Where have they been spotted?

[Frogman82]

A couple of technical divers are wearing black pro's in some of these nice videoes from Submerge Productions team diving Red Sea wrecks.


I really don't understand why a lot of people say that the pro's are only good for warm water, single tank diving. Looks like they can handle both a rebreather and two bailout-bottles just fine.

 

[sibermike7]

A couple of technical divers are wearing black pro's in some of these nice videoes from Submerge Productions team diving Red Sea wrecks.


I really don't understand why a lot of people say that the pro's are only good for warm water, single tank diving. Looks like they can handle both a rebreather and two bailout-bottles just fine.

Use them in Estonia (COLD water, brrrrrr) all the time. Hey Frogman, when will the weather be good to dive in Norway? Ryanair just arrived in Tallinn and tickets to Oslo are about 100 euros roundtrip including a piece of luggage.

 

[Frogman82]

Use them in Estonia (COLD water, brrrrrr) all the time. Hey Frogman, when will the weather be good to dive in Norway? Ryanair just arrived in Tallinn and tickets to Oslo are about 100 euros roundtrip including a piece of luggage.

Weather here is at its best right now with good visibility, that is if you don't mind diving in cold water. Last time I got wet was two weeks ago, and the temp. was 38F - but the
Estonian waters are probably just as bad! (or good?)

Really looking forward to Easter and a week of diving WWII wrecks, which is an annual happening in my local dive club.

 

[sibermike7]

Really looking forward to Easter and a week of diving WWII wrecks, which is an annual happening in my local dive club.

Nah, the cold ain't the problem it is the fact that we had a bunch of snow then it melted a bit then re-froze so the ice is NASTY to clear off for ice diving. We have no open water. Now, Easter week, .... hmmmm That might be an idea! Of course, I won't be there for Sunday, but could be for the rest of the week. Can you give any more details? What is the depth of the wrecks you will be checking out?, etc...
m

 

[Frogman82]

Nah, the cold ain't the problem it is the fact that we had a bunch of snow then it melted a bit then re-froze so the ice is NASTY to clear off for ice diving. We have no open water. Now, Easter week, .... hmmmm That might be an idea! Of course, I won't be there for Sunday, but could be for the rest of the week. Can you give any more details? What is the depth of the wrecks you will be checking out?, etc...
m

Well, we're off on April 16 and back on April 20, so it's not a full week and it actually is the weekend before Easter Sunday (April 17 is Palm Sunday). Anyway, the wrecks are
suitable for everyone, down to 130ft you have seen most of them. However if you are qualified you can certainly do trimix dives as well - last year there was a group of divers doing 2-3 230ft mix dives.

 

[sibermike7]

Well, we're off on April 16 and back on April 20, so it's not a full week and it actually is the weekend before Easter Sunday (April 17 is Palm Sunday). Anyway, the wrecks are
suitable for everyone, down to 130ft you have seen most of them. However if you are qualified you can certainly do trimix dives as well - last year there was a group of divers doing 2-3 230ft mix dives.

Not tri-mix certified and 130 is about as far as I have gone so that sounds great. I wouldn't be able to get there until Monday though as Sunday is my biggest day. Can you tell me about where to find accommodations? I would love to come over.

 

[Frogman82]

Uh, that's a bit trickier. You see, we travel from Bergen by our dive boat and it takes us about five hours to get to Sogn where we stay. So first you have to get from Tallin to Bergen (possibly via Oslo) and then you have to get from the airport all the way up to us in Sogn... Man, that's a long way. So if you come on Monday I guess you would not have the chance to do more than one, maybe two, dives until it's time to head back.

But - you can check out Gulen Dive Resort, the trips they arrange are pretty much the same. If you can make a trip when you have more time, I think you will appreciate the diving even more.

 

[sibermike7]

(True story)
Lars (a crazy Dane but hey, he has a RHIB!) calls me and says, "Hey Mike, I still can't get my boat in, but maybe we can do some shore dives on the shallow wrecks off of Pallisaare Tipp (an area just outside Tallinn Harbor). :shocked2:


Here is what Tallinn Harbor looks like:

 

[sibermike7]

This weekend we are planning a trip to Hijumaa (one of the larger islands of Estonia). Last fall, we were wreck diving and the weather really turned sour. The wind was so bad that most on board the large sailing vessel that we were diving from were seasick. Lars and I were the only ones that even entered the water on the last wreck and while we were underwater, the wind picked up even more. It was a shallow wreck (15 meters, just under 50 feet) and as the vis was starting to deteriorate, we called the dive after only about 25 minutes. We couldn't ascend the anchor chain because it was whipping through the water cutting 10-15 foot swaths. We did however use the submerged anchor as reference and noticed that the chain had been dragged through the wreck itself (a protected historical site).

The anchor is quite large. The captain would not listen to advice when we told him to stay at least 100 meters down-current (this was also downwind; they were working in combination) from the wreck due to the extreme drift. He foolishly dropped anchor up current from the wreck! Now in our RHIB this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing since our anchor is so small that we literally have to secure it once underwater to insure that there IS a boat for us when we ascend, but the LULU is quite large. Her anchor is huge. The chain has 6" links (estimate).

The chain got all tangle in the wreck. Sat. we will try to untangle the chain and bring up the chain and anchor. Ought to be fun!

Dusting off my Extra Force Fins TD (w. whiskers, thank you Blair!) as I type!

 

[firstdive2005]

I leave a set of Force Fins with my gear on Cozumel. They are fabulous for the drifts and swim throughs there. I also leave a pair of Jets for the cenotes on the mainland. My F1s are used with my drysuit up north. They rock the cold water dives for me. But nothing gets the gear conversations going like my FFs. I like that.