First Trimix Kill on Deep Wreck

[SpearMax]

Well, I finally did it. For the past few months, I have been working on my Advanced Trimix certification good to 330 feet. After completing the course with two great friends, Bobbi and Jim, we decided to try a little Spearfishing on a deep wreck in 280 feet of water last Sunday, August 12, 2007. My catch wasn't big, but it sure was tasty......... a nice scamp grouper shot at 260 feet on the starboard gunnel of the wreck. They have to be one of the best tasting fish I know. On the east coast of Florida, we usually only find them in deep water. My dive buddy Jim shot these video frames of me just before and just after I shot the Scamp. He did not realize what I was doing so he missed the moment of impact for the shot. However, you can see the fish doing the loopty-loop after I stoned him. Our bottom mix was 15% oxygen and 50% helium. I had 300 cubes and Jim had 240 cubes of bottom trimix. My travel trimix was 30% oxygen and 30% helium while Jim had 50% oxygen and 50% nitrogen for his travel gas. We both had 80% oxygen for our deco gas at 30 feet.

[SpearMax]

I sent this fish up on a lift bag just to get him out of the way for the long decompression stops ahead of us. I have been doing deep air extended range technical dives for a few years, but I must say I'm liking this trimix stuff. For me, the widening of my field of view is a good benefit. Deep air tends to make my visual perception narrower I would say.

[SpearMax]

Here are some random views of the wreck.

[SpearMax]

More views.

[SpearMax]

Now our deco stops. Our original plan which we did stick to was to spend no longer than 15 minutes on the wreck and then start up. The cochran helium computer shows our projected deco time as 2 hours and 2 minutes, and then alternates to show our time at that 80 foot stop as 3 minutes. After we switched to 80% oxygen at 30 feet, our total run time for the entire dive was only 1 hour and 14 minutes. It's amazing what high oxygen can do to cleanse the body of nitrogen bubbles!

[SpearMax]

Next, our safety diver JFJF snorkling down to check on us.

[SpearMax]

Finally, some dive computer graphs. The dive was executed well and we had outstanding visibility and 70 degree temperature conditions.


All in all, it was a wonderful experience and the beginning of some great deep spearfishing adventures to come I hope!

[SpearMax]

I would encourage those who are good at muti-tasking underwater to take this course. Trimix training and diving is certainly an expensive aspect of spearfishing, but very rewarding in terms of excitement and thrills if done right.

[Mobile Diver]

Pretty cool dive, Tony. Looks like you had awesome conditions, even if the fish weren't home. I hear you, that O2 is wonderful stuff!!!

[diverlen]

Tony, you have just blown me away. Now, I have a compulsion to do that kind of dive but just then, I consider my age, and conclude that I will await your posts telling me all about it. Congratulations!!!
By the way, I love Scamp, got any left??? Ha! Ha!

[jadairiii]

whats the black box on the right side of your back gas tanks?

John

[Rinaldo]

The Freediver in the pics has the strangest mask I've ever seen.

[ichigolin]

Nice info and pics. What do you do if your Cochran goes black? Do you have a redundant computer?

[SpearMax]

whats the black box on the right side of your back gas tanks? John

A hands-free camera system which houses the recording deck. The camera itself is mounted on my mask. The system is good to 500+ feet, but, I will probably never go that deep.:p

[SpearMax]

The Freediver in the pics has the strangest mask I've ever seen.

Hmm........he probably found it in a dumpster!:D:D

[SpearMax]

Nice info and pics. What do you do if your Cochran goes black? Do you have a redundant computer?

I have an air-integrated Cochran Gemini three gas computer also which i use to monitor my bottom mix pressure.

Although it is not a helium computer, I could use it for deco assuming air as the bottom mix and 80% as the deco mix.

I also cut laminated tables and have them as a back-up.

[Blueblood]

Tony,

Congratulations on your accomplishment! I hope to get that certification one of these days.:thumps:

[Supa711]

That is some wild stuff. Must have alot of confidence in your gear. Congrats on the cert.

[SpearMax]

Tony,

Congratulations on your accomplishment! I hope to get that certification one of these days.:thumps:

You need to come back down for more tech diving. There is always an open spot on my boat for you. :cool:

[waterbug]

Congrats on your first trimix kill, Tony! I had tons of fun training with you and Jim and am looking forward to lots more deep dives. To all of those considering this route, I highly recommend helium, just be sure your bank account (and back) can support the needed gas supply!

[dagodiver]

cool stuff Tony.!


Dago.

[ichigolin]

I'll be done w/my DM program shortly. Then, I plan on taking the TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco courses. I just noticed that my shop also teaches the PADI (DSAT) Tec courses as well. Any thoughts on PADI (DSAT) Tec courses vs. the TDI courses? Just a question... not trying to start a religious war...

