Thinking of getting pickier on conditions

[scubadada]

Why not rig it with a weak link that is cut with a knife and the hook and chain are sent up on a lift bag? So there is no fighting with a grappling hook and chain at depth and under tension?

I always just drift into a wreck like that and drift off with a reel and float,. Fighting the current seems so unecessary, but then again I am solo or maybe with one other diver.

There are many perfectly acceptable, safe ways to do this, everyone simply needs to know how it is going to work ahead of time. Even when there is a line on the wreck, we often do a hot drop and drift in, to avoid having to fight the current on the way down.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

So a diver jumps in solo and drifts into the wreck and hooks a line to the wreck so the tech diving customers have something to hold while going up and down? Then he comes to the surface and waits to do. Second bounce dive to cut it loose?

I had envisioned a heavy grappling hook and chain being dropped and being allowed to catch the wreck passively.

 

[scubadada]

So a diver jumps in solo and drifts into the wreck and hooks a line to the wreck so the tech diving customers have something to hold while going up and down? Then he comes to the surface and waits to do. Second bounce dive to cut it loose?

I had envisioned a heavy grappling hook and chain being dropped and being allowed to catch the wreck passively.

Apparently, that's how it usually worked on this boat. Unfortunately, this time, nobody unhooked, last dive group or DM. Looks like the DM eventually unhooked.

 

[packrat12]

One operator in the harbor does hot drops with drift decos. He has occasionally caught grief when divers miss the wreck. I have seen an entire boat load miss the wreck due to a poor drop. I have also seen individual groups miss. Paying customers with $100+ gas bills tend to not be very happy about it. I may personally have $200 - $300 invested in a dive by the time I account for gas, boat, hotel and car expenses. This year I have not missed any hot drops but have come very close twice. Once the a tower almost hit me before we found it. Another time we went the wrong way on the bottom before we realized it and turned around, wasting valuable time at 220'. I find hot drops are easier on the diver and I tend to enjoy the deco more.

Another operator does a hot drop with their DM. They find and tie into the wreck. If they miss, they will get another drop on it. I have yet to have one not find the wreck. Now we go down a line. No trouble finding the wreck but sometimes we need to deal with a strong current. This can be tiring. The advantage is that all of your paying customers get on the wreck from the boat's perspective. There is little risk to p'ing off customers by missing it. Most of the time, the operator trips the line while we are on deco. I have done some where we shoot our own dsmb, it just depends.

Occasionally the group I am in have been asked to trip the line from various operators. From the operator above, this was the first time I have seen anyone but the DM be expected to trip it.

With a rebreather, down lines are sometimes more preferred by some as you have a little more time to get your gear situated for descent. With O/C, I tended to become a lawn dart and get down immediately. I personally prefer hot drops on a CCR. While on a hot drop, I am also concerned if we will get to the wreck until I am actually on it.

 

[kensuf]

Back on topic.

It's about having fun. If the conditions are bad enough that you're getting battered around and not having fun, then don't do it.

 

[PfcAJ]

Hi @boulderjohn

I'm with @dumpsterDiver, also not a technical diver, but very familiar with wreck dives in the area, especially Boynton Beach. We follow the same ascent procedure, the last diver or team unhooks the down line prior to starting ascent. On these, much simpler, mostly recreational dives, the unhooking procedure is always explicitly discussed with responsibility assigned. In over 110 of these dives, the line has never not been unhooked. On two occasions, an overzealous fellow diver has unhooked before I completed my dive. In both instances, the guilty parties simply and incorrectly assumed I was not still down as I had exceeded their bottom time. Of course, this is not difficult to deal with by shooting and ascending on your SMB. Without the deco, the drift distances are considerably shorter.

It's very difficult for me to understand how this protocol would not be explicitly discussed and responsibility assigned prior to a more complicated technical dive. In many ways, it seems like the task would be easy, as the dive teams are separated and have dictated bottom times. The bottom times are not so predictable in recreational diving. The failure to discuss this issue would appear as a major breach in the expected behavior of technical divers.

We've all dived in rough conditions and, at times, when conditions have significantly deteriorated while we were down. One operator I use in Jupiter has Christmas tree ladders on both their boats. This does make it easier in rough seas, when calm, you still have the option of removing your fins. You did not mention this in your post, but when conditions are rough, the operators I use throw out a trailing line for divers to hold onto. This allows divers to stay together and also facilitates fin removal and securing them on your wrists. You can then attempt your final approach to the ladder at the most opportune time. Holding on to a wildly bucking boat ladder is a frightening thought to me.

I appreciate your post, as with many incidents, it allows us all to think about our diving practices and become safer divers.

Good diving, Craig

I was on a dive once where the hook was pulled before we were even on the wreck!

It was circus circus topside while people were gearing up and only a few folks made it on the wreck. I was scootering down the line to the wreck only to find the hook drifting with two dudes hanging on it it. I was quite befuddled.

Hit the wreck anyways though

 

[Jack Hammer]

We've called it because of conditions before and headed to a different site. Conditions in the Great Lakes can get very ugly quickly and certain sites can be a crap shoot.

 

[FiddlerOnTheRoof]

"There was no briefing before the dive, so we were confused about a number of things."
Big mistake and problem number one if you ask me!

I don't know how old you are @boulderjohn but I am 47 and I too have started to get more selective of when I go diving. I dive all year round up here in New-England and even used to do ice diving but this past 2 years I have become more and more lazy about diving in the cold or rough conditions. Just don't find it enjoyable any more. On the other hand I am really a hot weather, summer kind of guy and the winters are getting to me already. Thankfully my wife agrees with me that it's time to move to Florida. I still love diving and go all the time as long as the conditions are favorable and allow me to enjoy myself. Otherwise I stay home and play the violin for my dog! If it's not fun why bother!

 

[sunnyboy]

I've gotten pickier in the past couple of years. I do mostly shore dives, and we have some sites that have just crap entries, IMO. My biggest "nope" now is lots and lots of baseball sized rocks. I've almost twisted an ankle a couple of times, and have cut my drysuit boots several times. Now I simply avoid the sites at low tide.

 

[aquacat8]

I love reading about those of you who do badass technical dives, love the stories and the sexy gear! But for me make em pretty, easy, sunny clear, shallow, safe, fishy, colorful and long! If I could almost freedive it now we're talking! Had enough of cold and rough!