Advanced penetration of the Spiegel Grove Wreck

[lermontov]

Thought I'd bump this thread with my son's video of my Dive #2 of Advanced Wreck class on the Spiegel Grove with Dan Dawson of Horizon Divers from last week. My son on doubles and me on my JJ.
We staged 100% O2 for him at 90' at the anchor line and another AL80 of 30% at 110' in the traverse. I carried an AL80 of 28% for bailout, plus my instructor had his as well as a staged AL40 of oxygen for accelerated bailout deco.
We entered via the starboard trunk at Main deck level (100') around Frame 210 and dropped to the Traverse at 110'. We did a primary tie-off there and ran line forward about 200' to the trunks at Frame 106 that dropped two decks to 130'. You'll see me struggling a bit with my tieoffs along the way.
Interesting coping with my counterlungs vertically head down for two decks. Continued laying line into and around the Forward Engine Room. Began retrieving line and returning out the way we came at around 35 min run time. Stopped for lost line drill in silt and darkness courtesy of my instructor (not photographed) and then returned to the trunk up to the Main Deck and a swim to the anchor line for deco. Found a short run of semi permanent line at 137' down below the main boilers from a regular visitor to that area. Touch-contact exit in darkness after the lost line drill was spooky but fun. Occasional blue glow from a small hole in the deck above made it eerie. Not quite enough light to see the line.
85 min run time; GF 50/70; lots of fun except the 1+ knot current starting at 30'. Finished deco at 15-20' because it was too surge'y at 10' in the current.

Enjoy!
Dropbox - Advanced Penetration of the Spiegel Grove to the Forward Engine Room

nicely done -you did well to get video with 3 divers in there -looks like a wreck id enjoy exploring

 

[happy-diver]

Nice!

I saw Tracy Chapman 30+ yrs ago complimentary tickets, that being said it's a dive not a concert

Gotta love bailout bottles

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Thought I'd bump this thread

Cool video...2 things I definitely recognize are a high security hatch into a 3"50 magazine on the 1st deck - in the first few seconds of the video & the boiler with the American Flag painted on it.

 

[rsingler]

Where was your bunk, @Capt Jim Wyatt ?

 

[Willps]

I typed the following message and was about to post it when the thread was locked. I PM'd OP and to his credit he replied that he would modify the plan to be a bit safer - or at least not attempt that line retrieval stunt.

OP, in this thread you have now heard the advice of numerous highly trained divers including well-respected cave and technical instructors. People who have lost friends, had near misses, and trained others to do this sort of penetration. They have unanimously said your plan is unsafe because of insufficient gas volume/redundancy, an irregular unsafe line running plan, and lack of training/experience for some or all of the team members. So you should make a new safer plan. Do a less ambitious penetration, bring more gas, get more training.

Don't leave line in the wreck. Laying line on a first dive, then doing a second dive along the same or reverse path to pick up the line is a thing. Or having another team subsequently run the same course and pick up the line. But don't wrap it around your hand alone at the end of a dive low on air.

Regarding the shopping card return comments, look up Cart Narcs on youtube for some ridiculous shopping-cart-return mayhem.

Cart Narcs is the best things I've seen this month! Thanks

 

[boriss]

Thought I'd bump this thread with my son's video of my Dive #2 of Advanced Wreck class on the Spiegel Grove with Dan Dawson of Horizon Divers from last week. My son on doubles and me on my JJ.
We staged 100% O2 for him at 90' at the anchor line and another AL80 of 30% at 110' in the traverse. I carried an AL80 of 28% for bailout, plus my instructor had his as well as a staged AL40 of oxygen for accelerated bailout deco.
We entered via the starboard trunk at Main deck level (100') around Frame 210 and dropped to the Traverse at 110'. We did a primary tie-off there and ran line forward about 200' to the trunks at Frame 106 that dropped two decks to 130'. You'll see me struggling a bit with my tieoffs along the way.
Interesting coping with my counterlungs vertically head down for two decks. Continued laying line into and around the Forward Engine Room. Began retrieving line and returning out the way we came at around 35 min run time. Stopped for lost line drill in silt and darkness courtesy of my instructor (not photographed) and then returned to the trunk up to the Main Deck and a swim to the anchor line for deco. Found a short run of semi permanent line at 137' down below the main boilers from a regular visitor to that area. Touch-contact exit in darkness after the lost line drill was spooky but fun. Occasional blue glow from a small hole in the deck above made it eerie. Not quite enough light to see the line.
85 min run time; GF 50/70; lots of fun except the 1+ knot current starting at 30'. Finished deco at 15-20' because it was too surge'y at 10' in the current.

Enjoy!
Dropbox - Advanced Penetration of the Spiegel Grove to the Forward Engine Room

Excellent explanation and video. So cool that you can do this with your son. I can't wait for mine to get older to go to these wrecks with me. He's currently limited to 40ft.

Will be adding this wreck to my list. I'm assuming you'd recommend Dan Dawson for Advanced Wreck? Please PM me details, would love to hear more. Thanks!

 

[PapaRod]

We are heading to Key Largo this week, and are scheduled to do a dive on The SG for our Wreck Diving cert. so, this thread caught my attention as I thought I might learn something about wreck penetration. Well, I can honestly say after reading through the majority of the comments, I have learned a few things. I also wonder if the OP actually went through with his ill-fated plan. I do appreciate all of the well meaning advice that was provided, there was a lot of good information provided. There is no substitute for training and experience.

 

[Hoag]

We are heading to Key Largo this week, and are scheduled to do a dive on The SG for our Wreck Diving cert. so, this thread caught my attention as I thought I might learn something about wreck penetration. Well, I can honestly say after reading through the majority of the comments, I have learned a few things. I also wonder if the OP actually went through with his ill-fated plan. I do appreciate all of the well meaning advice that was provided, there was a lot of good information provided. There is no substitute for training and experience.

Have fun. Enjoy your dives. Stay safe.

 

[kaylee_ann]

I like this thread. I hope the OP didn't go through with the dive, but as a super new newbie to the dive world who eventually wants to dive wrecks, I learned a lot about the dangers/reasons for them and why training is important. And what you need training for. Pretty informative thread here.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Wreck penetration without comprehensive training is risky. Having an experienced guide doesn’t safeguard anyone if things go wrong. An instructor will demonstrate the correct methods when using equipment. Gas redundancy and planning plays a part as does team logistics. Weakest member remains within the team chain. Laying guidelines in a wreck is done in such a way that you can readily exit by touch alone if the confined area becomes choked with silt. Markers and team cookies are positioned on guidelines pointing to the exit. Like cave diving, you must adhere to depth limitations, lights, reels, training and communication. Take into account that penetrations should be executed in sections.