Getting going

*Dean Marshall* · February 7th, 2008, 09:45 PM

Hello all

I hope everyone’s 08 has started well and you have a few hours u/w

I would like to get an idea of some logistics if we can

Yesterday airlines within the USA started to change baggage limits etc.

Would it be possible to start building a list of spares and items that perhaps local UK divers can bring for the trip? Although it may seem a small item if all of us bring spares, hoses and o2 analyzers our shipping cost will just get bigger for no real reason

Also what’s the deal with tanks, stages, RB racks are these available for rent, borrow etc.

Any news on the scooters from the boat are they still available

Can we get lime for the RB from the boat or do we bring it with us

Looking forward to meeting and diving with you all, I have had a chat with the guys over hear so they don’t freak out when its time to Kit up

Best Dean

*David Martin* · February 8th, 2008, 03:10 AM

Dean

Logistics...good plan to start thinking about this early.

I guess we need to know a bit more of the plan re depths we'll be diving to know whether those of us on OC will be needing cylinders bigger than the standard D12s. How many stages we'll all need etc.

I would have thought we could pull together sufficient spares (ie shared kit and kit to cover breakages), other than perhaps more unusual items eg RB spares.

The boat has apparently has some scooters for hire, but I'm not sure how many.

I think you'll need to bring RB frames, as there aren't many RB80 divers around, but remember that our cylinder diameters are different to yours.

The things I imagine will be hardest will be large cylinders (if needed) eg D18/D16.5 and possibly scooters. There will be extras we can round up, but they're not as common as some other bits of kit. D12s will be easy, most of us have several sets and there are quite a few other divers who can lend spares. Al80/7L/Al40 stages are a little harder to judge - it probably depends how many we need. Yes most of us have several, but I figure we'll be needing quite a lot of spares for all the non-UK participants.

Lime is reasonably common due to the number of people diving inspirations over here, but I've never had a need to actually buy any. It makes little sense for you to ship this - we can purchase here for you and transport it up for you and settle up accordingly - the same goes (within reason!) for other things.

David

Andy Kerslake · February 8th, 2008, 01:33 PM

I was with Clare and Al last night and we briefly discussed this.

Dean

A good place to start would be a basic list of what you guys need, there at the moment no other RB divers on the boat (this is very likely to change).

We have access to quite a lot of double 12's which can be used for RB's as well as open circuit. The only consideration is that the doubles for the RB's would need appropriate valves and manifolds (M25 threads).

Sofnolime can be pre-ordered and we just have to decide how much we need, water temps are going to be coolish so lime duration will be shorter.

We will put together a spares list that I am sure we can bring, meaning you guys only have to bring some of the more unique items.

Best

Andy

PS We don't yet know exactly what dives we will be doing, so we need to work on this for both gas requirements and lime. For the RB80's how long will you run each scrubber for (esp cold water).

*Dean Marshall* · February 8th, 2008, 04:41 PM

Hello

Thanks guys for the quick reply.

Couple of points from my end,
One Keg lime will work for us as it’s just myself and Bailey diving RB.
I think definitive answers are going to be needed so please ask around regarding racks and if there are none I will search in a different area
The OC guys will need a set of back gas what ever size is available 12l should be fine , two deco bottles 6m and 21m and a stage each. Both Bailey and I will also need the deco and stage bottles.
I don’t know what the deal with filling gas is, are we doing it ourselves or does the vessel take care of it?
Of course you are correct any gear that’s not the norm RB etc. we will bring spares. Outside of that can we determine that the UK divers will bring spare regs, o2 analyzers, hoses etc?
As for scooters I will shoot the vessel an e mail and ask we can go from there.
As for the diving I’m easy I have dove the flow several times so I will go with whatever people want that have not been there before. My only request is to get in two dives per day if at all possible. While making logistics as easy as possible. I will not be diving the King Edmyself this is due to speaking to a couple of guys that have dived her, she near upside down and I don’t have a great need to see hull plate at that depth.
I will get on to the guys from this end to read and add anything that they need this weekend
Let me know what you think
Dean

OceanDiver · February 12th, 2008, 06:59 AM

Hello guys. My name is Jim Veach. I will be on the SCAPA 2008 trip and diving open circuit. My initial thoughts were to bring my entire kit, less the bottles, lead, and any spares. What are the gas logistics? That will determine how many bottles we will need. If the boat has helium and O2, one set of bottles per diver should suffice. I signed up for this trip some time ago and I cannot remember if it will be a live-a-board trip, or if will we be returning to shore each evening? Also, I hear gas is rather pricey over there. Can someone provide an estimate on the cost for backgas, stage, and two deco bottles? Finally, is Kirkwall the best place to arrive from abroad?

Sincerely,
Jim Veach
South Florida, USA

GLOC · February 12th, 2008, 08:30 AM

Hi Jim, I am not on the trip but I am going on MV Valkyrie in a few months time and I know Hazel and Helen (owner and crew respectively) quite well.

Their website is MV Valkyrie and the trip is a live-a-board.

