Wreck Diving

[DiverRider]

I recently did a dive on the USS Spiegel Grove in Key Largo, FL. I went down to it with 3 other divers on our chartered dive boat. We all were using Nitrox. One of the divers was a young guy about 25 years old; he had been partying the night before, so he told me before the dive. He seemed to be in good shape but it became obvious that he wasn't being very cautious or observant of his surroundings at 90'. I had bought a new Titanium dive knife knowing I was going to be doing a deep wreck dive the day before. I knew I needed to have one but keep putting it off as I had only been interested in more shallow dives. My instructor mentioned to me it would be a good idea to have this in any event. This proved to be message from the man above. While down there and soon looking to ascend I noticed a fishing line that was entangled on the starboard side of the ship. I didn't want anyone getting tangled in it so I proceeded to cut it free from the wreck and take it to the surface. As I turned around the young guy was completely tangled in it and I immediately signaled him to stop moving, he complied and I proceeded to cut him free. This was quite an experience and a lesson learned. Be prepared and have the necessary equipment to do such dives.

 

[TSandM]

Where was this guy's buddy? If he was diving without one, enough said.

 

[DiverRider]

I was the odd diver and keep in sight of him. He was diving with 2 friends of his. Effectively I was his buddy. Only had my eyes off him for 15-20 seconds.

 

[Tomikp]

No, it's more important to select partners for diving. If anyone tell me something like this, I would be very carefull. In this case, I prefer solodiving more than the buddy system - in this case your buddy is a source of problems only.

 

[nereas]

Good thing you had a knife. These days, many people do not see the need anymore.

 

[DiverRider]

I will say we all came to an agreement to start our ascent at 1200 lbs and this bought me time....yes choosing partners will become a priority of mine.

I had on a previous dive during the same trip buddied with an older gentleman (weekend diver) that did a deep dive on air and had to watch him also (I had Nitrox). I'm not a babysitter and will select very carefully from now on who I dive with. That limited me to his limits and had to recalculate my dive according to his time. What a waste of Nitrox....:depressed:

Did I save the kids life? I don't know and I'm very happy I didn't have to find out a differant way. Yes it is important to have the proper tools of the "trade".

 

[Water Bug]

I dove the Spiegle and other wrecks in April... Crazy how much fishing line is down on the wrecks. I suppose anyone could unawarely get tangled if not causious. I will never dive any sites in the keys without a knife. Lucky for him you were there! I take it he didn't have a knife of his own? What was his response to you after the dive?

 

[StreetDoctor]

What size tank were you using? 1200 is awful low of a turn pressure if something were to happen at 90'...

 

[DiverRider]

I dove the Spiegle and other wrecks in April... Crazy how much fishing line is down on the wrecks. I suppose anyone could unawarely get tangled if not causious. I will never dive any sites in the keys without a knife. Lucky for him you were there! I take it he didn't have a knife of his own? What was his response to you after the dive?

I apologize this dive was on the USCG Duane

No he did not have a knife. I noticed a large percentage of weekend divers don't carry them either. It was after that dive I started taking a quick inventory of other peoples gear just as a curiosity. Some that say they have been diving many years seemed to have only the bare essentials.
He was very grateful when we got back on board and I think, so it seemed, a light turned on in his mind that he needs to expect the unexpected a bit more.

We dove with 80 cu/ft tanks (Nitrox) and that 1200 psi wasn't the current pressure we had at the time of the incident. That was only an agreed pressure to start our ascent. I checked my dive computer log and I surfaced with 1000 psi. We spent 15 minutes on the wreck. Those where 3200 psi fills that we had. I bought 2 cylinders thinking we were going do to two dives but the captain pulled anchor and we went to Molasses Reef. So much for the $10 bottle of Nitrox...

 

[Ayisha]

I noticed a large percentage of weekend divers don't carry them either. It was after that dive I started taking a quick inventory of other peoples gear just as a curiosity.

I just wanted to mention that you may not be able to tell from looking at them if they have a cutting tool or not, since it or other safety gear may be in pockets.

For example, I have shears in one of my pockets, but you would not know this unless you were my buddy or they came out for some reason. I and my usual buddies have shears in our pockets (which, BTW, I believe are safer than knives underwater), as well as an SMB, spare mask, slate and pocket snorkel. You would not be able to tell any of this from looking - you would only see the whistle and Scuba Alert on the hose.