Alive but quite a scare

[ccredifo]

Oh boy, here we go. This post is long but worth reading.

On Saturday, Sept. 5th my buddy Eric and I dove with Coastal Scuba and The Little River Fishing Fleet in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Let me start out by saying that diving with 34 other divers is not a good idea. We took the 90' foot boat to Barracuda Alley. Imagine 35 divers sharing a single ladder! Oh the horror. We estimated the giant stride off the side of the boat was anywhere from 6 to 10 feet. No joke.

The first dive was rough and poor visibility. After waiting 15 minutes on the tag line, I opted to not take my camera on the second dive.

The visibility was starting to worsen so we made a quick trip to the personnel carriers then returned to the wreck. We made it to the spot where we believed the anchor line should be located.

I wasn't alarmed sense it was our first trip to Barracuda Alley and figured we probably got turned around. We searched for another minute then made a slow ascent. I signaled to my buddy that I'd surface and locate the boat.

I made a slow 360 degree turn but could not locate the boat. With 3-5 foot seas I knew the best chance was to wait until the crest of each wave.

I made another slow 360 degree turn. This time I used the crest of each wave to maximize my height in the water. No boat in sight, we were all alone. I can honestly say I have never been so scared in my life. It also crossed my mind that it was close to 4:30pm and the skies were starting to darken.

I signaled by buddy to surface ASAP. Luckily by the time he surfaced I had located the boat. I'm not sure how far away, 300 yards, 500 yards, 600 yards? God only knows. It was also scary sense the waves were so high we could only see the boat every ten seconds or so.

My first comment to Eric was "I don't know how we ended up so far away". At the time it just didn't make sense. I inflated my safety sausage and we started kicking full speed towards the boat.

Luckily it only took a minute or so until the boat spotted us.

Once we got on board I learned what happened. The 90' foot boat was anchored to the crossbeam of the rusty artificial reef. Hmmm.

Here are my comments.

1. Common sense. Who anchors a 90' foot boat to the crossbeam of an artificial reef?

2. No Emergency Recall procedure. If they had an Emergency Recall procedure we would have surfaced ASAP rather than finishing our dive. Bang on the ladder, underwater horn, etc... This would also help sense all divers would be on the surface at the same time. In our situation, divers were scattered all over the place.

3. Establish mooring line. That would certainly have prevented the boat from breaking loose.

Comments?

Thx,
Chris

 

[paddler3d]

Mooring line...I do not know of any wreck in the NC SC area that has mooring lines. Frankly I doubt if a mooring line could survive the weather and the wreck survive the mooring line and weather. It is typical to tie the boat off to the wreck.

Any boat that I've been on in the region has talked about their Emergency Recall procedure during the dive briefing. Is it possible that you did not hear this covered in the briefing?

Maybe with rolling seas you could have had a 10ft giant stride. The operators that I've been with in the region do have a 3-4ft step off the side of the boat. It can be unnerving at first, but I would not say that this drop is atypical. You've just got to time your stride with the ocean.

3-5ft seas are rough, but not atypical.

From what I have been gathering from folks who commonly frequent the area, the vis hasn't been so hot as of late with all the off shore storms.

There is a reason why they call the diving in this region advanced.

Sorry you had a rough go, but I'd recommend giving it another whirl. The region won't disappoint.

 

[ccredifo]

Mooring line...I do not know of any wreck in the NC SC area that has mooring lines. Frankly I doubt if a mooring line could survive the weather and the wreck survive the mooring line and weather. It is typical to tie the boat off to the wreck.

Any boat that I've been on in the region has talked about their Emergency Recall procedure during the dive briefing. Is it possible that you did not hear this covered in the briefing?

Maybe with rolling seas you could have had a 10ft giant stride. The operators that I've been with in the region do have a 3-4ft step off the side of the boat. It can be unnerving at first, but I would not say that this drop is atypical. You've just got to time your stride with the ocean.

3-5ft seas are rough, but not atypical.

From what I have been gathering from folks who commonly frequent the area, the vis hasn't been so hot as of late with all the off shore storms.

There is a reason why they call the diving in this region advanced.

Sorry you had a rough go, but I'd recommend giving it another whirl. The region won't disappoint.

No way, I verified with other divers. No recall was discussed and no recall was issued. That is my main frustration with this near accident. No emergency notification for the divers in the water.

 

[paddler3d]

No way, I verified with other divers. No recall was discussed and no recall was issued. That is my main frustration with this near accident. No emergency notification for the divers in the water.

Sorry to hear that.

I'd contact the dive operator and give them you're $.02.

The diving is great out there, give it another whirl.

 

[billymac60]

I grew up diving off of Savannah, Ga and I too don't know of any mooring lines on any dives sites in the southeast area. There is nothing on the bottom but sand, so there is no hard bottom to tie a mooring line off. Like the previous poster said, it's a common practice, mooring lines don't work well in that environment.

Given the currents, and lack of good anchorage, most of the time we mark the dive spot with an anchored buoy line, drop over the side and the boat would back off. Sort of a modified drift dive. I can recall on many, many occasions popping up in the swells and not being able to see a boat anywhere. Be she was always there, sometimes several hundred yards away, looking for us. Just like a drift dive, she would motor on over and pick us up.

I know it was a scary feeling, and I admit I wasn't there, but from what I've read in your post, a "near accident" may be a little strong. That's how a lot of the diving is on the southeast coast. It isn't the Keys, it is advanced diving.

Now as for the recall brief, I can't comment on that. Seems to be an oversight. But I'm not sure the event necessitated a recall of 34 divers from the bottom. As I stated, it sounds pretty normal for the area.

Don't mean to be making light of your experience, it is a scary feeling.

 

[RonFrank]

Stuff happens! There are reasons which dictate how wrecks are marked, for mooring lines, or lack there of.

You are hear on SB discussing this, so obviously there was no accident. The ship came off the wreck, it's that simple.

Was there a procedure on the boat you are uncomfortable with, like their method of roll call? That IMO could be a concern. That fact the ship broke loose, and divers ended up waiting to be picked up is really not anything new or dangerous even if it made you uncomfortable.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

... it sounds pretty normal for the area.

I can't stand it when poor protocol is justified by "everyone does it that way". For example, just because many shops in cave country overfill tanks that doesn't make the practice legal.

I'm sure if there were some form of enforceable safety requirements or rules boats would find a way to operate more safely.

 

[billymac60]

I can't stand it when poor protocol is justified by "everyone does it that way". For example, just because many shops in cave country overfill tanks that doesn't make the practice legal.

I'm sure if there were some form of enforceable safety requirements or rules boats would find a way to operate more safely.

This IS the protocol for the area. While I don't condone the lack of a recall brief, breaking anchor is not unusual for the area and not a cause for an emergency in and of itself. I fail to see how "everybody does it this way" applies.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

"protocol for the area" does not equate to safe.

 

[Wayan]

yes in today's environmental conscious age all locations should be establishing mooring lines.

Mooring lines themselves can be quite interesting with time looking at the small critters on it.

Did you have a whistle / Dive Alert? Dive Torch

Have to agree that should have been a mention of emergency recall in the dive briefing.

hard to judge not being there however in this case I am not sure that just be coming off the wreck ( this is reasonably common when ships anchor) necessitated a emergency recall.