First Deep Wreck Dive, analysis Please??

[TheVinstigator]

I was scheduled to dive the Stolt Dagai, but ended up diving another local wreck lying at around 120', as my first DEEP wreck dive since getting my AOW 2 weeks ago. Let me start by saying I have dove to 90 foot wrecks in florida, and for my AOW course we went to a wreck at 90 feet in NJ. On the boat I was paried with a fellow who had not been to this depth yet either(dive was booked through my LDS and they had a DM on board) so our plan was to stay close to the wreck and up line. First dive brought us to the deck of the boat at 108' with vis in the 15-20 foot range and we saw another of our divers polespear at the bottom, so I retrieved it at a depth of 120' and my computer started screaming at me for a depth alarm,set for 110', so we started to head for the up line, but couldn`t find it, it was tied into the highest point of the wreck, but we couldn`t locate it. We started a free ascent, about 35 feet off the bottom we found the up line, ascended, did our safety stop and went to the boat. 2 hour surface interval, then the plan was to not go to the deck but stay higher on the wreck, bagged some mussels returned to the up line after about 5 minutes of bottom time at 100', ascended and did our safety stop and returned to the boat. I guess my main question is do most people use a wreck reel to return to the up line? We were told the Capt would not have been happy with us doing a free ascent, I`m assuming a 3 min safety stop would have had us far away from the boat, with NJ currents. What would be the proper thing to do in this situation? I would not have aborted the safety stop at this depth, I just don`t know what the proper procedure would have been. Do you shoot a lift bag with a reel and do your safety stop so the boat knows where you are? I don`t own a reel or lift bag yet but am looking, any sugjestions? When I get the reel and lift bag I will be heading to the Quarry to get used to using it, any tips? Sorry for the long post. Thanks

 

[Kray_Z]

I would say just get a compass if you dont already have one, take a reading of what direction from the middle of the wreck the line is or the oposite and use that as reference. Of course if you cannot find it in enough time to not go into deco(if that wasnt the plan) then just start the ascent and if you have one then shoot a bag for the boat to see you incase you are drifting. Hope that helps!

 

[Padipro]

First of all, yes, get a lift bag and reel. If you get blowen off the wreck, loose the up line or have a problem that requires you to make an immediate ascent a bag and reel will give you an ascent line and let the boat know where you are.

Second, take a good look around when you hit the wreck so you know where you are and in what direction you need to go to get back to the up line. Look for some sort of land marks that you can identify and know the line is near. If you're diving in low vis then yes you can use a reel but you should try this out in shallow water in the quarry as well because getting tangled up in the line is easy to do.

Third, you can try a compass but remember that most wrecks are made of steel which is magnetic and can through a compass off so even if you take a reading before you leave the line it doesn't necessarly mean that you'll be going in the right direction when you're trying to find the line at the end of the dive. I had this exact problem years ago when I put my compass on the same arm as my dive watch. I got lost, couldn't fine the anchor line and had to surface away from the boat. I found out later that I was reading the compass correctly but the watch was causing the compass to drift off by a couple degrees and so I wasn't going in the right direction to find the line.

You're best bet is to either get a good land mark or use a reel if the vis is that bad.

 

[texdiveguy]

To keep my answer short and not get into the finer details of your described dives,,,,,you might consider seeking out and interviewing a Wreck instructor and visit with them regarding specific training,,,,it seems you enjoy this type of dives so it may be to your advantage....they can steer you in the right gear selections,,,techq. for wreck navigation and use of lines and bags, plus proper contingency actions in open water settings.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I was scheduled to dive the Stolt Dagai, but ended up diving another local wreck lying at around 120', as my first DEEP wreck dive since getting my AOW 2 weeks ago. Let me start by saying I have dove to 90 foot wrecks in florida, and for my AOW course we went to a wreck at 90 feet in NJ. On the boat I was paried with a fellow who had not been to this depth yet either(dive was booked through my LDS and they had a DM on board) so our plan was to stay close to the wreck and up line. First dive brought us to the deck of the boat at 108' with vis in the 15-20 foot range and we saw another of our divers polespear at the bottom, so I retrieved it at a depth of 120' and my computer started screaming at me for a depth alarm,set for 110', so we started to head for the up line, but couldn`t find it, it was tied into the highest point of the wreck, but we couldn`t locate it. We started a free ascent, about 35 feet off the bottom we found the up line, ascended, did our safety stop and went to the boat. 2 hour surface interval, then the plan was to not go to the deck but stay higher on the wreck, bagged some mussels returned to the up line after about 5 minutes of bottom time at 100', ascended and did our safety stop and returned to the boat. I guess my main question is do most people use a wreck reel to return to the up line? We were told the Capt would not have been happy with us doing a free ascent, I`m assuming a 3 min safety stop would have had us far away from the boat, with NJ currents. What would be the proper thing to do in this situation? I would not have aborted the safety stop at this depth, I just don`t know what the proper procedure would have been. Do you shoot a lift bag with a reel and do your safety stop so the boat knows where you are? I don`t own a reel or lift bag yet but am looking, any sugjestions? When I get the reel and lift bag I will be heading to the Quarry to get used to using it, any tips? Sorry for the long post. Thanks

