Almost Dive Report: U-853 sort of.....

[RIOceanographer]

It's me... the cursed one... oh well, maybe the 7'th time is the charm

Well, it took the Red Sox 86 years......

 

[ScubaSarus]

I don't know if curse is the right word for that experience. I'de go see a witch doctor something more than a curse was involved. You've been behaving in the ocean I hope?

 

[Diesel298]

what charter operation was that.
sounds like even tho disapointing the right decision was made

 

[matt_unique]

...
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.

....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.....

I would not want to 2nd guess what problems this Captain had but....from your description a lot of things were going awfully wrong.....Waves large enough/shaped such that they can crest over the side of the boat would usually be seen well before you were tied to a mooring.

Was the boat tied to the mooring at the bow or the stern?

--Matt

 

[ScubaSarus]

What Chris didn't mention is the giant rogue wave that came out of nowhere. Must have been 20 ft hight at the crest.

 

[RIOceanographer]

I would not want to 2nd guess what problems this Captain had but....from your description a lot of things were going awfully wrong.....Waves large enough/shaped such that they can crest over the side of the boat would usually be seen well before you were tied to a mooring.

Was the boat tied to the mooring at the bow or the stern?

--Matt

To answer you question we were tied off to the mooring on the bow cleat.

The waves were only about 3-4 ft which isn't that bad for out there. I have been out in seas like that many times and have never seen anything like this happen before. The sea state by itself normally would not have posed a problem.

The water was coming in over the low point in the stern where the outboard motor was attached. In essence it appeared that as the boat was pitching up and down in the seas and the stern began doing so out of phase with the waves. The effect was that the stern was getting dunked into the oncoming waves.

The interesting thing was we were on the mooring for at least 5 minutes before things actually starting going really wrong. I even had time to fully gear up.

 

[RIOceanographer]

what charter operation was that.
sounds like even tho disapointing the right decision was made

Yeah it definitely was the right thing to do. There was absolutely no way we could have safely gotten the dive in.

As for the name of the operation, I decided not to post it because I don't want to risk damaging the captain's reputation.

 

[RIOceanographer]

What Chris didn't mention is the giant rogue wave that came out of nowhere. Must have been 20 ft hight at the crest.

The main reason I didn't mention that is because it didn't happen......

 

[michaelp68]

The main reason I didn't mention that is because it didn't happen......

But it makes the story better. :11:

 

[matt_unique]

To answer you question we were tied off to the mooring on the bow cleat.

The waves were only about 3-4 ft which isn't that bad for out there. I have been out in seas like that many times and have never seen anything like this happen before. The sea state by itself normally would not have posed a problem.

The water was coming in over the low point in the stern where the outboard motor was attached. In essence it appeared that as the boat was pitching up and down in the seas and the stern began doing so out of phase with the waves. The effect was that the stern was getting dunked into the oncoming waves.

The interesting thing was we were on the mooring for at least 5 minutes before things actually starting going really wrong. I even had time to fully gear up.

3-4 is definitely common for that wreck. A low transom combined with a heavy load could definitely cause the waves to spill over. If his scuppers were plugged and or if the bildge was not working that is definitely a recipe for trouble. The current would typically have to be smokin' to counteract the force of the wind turning the bow into the seas. Crazy stuff definitely happens on the ocean.

--Matt