely makes you work for your certification, which I prefer. He has cave experience. Lots of wreck experience. Lots of deep experience. I highly recommend them for diving (either tech diving, or recreational diving) and for training. They load all your gear from the pier (you set up your rig first). If you are doing multiday diving with them, they will rinse and store your gear, if you want.
Bob took my regs home one night to check them. I had just had them serviced and they breathed like crap. The shop where I had them done before leaving will be getting an earful. He said it looked like I brought them on ebay and serviced them myself.
It's too bad that it is so hard to find trustworthy service and sales advice in this industry. Well.... I've found somebody trustworthy, and I'll be ups-ing all my regs to Bob for service from now on. I thought I had found a decent shop for service, but strike one.... and they are out.
Can you tell that I am happy with their op? I can't express how satisfied we both are with them (and it is VERY hard to make Lisa happy)
Started my adv. nitrox / deco classes on monday. I was having some sinus issues, so we spent the morning rigging doubles and deco bottles, and just bsing.
First dive in doubles on tuesday. We went to a shallow reef for the morning. Did 2 dives with plenty of OOA, valve drills, varying kicks, helicopter turns, OOA again, LP inflator autoinflate, etc. etc. 1st dive was without the 2 deco bottles. 2nd dive included the 2 deco bottles (50 and 100%). Everything went pretty well. My valve drill times were slow, but I was down to 1/2 my first time by the end of the 1st dive. Oh yea.... every dive ends with shooting a bag, even the 'fun' dives before the class started.
Wed. found us at the speigel grove for 2 dives. 1st dive was planned to a max of 100ft (he said that was my max, don't pay attention to his depth). As soon as we reached the wreck he ducked into a hole. I peeked in and he was gone. Hmmm.... I waited by the hole and he came out another hole below me (he later said he was glad I didn't follow him... guess he was testing me
) My air consumption basically sucks. Had a couple more valve drills and an OOA. We were diving 1/3rds on all dives. The plan was for a drifting ascent with switches to deco gasses at appropriate times. I shot the bag and up we went. I switched to the 50 at 70ft, and the 100% at 20ft. Slow ascent with a 3 minute stop at 20ft, and a 3 minute stop at 10. Stops went well, even while drifting. I was a little concerned with the 10 ft. stop, but no problem. Current was light. During our hour SI, other boats were on the radio saying how bad the current was, and the 2 boats that were there left for other spots. We tried to not laugh too hard
2nd dive was a little more current... nothing major. Plan was 90 ft. I don't think he gave me any problems on this dive. Shot the bag as planned (by the way.... the halcyon reel that I have seems to really suck. I used his manta reel with a squeeze handle to release the line lock... seems to work a whole lot easier). Took me a minute or so to rig the bag and shoot it. After shooting it, I looked over at Bob to give him an "ok", and noticed him pointing upwards. I looked up... whale shark. I just got a glimpse, but he later said it passed right behind me. Current was up a little... we drifted 1/2 mile or more during our ascent. Boat was following my bag and picked us right up.
Wanted to do the Bibb today, but fishing boats were tied up to both moorings. We decided to dive the duanne, rather than try and argue with them. Did a 20 minute dive to the sand around the bow. Found an old dive light, but it didn't look salvageable, so we left it. Lots of barracudda. Ran my stops as if it was a 20 min. dive to 135ft. (could only get to 120 or so on the Duanne).
2nd dive was a 'fun' dive, but I still took all the gear. Just Lisa and I. Poked around a shallow reef using up the rest of the gas in my doubles. Practiced removing stages, setting them down, and putting them back on. Shot my bag from 20 ft. and ascended to the boats ladder.
I think we are going to try the Bibb again tomorrow.... or maybe back to the Grove.
We stayed 2 nights at the Travelodge. Clean basic accomodations. Moved to the condo on saturday. Moon Bay condos. Very nice. Cheaper than a hotel. 2br. Full kitchen. 1 1/2 bath. Patio.
All diving has been with divers city . They are in the process of moving to Tavernier. Very good op. Very capable, very experienced. Great boat. Limited to 10 divers. Bob is a great instructor. He has around 6500 dives. Lots of experience. He definitely makes you work for your certification, which I prefer. He has cave experience. Lots of wreck experience. Lots of deep experience. I highly recommend them for diving (either tech diving, or recreational diving) and for training. They load all your gear from the pier (you set up your rig first). If you are doing multiday diving with them, they will rinse and store your gear, if you want.
Bob took my regs home one night to check them. I had just had them serviced and they breathed like crap. The shop where I had them done before leaving will be getting an earful. He said it looked like I brought them on ebay and serviced them myself.
It's too bad that it is so hard to find trustworthy service and sales advice in this industry. Well.... I've found somebody trustworthy, and I'll be ups-ing all my regs to Bob for service from now on. I thought I had found a decent shop for service, but strike one.... and they are out.
Can you tell that I am happy with their op? I can't express how satisfied we both are with them (and it is VERY hard to make Lisa happy
)
