Diving in Melbourne - travel to the Solomons
Don
> On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:09:14 +1000, Don <aussie....@gmail.com>
> wrote in rec.scuba:
>>>
>>> Yes, I could use air. But, I for sure won't be filling my suit
>>> with the helium in my back gas.
>>
>>No argument there. There is clear evidence that
>>helium mixes are a lot poorer as insulation. But,
>>it's my understanding that helium is a lot cheaper
>>in the USofA so adding the extra cost for argon
>>might not be a consideration. (When I'm paying
>>$0.08/liter for helium on a fill with 2500+ liters
>>of helium, an extra dollar or two is an issue.)
>
> Curtis can fill you in on the price of helium in Florida (which is
> generally cheaper than up here...Minnesota and Wisconsin) but Keith
> Cormican charges $.95/cubic foot of helium at Wazee Sports Center
> and
> Ron Benson charges $.85/cubic foot of helium at Going Under. Ron
> Charges $20 for 100% O2 boosted into a AL40 and Keith charges $12
> for
> 100% in the same bottle unboosted. Basically the same price.
OK, to put it in perspective, Keith is charging
$0.035/litre and Ron is charging $0.03/litre.
The O2 price I'm paying works out to about
$20 for an unboosted 40cuft cylinder at about
2500 psi. But, what can you do? You pay the price
and smile because the dives are generally worth it.
>
>>
>>And, I'm off to the Solomons at the start of September.
>>I'm planning on diving the Aaron Ward at 60 meters. I
>>thought about mix, but after I was told that helium
>>is $0.28/liter in Tulagi, I thought again. It would
>>be better to dive it on mix, but I hear that deep
>>dives in the tropics tend to be less "narced" than
>>deep, cold, dark dives around here.
>>
> Sounds like fun!
Yes, I'm starting to get more than a bit excited about
the trip. Maybe this belongs in locations - but... it
started here.
What I have learned is that diving in what can best be
described as the "third world" has it's pitfalls - I'm
hoping that the diving will make up for them. It should
be great diving -- according to what I've read, there are
around 150 allied wrecks and 150 Japanese wrecks in the
archipelago. And since it's a bit off the beaten track they
shouldn't be as "overdived" as some of the more popular
locations. In addition, there's supposed to be some good
reef diving for variety. This sounds particularly good
since I'll want to "taper off" the deep stuff as it gets
closer to time to fly out.
The downside is the medical shots and dealing with the
less than consistent airline. I'm flying via Air Solomon
Islands from Brisbane, Queensland. When I started setting
the trip up, I had all of the flights organised. But then
I got a message from ASI, tellling me that they'd
completely changed their timetable. So, I had to re-book
one of my connecting flights and add another night in
Brisbane. In addition, I don't connect with the boat to
Tulagi as well and need to spend a a night or two in
Honiara. It could be worse, there are dives available
so I'll get to dive from two different islands.
The medical thing is shots for two kinds of hepatitis,
typhoid and a (possibly surplus) tetanus booster. In
addition, I've been given Doxyhexal for malaria and
advised to use 100% DEET. Anyone out there used Doxyhexal?
It's supposed to reduce sun tolerance so I've been
warned to be especially careful withy sunscreen. And
what brands of insect repellent will get close to 100%
DEET? (I can remember some army surplus stuff that we
had growing up in the 60s that was a thick oily yellow
and smelled like crap -- but it really kept the mozzies
off. As a kid, I remember that my family jokingly called
it "people repellent". I suspect from what I've read that
it was 100% DEET. But I wouldn't know where to buy it
today.)
Anyway, even though I believe that the conditions are
likely to be a bit primitive for the non-diving SO, it
looks like it should be a great dive trip. (Of course,
I'll look at providing some photos afterwards.)
-Don