[SpearMax]

I'll be done w/my DM program shortly. Then, I plan on taking the TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco courses. I just noticed that my shop also teaches the PADI (DSAT) Tec courses as well. Any thoughts on PADI (DSAT) Tec courses vs. the TDI courses? Just a question... not trying to start a religious war...

Ich, Religious wars stink (think global terrorism's roots), but constructive pro and con banter here on Spearboard is very useful. I know nothing about PADI's tech courses, so I am not qualified to opine on them. My certs for Open Water and other such courses were YMCA and NAUI. My tech training has been TDI (up to Advanced Trimix) and IANTD (up to Technical Diver). My personal experience with these technical training agencies has been very positive. They both have been around a long time.:cool:

[KEYSKILLER]

nice tony...

which wreck is that? iam not familiar with your neck of the woods.

[jimdoe2you]

The Freediver in the pics has the strangest mask I've ever seen.


Mares Solana, ........discontinued and dropped from the catalog in 1990. How do I know this obscure factoid you ask. Because when it was discountinued I bitched for a month!

At the time there were only two decent very low volume freediving masks, the Mares Solana and the Cressi Superocchio, and the Superocchio frame hurt the top bridge of my nose during compression. The Solana now resides in my plastic bin labeled, "The old gear that I can't get rid of because because it holds a special place in my heart bin"

OK everyone :sleep: you can wake back up now. I'll shut up.

:)

[theweber]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rinaldo
The Freediver in the pics has the strangest mask I've ever seen
QUOTE=SpearMax;561196]Hmm........he probably found it in a dumpster!:D:D[/QUOTE]

his wetsuit looks like one of the Wonder Twins

[jfjf]

:lol::lol:I think it IS a Mares mask! And the mask strap clips were broke and the dive shop threw it out. I ;iterally took it out of their trash to rescue it and (upgraded) it with a custom mask strap cut from a truck inner tube and attached with stainless wire.... Tony does a big dive and people talk about the mask I normally use for swimming in the pool.:confused::confused::confused:

And since no one else said it, that has to be the gayest body position of any freediver that I've ever seen (well at least underwater) Thanks Tony!

[SpearMax]

And since no one else said it, that has to be the gayest body position of any freediver that I've ever seen (well at least underwater) Thanks Tony!

Outstanding grace! You look like a ballerina dancing underwater.....uh huh, uh huh.:D:D

[jfjf]

They say that about hippo's in the river too!

[Blueblood]

Congrats on your first trimix kill, Tony! I had tons of fun training with you and Jim and am looking forward to lots more deep dives. To all of those considering this route, I highly recommend helium, just be sure your bank account (and back) can support the needed gas supply!

Congratulations to you too Bobbi, you've accomplished a tremendous amount in less than a year. I was checking on the cost of He from the local welding supply place where I buy my O2 and UHP grade is $100 for a 300 cu.ft. cylinder (when you can get it, there are pipeline issues that should be resolved soon). Assuming you can only use about 80% of the cylinder with PP blending, then the cost would be about $.40 per cu.ft. or $60 for 300 cu.ft. of 50% He for one dive. That won't hurt my bank account nearly as much as the fuel costs required to get to 280fsw, which is about 55 miles offshore from Dauphin Island, AL:eek: Wish I lived around West Palm. Y'all keep the technical reports coming!

[samson_ite]

Can you even consider a fish that size a kill? ;) I've got koi in my pond bigger than that! :stick: Nice deep dive though!

[Chad Carney]

Congratulations Tony, Jim & Bobbi... I'm so glad to see you using helium instead of air when deep!

Cool dive! Looks well planned and executed, and as always, the profiles are so enlightening.

Great photos too! (But they confirm my preference for more minimal technical gear.)

I draw the line for a single hp120 at 218', so for a dive on this wreck, I probably would have rigged my double hp100s and two 30 cf bottles, one travel and one deco. A test set of dive profiles would likely show a dive to the same depth for about 2/3 of your actual BT at depth (looks like approx. 12 min.) I think that would have been sufficient to tag just about any single fish and get out of Dodge, maybe shaving the deco by a 1/3 or so too. Obviously my method would not allow much wreck touring.

I'm sure the current shown in that close up photo was a factor for you too.

Chad

[Chad Carney]

Jim, "Dmpstr Dvr"

I remember that mask too.

They almost always broke, often right out of the package.

I think it's the one with a lens that was ambidextrous, so for Rx reasons, dealers could have half the stock of most other models.

I concur on the photo! :D

Chad

[SpearMax]

Can you even consider a fish that size a kill? ;) I've got koi in my pond bigger than that! :stick: Nice deep dive though!

Hey Samson, Believe it or not, that size scamp grouper was a bigger one for our East Coast Florida area. We almost never get them in shallow water and they don't grow much bigger like they do in the Gulf of Mexico for example. However, they are one of the best tasting fish out there. :thumps:

[SpearMax]

I draw the line for a single hp120 at 218', so for a dive on this wreck, I probably would have rigged my double hp100s and two 30 cf bottles, one travel and one deco. A test set of dive profiles would likely show a dive to the same depth for about 2/3 of your actual BT at depth (looks like approx. 12 min.) I think that would have been sufficient to tag just about any single fish and get out of Dodge, maybe shaving the deco by a 1/3 or so too. Obviously my method would not allow much wreck touring.

