diver_dave
Advanced Contributor
"The Crusaders (it is a cr
"The Crusaders (it is a crusader thread!) took 5 of us to the very East end of Grand Bahama Island for 9 days. The day before we left, the starboard alternator was squealing, but a rebuild shop fixed it in 3 hours, including a new stator, diode set and bearings. It was an original Motorola, 1975 vintage. The first 80 nmiles to Freeport was smooth, gulf stream temp running 84 degrees. The boat was very heavy, with 190 gal of fuel, food for a week, 10' avon, 15hp outboard, fuel drum and a supply of dive gear for 3 people. Including a 5cfm/4500psi air compressor, 3 oxygen bottles and 8 scuba tanks. We had preprinted customs forms and were in and out of customs in just 30 minutes, took on 97 gals of gas, fresh made conch salad and headed east for 2 more hours. We hit sweetings cay inlet at high tide, and barely got it with some sand dusting in 3' of water. A couple of us did some underwater cave surveying to 2000' of penetration distance and did quite a bit of line work, with distance markers, arrows, etc. Most of the cave was about 100' deep, we pumped 32% nitrox in the field, and ran about 90 to 100 minute dives. We returned yesterday, after a 120 nmile run in a messy 3' sea, hitting the local inlet at 10pm. We hadn't seen a newspaper or a auto in 8 days.
Anyway, that's what its all about for me, and can't wait to go back next year. Oh, and my two young daughters loved the place out there. They caught all kinds of marine life, including a sea hare and saw a couple of lionfish under the dock
"
"The Crusaders (it is a crusader thread!) took 5 of us to the very East end of Grand Bahama Island for 9 days. The day before we left, the starboard alternator was squealing, but a rebuild shop fixed it in 3 hours, including a new stator, diode set and bearings. It was an original Motorola, 1975 vintage. The first 80 nmiles to Freeport was smooth, gulf stream temp running 84 degrees. The boat was very heavy, with 190 gal of fuel, food for a week, 10' avon, 15hp outboard, fuel drum and a supply of dive gear for 3 people. Including a 5cfm/4500psi air compressor, 3 oxygen bottles and 8 scuba tanks. We had preprinted customs forms and were in and out of customs in just 30 minutes, took on 97 gals of gas, fresh made conch salad and headed east for 2 more hours. We hit sweetings cay inlet at high tide, and barely got it with some sand dusting in 3' of water. A couple of us did some underwater cave surveying to 2000' of penetration distance and did quite a bit of line work, with distance markers, arrows, etc. Most of the cave was about 100' deep, we pumped 32% nitrox in the field, and ran about 90 to 100 minute dives. We returned yesterday, after a 120 nmile run in a messy 3' sea, hitting the local inlet at 10pm. We hadn't seen a newspaper or a auto in 8 days.
Anyway, that's what its all about for me, and can't wait to go back next year. Oh, and my two young daughters loved the place out there. They caught all kinds of marine life, including a sea hare and saw a couple of lionfish under the dock