You are right, gas is a little expensive across here but I know that Clare has arranged through Hazel for a large amount of He to be delivered to Valkyrie for your trip at a discounted rate due to the bulk. Not sure how the logistics are going to work and but the normal price for He is 3p per litre and O2 is 1p per litre. When buying from the supplier the price is in the order of .9p per litre for He and not sure about trade O2 but I would have thought something like .5 per litre.

Therefore a price somewhere between 3p and .9p for the He and 1p and 0.5p per litre for the O2.

I am also sure that Hazel has a Haskel so there shouldn't be too much lost gas.

Andy Kerslake · February 12th, 2008, 01:30 PM

Clare is in Fl at the moment and will be back here at the end of the week, so for all those questions about pricing for gas, Haskel, etc we shoulds be able to answer them.

Also with regards to cylinders needed, I think if we are doing two dives per day and one is deeper then we would need two sets of doubles each, plus stage/deco.

Andy

*Dean Marshall* · February 25th, 2008, 10:54 PM

Hello

Any news on RB racks

Thanks Dean

*Clare Gledhill* · February 26th, 2008, 09:01 PM

Dean - Al and I are seekign to source at least two racks each for ourselves and if we do you will have two to borrow. Watch this space I guess but I can't see any reason why we wouldn't have two each by then so I don't anticipate a problem. I'll stay in touch.

With regard to other kit, I'll get a list up a bit nearer the time. What I do need is when you guys are flying and and where to - so I now whether you are to be booked on the ferry or not. Your borrowed kit will be of course

*David Martin* · February 26th, 2008, 09:51 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Clare Gledhill)

What I do need is when you guys are flying and and where to - so I now whether you are to be booked on the ferry or not. Your borrowed kit will be of course

Clare, foot passengers can be booked separately, even on the day of the crossing. Although, it's worth booking passengers who are in the vehicles when the vehicles are booked (as its marginally cheaper) it shouldn't matter at this stage whether others are going by ferry or flying to Kirkwall. Also, cars not needed for taking kit accross can be left in a long stay carpark at Scrabster.

David

February 7th, 2008, 09:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dean Marshall(Offline) GUE Instructor Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 33	Getting going Hello all I hope everyone’s 08 has started well and you have a few hours u/w I would like to get an idea of some logistics if we can Yesterday airlines within the USA started to change baggage limits etc. Would it be possible to start building a list of spares and items that perhaps local UK divers can bring for the trip? Although it may seem a small item if all of us bring spares, hoses and o2 analyzers our shipping cost will just get bigger for no real reason Also what’s the deal with tanks, stages, RB racks are these available for rent, borrow etc. Any news on the scooters from the boat are they still available Can we get lime for the RB from the boat or do we bring it with us Looking forward to meeting and diving with you all, I have had a chat with the guys over hear so they don’t freak out when its time to Kit up Best Dean __________________ GUE Classes taught world wide ask for details The difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude

February 8th, 2008, 03:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
David Martin(Offline) Instructor candidate Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, E11 Posts: 419	Dean Logistics...good plan to start thinking about this early. I guess we need to know a bit more of the plan re depths we'll be diving to know whether those of us on OC will be needing cylinders bigger than the standard D12s. How many stages we'll all need etc. I would have thought we could pull together sufficient spares (ie shared kit and kit to cover breakages), other than perhaps more unusual items eg RB spares. The boat has apparently has some scooters for hire, but I'm not sure how many. I think you'll need to bring RB frames, as there aren't many RB80 divers around, but remember that our cylinder diameters are different to yours. The things I imagine will be hardest will be large cylinders (if needed) eg D18/D16.5 and possibly scooters. There will be extras we can round up, but they're not as common as some other bits of kit. D12s will be easy, most of us have several sets and there are quite a few other divers who can lend spares. Al80/7L/Al40 stages are a little harder to judge - it probably depends how many we need. Yes most of us have several, but I figure we'll be needing quite a lot of spares for all the non-UK participants. Lime is reasonably common due to the number of people diving inspirations over here, but I've never had a need to actually buy any. It makes little sense for you to ship this - we can purchase here for you and transport it up for you and settle up accordingly - the same goes (within reason!) for other things. David Last edited by David Martin; February 8th, 2008 at 03:14 AM.

