Diving the USNS Vandenburg Key West Florida

November 21, 2019 dive to the Vandenberg, the largest wreck / artificial reef in the Florida Keys

[@danimal865]

Its cool to see people diving this thing, i was one of the crew at colonna's shipyard that stripped the entire thing of all the harmful stuff that was on board.

[@AlaskaDivePro]

Thanks for prepping it, I think repurposing these old Navy ships is an honorable way to pay our respects to the sailors who served on them.

[@battlewagonmclaren8004]

I was one of seven who brought her from the Ghost Fleet and took us over a year to remove everything off of her up in Portsmouth VA. If you ever dive her again look for my markings on the You should see M.T. Or MT . Also in sick bay we had a shipmate fall asleep setting up , so I drew his outline on the Bulk Head🤣🤣🤣.

[@OFWKSA100]

New friend great Place and scuba diving in the sea very interesting video

[@kjatexas3679]

Woo hoo, double hose regulator ! Can't quite make out what it is. Aquamaster with Phoenix first stage? What are the shiny bands around both regulator hoses?

[@AlaskaDivePro]

It’s a the 50th anniversary Aqualung (US Divers) Mistral. The original Mistral hit the market in 1955, this one rolled out in 2005. I picked mine up at a dive shop in Seattle in 2006 at a discounted price because they weren’t selling very well. The 1st stage is the Titan, and it has multiple HP & LP ports for attaching a SPG, inflators, etc. The bling on the hoses are rebreather hose weights, which happen to be the exact same size. They weigh the hoses down some to relieve the mouthpiece from pushing up into the gums. And they add to the cool factor! The breathing characteristics are certainly different from a single-hose regulator and take some getting used to. Do you have and dive with any double-hose regulators?

[@kjatexas3679]

@@AlaskaDivePro I remember the original Mistral. A couple of my friends dove with them. My first regulator, was the original Sportways Waterlung, but I never liked single hoses. I then used a Dacor Dial-A- Breath, and eventually replaced it with an Aquamaster. I recently bought a rebuilt Aquamaster, in cherry condition. I had a hose made up to use the Hookah port as a l.p. bcd inflator, and bought a banjo fitting to run a SPG. I haven’t been diving with it yet. Am just getting back into diving after a long dry spell. Took a recent course to familiarize myself with all the new equipment, like bcds. I sport dove for ten years as a teenager up until college, and a few years after that, worked as a commercial diver out in the Gulf. Not really interested though, in diving low visibility TX lakes. Hope to make a diving trip to Grand Bahama, where I dove extensively as a kid. Your wreck dive video, was awesome !

[@sneakystabbalot6735]

heading out there Dec 20th (ish) - can't wait!

[@AlaskaDivePro]

I hope you have good diving conditions that day!

[@davestadnik8739]

What’s the depth of this wreck ? I’d love to dive this sometime 👍🇨🇦

[@AlaskaDivePro]

The bottom (sand) is approximately 150’. During the 2 dives we did my max depth was 99 & 97 feet, and an average depth of 65-60 feet. Most of the structure is around 60-80 feet.

[@davestadnik8739]

@@AlaskaDivePro that’s perfect thanks for the quick reply 👌

[@diversdown2116]

what kind of reg are u using?

[@AlaskaDivePro]

Sorry for such a late response- it’s a AquaLung Mistral, the version AquaLung made briefly circa 2005 (I bought mine in 2006). Initially I was not very happy with the performance of this regulator, but I had good service tech at The Dive Shop in Tucson AZ adjust it so it breathes really nice now. I like it a lot, it’s different than your standard single-hose regulator for sure.

[@rodinkadolejsi9703]

Interesting I have the same question. From the front it looks like rebreather.

[@doctordoctor1800]

keep the video with no music better

[@susannetta]

I just turned off the sound. Because it bugged me too.