Almost out of air after descending against a strong current

[TSandM]

One of the things that makes this configuration superior (in my mind) is that you can't lose gas without being aware that it's happening.

In fact, this was the setup I was using when my scootering adventure caused a freeflow. If you are moving fast enough (and have your ears covered) you won't see bubbles, because they are running along your body, and you won't hear them, because you can't hear anything

 

[Diver0001]

You couldn't hear it?

R..

 

[RJP]

And dont use diveboats that anchor on high current wrecks...if this captain was any good, and the wreck was going to be dived with a big current, it should have been a drift drop from well upcurrent.

The assumes not only that the captain is capable of doing this right... but that the divers are as well. Could easily be reading about multiple lost divers here.

 

[Zippsy]

Like!

 

[danvolker]

The assumes not only that the captain is capable of doing this right... but that the divers are as well. Could easily be reading about multiple lost divers here.

I agree the Captain and Crew need to know what they are doing...how to run a dive boat and do drift drops. As to the divers....at the risk of sounding like a broken record, certainly more than 70% of the tourist divers that VISIT Palm Beach have not done drift drops before Palm Beach, and many are only OW certified divers....the thing is, this really is the EASY way for the divers....

It is harder on the Captain and crew...it is MUCH EASIER on the Divers.

Which is why I say, if the Captain can't do the job, don't use him.

 

[Nirvana]

I did some dives earlier this year to some wrecks where the captain did an adaptation of what Dan suggests. The DM would drop first and secure a line with three floats to the wreck, the first of which generally ended up submerged due to the current. The divers then would be dropped up current and descend, reaching either the wreck directly or, as was often the case, the line midwater, pulling themselves to the bottom the rest of the way. We had almost 100ft visibility, though, making it easy to find the line on the way down.

 

[danvolker]

You guys may force me to go out the next time we have a storm and bad vis, so I can shoot a video of how easy it is to drop on a 80 foot deep wreck in 15 foot vis.
The deal though is that there is nothing to it....the diver does the same exact thing they do with 100 foot vis...you go straight down..this works the same in high vis or low....get to 10 feet off the bottom or so...same high vis or low....and wait for the shipwreck to come to you....the real job is done by the captain.

 

[Doppler]

I agree with Dan... we smart-bomb wrecks in 25-35 metres of crappy vis often... beats the crap out of trying to pull down a bloody line against 1-2 knots of current... actually, ANY current at all. Smart-bomb in and drift out.

 

[Mike]

As to the divers....at the risk of sounding like a broken record, certainly more than 70% of the tourist divers that VISIT Palm Beach have not done drift drops before Palm Beach, and many are only OW certified divers...

And doing it with average 50-100 foot of visibility!

Change Palm Beach to an average of 15 ft viz on all dives and lets predict how long it would take for all those super captains to stop doing 'the palm beach drop' because they are tired of spending all their time picking up scattered divers missing the wreck and re-dropping them all the time.

HELLO ----> 50-100 foot viz versus the OP's dive of 15 ft of viz.

This

Versus

This

You may be a super diver Dan, and all the captains you dive with in Palm Beach might be super captains, but I guarantee you that not ALL of the divers diving in Palm Beach are as good as you are. And you're discounting the factor of great visibility has on how dives are planned and executed differently than dives with poor visibility. Because so many people are able to do drops and drift to the wrecks in Palm Beach has less to do with the captains and the divers and more to do with the visibility making it possible.

No ill will toward you Dan, but come on now...

 

[dorkito]

Nice pictures, Mike. That's pretty much exactly how it looked.

Dan, I'm interested (excited, really) to try the drop method sometime. Sounds fun and would be a good learning experience. It just doesn't seem practical in this case. This was a pretty remote site in the S. China Sea. It seems there is a real risk of losing a diver given the number of us and the varying levels of experience. You can say a great captain wouldn't lose someone and a diver shouldn't get in that position, but we read about it all the time on the A&I forum. The other thing is if you have trouble descending for some reason (trouble equalizing, for instance) you miss the wreck altogether. Regardless, I do want to try it.

A final note on the captain: remember he dropped the guys who set the hook just fine. He certainly knows how to do it.