Divers: Watch where you attach your deco

[Colliam7]

As I got closer, I realized that there were 4 deco tanks that had been attached to our anchor chain. I knew they weren't ours.
Once I surfaced I found out from the mate that he had not even finished setting the anchor before people from the other boat were hooking their deco tanks onto our anchor line. He had tried to wave them off, but to no avail. . . . I expect that hanging your deco tanks on another boat's anchor line, especially without their knowledge, is not a good idea.

This is really strange. I can't imagine clipping bottles off to another boat's tie-in line, without asking. You don't do that. Yes, there are other issues here: whether to drop bottles or keep them with you (a matter of preference and judgement); clipping bottles to an anchor / tie-in line vs. tying a line somewhere on the wreck, and clipping off to that line (what should have been done, if they wanted to leave the bottles in order to penetrate the wreck - and more power to them if they really wanted to squeeze into the U-352). As described, what happened was both stupid and rude. It was well-stated in one of the replies:

The issue that I see isn't the divers dropping their deco bottles, which is ok in open water on a wreck IF you are exiting the wreck and ascending the same line you went down. The issue I see is that it sounds like the divers left their bottles tied off to someone else's line. . . . the big problem as you noted in the OP is that the tanks belonged to people on another boat entirely. Now the two boats are tethered together with a dive plan. Not to mention, the guys who were supposedly using these tanks weren't even in the water anymore when you guys were ready to leave??

As for the discussion about whether it should be penetrated - whether it is a war grave (it is) and whether we signed a treaty or not (doesn't matter) - could it be that it is just this kind of behavior that gives ammunition to some people in NOAA and the OMS who would like to see an expansion on the Monitor NMS to include much / most of the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' wrecks? Maybe, I am being paranoid, but . . .

 

[waterpirate]

I will quote from the wreckers 10 commandments.

1. Do not talk about the things you do, or things you have seen.

Eric

 

[dwhthediver]

let me guess... Discovery Diving? Quoting a treaty the U.S. never even signed?

Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk 2

Nope, Olympus

 

[DA Aquamaster]

As noted above, clipping anything to the anchor line, whether it's your deco bottles or a line to navigate back to the anchor line, is just a bad idea as lines to pull lose and you don't want anything you'll potentially need attached to it. If you feel the need to place a reel for navigation back to the anchor line or to drop tanks at the anchor line, tie them off to something a few feet up current of the line, so it's close but not attached to the line, and less likely to get snagged if the hook does come loose.

A far better approach however is to just keep the stage, travel gas or deco bottles on you in OW. If you are going to penetrate the wreck and need a smaller profile, then remove them and place them near your point of entry where you do the primary tie off for your guideline. That will ensure that you can find the tanks again on exit (provided you turn and exit along your guideline).

Leaving tanks near the anchor line has resulted in more than a few diver deaths and injures when the divers were unable to either navigate back to the anchor line, or unable to swim back to the line in a strong current. The larger the wreck and/or the deeper the water and/or the stronger the potential current and/or the lower the viz could be, the dumber this practice becomes.

----

War grave issues aside, penetrating the U-352, or any submarine requires a great deal of skill, experience and training to do it safely. One of the posts above almost makes it sound like a swim through. It's not. It's serious business with some serious silt and entanglement risks.