Spiegel Grove

[DogDiver]

Can anyone tell me of any charter operators the Tech dive The Spiegel Grove. Using doubles...with planned deco?

[Ken Roop]

Good evening D Diver,

I wish I knew, It seems like the Key Largo Dive operators think Tech divers are bad for their libility insurance.

I use a 121 with EAN 29 and just do a slow ascent.

There is a shop in Key Largo I sometimes use but they are NOT tech, and
trimix is a very foul profanity.

Good luck, if you find one let me know. Best wishes and safe caving,

[HomoErectus]

ask JDR he dove it right before it sat upright

I know the hurricane pushed it upright. Do they think it is stable enough that it will stay that way?

Russell

[RH]

I use tavernier dive center try them at tavernierdivecenter.com. I have a trip going down aug 20and21st and have room we are doing a half day on the spiegel sat afternoon and the eagle and a reef sunday morning.If you're interested let me know. :smt066

[SteveN2o2]

I talked to Captain Slates dive center two days ago. The lady on the phone said they would support double tanks if you wanted to charter your own boat (6 or more divers). She also said they would support a two tank dive if all divers on board agreed. Usually they dive the Spiegel Grove and then a shallower reef.

There's also a $10.00 "Spiegel Grove Medallion" fee if you haven't dove it before.

[Moonfuzzy]

Island Venture or Diver's City USA may be willing, I have used both of them in the past.

[bubblecheck]

Island Ventures has no problems supporting tech divers if you charter the boat.

My wife and I dove doubles on the Spiegel and did one long dive while the rest of our group did two shorter dives.

Give Brian a call at 305-451-4957 and ask him about it.

As far as planned deco: "there are no planned decompression dives on this boat" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more).

That is if you don't go with Richard. He'll run a quality trip for you.

[Tegg]

I use tavernier dive center try them at tavernierdivecenter.com. I have a trip going down aug 20and21st and have room we are doing a half day on the spiegel sat afternoon and the eagle and a reef sunday morning.If you're interested let me know. :smt066

Richard.... the only boat you need to be getting into saltwater from is yours... You and me need to get out to the beach... I'm thinking the weekend of Aug 13-14.

Let me know which day you want to get out there... :-D

[Jim Wyatt]

Can anyone tell me of any charter operators the Tech dive The Spiegel Grove. Using doubles...with planned deco?

Scuba-Do.com ---> will let you if you have the certs.

[curtschu]

Is there a Cert for Doubles? Or are you talking about Extended Range and Deco.? I see a small problem here. Now that a group has offered a "Cert" for something that some of us learned long before there was such a thing, we (us old guys and gals) got to spend money to get a card! I call Shannaigans.

[D1V3R]

When did a huricane push it upright? when I was down there in May it was on its side. I didnt dive it so I might be mistaken.

I dove with taverneir, it was a good charter and it was lots of fun Listening to the Charters Dive master brag about being a cave diver, from what he said I dont think he has ever been in a cave lol

[jammer]

When did a huricane push it upright? when I was down there in May it was on its side. I didnt dive it so I might be mistaken.

I dove with taverneir, it was a good charter and it was lots of fun Listening to the Charters Dive master brag about being a cave diver, from what he said I dont think he has ever been in a cave lol

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you miss Dennis? We had a Hurricane hit Gulf Breeze Florida on the Panhandle but the waves in the ocean traveled far enough while it was on its path of destruction to make enough of a wake to turn the Spiegel Grove upright. I thought you paid closer attention to the posting on here than that (LOL Just Ribbing you Guy). It has been the talk of all the scuba boards and was on the news.

[D1V3R]

lol, i never pay attention to the huricanes anymore, our news stations tell us that its the aplocolyps every time theres a tropical depression.

I suprised a huricane could move that thing, it is REALLY big! and fairly deep.
I guess its not so much of a wall dive anymore.

I dove on the USS Duane when I was down there, but the currents were rippin' and visibility was down.

[Dan Thoms]

Did you make the dive on the grove? How were the conditions?

[D1V3R]

No i didnt dive it, but it is suppo0sed to have real nice diving conditions, and some big jewfish on it at (what was at the time) 140 feet.

