Lessons Don't go in a wreck, even an "easy" one

[wnissen]

The dive operator took us to the C-53 Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl in Cozumel. In the briefing they described it as a wreck but with large cutouts in the sides. Depth was about 75 ft / 20 m at the bottom, visibility was at least 25 m. We were in Aluminum 80s. Some members of our group had wreck training, but not me or my buddy, who are relatively experienced open water divers, but not experts by any means.

There were a number of large cutouts, but also fairly narrow hallways (as one would expect on a naval vessel). There was almost no silt, and we all had two lights. My buddy did not feel comfortable continuing, but was unable to contact me, and so attempted to pass the message on to the other buddy pair. Due to the vagaries of underwater telephone, that didn't work. So all I knew was that my buddy was no longer behind me. I signaled to the DM "trouble" "buddy" and gave the shrug of "I don't know". That communication worked, he went off, but couldn't find my buddy. Now I was really worried, and we all swam outside the ship to look. We were re-united, swam around the outside for a while, and surfaced.

In wrecktrospect, we had no business being in the C-53, even prepared as it was. A swim-through is one thing, but little corridors is another. It would have been better if my buddy had decided in advance to stay outside, as someone else in our party did, but they did the right thing, as did we, I think. Ideally I should have swum very slowly and my buddy should have been very close. But discretion would have been the better part of valor. There was more cool marine life on the outside anyway. No wreck is worth risking a panic attack.

 

[BoltSnap]

I am very glad that this event had a positive ending. It could have ended totally the opposite with tragic end very easily. I can't imagine me doing what your guide did at all. It was criminal based on your description.

Praise to Allah for your safe return and happy ending.

 

[-JD-]

Well, just under 2 months ago, I was going through the C-53. At over 100 dives, I knew that there was enhanced risk in entering even a limited overhead. I understand and accept that as "price of admission." I also mitigate risk by always diving with my own alternate air source which = time to sort things out.

5-1/2 years ago I was going through the Kittiwake on Grand Cayman. At dive #4 (Yes it was was last of the OW checkout dives for myself and my son) I was a bit too green to really appreciate the risk and was "following the leader." I just thought it was pretty cool, if a little bit edgey!

People are different. Your buddy should certainly stay out of wrecks if they unsettle him. Others may not be perturbed by a wreck, but by something else - so they shouldn't do that.

Blanket pronouncements based on unitary situations don't work for me.

ETA I would venture that a very significant percentage of the divers at the '22 SB invasion went through the C-53. Other than I saw some 2-way traffic, I don't recall hearing issues with it.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Did your DM take you inside the wreck? Or did the DM just let you swim around and you went in by yourselves. I don't remember which of the C-5x wrecks I dived maybe 8 years ago. What I remember fits your description. We didn't go inside, but did go under cover as there were a lot of fish there.

 

[GreggS]

We did the C-53 in June during the SB Invasion. Our DM led me, my wife, and another couple thru. We were inside the ship for approximately 20-25 minutes. At no time did we feel unsafe, especially with all the "escape holes" throughout the ship. In fact, the other couple did bail about 2/3 of the way thru. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would do it again so long as we had a DM we felt comfortable with.

 

[-JD-]

Here is a video that shows some of the penetration areas. (Not mine. First that I found in a search.)

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Praise to Allah for your safe return and happy ending.

Praise to yourself for your safe return and happy ending!

 

[ReadyTo Dive]

I’ve dove the C53 to the point of asking not to go back due to repetition but the first time was only my 12th or so dive and I didn’t have a light with me at all (that I recall). Not wise.

I was definitely uncomfortable in 1-2 sections of it and wouldn’t recommend it for the unprepared diver as benign as it may be. A life changing accident can happen in any overhead/wreck and I commend you for keeping a cool head! A great lesson learned.

 

[BoltSnap]

Praise to yourself for your safe return and happy ending!

I missed the meaning of your comment, please clarify.

 

[Brett Hatch]

I did this dive a few weeks ago: July 25 at 6pm, just before dusk. Me and my two dive buddies (all of us on our first wreck penetration dive, with approximately 100-200 open water dives apiece). Plus another diver from the same resort who had done a few wrecks before, and the dive guide, who has several thousand dives in the QR area, and maybe 100 on this particular wreck. All on single AL80s with 32%.

The dive involved much more penetration than was described on the surface, and involved navigation decisions that I'm not 100% confident that I would have made correctly, push come to shove. At one point, we were in a room that is completely dark, 2 rooms away from the nearest exit, and which involved a navigation decision in between. An issue in that room would be difficult to solve with the tools and training we had.

The inside of the wreck is fairly clean, I guess. I did not see many places where we could have become entangled, at least. There is some line on the ground to follow in a few places, but most of it had no line. One place had some loose line which had broken some months or years ago, but the line did not appear to be an entanglement risk, at least not to me.

The dive route navigated into and out of the wreck a few times. I went through my gas the fastest in the group that dive, once I was at 1k psi at about 38 minutes in I signaled the DM and did not enter the wreck again, my 2 buddies stuck with me. We followed the bubbles and light from the outside while the DM led the last diver through another 10 minutes or so, then we went to our safety stop and surfaced at 53 minutes.

I enjoyed the dive, and we didn't encounter any problems. The only tricky part was the clusterf*** of the 5 of us hanging on the line in a 3kt current doing a safety stop. But I wouldn't do it like that again, and I did not appreciate the DM's overview of the dive just not matching up to reality. More gas, redundant gas, and maybe some more training would make me a lot more comfortable here.