Today Tampico_Ed, mstudley and myself set out to dive the U-853 on a charter. We didn't dive it, but how we managed not to is a pretty good story.
We set out from Pt Judith. There were 3-4 ft seas and as soon as we got out into the open we started taking some serious spray over the bow. Since we were sitting in the bow we got drenched. I sort of realized what was about to happen so I managed to zip my drysuit up before the buckets of water started hitting us. My other two buddies got their drysuit undergarments soaked right through.
We finally got out to the mooring, hooked up and then began to gear up for the dive. About this time the Captain noticed water was pouring over the transom right into the boat. We were taking on a lot of water and we were definitely in danger of sinking if the captain didn't take action. I think part of the problem was that due to the spray we probably already had a bit of water in the bilge. That combined with the sea state and the way the current was pulling us off the mooring(stern into the waves) led to the problem. The captain was forced to let go of the mooring and get under power to save the boat. At this point there was enough water on board that it got into some of the electrical systems blew out the power trim on the boat such that the captain could no longer adjust it. This made it difficult for the captain to handle the boat on the ride back in, but he was able to clear the water from the bilge and get us to port safely.
I think we all know how quickly and unexpectedly things can go wrong on the ocean. The situation went bad fast and with little warning and the captain reacted very quickly. He most certainly prevented the boat from sinking. Even though it was a bad day on the water I think the captain handled it well.
Needless to say we didn't get the dive in, but I don't feel like it was a bad day because we didn't end up having to be pulled out of the water by the Coast Guard.
We set out from Pt Judith. There were 3-4 ft seas and as soon as we got out into the open we started taking some serious spray over the bow. Since we were sitting in the bow we got drenched. I sort of realized what was about to happen so I managed to zip my drysuit up before the buckets of water started hitting us. My other two buddies got their drysuit undergarments soaked right through.
We finally got out to the mooring, hooked up and then began to gear up for the dive. About this time the Captain noticed water was pouring over the transom right into the boat. We were taking on a lot of water and we were definitely in danger of sinking if the captain didn't take action. I think part of the problem was that due to the spray we probably already had a bit of water in the bilge. That combined with the sea state and the way the current was pulling us off the mooring(stern into the waves) led to the problem. The captain was forced to let go of the mooring and get under power to save the boat. At this point there was enough water on board that it got into some of the electrical systems blew out the power trim on the boat such that the captain could no longer adjust it. This made it difficult for the captain to handle the boat on the ride back in, but he was able to clear the water from the bilge and get us to port safely.
I think we all know how quickly and unexpectedly things can go wrong on the ocean. The situation went bad fast and with little warning and the captain reacted very quickly. He most certainly prevented the boat from sinking. Even though it was a bad day on the water I think the captain handled it well.
Needless to say we didn't get the dive in, but I don't feel like it was a bad day because we didn't end up having to be pulled out of the water by the Coast Guard.