I'm sure the current shown in that close up photo was a factor for you too.

Chad


Ah yes.......the current is usually a factor on gas consumption here on the Florida east coast. Often, we drop way ahead of the wreck due to high surface current only to find a thermalcline or upwelling with little current below 200 feet which means we have more time (and gas consumption) kicking to the wreck. That happens quite often. On shallower tech dives, I agree with you and I use a single 149 HP tank for dives to around 220 feet. Our trimix dive plans here are usually for 15-20 minutes on the bottom, so we like having the extra cubes of bottom mix afforded by big doubles. Chad, come on over and let's do some trimix dives together!:thumps:

[Rinaldo]

Mares Solana, ........discontinued and dropped from the catalog in 1990. How do I know this obscure factoid you ask. Because when it was discountinued I bitched for a month!

At the time there were only two decent very low volume freediving masks, the Mares Solana and the Cressi Superocchio, and the Superocchio frame hurt the top bridge of my nose during compression. The Solana now resides in my plastic bin labeled, "The old gear that I can't get rid of because because it holds a special place in my heart bin"

OK everyone :sleep: you can wake back up now. I'll shut up.

:)

You amaze me.
We need more guys in the sport like you Jim.
The guy did definitely seem a little gay in the pics, but I'm not hating on him for it.

[dagodiver]

Ok then I will ask, where are the bottle markings for the deco gasses.?
Oh and dont forget that your feet need to decompress also.! LOL




Dago.

[SpearMax]

Ok then I will ask, where are the bottle markings for the deco gasses.?
Oh and dont forget that your feet need to decompress also.! LOL
Dago.

Good point Dago! Funny you should ask now. About an hour ago, before seeing this post, I just finished putting on the big MOD stickers and Oxygen stickers on the brand new travel & deco bottles bought last weekend. The labels finally came in and I marked the bottles SOP. I did have temporary tape markings on them for that dive. The prior 46 cube deco bottles I was using both had cloth sleeves and sticker labels. I also put MOD & O2% labels on the regs as an extra precaution. Using the wrong gas at depth can be fatal as you know.:eek:

[jfjf]

Ok then I will ask, where are the bottle markings for the deco gasses.?! LOL

Dago.

Don't you know ANYTHING about diving? "Rich on right" or was that your right or my right?

[Md Spear]

jfjf.........youre right that freedive pose is sweet. good avitar choice!

[dagodiver]

Don't you know ANYTHING about diving? "Rich on right" or was that your right or my right?

Gotcha.!:p
But I dive with all my gasses on one side.
That would be my left, or is that your right.?:D

Dago.

[SpearMax]

Mike, is that a chain you have there tying yourself to the wreck? (optical illusion - I see now it goes up to the boat)

By the way, I went with the aluminum 80s for travel and deco mixes after some experimentation with the 46 steels. It is amazing how much travel mix one can go through on the 300+ foot dives. I'd rather have too much than too little.;)

[dagodiver]

Mike, is that a chain you have there tying yourself to the wreck? (optical illusion - I see now it goes up to the boat)

By the way, I went with the aluminum 80s for travel and deco mixes after some experimentation with the 46 steels. It is amazing how much travel mix one can go through on the 300+ foot dives. I'd rather have too much than too little.;)

Yep.!
I do the same but when diving past the 250 range I bring 3 gasses (2 40's and 1 80) besides my back gas as we discussed on the phone. Still I carry them all under my left arm or is that jfjf's right.?:p

Great stuff Tony.!


Dago.

[Man-O-War]

All that, for that???

Man, that is long ways down for a baby scamp :)

[Man-O-War]

:lol::lol:I think it IS a Mares mask! And the mask strap clips were broke and the dive shop threw it out. I ;iterally took it out of their trash to rescue it and (upgraded) it with a custom mask strap cut from a truck inner tube and attached with stainless wire.... Tony does a big dive and people talk about the mask I normally use for swimming in the pool.:confused::confused::confused:

And since no one else said it, that has to be the gayest body position of any freediver that I've ever seen (well at least underwater) Thanks Tony!


McGyver

:lol::lol::lol::thumps:

[waterbug]

The underwater ballet show is even better in person. The wonder twims wetsuit is cute but you should see him in a speedo!! JFJF is great and makes my deco stops amusing every time!! :rofl:

Thanks BlueBlood for the thumbs up. I have had some great opportunities and the best dive buddies to make it all possible. Always reaching for the stars.....or is that the bottom???

[SpearMax]

All that, for that???

Man, that is long ways down for a baby scamp :)

Wolf, i was actually scouting for something a wee bit bigger, but could not tell you dude! ;)

Check this out:

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=50962