192 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

PUNKY!!! PUNKY!!! PUNKY!!!

You can crash ANY party you like...

p.s. don't show anyone the bruises from all the arm twisting I did when you were held captive in my room...er I mean you were my roommate this week in Dominica!!!

[dive_sail_etc]

I am officially crashing this party. Can't let Sparky have all the fun!

Will send in docs when I get home from Dominica.

This isn't crashing the party, this is the party finally arriving! Welcome aboard, Sandy!

[Muskegocline]

I booked my flights this evening.

Arriving on United 8284 at 10:54am July 3rd
Departing on American Airlines 1329 at 5:20pm July 8th


I guess I didn't mention lead needs, or tank choices (although I may have to take whatever tank is left).

I usually dive with 10lbs and an aluminum 80. I'd probably drop 2lbs with a 100, but may as well reserve 10 just to be safe. I'll be bringing the rest of my gear, so all I require is tanks and weights.

Thanks!

[WreckWench]

Hey Derek! I'm thrilled you can join us! I will sort out the tank situation now I'm home and let everyone know what they will have!

[WreckWench]

UPDATED AS OF JUNE 2013:

QUALIFICATIONS To Join This Trip:
1. We require all trip goers to be premier members to facilitate ease of booking and pre-trip communications and support. (See hot link at top of trip for how to register or upgrade your membership. Or email charlies@singledivers.com for help.)
2. (Please note that we ask for 40+ dives and adv open water or equivalent in experience as these wrecks are 80-125ft in depth with square profiles. The water temps are 78-85 degrees at depth and vis is 70-150 ft. No wreck certification is required however the standard nitrox blend is 30%. Most wrecks do NOT have penetration opportunities and you must be specially trained to attempt a wreck penetration. Many of the wrecks have light passthru's where you can swim in and out to the light on the other side. Most of the wrecks are scattered due to frequent storms or if inshore cable layered to prevent hazards to shipping.) The boat is quite accommodating to recreational and tech-light divers. Stage/pony bottles are ok. You will have between an hour and 1.5 hr surface interval and we will spend most of the day offshore with 1.5 to 2 hr transit times to the boat. The boat leaves daily at 6am.
3. The accommodations are beach rustic but we are here to DIVE not party nor partake of an expensive 'beach vacation'. The motel is an old style 50's family owned MOTEL with mostly 2 beds per room and 1 bunk house that sleeps 4-6. The motel is practically next door to the boat so no driving is needed (however gear will be transported by van for everyone) but its not fancy. It is however very suited for divers and fishermen...hence the name "Fisherman's Inn". We must put 4 people in the bunkhouse so its a great place to have a 'slumber party' for the gals or 'mancave' for the guys.
4. This is not Caribbean nor Florida style diving. It is BIG BOY/GIRL diving and it will challenge your skills...hence the diving requirements in #1. We will go up and down an anchor line so if there is current we have to use the anchor line to manage it in water and the wreck to manage it during the dive. There are NO free decents nor ascents. You MUST use the anchor line that will be hooked into the wreck.
5. There will be NO guide to lead you on a guided tour. The dive guides are responsible for getting you safely on and off the boat which can be a rodeo if the seas kick up. You need to be able to navigate (without compass as the metal in the wreck will give you false readings) or plan to stay fairly close to the anchor line going in a star pattern out and back in different directions but always returning to the line.
6. You MUST HAVE A COMPUTER and you MUST know how to use it and be able to change your settings on it.
7. This will NOT be a jump off the boat and follow the group and then come up as a group. Each dive team will plan their dives and dive their plans.

Please contact me to discuss if you have any questions or wonder if you are ok to handle the trip. Since I've seen many of you dive I can easily let you know if you are up to the challenge and able to capitalize on the amazing rewards of seeing BIG ANIMALS AND DIVING ON HISTORY!!! />

[WreckWench]

IMPORTANT TRIP UPDATE:

All final payments are due in full as of June 3rd. Please makes sure you have paid completely for all extras and trip pkgs.

