oriskany enroute to pns

[wingman]

Well for those that have an interest, the carrier Oriskany is under tow across the northern Gulf of Mexico and is scheduled to arrive in Pensacola this weekend. It's still scheduled for sinking as a reef in June. Here's the inof from the notification by kieth mille:

According to Pat Dolan, Public Affairs Officer with the Naval Sea Systems Command, the aircraft carrier ex-Oriskany was moved from Texas Dock and Rail, on Wednesday December 15, 2004 at 0730 Central Time. The ship is currently under dead tow en route to the Port of Pensacola. Estimated time of arrival is sometime between Saturday night December 18 and Sunday morning December 19, 2004. Towing progress is dependent on sea and weather conditions and precise time of arrival at the pier cannot be predicted.

Bill

[Genesis]

Standing by for UV missions.....

[wingman]

Standing by for UV missions.....

Nice boat, i don't think my little bowrider will make it out 22 miles. is your boat at destin or panama city, might be a long run from panama city but not so bad from destin or fort walton.

[OFG-1]

Greetings. I know that this has been bashed around a lot, but I still beileve that this thing is being placed too deep, or not deep enough to scare off the OW certified guys. A lot of open water guys are going to get a nice chamber ride. Everyone with a tank and boat is going to be out on this. There have been numerous people bent up on the Ozark, as well as tech guys not watching their mix and swimming off into the blue, and it's only 180' to the hard bottom. The best idea that I heard was to blast the tower off the Oriskany and sinking it about 60 feet shallower. That would still be 165'. Yeah, I know how deep the tower and flight deck are susposed to be. (If the ship rests upright) I don't think that people are going to stop at the flight deck any more than they have stopped at all of our "grim reaper" signs.
Anyhow, next summer will be interesting, one way or another. Anyone want to go in on a chamber and open it up around Destin??

EDIT - Yeah, the Ozark is about 190 or so to the top of the tower, not hard bottom. I got my wrecks confused. Sorry.

[Dwain]

Standing by for UV missions...

Nice Boat... Ever thought of running trips on an occassion.

[Genesis]

The boat is out of the Shalimar Yacht Basin, which is more-or-less Destin (~4 miles from the pass)

She's not fast (18kt cruise) but very comfortable and loads of space for the necessary stuff like scooters, doubles, deco bottles, etc....

The Ozark is not 180 to the bottom - its far deeper than that. I've fished it but not dove it as of yet, as its far too deep for my comfort level. 180 I'll do. ~320, which is where you find sand on the Ozark, is another matter entirely. A guy I dive with occasionally spearfishes on the Ozark. He's certifyable, and I ain't talking about diving - he's come close to cacking himself at least once that I know of (getting entangled after shooting a fish and nearly going OOA on the deck!)

You're right in that every OW diver will be out there with a boat. The only saving grace is that getting hooked will be a trick if you're an OW type. Your real options are to live-boat it, or to snag it with a grapple and then go tie in like they do off the NE. The latter requires that whoever does the shackling be prepared for a drop to the 150-200' range, because you do not know where the grapple is going to catch, and snagging the tower is not going to be easy with all the traffic out there. The former requires that you leave someone on board that you trust not to turn you into hamburger, and that you know how to shoot a bag without it turning into a major CF.

I suspect there will be some tox incidents out there, as a lot of the local shops pump the "standard mix" Nitrox stuff, and there will be people who will push the 32% backgas limits. Most will get away with it, but I bet a few don't.

It will be interesting to see how the local charter outfits handle this dive and what they demand from divers to get on board. If you take people there once they get in the water there is nothing you can do to police their dive plans. And you can bet this will be a site in extreme demand from both local and vacationing divers. With the flight deck expected to be at 130ish, assuming she goes down upright, there will certainly be incidents.

I have every intention of scootering the hanger deck of this beast with my video system blazing at the very first opportunity. Indeed, this wreck is driving my desire to get a gasbag in no small part, because the helium costs to feed my habit for OC on that beast would likely dwarf my fuel costs in the boat.

Gigabite is not and never will be a charter boat - I've zero interest in making a "bizness" out of my diving in any way, shape or form. However, friends are always welcome on board up to the limit of her capacity to safely carry 'em. Given a decent weekend I may well load up a few bottles and my compressor, shackle the boat to the wreck, and sit out there all weekend diving the snot out of her until the gas for remixing expires....

I'll be diving the Oriskany regularly... anyone wanna come along?

(Steel caves count here, right? This one's 880 feet long!)

[wingman]

I'll be diving the Oriskany regularly... anyone wanna come along?

(Steel caves count here, right? This one's 880 feet long!)

This boat is one of the reasons (the other reasons were the diepolders, eagles nest, alachua...and in my dreams some wkpp sites) i completed the advanced trimix course. Looking forward to diving it and trying to find some financial support for doing it. Bill

[Genesis]

You will be able to dive virtually all of this on 21/35; no need for hypoxic mixes unless you intend to go all the way to the bottom.

The hanger deck should be right around 155 - there will be a LOT of people who will do that on "air" (or a weak Nitrox mix)... I'd prefer some happy gas though....

[Dwain]

You will be able to dive virtually all of this on 21/35; no need for hypoxic mixes unless you intend to go all the way to the bottom.

The hanger deck should be right around 155 - there will be a LOT of people who will do that on "air" (or a weak Nitrox mix)... I'd prefer some happy gas though....

I've seen people bolt from that depth... Not fun.

[Genesis]

You will be able to dive virtually all of this on 21/35; no need for hypoxic mixes unless you intend to go all the way to the bottom.

The hanger deck should be right around 155 - there will be a LOT of people who will do that on "air" (or a weak Nitrox mix)... I'd prefer some happy gas though....

I've seen people bolt from that depth... Not fun.

Yeah, there will be people who get hurt out there. No doubt about that part of the equation.....