Reconsidering Deep Air?

[Kay Dee]

60m deep air decompression OW dive!!! Done it many many times, nothing to write home about!

Helium is NOT that readily available in this part of the world and is very expensive.

As as you well know, or should I expect given where you live, the visibility / conditions in some areas of the SCS, Malacca Strait and Java Sea is far far from ideal, especially at 60m. But doable - if experienced - and yes have done it on OC many times too, but only because helium was not available on board for whatever trip that may have been. So not out of choice on my part, just no gas available that time round. So if I didn't have gas and there was a 60m dive to do in open water on a wreck, then not having gas would not stop me from doing the dive, all other things - current, sea state, etc - being equal. But deep air is not something I would recommend to others, although I wouldn't try to stop them doing it either, unless they were complete newbies / unaware of whats 'down there'. For some folks it's a nightmare and then there are others that should never even attempt it, while for a very minority of others - dive boat owners / skippers / skippers 'help' mostly - it's not only almost a daily occurrence, but sometimes a couple of times a day. And that is something I have personally wtnessed many many times.

 

[jlcnuke]

How do you get there? 8000+700+700 is 9400 GBP so 13160 USD at today’s exchange rates. It isn’t cheap but it isn’t actually the price of a new car.

$12k for the rebreather, $1,900 for the training, $3k for the business class round-trip flight (not doing economy for 8 hours lol), 2 weeks of car rental (using ~1/2 of current asking for 3 months out price assuming someday it would get back closer to normal) another ~$1k and that's already $18k and we haven't even found a place to stay yet or bought gas/supplies.

 

[Celt]

It does help if you enjoy the build process the night before the dive. Following the checklist precisely even if you’re sure you did X, analysing the gasses, checking pressures, noting down the cell millivolts, battery voltages, pressures. It’s that Xen-like time spent polishing 'her' so she’ll be happy and look after you the next day. I should have named her after the wife, but I called her after the sailing boat she replaced, Contessa. She likes attention lavished on her.

I would have loved to own a Contessa 26 but settled for a British Folkboat that I rebuilt and sailed for years.

 

[J-Vo]

Up until a little over a year ago, I never felt Narcosis more than just knowing I was mentally slower. I had done air dives up to 180 feet. Over the last year every dive below 130 on Air or Nitrox has felt like I pounded a several shots before the dive. People change.

1 XC Race Mountain Bike designed to last 1 year, $12k. None of this RB discussion has convinced me diving is super expensive yet. At least the gear is made to last a lifetime.

 

[Kay Dee]

1 XC Race Mountain Bike designed to last 1 year, $12k. None of this RB discussion has convinced me diving is super expensive yet. At least the gear is made to last a lifetime.

If anyone is regularly diving deep using helium, say every weekend, then you could 'probaly' - I haven't done the maths for a long while - pay for a CCR and have change from the amount of money you would have spent on OC helium dives in a year. And hence why so may deep divers switched to CCR. And if your looking longer term, it's simply a no brainer to go CCR.

 

[KenGordon]

Not having the time pressure of OC is priceless.

 

[Kay Dee]

Not having the time pressure of OC is priceless.

PRICELESS!!!

 

[Wibble]

I would have loved to own a Contessa 26 but settled for a British Folkboat that I rebuilt and sailed for years.

She was/is a Contessa 32. The problem with sailing is the amount of time you need to do go sailing; days or weeks.

Diving, on the other hand, is great as you rent the boat and skipper by the hour and give it back when you get home. Used to spend "a rebreather" a year on her, and only used her rarely. Diving is so cheap in comparison!

 

[Celt]

Not having the time pressure of OC is priceless.

What do you mean by time pressure? I thought a rebreather was more time consuming,

 

[Celt]

She was/is a Contessa 32. The problem with sailing is the amount of time you need to do go sailing; days or weeks.

Diving, on the other hand, is great as you rent the boat and skipper by the hour and give it back when you get home. Used to spend "a rebreather" a year on her, and only used her rarely. Diving is so cheap in comparison!

Lovely boat, but you need to avoid the marina,s like the plague, they’d take a hostage when you try to berth.