[WreckWench]

IMPORTANT AVAILABILITY UPDATE:

We have 1 spot left on this amazing trip that we MUST FILL! Please click on the Facebook or Twitter or other social media links BELOW THE TOPIC and let others know to join you on this trip! Or just let others know about this trip! />

[ScubaPunk]

Sandy aka ScubaPunk
Payments Summary To Date: We will post your payments as we receive them
NC FlyIn Pkg 5/4 or DriveIn Pkg 4/4: Flyin Pkg 5/4
D/O or S/O: D/O or Quadruple/O
Extra Days/Nights: None
Nitrox Fills: No
Nitrox Rentals: yes, Need 12 lbs lead, tank choice 100's if available
Air Fills: no
Air Rentals: no
Documents: SD Waiver: ___ SD Survey___ - SD Ins Summary ___ List when Rec'd & Faxed to SD.com
Dive Insurance Current: Dive Assure
Trip Insurance CHOOSE A or B or C:
a. I have insurance that covers this trip.
b. I will purchase trip insurance to cover this trip
c. I do not plan to buy trip insurance and will accept all losses accordingly
Flight Details: SW 642 - July 3rd - Dpt IAH @ 9:45 am, Arr RDU @ 1:20 pm
SW 616 - July 8th - Dpt RDU @ 5:45 pm, Arr IAH @ 7:30 pm
Available Discounts: Waiving all discounts

[liveandletdive]

So - I was reading Kamala's warnings - specifically this one:

"There will be NO guide to lead you on a guided tour. The dive guides are responsible for getting you safely on and off the boat which can be a rodeo if the seas kick up. You need to be able to navigate (without compass as the metal in the wreck will give you false readings) or plan to stay fairly close to the anchor line going in a star pattern out and back in different directions but always returning to the line."

The good news is that I can generally SEE a line tied to a boat and I can swim in a star pattern. The bad news is that is navigation underwater is not a skill set I'm willing to test out since sometimes I don't know which way is east when I emerge from a subway in a city I've lived in for half my life.

That said, does anyone know of a good location/dive site guide? I'd like to do some research on where we are diving beforehand so I know 1. what I am looking at. 2. the basic layout of the wrecks 3. where on the wreck the tie's in generally occur (I would think there are known/common spots) I'm going to assume that since these are oft-visited locations, this information is out there somewhere to be had. But other than the top 10 list, I don't know where we are diving or the history of any of the wrecks.

Any help is appreciated - my internet searches didn't yield a lot of information.

[VADiver]

One way people navigate some wrecks is to bring a spool and run it from the tie in width wise across the wreck. You'll run across the line as long as you swim bow to stern. I've seen this method used on the Schurz...which is scattered on the bottom. Most other wrecks are contiguous and easy to navigate, but a reel is reccomended. Another thing to remember is the physical location of the tie in (ex port side rail bow) and depth....I saw one guy swim to the stern at 100' passing the tie in on the now at 80'. Needless to say I saw him again at 20' signaling out of air.

[VADiver]

Also, the mate who ties in will usually give a briefing on where he tied in and bottom conditions. If he skips it or you miss something ask.

[dive_sail_etc]

So - I was reading Kamala's warnings - specifically this one:
"There will be NO guide to lead you on a guided tour. The dive guides are responsible for getting you safely on and off the boat which can be a rodeo if the seas kick up. You need to be able to navigate (without compass as the metal in the wreck will give you false readings) or plan to stay fairly close to the anchor line going in a star pattern out and back in different directions but always returning to the line."
The good news is that I can generally SEE a line tied to a boat and I can swim in a star pattern. The bad news is that is navigation underwater is not a skill set I'm willing to test out since sometimes I don't know which way is east when I emerge from a subway in a city I've lived in for half my life.
That said, does anyone know of a good location/dive site guide? I'd like to do some research on where we are diving beforehand so I know 1. what I am looking at. 2. the basic layout of the wrecks 3. where on the wreck the tie's in generally occur (I would think there are known/common spots) I'm going to assume that since these are oft-visited locations, this information is out there somewhere to be had. But other than the top 10 list, I don't know where we are diving or the history of any of the wrecks.
Any help is appreciated - my internet searches didn't yield a lot of information.

Hello Allison, first of all thanks for being proactive with voicing concerns about any facet of any trip; it's always the right choice and we are always receptive to such requests. In addition to the general tips and warnings posted by Vinny aka VADiver, Kamala is deeply involved with coordinating dive buddies based on complimentary skill sets. That is a major purpose of the Dive and Rooming Survey we fill out; she actually does review every single one every trip! Based on both the survey and feedback such as yours here, she will pair you up with a diver familiar not only with wreck diving in general (not advanced penetration, we are not doing that sort of stuff as a group anyway) but also one familiar with the actual NC wrecks we will be diving. This includes but is not limited to Kamala herself, me, or one of the other returning SingleDivers.com members from previous NC trips. Your post above is sufficient to act as a request for such a buddy pairing, or feel free to PM Kamala directly about it or mention it when we pick you and the other fly-ins up at the airport.

