Northwest Dive Club

Greetings!

I will be getting home soon for my 30 day break from working in Afghanistan. Among some local Whidbey Diving and shenanigans I would very much like to Dive the Titan Missile Silo in Royal City WA on the 27th of April. I need three other interested people that would like to go. Im looking at either headed down the night before OR early that morning depending on who is going and what time the dive brief is. Group minimum is 4. I will post more info as requested as well as when I find enough crazies to come with me.

From the site price is 145 for two tank dives

http://www.underseaadventures.net/silo.htm

This dive is both a deep dive and a night dive. The bottom of the missile launchers are approximately 110 ft deep, and there is no ambient light.

Prerequisites and Requirements:

Advanced certification or higher required
Photocopy verification of C Cards
Recent Cold Water Dives
Night Diving Light and backup
Chem light or tank light
Statement of Understanding
Missile Silo Waiver
Good physical shape - walk in is moderately difficult

Anyone interested please let me know. Would like to nail this down soon so I can plan it out.

Thanks

Donny
climb2freefall

Donny,

Count me in as one of them.

Tom

Got reservations for Moses Lake friday Night Motel Oasis Inn. we're discussing doing 3 dives there, instead of 2.

Should be cool.

How many total can go in a "group"? We have 2-3 that would probably be interested.

I emailed Greg @ the dive shop. Should be hearing back from him. I asked about group size and good lodging, though I think Jeff has got a solid line on that. I am going to get some reservations for there as well. Ill be dragging my girlfriend and my little boy with. They can go sightseeing while we are diving. I am so stoked about this. Ive been amped to do this for quite some time!

Sorry, I mean Gene.

I just called the shop, they are closed on Wednesdays, so I will patiently wait for word back.

I asked the shop about 3 tank dives, but not group size...

No worries. Depending on what time the dive starts I will just come from home or since I will be brining the trailer just sleep in it.

What are people planning on diving? Singles, doubles, air, nitrox, stage bottles, pony bottle?

Is the two tank dive a time issue? For us RB divers the term is a little more ambigious. I'm thinking about going but I need to get permission from "the minister of finance" and see if I can fit it into a crammed schedule that week.

Nwcid wrote:No worries. Depending on what time the dive starts I will just come from home or since I will be brining the trailer just sleep in it.

What are people planning on diving? Singles, doubles, air, nitrox stage bottles, pony bottle?

Jeff and I are on rebreathers, Cameron "may" come, he's on CCR as well.

jeffgerritsen wrote:Is the two tank dive a time issue? For us RB divers the term is a little more ambigious. I'm thinking about going but I need to get permission from "the minister of finance" and see if I can fit it into a crammed schedule that week.

I think time is an issue, as you are accompanied by a bubbleblower divemaster

Nwcid wrote:What are people planning on diving? Singles, doubles, air, nitrox stage bottles, pony bottle?

I thought in the past they required some sort of redundant gas source? But the website and forms don't mention that. You do have to walk on a whole bunch of crap on the floor which is probably why they suggest a single tank.

I would go but its 3hrs away and I'm not exactly hyped up to get baby sat by their DM.

The DM pretty much just sits on a ledge and allows you to just do what you want. Any longer than an hour, or one tank in each area they have you dive would get boring. Two tanks worth of diving and you have seen what there is to see. A CCR diver was with us on my Silo dive.
Also the water is pretty cold so longer dives would get chilly.

CaptnJack wrote:

Nwcid wrote:What are people planning on diving? Singles, doubles, air, nitrox stage bottles, pony bottle?

I thought in the past they required some sort of redundant gas source? But the website and forms don't mention that. You do have to walk on a whole bunch of crap on the floor which is probably why they suggest a single tank.

I would go but its 3hrs away and I'm not exactly hyped up to get baby sat by their DM.

Nice catch. If you look on the waiver it says, "Excess and bulky equipment may limit my accessibility into certain areas of the silo. Single tanks are recommended".

I am not sure how "exciting" it will be but it will be very interesting for sure. Not something I think I would do more then once but will be something cool to say I have done. I like doing unique things.

It is a good time and a fun dive. When I dove it I had a 130 and slung a 40. There was one area that was a little difficult to fit through and I just had to unclip my 40 at the waist d-ring and send it through first.
Generally speaking there is no overhead as an ascent will bring you to an open space with air in all the dives. It was getting to the second silo you have to make the last part of the trip underwater and squeese through a smaller opening, which is where I unclipped my 40.
Also be ready for a walk with full gear on. You are in chest deep water part of the way, so the weight is not too bad. Also there are many panels missing in the floor so you have to walk slowly and feel your way through some parts. One or two areas are missing a floor all together so you just float across with a full bladder.

I made a video when I went, not a great video but will give you some idea of the place...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRQvTvNKsC0

Norris wrote:The DM pretty much just sits on a ledge and allows you to just do what you want. Any longer than an hour, or one tank in each area they have you dive would get boring. Two tanks worth of diving and you have seen what there is to see. A CCR diver was with us on my Silo dive.
Also the water is pretty cold so longer dives would get chilly.

An electric vest is a wonderful thing....

Jeff Pack wrote:

Norris wrote:The DM pretty much just sits on a ledge and allows you to just do what you want. Any longer than an hour, or one tank in each area they have you dive would get boring. Two tanks worth of diving and you have seen what there is to see. A CCR diver was with us on my Silo dive.
Also the water is pretty cold so longer dives would get chilly.

An electric vest is a wonderful thing....

So is knowing when to call it a day...

meh

you can see everything in about 30 mins of diving ... its a matter of silting the tube up when bubbles rise up and knock off silt and rust particles

CaptnJack wrote:I would go but its 3hrs away ...

Lol. Lightweight.

bingo

When I made this dive in April of 2011 we had a group of 8 divers plus the DM. That was almost too many because all those bubbles start to trash the viz pretty quick. If your group is going to have half or more in CCR's then it might not be such an issue.

I think I was on those dives with you Mateo.
I'm a big guy and I dove doubles on that trip. Essentially it is a real deep pool dive with poor filtration. The 2nd dive was a tight squeeze, where it was easier for me to go straight through instead of sideways (damn gut).
Unless they have opened another silo, I'm not sure where the 3rd dive would be.
I thought the historical aspect was pretty neat, but really 2 dives would be about it.

spatman wrote:

CaptnJack wrote:I would go but its 3hrs away ...

Lol. Lightweight.

I got a 13 hr drive (each way) coming up in May. Can only do so much yanno.

I'd like to do this dive sometime, its on my roundtuit list.