I hopped a ride on the Riviara out of Dana Point last Saturday (February 19, 2011) for a run out to the wreck of the Ace I
The conditions appeared to be acceptable even though it was an afternoon run. On the way out it became apparent that the swell was up but there really was no wind yet.
The boat is pretty nice and has a really large (for a typical dive boat) inside cabin on the main deck. The tank racks are crowded because they are spaced for aluminum 80 cylinders set right next together. I am glad it was a light load of seven divers. Any more would have been crowded. The crew was great and did a good job of explaining the dive procedures and the basic layout of the wreck.
The bad part started when the boat was tied off. There appeared to be a 1 knot current at the surface so the boat was tight on the mooring line. The swell was still moderate but not so bad as to make movement around the deck a problem. One dude did get sick.
I was kitted up for a two gas dive. The boat offers Nitrox and had provided 29.3% in the cylinder I started out with. And I had a 42% 30 cu al as a deco/redundant cylinder and my standard al 13 cu bailout. I am glad I was in my dry suit because the water was around 58 degrees (F). The bad news was I had dry gloves on and it makes it hard to attach the regulator to my Kirby Morgan full face mask.
Having the extra cylinders and the dry suit made forward progress difficult once I hit the water. The boat crew gave me some help to the mooring line by dragging my old ass along the side with a line. That was pretty cool of them. As I left surface the conditions were bad. Probably somewhere between 3 to 5 feet of visability starting right at the surface. It seemed to take forever to descend on the mooring line. When I finnaly made it to the wreck visability was only slightly better and I could make out dive lights of the other divers. Very few ventured much past where the mooring line was laying over teh side of the wreck. The only thing that I did notice on the bottom was how light the marine growth was on the hull. You can see white paint between the little red hydros on the hull. I decided that at 99 fsw on one aluminum 80 there was no reason to hang out, so I started right back up.
The ascent was uneventful. Followed the line to 70 fsw, drifted up another five or ten feet and switched to the 42% Nitrox for the rest of the ascent. Made a 20 fsw stop for about three before surfacing.
Once back on board it was determined that the tide was out going and was probably pulling all the run off from the rain on Thursday and Friday away from teh shore. No one was interested in a second dip so the crew pulled the mooring line and headded in. The swell and medium wind had picked up by this time and it was not a nice any more. We did make it back before the rain that could be seen offshore to the north west, but over all the weather held for the full trip.
Dive stats:
Bottom Time = 18 minutes
Maximum Depth = 99 fsw
EAD on 29% = 86 fsw
USN Table 90'/:21 = RGD of "F"
Cost of charter: $99 + $10 per cylinder of Nitrox. Reasonable for So. Cal. and two dives a trip.
The conditions appeared to be acceptable even though it was an afternoon run. On the way out it became apparent that the swell was up but there really was no wind yet.
The boat is pretty nice and has a really large (for a typical dive boat) inside cabin on the main deck. The tank racks are crowded because they are spaced for aluminum 80 cylinders set right next together. I am glad it was a light load of seven divers. Any more would have been crowded. The crew was great and did a good job of explaining the dive procedures and the basic layout of the wreck.
The bad part started when the boat was tied off. There appeared to be a 1 knot current at the surface so the boat was tight on the mooring line. The swell was still moderate but not so bad as to make movement around the deck a problem. One dude did get sick.
I was kitted up for a two gas dive. The boat offers Nitrox and had provided 29.3% in the cylinder I started out with. And I had a 42% 30 cu al as a deco/redundant cylinder and my standard al 13 cu bailout. I am glad I was in my dry suit because the water was around 58 degrees (F). The bad news was I had dry gloves on and it makes it hard to attach the regulator to my Kirby Morgan full face mask.
Having the extra cylinders and the dry suit made forward progress difficult once I hit the water. The boat crew gave me some help to the mooring line by dragging my old ass along the side with a line. That was pretty cool of them. As I left surface the conditions were bad. Probably somewhere between 3 to 5 feet of visability starting right at the surface. It seemed to take forever to descend on the mooring line. When I finnaly made it to the wreck visability was only slightly better and I could make out dive lights of the other divers. Very few ventured much past where the mooring line was laying over teh side of the wreck. The only thing that I did notice on the bottom was how light the marine growth was on the hull. You can see white paint between the little red hydros on the hull. I decided that at 99 fsw on one aluminum 80 there was no reason to hang out, so I started right back up.
The ascent was uneventful. Followed the line to 70 fsw, drifted up another five or ten feet and switched to the 42% Nitrox for the rest of the ascent. Made a 20 fsw stop for about three before surfacing.
Once back on board it was determined that the tide was out going and was probably pulling all the run off from the rain on Thursday and Friday away from teh shore. No one was interested in a second dip so the crew pulled the mooring line and headded in. The swell and medium wind had picked up by this time and it was not a nice any more. We did make it back before the rain that could be seen offshore to the north west, but over all the weather held for the full trip.
Dive stats:
Bottom Time = 18 minutes
Maximum Depth = 99 fsw
EAD on 29% = 86 fsw
USN Table 90'/:21 = RGD of "F"
Cost of charter: $99 + $10 per cylinder of Nitrox. Reasonable for So. Cal. and two dives a trip.
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