February 8th, 2008, 04:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
Dean Marshall(Offline) GUE Instructor Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 33	Getting going Hello Thanks guys for the quick reply. Couple of points from my end, One Keg lime will work for us as it’s just myself and Bailey diving RB. I think definitive answers are going to be needed so please ask around regarding racks and if there are none I will search in a different area The OC guys will need a set of back gas what ever size is available 12l should be fine , two deco bottles 6m and 21m and a stage each. Both Bailey and I will also need the deco and stage bottles. I don’t know what the deal with filling gas is, are we doing it ourselves or does the vessel take care of it? Of course you are correct any gear that’s not the norm RB etc. we will bring spares. Outside of that can we determine that the UK divers will bring spare regs, o2 analyzers, hoses etc? As for scooters I will shoot the vessel an e mail and ask we can go from there. As for the diving I’m easy I have dove the flow several times so I will go with whatever people want that have not been there before. My only request is to get in two dives per day if at all possible. While making logistics as easy as possible. I will not be diving the King Edmyself this is due to speaking to a couple of guys that have dived her, she near upside down and I don’t have a great need to see hull plate at that depth. I will get on to the guys from this end to read and add anything that they need this weekend Let me know what you think Dean __________________ GUE Classes taught world wide ask for details The difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude

February 12th, 2008, 06:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
OceanDiver(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: South Florida Posts: 2	Hello guys. My name is Jim Veach. I will be on the SCAPA 2008 trip and diving open circuit. My initial thoughts were to bring my entire kit, less the bottles, lead, and any spares. What are the gas logistics? That will determine how many bottles we will need. If the boat has helium and O2, one set of bottles per diver should suffice. I signed up for this trip some time ago and I cannot remember if it will be a live-a-board trip, or if will we be returning to shore each evening? Also, I hear gas is rather pricey over there. Can someone provide an estimate on the cost for backgas, stage, and two deco bottles? Finally, is Kirkwall the best place to arrive from abroad? Sincerely, Jim Veach South Florida, USA Last edited by OceanDiver; February 12th, 2008 at 07:04 AM.

February 12th, 2008, 08:30 AM	#6 (permalink)
GLOC (Online) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Fleet, Hants Posts: 1,962	Hi Jim, I am not on the trip but I am going on MV Valkyrie in a few months time and I know Hazel and Helen (owner and crew respectively) quite well. Their website is MV Valkyrie and the trip is a live-a-board. You are right, gas is a little expensive across here but I know that Clare has arranged through Hazel for a large amount of He to be delivered to Valkyrie for your trip at a discounted rate due to the bulk. Not sure how the logistics are going to work and but the normal price for He is 3p per litre and O2 is 1p per litre. When buying from the supplier the price is in the order of .9p per litre for He and not sure about trade O2 but I would have thought something like .5 per litre. Therefore a price somewhere between 3p and .9p for the He and 1p and 0.5p per litre for the O2. I am also sure that Hazel has a Haskel so there shouldn't be too much lost gas. __________________ Gareth Images of Life Photography DIR Team Foxturd Travels Underwater and Further Afar If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it? - Stephen King

February 8th, 2008, 01:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
Andy Kerslake(Offline) Wreck and Cave Diver Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: UK Posts: 93	I was with Clare and Al last night and we briefly discussed this. Dean A good place to start would be a basic list of what you guys need, there at the moment no other RB divers on the boat (this is very likely to change). We have access to quite a lot of double 12's which can be used for RB's as well as open circuit. The only consideration is that the doubles for the RB's would need appropriate valves and manifolds (M25 threads). Sofnolime can be pre-ordered and we just have to decide how much we need, water temps are going to be coolish so lime duration will be shorter. We will put together a spares list that I am sure we can bring, meaning you guys only have to bring some of the more unique items. Best Andy PS We don't yet know exactly what dives we will be doing, so we need to work on this for both gas requirements and lime. For the RB80's how long will you run each scrubber for (esp cold water).

February 12th, 2008, 01:30 PM	#7 (permalink)
Andy Kerslake(Offline) Wreck and Cave Diver Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: UK Posts: 93	Clare is in Fl at the moment and will be back here at the end of the week, so for all those questions about pricing for gas, Haskel, etc we shoulds be able to answer them. Also with regards to cylinders needed, I think if we are doing two dives per day and one is deeper then we would need two sets of doubles each, plus stage/deco. Andy

February 25th, 2008, 10:54 PM	#8 (permalink)
Dean Marshall(Offline) GUE Instructor Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 33	Hello Any news on RB racks Thanks Dean __________________ GUE Classes taught world wide ask for details The difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude

February 26th, 2008, 09:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill (Online) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,540	Dean - Al and I are seekign to source at least two racks each for ourselves and if we do you will have two to borrow. Watch this space I guess but I can't see any reason why we wouldn't have two each by then so I don't anticipate a problem. I'll stay in touch. With regard to other kit, I'll get a list up a bit nearer the time. What I do need is when you guys are flying and and where to - so I now whether you are to be booked on the ferry or not. Your borrowed kit will be of course __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk

February 26th, 2008, 09:51 PM	#10 (permalink)
David Martin(Offline) Instructor candidate Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, E11 Posts: 419	Quote: (Originally Posted by Clare Gledhill) What I do need is when you guys are flying and and where to - so I now whether you are to be booked on the ferry or not. Your borrowed kit will be of course Clare, foot passengers can be booked separately, even on the day of the crossing. Although, it's worth booking passengers who are in the vehicles when the vehicles are booked (as its marginally cheaper) it shouldn't matter at this stage whether others are going by ferry or flying to Kirkwall. Also, cars not needed for taking kit accross can be left in a long stay carpark at Scrabster. David