>but I simply cannot imagine stepping off a dive boat with a 5' drop with
stages >and a friggin Gavin held out in front of me.

Why?  I do it all the time.

You hold it by the strap under the nose cone, lift it a bit, step off the
boat and pull the it foward and down.  The scooter goes nose first into the
water and winds up under you.  Since it is tethered to you already, you
release the strap when you hit the water, grab the handle and go all in one
fluid motion.

> Yes, the shroud clip is unabashed strokery, no doubt about it, but it
works well >for us.

Am I detecting a bit of personal preference here?  :-)

A neutrally balanced scooter on a tow rope of proper length is the way to
go.  On deco or in a cave, wreck or anywhere else the scooter is just
"there" but out of your way.  You simply place it where you want and it
pretty much stays put until you move.

> After trying both systems I am not satisfied with the Gavin/tow rope...

Most likely you did not have the proper length tow rope.  It needs to be
adjusted for each persons arm length.  Even an inch out of position will
affect the operation of the scooter.

Properly maintained, these scooters are bullet proof and can go anywhere.

Joe

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Cobb <cobber@ci*.co*>
To: terry michael <OEA51@go*.co*>; Michael J. Blitch
<mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co*>; <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: Silent Submersion Vs Dacor


> Yes, I've tried a Gavin. They are excellent scooters, they are big, heavy
> and built like a tank. Yes they pull like a freight train and yes the most
> efficient way to rig is using the tow rope setup.
>
> The question for you have *you* tried it both ways? Have you tried a
shroud
> clip D/A? Yes, the shroud clip is unabashed strokery, no doubt about it,
but
> it works well for us.
>
> After trying both systems I am not satisfied with the Gavin/tow rope
> solution for techdiving. Any more than I would take a rebreather wreck
> diving. The Gavin is ideal for cavers and a nice machine but it is too
heavy
> to deal with for our style of diving, IMHO.
>
> Now maybe I'm an old guy with a bad back, but I simply cannot imagine
> stepping off a dive boat with a 5' drop with stages and a friggin Gavin
held
> out in front of me.
>
>    Jim
>
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Learn About Trimix at http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/
>
> > From: terry michael <OEA51@go*.co*>
> > Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:27:59 -0700 (PDT)
> > To: "Michael J. Blitch" <mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co*>,
techdiver@aquanaut.com
> > Subject: Re: Re: Silent Submersion Vs Dacor
> >
> > I agree, in my opinion mounting a carabineer to ride on top of the Decor
dpv
> > is the silliest strokery I've seen come out of this list in a long time.
> > Simply burn a couple of holes in the shroud and then tie in a bolt snap.
Then
> > position yourself behind and just above the prop wash.
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "Michael J. Blitch"<mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co*>
> > To: techdiver@aquanaut.com
> > Date: Tue Aug 21 06:12:01 PDT 2001
> > Subject: Re: Silent Submersion Vs Dacor
> >
> >> On Mon, 20 Aug 2001 21:08:18 -0400, you wrote:
> >>
> >>> Around here we usually dive
> >>> with the boat attached to the wreck with varying amounts of current
and
> >>> don't have the time to screw around on the surface.
> >>
> >> Around here we dive with usually nothing but a strong current and have
> >> less time to dick around than you do. You have time to fumble with
> >> stuff and then leisurely follow the anchor.
> >>
> >>> While the tow harness seen on cave expeditionary scooters are great
for the
> >>> long haul they are a pain for this use. With the scooter clipped off
at the
> >>> shroud you have instant access to the unit without having to position
it
> >>> first.
> >>
> >> How often have you tried this? We did 4 drops to 250+ this weekend
> >> several last weekend, and dozens of others over the past few months.
> >> The scooters that we use are Gavins and the cord length is enough to
> >> have it at arms length. When exiting the boat, it is clipped in and
> >> being held by one hand. Hit the water and it is just as immediately
> >> available.
> >>
> >>> With a D/A it can actually pull you sideways from the waist if you
> >>> want. In this case the forward mounted handles of the Dacor are an
asset.
> >>
> >> This leads to the question of ....why? Doing something like this is
> >> going to strain the motor and start killing the batteries.
> >>
> >>> But if you are doing a long cruise, like in a cave, the tow line is
superior
> >>> for comfort, but this is usually not the case with wreckers. We use
the
> >>> scooter in short bursts to hop around to different parts of the wreck.
> >>
> >> The tow cord is just as much an asset as anything else, if not more.
> >> When you don't need the scooter and want to be close to the bottom
> >> (i.e. looking for artifacts or lobster) then you do not want them damn
> >> thing under you continuously dragging. My scooter is just barely
> >> positive in saltwater and I will just move it to the side until it is
> >> needed. I want something that is not going to be in the way but
> >> provides the burn time and depth I need. When you start keeping it in
> >> close, you are going to start getting all kinds of crap caught in the
> >> props, even with the damn guard. Just ask JT. Keeping the tow cord too
> >> short also ads a hell of a lot more drag.
> >>
> >>> The single battery of A/D makes it lightweight enough to be an
attached part
> >>> of your gear. It's no problem to change batteries between dives, in
fact
> >>> that is preferable to carrying 2 or more batteries at once, having to
hump
> >>> these batteries on and off the dive boat. As far as pulling power I
have no
> >>> problem hauling all my stuff plus another tech diver behind me with an
A/D,
> >>> and have done it several times.
> >>
> >> Single battery of the Gavin short tube provides me with more than an
> >> hours burn time. You're getting too short a burn time since you're
> >> drawing a hell of a lot more amps literally dragging yourself around.
> >>
> >> Don't short change yourself. The short cords and short battery life
> >> becomes too much of a liability for anything more serious than 60 foot
> >> reef dives. When doing that dive, I'll pull out a Torpedo or my old
> >> Mako. Anything else, then you need what works.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord:
> >> 222:  I reserve the right to execute any henchmen who appear to be a
little
> >> too intelligent, powerful, or devious. However if I do so, I will not
at some
> >> subsequent point shout "Why am I surrounded by these incompetent
fools?!"
> >> --
> >> Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
> >> Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to
`techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
> >
> >
> > ___________________________________________________
> > GO.com Mail
> > Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.com
> >
> >
> > --
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> >
>
>
> --
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>

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