Ascending on a line?

[dumpsterDiver]

I'm not suggesting anything. I'm merely stating that if I'm counting on a line to stay put, I wouldn't wedge it under something such that I can indiana-jones-with-a-bull-whip it out from under that thing once I reach the surface.

 

[Bamabowtie]

It appears I opened up a can of worms.

Admittedly, I have never used an SMB and haven't witnessed one being deployed that wasn't on Youtube.

My original question was not about whether or not I can make a free ascent (I have, and while not as easy easy as having visual reference, was totally fine doing it)

I suppose I conjured up in my mind that if one was to shoot an SMB from depth and ascend on it, you wouldn't hang/hold the rope, but rather visually reference the fibers in the rope as you ascend.

The main purpose of asking this was building my expectation for my first charter dive (Key Largo). I want to mentally eliminate as many rookie mistakes as I can while it is 25 degrees here and I can't dive.

Thanks for the discussion guys.

 

[Blackwood]

Rest assured I was making whapshh whapshh bullwhip sounds as I replied. indeed.

 

[DevonDiver]

By heavy I mean 5kts+ of current. The kind that you wont do a safety stop in because you will end up a mile from your boat by the time you surface.

I think this is a case where a 'little knowledge' can be a very bad thing. I am sure that the poster has heard something about the use of 'Jersey Lines' and then tried to extrapolate this vague conceptual understanding into an unworkable solution that involves a DSMB, line and a large rock...

That would illustrate a very poor dive plan and use of available techniques for the dive.

IF a diver chose to dive in a location that had a 5kt current, then all common sense and rationality would dictate that they used an appropriate technique for the dive. It's commonly called a 'Drift Dive'.

That way you can do a slow ascent under a DSMB, including a safety stop, without having to fight against current at any stage.

Any diver who formulated a dive plan, where they expected to return to their boat at the initial descent location, in a 5 kt current would need their head examining.

As others have mentioned, you would not ascend vertically, even if using an 'up-line' in strong current. The diver would still be dragged back down by the current, as it swung the 'up-line' like an upside-down pendulum. I am sure that someone with a mathematics fetish could calculate the required buoyancy needed by a float to maintain a vertical line supporting 2 full-grown divers against a 5kt current. They could probabaly also calculate the size of the rock needed to weight that line, those divers, and that float against the pressure of the current.

I never heard anything so silly and badly thought out. A little knowledge can be a very bad thing.

 

[Saudi-Diver]

I usually only used a SMB when drift diving so the boat knows where we are. I have also shot DSMBs when I have heard boat traffic so I usually get to about 10 m and shoot it just so the Jet Skiers get a good turning marker. I all ways carry a DSMB and reel, don't all ways deploy it though.

 

[Lee Taylor]

I had a new experience this past dive season that I really enjoyed.

I was the "flag carrier" on a drift dive. I found the "upline" and the "surface float" made my ascent very easy.

 

[peterbj7]

If that means you were towing the flag/line throughout the dive then I most certainly wouldn't have enjoyed that. I hate it that at some inland sites they require CCR divers to tow a float for the entire dive.

 

[Buoyant1]

Most of the diving I do is in a quarry, no lines to speak of, we usually ascend along the slope of a wall that ends up as a road in our "home" quarry, changing depth as we made our way closer to the exit point. In another local-ish quarry we ascend the wall to the exit points, no lines needed.

Boat diving depends upon the situation. If it's a deep wreck, and there's current, then definitely! In some cases, we were likes flags on a pole, the current was ripping so much...in other cases, the line was there as a reference, and we just free ascended as we saw fit. Lines on shallow reefs is pretty much not necessary. The last 4 reef dives I did were in about 30 ft. of water at their deepest, and you tended to end up between 15 and 20 ft. most of the dive, at the end, we just made slow ascents underneath the back of the boat to the tag line.

 

[xjeslesx]

Apparently I've done the impossible. Physics must not apply to me. My SMB must be magic.

 

[manni-yunk]

On my boat - we ALWAYS plan to go up and down the carolina line system that we use. Enter the water from the stern - down 15 feet to the bar - end of bar is a line (heavily weighted at the other end) that goes down to the enchor line - then down the anchor line to the wreck where it is tied in. When at depth - we run a reel most of the time( depending on conditions and visibility and familiarity with that specific tie in location) to easily find our way back to the anchor line - End of dive - up the anchor line to the upline, follow to the bar. Same setup as North Carolina Charters and many other.

In the event you can not find your way back to the anchor when you chose to NOT run a reel ( The tie in point is always well marked with several strobes) - we use a Jersey upline (lSisal on a larger real) and loop in under a solid piece of structure - then shoot a bag. Up you go (controlled) and tied to the bottom so you dont drift away.

If caught in the sand with nowhere to tie off - shoot the bag and drift.

As soon as the boat sees a bag - a swimmer goes out to the bag with a line to make sure the diver isnt drifting and confirm they are OK and coming up as opposed to marking trouble on the bottom.


So that was a long way to answer that we always go up....and down a line.....whenever possible and free scents are very frowned upon.


(This is with most of our dives being in 80-130 feet. When we hit jettys or inshore shallow spots we "buoy" dive where one member of the team has a SMB attached to a weight that they swim around with.


We have to remember that this international site (SB) has members from so many different locations and each location has adopted what is best, safest, and time proven to them and those that trained them. There is no universal rule, for ALWAYS or NEVER go up and down a line, that can be applied all locations.