do you think it will be a "go"

[donnad]

am scheduled to dive with ultra dive on saturday (two tank rig dive) in the gulf. the forecast shows wind 10-15kts. and seas 3-5 ft. do you think they'll go? wasn't sure about that wave height. i'm thinking that would be the max they would go on. will find out tomorrow, but was just wondering what you terrific people think.

 

[RTRski]

I honestly have no educated idea, but on the one rig dive I did with Gulf Charters (Fling), it wasn't just the wind and wave magnitude but relative direction to current that influenced whether they could safely tie off at the rigs... then again that's a bigger liveaboard so probably not as nimble as a day-boat.

What's the count on Saba now...like 29 days?

 

[donnad]

yes, 29 days!!! getting excited! i'm hoping we get to dive saturday. we have new computers and want to dive with them before saba. fingers crossed.

 

[Guba]

I don't know what Ultra's guidelines are, but 3-5 would be about max, I imagine.

Strange, but true...the only time I've been with the Fling and we Couldn't tie off at a rig was not because the current was too high...it was too LOW. Because the water cools under the rig (shadow effect), it becomes more dense and sinks. That means surface water moves TOWARD the rig and the boat would be pushed into the legs. This situation only occurs when there is no current and the seas are virtually calm (in other words...not too danged often in the Gulf!)

Hope your trip makes...have fun!

 

[RTRski]

Hmm...so the captain's briefing about how special it was that he was risking his ship to let us unworthy unwashed divers do a rig dive was a bunch of hooey?

Honestly though I may have had it wrong. I distinctly remembered him saying the rig dive was a 'live boat' dive, as the props could have to engage at any moment, so we should take extra care and pay attention about coming out for our ladder climb in pairs only, and that we should pull on the line to get over but not back (didn't want us en masse 'pulling' the boat toward the rig on return). But maybe I got some of the other factors wrong...ah well, that's why I pay them to do the hard work while I have fun blowing bubbles!! (And Bubbles thanks them profusely... bah dum-BUMP!)