I hope this helps allay some of your concern; our goal is to maximize your diving FUN and help you build experience and confidence with a minimum of distractions and undue worry.

[Sharklover]

So - I was reading Kamala's warnings - specifically this one:

"There will be NO guide to lead you on a guided tour. The dive guides are responsible for getting you safely on and off the boat which can be a rodeo if the seas kick up. You need to be able to navigate (without compass as the metal in the wreck will give you false readings) or plan to stay fairly close to the anchor line going in a star pattern out and back in different directions but always returning to the line."

The good news is that I can generally SEE a line tied to a boat and I can swim in a star pattern. The bad news is that is navigation underwater is not a skill set I'm willing to test out since sometimes I don't know which way is east when I emerge from a subway in a city I've lived in for half my life.

That said, does anyone know of a good location/dive site guide? I'd like to do some research on where we are diving beforehand so I know 1. what I am looking at. 2. the basic layout of the wrecks 3. where on the wreck the tie's in generally occur (I would think there are known/common spots) I'm going to assume that since these are oft-visited locations, this information is out there somewhere to be had. But other than the top 10 list, I don't know where we are diving or the history of any of the wrecks.

Any help is appreciated - my internet searches didn't yield a lot of information.

Here are some links which provide descriptions of the more common dive sites, their depths, history, etc. My disclaimer is that they are from other shops in the area, but my favorite is the one SD is going with, he just doesn't have a fancy website.

http://www.olympusdi...c-wreck-diving/
http://discoverydivi...d=69&Itemid=158

Visibility has been really good lately, so hopefully it will not be too challenging to navigate. But diving with a dive buddy who is familiar with the sites is a great idea. However, I would encourage YOU to try to lead a dive when you do, because ultimately buddy diving is like that. The dive briefing really is the most important thing for you to pay attention to, and Diver Down gives great dive briefings. Bobby has been at it for a couple of years You could even sketch the wreck on a slate and take it with you if you like.

I always carry a reel, a long one, 260 feet. (Wreck line on a 400 foot reel) But that is so I have the option of shooting a DSMB from the wreck if I have a need to. I also a small finger spool for my SMB. Yes, we carry two most of the time. But in very low vis situations, it is awesome to have a long reel. You can just dive away, tying the reel as you go.

And in a pinch, Bobby is really good at finding people (found one of my errant buddies once), so just be well prepared with your SMB and a finger spool at a minimum so that he can spot you on the surface.


You will be fine! And it is really fun.

[WreckWench]

for reading what I have written. Just asking questions tells us you'll do fine and as Brad said...we understand that many people ARE NEW to NC and while I am trying to prevent any major surprises...we will also work with the people on the trip as much as possible. For example as Leslie said the vis has been amazing which helps 1000%. If the vis is not amazing then we may choose to have the DM's run a line to start the trip that people can follow the last DM will undo the line. This works great for divers new to NC and low vis conditions if they arise.

And while it is exciting to be able to 'see the whole wreck'.... many of them are too big to see in one dive which is why we ALL love coming back over and over again. In other words...if you only see part of the wreck which happens to be near the anchor line...don't fret. NC is an addictive place that you will want to return too AND many of the best finds I've made either picture wise or artifact wise have been near the anchor line. So even I do not typically venture that far away as the sites are too cool nearby!

Also as Leslie mentioned...our boat Capt Bobby Cox does a superb job of giving dive briefings and helping you understand the wreck. He will also use ALL natural navigation techniques he can. For example one of the reasons we leave as early as we do is so we can be the FIRST boat on the wreck. This allows us to choose EXACTLY where we want to hook in. He will then often choose the "end" of the wreck so that one direction is sand and the other is wreckage. This means there is only ONE way back to the boat as long as you do not forget the direction you are heading in.

We are opening the special discussion forums today so will discuss this topic further there as well. And as always...if our veteran divers have suggestions... we appreciate them.

The entire point of my post was to highlight the differences between diving NC and falling off the boat in the Caribbean someplace. Also to point out that it is a bit rustic and not our typical 'high end' resort style trip. Kamala

[ScubaPunk]

Payment Update:

1) Jeff aka reefdweller: ww has received your payment of $ 1275 + $38.25 cc fee
(trip $989, Nitrox $136, RAB $150)
\2) Derek aka Muskegocline: ww has received your payment of $1125 + $33.75 cc fee
(trip $989, Nitrox $136)
3) Sandy aka ScubaPunk: ww has received your payment of $1125
(trip $989, Nitrox $136)
4) Bob aka PP02: ww has received you payment of $1269 6/3
(trip $989, s/o $280)