So there I was. I was in charge of a not too deep wreck dive. 10 of us total. Only 3 had done this dive and it can be challenging with strong current shifts and lowwww vis. The top of the conn tower is 35 meters and the bottom is at 44 meters.
I am the lead here, and I have 2 DMs. All divers are R, DM, or Inst anyway.... We go in three's with me being the solo position hovering at the top of the conn and having extra air. We have a full al80 at 5 meters also. It is a no-deco dive with all on al80's. So. Smooth down and they are getting aquainted with the wreck. Our lds owner and I had had to find the wreck to begin with. He found it and ties us off to the conn tower. He waited up topside after.
First dive. Perfect. All happy. Surface interval...
Second dive- We broke into buddy pairs. I got a buddy, Beau. So I got to check it out too. There is a lot of line and crap hanging off the ship. Beau finds a brand new, shiny, Big anchor that had snagged and been cut. Hey, let's bring it up. He pulled out his lift bag (not really big enough, but do-able). I take it, hook it up to the chain, inflate to neutral, and cut the rest of the tangled rope. All good.
We are done, and ascending on time. At our stop, as I am the last up the line, I unhook the hanging tank and sling it across my deco bottle and clip it to my BC.
(Note for teh future that I have a BC with 65lb lift capacity, not concerned ever....).
Now. my ld owner monkey climbs (no fins-had a breakage) down the line to unhook us from the ship. He's an old commercial diver, too cool. He stops, turns around and looks at me and my anchor. You can HEAR him thinking, "Yay! my big boat, Monster Suzie has a new anchor! Dee better not drop that now."
He signals wait and then unclips the tank, winds the cord through the anchor chain and the lift bag, and then clips it back to my bc....... and gives me the OK question....:angel:
Yeah, I'm screwed thanks, OK. He is laughing hard and flooding his mask. He knows I can handle this stupidity and thinks great joke...
Can you predict what happens? I could. :bonk:
I surface, lift bag is useless, and two tanks and an ANCHOR are clipped to the front of my bc....
Inflate bc and become turtle face down in water.... My reg is in, but everytime I force my head up out of the water, I KNOW not to drop the reg because I'm just going back face down, I am able to mutter, " liddel Hebbup, blub blub blub...." Face back down.
Okay, not a huge problem, but I can't get to the clip, so I am stuck face down, hebbup....
Current has kicked up, and as you let go of the bowline, you are swept back to the back of the boat at a blazing speed. My buddy has gone to the back.
Now, if I miss the drift line, I will be swept out the shipping channel. Face down. It occurs to me here that I can't really see the driftline and if I miss it, I am the next Lesson for Life story somewhere for the lick-your-elbow special crowd. Dammit!
Hebbup... Can't unhook anything really, and I am NOT losing a tank and reg.... But! I have over 3 hours or more of air on me, so I will fine while they wait for the owner and others to get up and out and then drive around and find me like some fool floating away, face down on teh surface---blub blub blub.
I Do snag the corner of the boat and drag myself around. I spit out a reg, tell Beau to unhook me... He could unclip, but that would be simple... He unties the line. So I am Still holding all teh weight now of a big anchor, and he hands teh extra tank to Rama.
One of my other instructors climbs down the ladder laughing at me. Not with me, you notice. At. He says, hand me something. Him in just his bathing suit, no fins, no nothing... OKaybe. I hand him the anchor.... He Is holding on to the ladder with one hand. He goes blub blub blub....... I laugh.... He drags it up and hands it off.
I can now climb out of the water. My boat captain Rama says," Dee, what is wrong with you? Why did you tie yourself to an anchor?"
My ld owner comes around just as I say," I didn't tie myself to an anchor!! Marc tied Me to It!" He is laughing his head off. They all had great fun with that......
Yeas, I was actually fine. Yes, I was not in any danger unless I panicked, and Marc has known me for years. That wasn't likely.