Generally you didn't do too bad, but there were a few minor problems that could have grown into major problems.

Since your computer screamed at you because your depth alarm was set for 110 feet, I must assume that your dive plan was to go no deeper than 110 feet. When you went after the gear you violated your dive plan. This is not a huge problem, but it will have an effect on your gas supply and no deco time limit. If there had been some other problems these factors might have made a difference on your ability to safely finish the dive.

You lost the up line and started a free ascent. Would the increased gas supply or longer bottom time allowed you to find the up line? Once you started the ascent you did see the up line and swam to it, this was a good bit of luck, but without a lift bag or marker bouy, a finger spool, and the skill to use them from depth you risked drifting away from the boat in a current. If you had not gone after the gear at the bottom would you not have lost the up line? A wreck reel can help you to keep the up line, but again you need to have some experience using a reel before you deploy it at 100 feet.

You asked about making the free ascent versus not making it. Well, if the choice is to make a free ascent OR stay at depth looking for the up line until you run out of gas, the choice is easy... head up. Drifting in the ocean would suck, but it would suck a lot less than running out of gas at depth.

It is usually several small mistakes that add up to an accident, don't let the little mistakes snowball out of control. Let me paint a picture of just one possible outcome from your dive...

You descend below your planned depth to retrieve the lost gear, this consumes a small but noticable amount of your breathing gas, you also now have a little less bottom time before entering deco. So, now you have a little less breathing gas and time, you became disoriented when you retrieved the lost gear, now you can't find the up line, and the increased effects of Nitrogen Narcosis arent helping. Things are starting to snowball. Your gas and time indicate that you really should begin your ascent now, you just don't have more time to look, so up you go. Since you don't have the ability to shoot a bag your ascent is in the open water and the current is moving you away from the wreck and the dive boat. You do your safety stop, and it is a good thing because you are really close on the no deco time limit, but since you have just enough gas you don't want to cut the stop short. Now you make the surface, and although you can still see the dive boat they can't see you, swimming against the current make little headway and gets you and your buddy really tired. Fortunately for you the Captain has been told by other divers that you were seen making a free ascent, so as soon as he has retrieved all of the other divers he initiates a search down current and after about a half an hour in the water you are found.

Sure my little story is fiction, but is it really that difficult to think that your were only one or two little mistakes away from this scenario, or worse? Cold, deep, low visibility, these and other factors can really add up so please be careful.

Mark Vlahos

 

[billyh]

Well. . .
Without you having stated some of the specifics of your gear configs (wet or dry?, single or doubles?, AL80, LP120, HP100s?). . .

Seems to this observer you were underequipped and under-trained for this foray. The first decision you made at depth was to "violate" your dive plan. Ouch!

Shooting a SMB with an ascent line is non-trivial. By all means practice this in confined water, and practice more in open ocean currents. Ask your attending divemaster or the boat's Captain how they might recommend you add this drill to your dive plan e.g. while "safely" hanging from a jon line on the decent line, or some variation thereof.

While you (and your "buddy"?) are drifting in the open ocean, the boat's captain has to retrieve all other divers in the water, un-hook, and find you. If others on your dive have double steel tanks, some experience, and happen to be exploring a more remote part of the wreck from where you tied-in, they may be in the water for 30 minutes, or more before re-surfacing. How far will you drift in 30 minutes? What will the surface conditions be?

