Technical diving Solomon Islands

[FlyHi]

 

 

While the above footage was compiled 2013 the USS Alanta was dived on again by the Tulagi Dive team here in the Solomons on Monday with a small group of NZ technical divers.

Tulagi Dive added 4 new photos — feeling excited at Tulagi Dive.

Yesterday at 11:04am · Honiara · 

Tulagi Dive today successfully carried out an extreme technical dive on the CL-51 USS Atlanta !! Which lies at 95 to 130m. She is a light cruiser which was attacked in the early hours of the morning of 13th November 1942 and was critically wounded with the loss of 32 men, her Captain (Jenkins) ordered she be laid to rest (sunk) later that afternoon. USS Atlanta was fitted with 16 twin 127mm gun turrents. 12 x 28mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 x single 20mm anti-aircraft cannons and 8 x 533mm topedo tubes. Divers are front row left Dean, right is Aaron. Back row left to right John, Franz, Paul, Troy, Neil and Chris..... what a super effort gents !!!!

Neil Yates the principal of Tulagi Dive was instrumental in planning and logistics of this complicated dive.

Way beyond the brief of this recreational diver (40m limit)

[Synopsis]

Well worth the view!  Thank You, FlyHi!

[FlyHi]

Yes I love the history of the WW2 in the Guadalcanal campaign and the momentous event of the Americans first win here in WW2, it bolstered your confidence and was a strategic part of the overall war effort.

The area is known as Iron Bottom Sound  with something approaching 183 wrecks of ships and planes in the waters around Honiara. there are cool wreck shore dives (each weekend I have to decide depending on weather...Jap sub; B17; Jap transport ships) and other great dives of all sorts if you are prepared to travel within the Solomons. (Wild cat; Catalina; huge Jap Kawanishi float plane; NZ, Australian and US Naval vessels to 70m commonly dived here). Not to mention the awesome water temperature  29C or 84F at that depth and fabulous reefs, corals, fish etc)

Did I just mention its a divers paradise!

[Synopsis]

1 minute ago, FlyHi said:

Did I just mention its a divers paradise!

Oh, Yeah, FlyHi, Oh, Yeah!

Never been scuba diving.  Maybe post event I can take this up and gain enough proficiency to dive paradises like this!

[FlyHi]

Hey its never too late.

I only learnt a year ago (I ashamed/remiss of me that I did not attempt it earlier in life in some of the places where I've lived) and it is fantastic fun and a privilege to view the wonders of nature and man made relics.

[Synopsis]

2 minutes ago, FlyHi said:

Hey its never too late.

I only learnt a year ago (I ashamed/remiss of me that I did not attempt it earlier in life in some of the places where I've lived) and it is fantastic fun and a privilege to view the wonders of nature and man made relics.

I agree, FlyHi, I just need the means and opportunity.  Of course, post event, I'll need quite a few different things to keep me on the go and out of reach while this is one thing I'll need to have in my plan!

[new york kevin]

Wow!!! That was breath taking. It was easy to imagine being there on that dive. I will add learning how to scuba dive to my post RV Bucket List.

[chess]

GREAT VIDEO............thanks!

[divemaster5734]

22 hours ago, FlyHi said:

 

Way beyond the brief of this recreational diver (40m limit)

Skipped through the video, but didn't see where they showed the decomp time.

Aside from the 12 atmospheres crushing your body with 176.4 pounds of pressure per square inch, they only got a few minutes bottom time before the grueling ascent.

The rebreathers are great, they will go from nitrox to regular to exotic, so by the time you are past 200' you are on helium, oxy, and nitrogen, 20/30/50 to start, then going more Helium as you go deeper.

Even with the rebreather recycling you only get about 8 hours, so they had to make at least three safety stops to off gas, with a computer controlling the mixture so that at the last two they were on a nitrox type 26 - 30% oxy.

I've done some deeps dives, 280 is my max to recover bodies on the bottom of a lake. It took four hours to surface after a 10 minute bottom. That was a lot of hanging on a rope in the middle of nothing just doing time waiting for the clock to say it was OK to go up a little more.

I'm surprised they didn't have head gear,  must be some nice warm currents, because the ocean is usually about 34 - 36° after 50' or more.

Then you have nature.

A pee valve is mandatory unless your wearing a diaper, as long as it don't jam or freeze, then you are gonna have a flooded not so dry suit.

If you plan on the 12 - 18 hour decomp, which is that it would take from that deep, you can either eat a block of cheese to make a plug, or dirty your diaper if you body decides to rid itself of something else.

When extreme caving got popular I had a friend on a scuba forum that started going 600'. He hung 18- 80' AL tanks for various decomp stops.

One day he was talking about a cave he was gonna do in Florida, and we never heard from him again.

Your not missing much staying rec.

You can do 180' to 200' if you are with a good divemaster, but don't go past 150 alone until you know where you get narced, and how you deal with it.

