December 5th Molokini backwall dive

[kidspot]

... One of them had been caught in the same upswelling as me, and hadn't a clue how to get out of it, going from 65 feet to about 20-25 feet in no time. I thought I had gone up about 30 feet, until I downloaded my computer data and saw it was only 12 feet, so not too bad. But I knew how to get out of the upswelling and did so immediately when I knew I was caught in it...

Now I'm curious - How do you handle an upswell or downswell?

 

[bluemagoo]

Now I'm curious - How do you handle an upswell or downswell?

Tim, try this: http://www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/articles/Upwellings200102.shtml

I've heard it's common in the Galapagos. I've never had the pleasure and hope I never do; surf rips are quite enough....(well, there were those times when I launched myself into the tumbling outflow current from the cooling tubes at the Kahe power plant here)

 

[Uncle Pug]

You swim laterally out of it.

 

[DiveMaven]

I treat them like I would a riptide...swim perpendicular out of it.

 

[DiverDebbie]

Great article about upswellings and downswellings Bluemagoo... and thanks for the informative, detailed info. on the backwall guys. Makes me want to dive it even more I'll just have to do my best to find an operator who screens their divers well enough that the group is actually experienced enough to do it... and then hope for good conditions... for at least one dive there Really too bad we can't make the 5th, Tim.

 

[kidspot]

Thanks for the link - sounds like you treat it as you would any other current, and in this case just swim away from the wall...

 

[DiveMaven]

Thanks for the link - sounds like you treat it as you would any other current, and in this case just swim away from the wall...

Yeah, but unlike current, you're being pushed upward at sometimes a very rapid pace. The trick is to swim away from the wall and at the same time try to keep yourself slightly swimming downward so hopefully you don't loose too much depth too quickly. It definitely requires a cool head and strong legs sometimes.

 

[KrisB]

That's really odd, Uncle... ERDA is normally pretty stingy about who they'll take on the three-tanker.

I wonder if the captain didn't maybe have some difficulty following you during the first tank or if there were conflicting currents or something that you couldn't notice underwater... just a thought.

 

[Charlie99]

That is my beef against ERD (which up to this point I had recommended highly.) We were on a three tank dive with ERD and from my point of view there was no reason not to do the back wall. Charlie99 was on the boat as was Boomx5. Charlie... did you see any reason for them to make the switch? You alluded to the skipper checking the list and noticing several inexperienced divers... was that just an example of what could have been his reasoning or did you feel that we had some inexperienced divers on that trip? Why no explanation to the divers (or did I miss it?) Reef's End is not the backwall as far as I am concerned.

My comments about limitations from experience level of divers wasn't in reference to that trip. They probably chose the sites with a view of providing the best experience. Reef's End typically has more marine life than the backwall. That day, the current was against us and it didn't work out as nice, other than that manta swimming by a couple times.

After all this discussion, I went back to look at my logs for my last 10 boat trips in Feb/Mar to see who went where.

On the 4 trips with Mike Severns we did live drops on Backwall 2 times, and a 130' dive on Reef's End once. Center Reef once, an Enenui drift once. The Center Reef dive was on a 3 tank trip where the first 2 dives were in the far south La Perouse area in flat, calm conditions. The third dive would have been backwall if not for >30kt gusts and generally deteriorating conditions.

On 3 trips with ERDA: Reef's End out and back once, Enenui once, and one time to the Backwall as a 70' dive after doing Red Hill as the first.

1 trip with B&B. Neither dive at Molokini.

1 trip Maui Dive Shop out of Ma'alea: Reef's End out and Back; 2nd dive Taco Flats and Center Reef from the same mooring ball as the first dive.

1 trip ProDiverMaui: Reef's End drift first, then Enenui Drift for second.

Looking further back in my logs, the only dive op that went to backwall on almost every trip was ProDiverMaui, but that was with the previous owner, and when I called for reservations, he would often recommend a different day so that all divers onboard would be repeat customers that he was comfortable with.

 

[kidspot]

I contacted B&B today, they told me that if we let them know what we would like to do when booking, they will book passengers wanting to do the same dive, then if conditions permit they will do the back wall -

Aloha, Tim

btw - I was able to do the back wall today and vis was probably 200ft+ it was gorgeous.