Take any so-called Wreck Specialty course. Any training is better than none at all. Start shallow. Build the skills. Practice "real" gas management, as in planning your dives professionally, establishing "real" so-called "rock-bottom" gas limits, and turning your dive when you hit those limits. Dive the Plan! Trust your brain more than your dive computer. Dive brilliantly without crisis, and live to dive again for a long time to come. Have fun!

 

[TheVinstigator]

Well lots of usefull posts and not what I expected . I am diving dry suit with an alum 80, my dive computer is factory default set to 110' I didn`t program it in there so I was confused when it went off. Our original plan was to be at 115' feet for no more than 7 minutes gas dependant, then slowly ascend to our safety stop. I only violated my plan for about 30 seconds and 3 or 4 feet to retrieve the polespear at an actual depth of 118'. I will be doing some lift bag and reel drills at my local quarry before returning to these wrecks at this depth. The up line was attached to the highest point of the wreck next to a double loop of 4-6 inch diameter anchor rope about 20 feet looped, this I noted on descent. We returned to the double loop of line but couldn`t see the upline because it was tied in about 10 feet above obscured by the clam dredge A-frame(?). My main concern about using the compass was the large amount of steel on this wreck that has only been down about 6 years, that is why I asked about using a wreck reel to return to the upline. Again thanks for all the replies, they help not only me but others reading also. Vinny

 

[billyh]

Hey, the Good News. . . .

I think your essential planning is quite conservative, which is a good thing!
"Standard" RB for an AL80 @ 100fsw might be 1000psi. This gives you 2000psi (assuming a full fill here) available for the dive. Fudging the average ATAs a bit, your average ATA is 4. Tank factor for an AL80 is about 2.5, so my quick estimate "allows" about 12 minutes at your planned depth of 115fsw.

Take it to the next step, diving "Rule of Thirds" for penetrating wrecks, offshore, with current, needing to return to the boat: RB is still 1000psi, 2000psi usable. 2000psi divided by 3 (Rule of Thirds) gives you 600psi (heavily rounded-off). Subtract 600psi from the starting 3000, and your turn pressure is 2400psi. But only if you believe in this sort of gas management, arguably about the most conservative approach possible). There are _many_ who would consider these numbers almost paranoid. I admit to being a bit of a control freak, and a safety geek, and I try to leave my ego on the dock. When ol' Mr. Murphy offers me a classic Cluster F..., I'd like the option of being able to send him to someone else (not my dive buddy!).

Which begins to explain why you'll see so many HP steel 120's or double HP100s on those wreck dives --- you really want to have a lot more air available!

Wreck reels rock (say that three times real fast), when they don't get all tangled. It is so easy to make a nice "birds nest" out of your line. . . just remember to keep constant tension on the line spool as you deploy the line.

I might also suggest diving some of the wrecks off Block Island if you get the chance. . . usually abit shallower than the NJ-L.I. stuff, and gentler currents too. Great places to get experience and positive reinforcement for your skill sets. Before you know it, you'll be doing the Doria!

{disclaimer: I am a wreck diving Noob; I love diving; my family is screwed if I die down there; I have a bunch of PADI certs, and GUE/DIR-F; I still know nothing compared to (fill in the blank); I'll be getting better at this stuff for the rest of my life; and I love diving!}

 

[waterpirate]

Hi Vinstigator,
A lot of good info here. Adhere to the rule of thirds and get some more info/training. Some of the best training comes at no cost, by diving the area you plan to make make your regular haunts/hunts. Talk to the more experienced people on the boat. Usually at least a 45 minute ride from anywhere to wreck dive. See someone who has a rig that does not look anything like yours? Ask them about it. why is it different from yours? What do they have and know that you do not? People are creatures of habit, and wreck divers/hunters are no different. If you pay attention and dive the same locales you will start to see some people over and over again, introduce yourself and make a connection/mentor.
I myself have no use for confined water, quarries ect. There are to many shallow open water opportunities to hone your skills in salt, than waste time in a hole in the ground. After all the goal is open water?
Eric

 

[scubamarcp]

Im glad to hear your dive worked out and nothing serious happend, but i think your dm is crazy for letting you dive to 118ft with an aluminum80. I think you should have a little bit of redundancy, just my opinion.