My AN/DP/Helitrox course

[KenGordon]

The Great Lakes are filled with wrecks. The Dunderberg in Lake Huron is said to be even better than the Hume. Another schooner, depth very similar.

I was just googling the dive ops. It looks like most of the time they only run stuff at the weekend. Is there enough for a whole week? Or do I have to claim to work all the direct flights were full and I had to have a three day stopover at O’ Hare?

 

[Jack Hammer]

What does a dive to the Hume look like in terms of Gases, bottom time, and deco stops?

In round numbers bottom time is about the same as total deco time. My last dive on it was in October. I had 22mins bottom time, 148' max, 135' avg. 20mins total deco + 3min ascent from 20' to surface. I used 1900 psi from a stage of 21/35 & 500psi from an al80 with 50% for deco. Back gas only used for the switch from stage to deco gas. (**Stage unneccessary for planned dive, used stage to breath down gas in it so it could be repurposed)

 

[Marie13]

I was just googling the dive ops. It looks like most of the time they only run stuff at the weekend. Is there enough for a whole week? Or do I have to claim to work all the direct flights were full and I had to have a three day stopover at O’ Hare?

Yes, we are primarily weekend warriors on the Great Lakes, although the charter ops are usually happy to work with you on scheduling weekday charters. The Double Action boats only need four divers to run. No lifts here, although most Great Lakes boats do seem to have fin on ladders.

 

[KenGordon]

Is there anywhere to rent 3l (19cuft) cylinders and the odd 40? And how far away are fills? Say diving every day for a week, how would the logistics be?

 

[Marie13]

Is there anywhere to rent 3l (19cuft) cylinders and the odd 40? And how far away are fills? Say diving every day for a week, how would the logistics be?

Your best bet would be to contact Dive Right in Scuba and ask. They are owned by the same folks as Double Action Dive Charters. DRIS is about an hour from the Hammond, IN (Chicago) boat.

Frankly, there are also good, even deeper wrecks out of Milwaukee, which is about 1.5-2 hours north of Chicago. Bob Larson, the captain of the Alma, the Milwaukee boat, is a RB diver/tech instructor himself, and you’d probably really enjoy the wrecks up there. The wrecks get deeper as you go north. You have to go nearly two hours out into Lake Michigan to get to the Hume. The southern part of the lake is fairly shallow.

Your best bet would be to fly into ORD. You are going to need to rent a car. DRIS is where you are going to get fills. They are only one of two shops in Illinois that do Trimix.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I was just googling the dive ops. It looks like most of the time they only run stuff at the weekend. Is there enough for a whole week? Or do I have to claim to work all the direct flights were full and I had to have a three day stopover at O’ Hare?

Plenty of wrecks, not enough divers to run all week. Boat will go out midweek if a group puts together enough divers. Chicago wrecks are mostly shallow, non-tech, 70'/21m max, with most at about half that. The Hume is the main local tech dive at 150'/45m, but its 20 miles/32km offshore and weather dependent. Up in Milwaukee, about 90miles/145km North, there are quite a few very nice tech dive opportunities. The water is much deeper there with several well preserved wrecks in the 150'-330'/45m-100m range. Water temps are typically around 39f/4c at depth year round but can fluctuate.

 

[formernuke]

Hmm maybe I'll see about a great lakes next year. This year is getting booking with my classes.

 

[Marie13]

@KenGordon

Then there are also the wrecks in the Straits of Mackinac (tip of the Michigan mitten) and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (Alpena, MI, northeast bit of the Michigan mitten) which both have absolutely awesome diving (I’ve done both), but they are both an 8 hour drive from Chicago. 6 hours from Detroit. Charter boats are usually only up there seasonally. Fill logistics can be complicated, as well. Diving is very weather dependent up there.

The Cedarville and Eber Ward in the Straits and the Grecian in Thunder Bay are my favorites.

I live and breathe our wrecks here.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Maybe this ought to be another thread... I am surprised by this use of pools for advanced training.

So these ‘technical’ pool sessions. What do you wear? And what temperature is the pool?

Pools are a relatively scarce and expensive resource in the U.K. it is MUCH easier to get open water time. You use a pool for initial training where open water would be overwhelming, such as brand new divers.

I can see that if your local sites are closed it might seem like there is no choice, but it seems like a poor return on time. Maybe I will try it, I have a diver who needs to learn to use a twinset. Pool then 40m off Brighton. What could possibly go wrong?

In our pool right now the temp is in the low 70'sF. I'll bump it down on Thursday because I have two AN/DP students coming and we'll be in the water for about 3 hours in drysuits.
One of them I have dived with before, 5 years ago. I've never been in the water with his wife. So basically I only have their word on skill level.
The pool will allow me to assess their current level, make suggestions on things they need to work on before the OW dives at their local site (they are 5 hours away), introduce the new skills they will be doing and explain the level of proficiency I expect when we do get to open water. The Advanced Nitrox dives will be done first when we get to OW at one site. The DP dives will be done later in the season at a different site. The last OW AN dive or two (we'll do 5 total) will also introduce the skills I want them to work on for DP. Then our DP course will have 5 dives.
I've done 2 classes like this now and the results are so much better. They have time to digest and work on skills before the next stage.
It's easier mentally, physically, and emotionally on everyone. The AN/DP classes I crammed into one week were good, but by the last day, people were dragging. I don't offer the helitrox option. Around here it's not that easy to get and it's expensive. I have my diver cert for it. Most of the wrecks we do in Erie don't require it. A few do.
But my AN/DP class is still 10 dives and most of my students are required to do a pool skills assessment before I sign them up. While people should have their stuff together before plunking down the money, too many are in a rush and don't. I know my IT failed a CD for one agency who was trying to cross over as a tech instructor. 20 minutes into the first dive he corked on a valve drill and bottle drop and recovery.
Just because someone says they are ready, it doesn't mean they are. The pool is a great place to find out quickly if they are. If they can't do valve drill in 6 feet of water, they aren't ready to start a deco class.

 

[KenGordon]

@KenGordon

Then there are also the wrecks in the Straits of Mackinac (tip of the Michigan mitten) and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (Alpena, MI, northeast bit of the Michigan mitten) which both have absolutely awesome diving (I’ve done both), but they are both an 8 hour drive from Chicago. 6 hours from Detroit. Charter boats are usually only up there seasonally. Fill logistics can be complicated, as well. Diving is very weather dependent up there.

The Cedarville and Eber Ward in the Straits and the Grecian in Thunder Bay are my favorites.

I live and breathe our wrecks here.

I googled trimix Chicago. Literally nothing to do with helium.