All  color is gone by 60' anyway.

Those tech dives look like fun, but unless they were paid to go there, it probably cost them several thousand each to do the one dive. not including the equipment or time off work.

Lots of things can go wrong the deeper you go, and once your saturated you cant just surface if a reg decides to freeze.

18 hours ago, new york kevin said:

Wow!!! That was breath taking. It was easy to imagine being there on that dive. I will add learning how to scuba dive to my post RV Bucket List.

20 hours ago, Synopsis said:

 

Never been scuba diving.  Maybe post event I can take this up and gain enough proficiency to dive paradises like this!

The first time you hang motionless 20' off the ground is a moment you will remember the rest of your life.

After the cost of equipment all you gotta pay for is air.

I have some gear that is 30 years old and still usable, so it's actually a pretty inexpensive sport, just very "immersive".

[FlyHi]

Hey DM I don't know about the original trip but the latest one they had 7 min bottom time at 130m (430'). They used scooters to descend to minimise air consumption , one finned down to 70m; plus they had 6.5 hrs deco time as they used the mixes you described. I know one of the Tulagi divers was stationed at 70m (230') with an array of different bottles with 6 different gas mixes plus pure oxygen. There was heaps of planning involved right down to currents/tides/weather etc. The rebreather guys were all professionals and master trainers. One descended OC which amazed me.

I'll stick with my 50-60m (165-200') dives max with my tech buddy as narc doesn't affect me too badly. I plan on doing advanced nitrox training so can do the USS Aaron Ward (70m) along with other slightly shallower dive wrecks here before I depart the Happy Isles.

 

[FlyHi]

[Synopsis]

Thank You, DiveMaster5734 and FlyHi, for the fantastic reads!

[divemaster5734]

6 hours ago, FlyHi said:

Hey DM I don't know about the original trip but the latest one they had 7 min bottom time at 130m (430'). They used scooters to descend to minimise air consumption , one finned down to 70m; plus they had 6.5 hrs deco time as they used the mixes you described. I know one of the Tulagi divers was stationed at 70m (230') with an array of different bottles with 6 different gas mixes plus pure oxygen. There was heaps of planning involved right down to currents/tides/weather etc. The rebreather guys were all professionals and master trainers. One descended OC which amazed me.

I'll stick with my 50-60m (165-200') dives max with my tech buddy as narc doesn't affect me too badly. I plan on doing advanced nitrox training so can do the USS Aaron Ward (70m) along with other slightly shallower dive wrecks here before I depart the Happy Isles.

 

The tech has changed a lot since I was  S&R.

It was before Nitrox came out, then NAUI accepted it, but PADI took a few more years to relent and accept.

I was diving for the sheriffs dept, so they were over the top conservative using Navy tables, and they ignored our reciently introduced individual dive computers.

We did get our own Viking dry suit, unlimited repairs, and free air, so for a dive bum it was great. Got paid from boat launch to trailer dock.

I even had an adapter I could use at the fire department to fill my tanks off the MSA compressor.

Was fun to have all the surface support on the ice dive training, but really sucked retrieving a driver that went off the road in the winter and went 1/2 way through the windshield before the car broke through the ice and rolled down 60 or 70'.

Did underwater pump recovery and repair, RO systems, and got 10% of value for jewelry recovery. 

When your sucking down 3 or 4 tanks a day for work, the last thing you want to do is more dives with your friends.

Didn't do a pleasure dive  until about a year after I went full time contractor.

 

Are you on a vacation?

Sounds like an ultimate adventure.

Very Cool.

 

[FlyHi]

I'm new to diving so barely know the navy tables as rely on my dive computer. All the guys on the recent USD Atlanta trip used Shearwater dive computers, very good so hence their reduced deco time. Yes nitrox used heavily as well as helium. The shearwater purdex can handle 10 different gas mixes. Water temp is 84F at 70m. Not sure what it's like at 130m but still pretty mild I suspect. I have a 3mm wetsuit but only use it when doing multiple dives 4 to 5 per day which happens when on a live aboard. I'm not qualified for dry suit not used one but wished I had when diving in New Zealand recently in the Poor Knights.

Nope, no holiday, here for work as a plantation manager. Diving on a live aboard next weekend which is a cool way to do other great dives. Check out Bilikiki cruise dive shop sometime, old but great! 

I recently did my rescue diving course... It was hard work! Kudos to you with all those recoveries made over the years, it takes a team effort. 

Yes living n working the dream here! 

[divemaster5734]

19 hours ago, FlyHi said:

I'm new to diving so barely know the navy tables as rely on my dive computer. All the guys on the recent USD Atlanta trip used Shearwater dive computers, very good so hence their reduced deco time. Yes nitrox used heavily as well as helium. The shearwater purdex can handle 10 different gas mixes. Water temp is 84F at 70m. Not sure what it's like at 130m but still pretty mild I suspect. I have a 3mm wetsuit but only use it when doing multiple dives 4 to 5 per day which happens when on a live aboard. I'm not qualified for dry suit not used one but wished I had when diving in New Zealand recently in the Poor Knights.