And he now has a beautiful new anchor on Monster Suzie and the underwater pics he was taking without me knowing...... He is now even for all the pranks I have played on him....
I am the lead here, and I have 2 DMs. All divers are R, DM, or Inst anyway.... We go in three's with me being the solo position hovering at the top of the conn and having extra air. We have a full al80 at 5 meters also. It is a no-deco dive with all on al80's. So. Smooth down and they are getting aquainted with the wreck. Our lds owner and I had had to find the wreck to begin with. He found it and ties us off to the conn tower. He waited up topside after.
First dive. Perfect. All happy. Surface interval...
Second dive- We broke into buddy pairs. I got a buddy, Beau. So I got to check it out too. There is a lot of line and crap hanging off the ship. Beau finds a brand new, shiny, Big anchor that had snagged and been cut. Hey, let's bring it up. He pulled out his lift bag (not really big enough, but do-able). I take it, hook it up to the chain, inflate to neutral, and cut the rest of the tangled rope. All good.
We are done, and ascending on time. At our stop, as I am the last up the line, I unhook the hanging tank and sling it across my deco bottle and clip it to my BC.
(Note for teh future that I have a BC with 65lb lift capacity, not concerned ever....).
Now. my ld owner monkey climbs (no fins-had a breakage) down the line to unhook us from the ship. He's an old commercial diver, too cool. He stops, turns around and looks at me and my anchor. You can HEAR him thinking, "Yay! my big boat, Monster Suzie has a new anchor! Dee better not drop that now."
He signals wait and then unclips the tank, winds the cord through the anchor chain and the lift bag, and then clips it back to my bc....... and gives me the OK question....:angel:
Yeah, I'm screwed thanks, OK. He is laughing hard and flooding his mask. He knows I can handle this stupidity and thinks great joke...
Can you predict what happens? I could. :bonk:
I surface, lift bag is useless, and two tanks and an ANCHOR are clipped to the front of my bc....
Inflate bc and become turtle face down in water.... My reg is in, but everytime I force my head up out of the water, I KNOW not to drop the reg because I'm just going back face down, I am able to mutter, " liddel Hebbup, blub blub blub...." Face back down.
Okay, not a huge problem, but I can't get to the clip, so I am stuck face down, hebbup....
Current has kicked up, and as you let go of the bowline, you are swept back to the back of the boat at a blazing speed. My buddy has gone to the back.
Now, if I miss the drift line, I will be swept out the shipping channel. Face down. It occurs to me here that I can't really see the driftline and if I miss it, I am the next Lesson for Life story somewhere for the lick-your-elbow special crowd. Dammit!
Hebbup... Can't unhook anything really, and I am NOT losing a tank and reg.... But! I have over 3 hours or more of air on me, so I will fine while they wait for the owner and others to get up and out and then drive around and find me like some fool floating away, face down on teh surface---blub blub blub.
I Do snag the corner of the boat and drag myself around. I spit out a reg, tell Beau to unhook me... He could unclip, but that would be simple... He unties the line. So I am Still holding all teh weight now of a big anchor, and he hands teh extra tank to Rama.
One of my other instructors climbs down the ladder laughing at me. Not with me, you notice. At. He says, hand me something. Him in just his bathing suit, no fins, no nothing... OKaybe. I hand him the anchor.... He Is holding on to the ladder with one hand. He goes blub blub blub....... I laugh.... He drags it up and hands it off.
I can now climb out of the water. My boat captain Rama says," Dee, what is wrong with you? Why did you tie yourself to an anchor?"
My ld owner comes around just as I say," I didn't tie myself to an anchor!! Marc tied Me to It!" He is laughing his head off. They all had great fun with that......
Yeas, I was actually fine. Yes, I was not in any danger unless I panicked, and Marc has known me for years. That wasn't likely.
And he now has a beautiful new anchor on Monster Suzie and the underwater pics he was taking without me knowing...... He is now even for all the pranks I have played on him....
. If that didn't make you feel panicked I would like to know if you ever have?