[IowaCaveDiver]

I dove with "Dive In", capt. Joe out of key largo, last spring and they were great. A nice little six pack, $50/diver for a half day..... we did the morning and the afternoon ($100) and I was doing deco dives on the grove and duane.... nothing crazy, I was diving an h-valve and slung a 40 w/100%.... my dives were usually about 40-50 minutes.... only downer was that our surface interval was only like an hour.... and about 2 hours between our second dive and the afternoon dives. Nice guy though, and i'm sure if you talked to him about what you'd like to do, he'd work it out with you.

-Matt

[wingman]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you miss Dennis? We had a Hurricane hit Gulf Breeze Florida on the Panhandle...

Hey dude, i live in gulf breeze and that happened to be where the weather channel located there jim cuntorri guy...the hurricane eye actually went in east of gulf breeze, very near navarre florida. I was in the eye of erin but not dennis... bill

[Genesis]

Conch Republic will do it if you charter the entire boat, along with a few others. Conch also was able to PP fill me when I was down there last summer - while a few others pumped Nitrox, they were all doing it using membrane systems and NO HYPERFILTER.

They ALL looked at me like I was from Mars when I mentioned planned deco - or penetration - in terms of their "pick up" dives. I suspect that "not intending planned deco" but showing up with doubles and a 40 with a big "70" (or "20") on it in 3-inch reflective letters would set them off too.

I didn't try it - the deco bottle got left in the truck.

They even gave me #### about the spool hanging from my kit, until I pulled the bag out of my pouch and explained it was for signalling in the unlikely event I missed the line for ascent..... (they REALLY didn't like the idea of me going inside!)

I actually had a couple of places refuse to allow me to dive doubles at all - even after explaining that I was going to use ONE set of doubles for both dives, and that since they were already assembled when I got to the boat I'd take up LESS room on board for my gear than the average guy with two AL80 rentals. Still no go with a couple of places, but Conch Republic had no trouble with this and neither did Atlantis (I think that was the place.)

Problem I can see is the runtime limits they place on things, and their expectations for your return time. In some places being the first in the water would do it for obvious reasons, but not there - most of the others who are there on "pick me up" dives will blow through an 80 in 15 minutes on either the Duane or the Grove, and be sucking negative pressure on their final ascent.

I did a night dive down there last summer on a single 72, spent over an hour in the water, and came up with 1000 psi in the can. Nobody else on the boat managed more than 40 minutes on 80s, and we drew plenty of odd stares when we reboarded - not sure if that was annoyance at the extended time in the water, or wondering if we had a "james bond" style breathing system with us....

I'm toying with the idea of bringing my big boat down there next summer and hanging on a mooring for a week or so, diving my butt off for the duration between the various sites. Its a matter of how many O2 (and perhaps He) bottles I can stash on the boat, along with the compressor :D

[D1V3R]

yah, conch's membrane system was totally down when i was there. did you dive with andy, i think it was. he talked to me the entre time about his cave diving experiences and diving incredibly deep wrecks. i didnt mention that i was a caver, so he just went on and on about stuff he obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

[Cindy]

I took my wreck diving course through Divers City long before I became a cave diver. They do a great job of setting up boats for hire. All you need is six people and they can get you a tech boat that will let you do anything you need. I have chartered with them before without problems. Great crew. My wreck diving class was a trip. The instuctor taught me that weight is not alway good!! He piled up my weights on the pier. From the 18 pounds I showed up with to nothing. I was told I would need only two. After some relaxation technique and time he took me under. I have not used that much weight since. Very nice crew on the charter boat. They remembered that I had been vomited on the last time I went with them and started hosing me down just in case when I stepped on the boat. Question, why don't people use scopalamine patches? No sleeping, no nausea, no vomiting on your dive buddy! lol, Cindy

[Genesis]

yah, conch's membrane system was totally down when i was there. did you dive with andy, i think it was. he talked to me the entre time about his cave diving experiences and diving incredibly deep wrecks. i didnt mention that i was a caver, so he just went on and on about stuff he obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

I don't recall any particularly-rich "stories"..... :) But then again I had a buddy with me and was just enjoying myself.

I did two trips with them - one to the Duane and a reef they called "Pickles", and the night dive.