Nope, no holiday, here for work as a plantation manager. Diving on a live aboard next weekend which is a cool way to do other great dives. Check out Bilikiki cruise dive shop sometime, old but great! 

I recently did my rescue diving course... It was hard work! Kudos to you with all those recoveries made over the years, it takes a team effort. 

Yes living n working the dream here! 

3 mm wet suit..lol

Use a 2/3 mm for liner in winter, or medium woollies in summer under 10 mm neoprene dry suit, and have a 19' argon filled pony tank for suit.

Even with a DIN 120' steel by the time your done fighting currents and cold, (surface temp 45°-50°, about 37° past 50'), you only get about 70 minutes. By the time you gear up get to the water, dive climb out, swap tanks, decomp, and repeat, a three dive day will just wear you right out.

The colder the better, because your face freezes up and then goes numb fast. Sometimes you can just 7 mm wetsuit if you going shallow and pretreat with a couple gallons of hot water.

I'll motor the Zodiac out and do a drift dive, but don't like going solo, got hung up on a rock formation once and surfaced with under 100 lbs air, and at 8' it's only good for one guy with gear and supplies. Mostly just use the scooter to go night crabbing or UW park anymore.

Congrats on doing the rescue coarse, I strongly recommend for skill enhancement.

I actually have one rescue I did at 105'. Was out crabbing when a dive shop was doing a night class, just ran into a guy that was totally narced out, sitting on a log and playing with a squid. 

He was oblivious to any communication, and when I checked his air he was under 500'. Did the main grab and got him to the surface. 

He spent an hour thanking and apologizing, then heard next day he denied everything. Maybe it's better when next of kin say thanks.

 

Maybe one day I'll accept one of the dive positions they post on the PADI pro site, I just don't want to be away from the grown kids.

 

You are living a life a lot of us are either too weak to leave it all behind, or too wrapped up in the fake money game to pull away.

You DO know what that means?, you are obligated to have the time of your life, because there are others stuck state side living vicariously through your adventures..

Aren't those nasty little Irukandji jellys out there too?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyHi]

ha ha we often just dive here in boardies and maybe T-shirt. I admit to wearing a rashie most times as a brush against coral can be very irritating, also they spawn and that too can be an irritant! No Irukandji stingers here to my knowledge...they are prevalent in Australia though...nasty little things. We usually carry vinegar with use to irrigate if stung.. If not then urine works well too!

I'm on the older side but young at heart. I started this tropical adventure way to late in life. It took a marriage split to cause me to re-invent myself. Absolutely no regrets about the decision to move here. I haven't missed the western way of life. Everything happens here in Solomon Time.... usually late or never! A very laid back lifestyle can be had.

I've been through cyclones, floods and storms at sea to remember and be very thankful I'm still alive. I always seize the moment. Tomorrow may never come!

I love night diving ..... so much to see. Swim out into the ocean a couple hundred meters with no torch, hover, thrash arms about to activate the bio-luminescence, then turn on torch in a vertical position and be awe struck by the wonders of the macro world...baby crabs, jellyfish, mollusks of all descriptions

Last trip we did a black water night dive and it was like visiting outer space and seeing aliens. 

Check out these amazing images taken by Greg Lecoeur during the black water dive.

I am on the older side of young. Started this tropical adventure way too late in life.

[Synopsis]

Fabulous pictures and narrative FlyHi!  Thank You for posting!

[divemaster5734]

On 11/9/2016 at 8:29 PM, FlyHi said:

ha ha we often just dive here in boardies and maybe T-shirt. I admit to wearing a rashie most times

I once did a dive in only a swimsuit.

Was amazed how bad everything rubbed.

Could only go about 20' before the 2nd thermolcline, but got 1 1/2 hr out of a 110.

Night dives are my favorite for critter watching and crabbing.

[RodandStaff]

Amazing is all I can say! ...that and somewhat jealous!  Being raised in the Midwest doesn't offer you a lot of opportunities to snorkel or dive.  I have had a couple of nice trips to the Caribbean where I enjoyed some amazing snorkeling but since then I developed a severe ear infection so bad my ears bled.  Since then it's extremely difficult to depressurize.  My bro-in-law took me in a pool on my one and only attempt at scuba diving (it was winter in Wisconsin and he didn't want to risk a newbie gettin' lost in an ice dive) and I felt embarrassed it took me probably 15-20 min. to overcome the pain of depressurizing just to get to the bottom of a 12' pool.   It was so cool though...and I can only dream about making it work out for real some day.  Maybe I can get a mini-sub post RV and join some of y'all!!!