[RH]

In div3r eyes all the charter boats down south talk ####. I have dove with 90% of them mentioned and I have never heard them BS or maybe I just turned a deaf ear.All the guys down south run good opertions and work hard at doing it theres alot of compation down there and its not easy running a boat/shop/air station/class& etc .Just my 2 cents :smt068

[D1V3R]

no, it was just that one guy lol

[RH]

That funny because you mentioned it about two different dive opertions first Tavernire then conch republic maybe you're the one talking smack and keep it right :smt067

[tomhauburn]

Since the subject is the ship this is interesting. I copied it right from their web site. On another list it got a lot of comentary. Now please do not post degrogatroy info about agencies or we will be breaking a rule.

http://oceandivers.com/instr/spec.htm

SPIEGEL GROVE DIVER $250.00

A 1 1/2-day course, consisting of 1 classroom session, encompassing
the history and sinking of the largest wreck sank for recreational divers.
Including two 2-tank dive trips, on the Spiegel Grove wreck. This specialty
is open to all certification levels, and upon successful completion of the
course, you will receive a distinctive certification card from PADI, identifying
you as a Spiegel Grove Diver.




The course fee is $250.00, plus an additional donation of $10 to the
Upper Keys Artificial Reef Foundation for the yearly medallion

[tomhauburn]

Copied from another list.
A

Me thinks an adequate training course would cover:

1. how to handle the high currents,

2. how to signal the boat when blown off by current or a lost grip on
the line (possibly from the multitude of cattle divers on the same
line), and

3. How to Call the Dive due to conditions.

... and for the certification obsessed diver, I'll be offering my own
dive course in Artistic Gastrointestinal Projections. We will cover
choice of diet, technique, and surface media (he means ralphin' on yer
bud's gear ;)

BYOGPS ... Greasy Pork Sammiches

B)Attention XXXXX, there is a Mandatory Training Class - Artistic
Gastrointestinal Projections



How not ralph on yer bud's gear!

C)Will this make us HURLISTIC Divers? Will we get certs?

D)Suuurrrre, we can getcha those beloved and coveted C-cards, er
P-cards, whateverr. Thinkin' we might wanna print em on XXXX barf bags.

Specialty certs are in the works for such topics as:
- impressionistic vs renaissance styles
- choosing your target to minimize splashback and scatter
- pros and cons of mixing Cheetos, Doritos, and Animal Crackers
with grape soda
- artistic influences of diesel fumes, cigar smoke, cheap cologne, etc

Dare I ask for the professional input from the DDD crowd? :-D

E)HEY!!

Ralph

PS: Do you give extra points for technicolor projections?

[tomhauburn]

Copied from another list:

I had done 11 previous dives on the Spiegel Grove when she was on her
side. I always thought it was fine that she landed on her side as it
was a great wall dive, with depths anywhere between 55' and 130'. But
when I heard she was now sitting upright, I was chomping at the bit
to go see her.

Barbara at Divers City told me that they were going to do two dives
on the Spiegel Grove last Saturday. I joined up fast! The current was
ripping, especially within the first 50', as we descended in the 70'
viz. Divers City did hot drops for both dives on one of the stern
balls and we drifted to a ball at the bow, so both dives were very
relaxing slow drifts.

At the starbard stern, there was one of the biggest bait balls of
silverside minnows I have ever seen. I spent a bit of time for both
dives in this bait ball, with black groupers and horse eye jacks
hanging around the bait ball. But drifting the ship was amazing. It
is absolutlely huge! There are lots of swimthoughs and one can make
sense of the ship layout much better than when it was on its side.
There are so many areas to explore that it will take many dives to
see it all. Now that it is upright, the ship seems so much bigger. It
makes the Duane, my longtime favorite Keys dive, look like a bath tub
toy. I found a colony of Arrow Crabs in the bow area.

It's still a wall dive, as one can descend on either side from around
60" to 130'. The side that was in the sand is very smooth right now.
The name plaque is sitting upright on the port side near the bridge
area. I cleaned my daughter's and my name as the brush is still
attached.

It is just an incredible dive and I encourage you to come check it
out yourself!

One scary moment: The current was ripping so hard that at the safety
stop, the line was vibrating in your hand. I knew if you didn't hold
on good, you would be drifting north for some time to come. When we
were doing our surface interval, one of the other dive boats at the
Spiegel Grove radioed that a diver was lost. She had started her dive
an hour and 20 minutes earlier. Last seen going up the ascent line.
Immediately, the Coast Guard, commercial dive boats (including ours)
and private boats started searching for the woman. Thankfully, she
was found about 2 miles away by a private boat. As I said, the
current was rippin' near the surface.