Help Planning Rig Trip

[ScubaTexan]

I went to a "seminar" on the Flower Gardens the other day and the guy that was presiding over it said something about the Gulf boats not doing the rig dives anymore. They're doing both Flower Garden Banks and the Steton Banks and then heading back to Freeport. I think he said something like the anchoring onto the rigs was getting too dangerous. Anybody heard anything about this?

 

[Cudabait]

My husband and I are getting certified this July... Although we have been snorkeling for a long time (actually snorkeled around the Great Blue Hole in Belize!!), we are obviously new divers. I understand that the Flower Gardens is an advanced dive and we plan on getting our advanced open water cert before attempting that dive. What about the rig dives though? What sort of experience/skills should we have prior to attempting that? As newbies, would we be able to perhaps do a shallower dive? We are excited about getting certified and want to enjoy our c-cards and expand our skills as much as possible, but we want to dive within our abilities and not do stupid things . Any advice is appreciated!

-=* Mikki *=-

Mikki,

I sent you a PM regarding this.

Regards,

 

[FredT]

The rigs are awesome, be they off TX or AL. They also require a few not normally used skills.

1. Buoyancy and depth control and awareness, without using a depth gage. You'll be too busy with other things to deal with that. Off LA the bottom is often unreachable so you have to just KNOW when you are decending or ascending or you can get into serous trouble without realizing it. "Bottomless" dives are not for overweighted beginners. When you can reliably hover motionless with your eyes closed in midwater without a depth change you have this one knocked.

2 Piloting navigation skills. Compasses point to the nearest leg on a rig. Also there can be several different currents at different levels, all going different directions. Navigation by trusting currents is unreliable. OTOH you can often navigate around the rig without swimming by adjusting your depth to the where the current is "going your way".

3. Critter identification: On the rigs you are DEFINITELY back in the food chain. Your finned companions come in three clases.

• Pretty: Macro and midsize critters that are fun to watch.
• Lunch: Large midlevel predators suitable for dinner. (Generally dinner for 10!)
• WATCH HIM!!!: Large top level predators that can consider YOU lunch. The man in the gray suit is only one of the cast members. Cubera snapper and jewfish over about 500 pounds share this class, as do large warsaw grouper and cuda over about 10'.

FT

 

[Dee]

[*] WATCH HIM!!!: Large top level predators that can consider YOU lunch. The man in the gray suit is only one of the cast members. Cubera snapper and jewfish over about 500 pounds share this class, as do large warsaw grouper and cuda over about 10'. [/list]

Good thing to remember if you decide to venture outside the confines of the rig legs! I've sometimes felt like a goldfish in a bowl from Mr. Bigs circling the rig.

 

[sealskin98]

You can get in trouble in the Gulf even with fairly calm seas and not in the hazards of a rig. Was visiting relatives in Pensacola one time, was there during the time of year they let divers go lobstering. Son-in-law and I decided to go bug-hunting for a couple of days. A hurricane had went through a week before and the vis. was about 10-12 feet, was 4 feet when we dove the Liberty shipwrecks.

I had done about 15 dives in Coz., but didn't have 20 dives total at that time. One of the trips was to the Timberholes, we came up about 100 yards up-current away from the dive boat and at an angle in a pretty stiff surface current. During the surface swim back I stopped about 30 yards away from the boat to rest for a second, son-in-law went on in. When I started up again I was about even with the stern. At about 15 yards away I had drifted directly behind the boat. Tired from chasing bugs and couldn't make any progress directly against the current, could only stay in one spot kicking as hard as I could. So...off I drifted.

About 10 minutes later another guy popped up close to me, same thing had happened to him. There were some divers down on nitrox, so it was awhile before they got everyone on board and could come get us. It was a kind of funny feeling drifting off toward Panama City with ramorays trying to give you hickeys and watching the dive boat get smaller and smaller and smaller. By my watch we were out there about 45 minutes before they picked us up. And that was in just about a foot or so of chop, hate to think what it would have been like if the seas had kicked up.

The next dive we surfaced in almost exactly the same conditions. This time we took a compass heading and descended below the surface current to swim back. Made it O.K. that time. One of the other divers on the boat later told us about a "funny" feeling he and his buddy had one time doing a rig dive. They surfaced and there was no dive boat! It came back a little later, some divers had been caught in the surface current and were drifting off also; they were getting out of sight so the boat went to get them before they lost sight of them.

And on those dives we had a bottom, 105 feet or so. Wall dives in Coz. might be good to get you used to maintaining depth with no bottom in sight like FredT is talking about, although you do have the wall as a visual reference. Hanging about 10 or 20 feet above a bottom would be good practice. Having to clear your ears is a good indicator that you are not going up!

What's the old saying, "Experience is something you get right after you find out you need it?" It pays to be as prepared as you can be for the conditions. I haven't done rig diving yet, but will use a good operator recommended by experienced people on this board and be with someone who has been there before when I go.

 

[redacted]

.

[*] WATCH HIM!!!: Large top level predators that can consider YOU lunch. The man in the gray suit is only one of the cast members. Cubera snapper and jewfish over about 500 pounds share this class, as do large warsaw grouper and cuda over about 10'. [/list]

FT

Fred

What is the threat and cautions to be taken with Jewfish? I've run into some that looked to go about 5 ft resting on bottom on an inshore shallow rig. I knew I didn't want to go pokin' around (Megan looked cute in that episode as usual) but positioned myself about a body length from him and watched. Was I inviting trouble?

 

[FredT]

Fred

What is the threat and cautions to be taken with Jewfish? I've run into some that looked to go about 5 ft resting on bottom on an inshore shallow rig. I knew I didn't want to go pokin' around (Megan looked cute in that episode as usual) but positioned myself about a body length from him and watched. Was I inviting trouble?

The threat is getting inhaled! Divers have been grabbed and shaken like a rat is shaken by a terrier, they have also had equipment snagged in a jaw corner during an inhale and had a quick trip to the jewfish's "home". This is an especially bad thing if the dive is nearly over, you already have a good nitrogen load and your tank is low. It's worse at any time in the dive if "home" is near the bottom a few hundred feet below you. You are in significantly more risk if you are in front of the thing, and even more so if he thinks you might have food.

If a large 'cuda goes head down by about 20° and backs up a bit find another place to dive.

FT

 

[Cudabait]

The rigs are awesome, be they off TX or AL. They also require a few not normally used skills.

1. Buoyancy and depth control and awareness, without using a depth gage. You'll be too busy with other things to deal with that. Off LA the bottom is often unreachable so you have to just KNOW when you are decending or ascending or you can get into serous trouble without realizing it. "Bottomless" dives are not for overweighted beginners. When you can reliably hover motionless with your eyes closed in midwater without a depth change you have this one knocked.

2 Piloting navigation skills. Compasses point to the nearest leg on a rig. Also there can be several different currents at different levels, all going different directions. Navigation by trusting currents is unreliable. OTOH you can often navigate around the rig without swimming by adjusting your depth to the where the current is "going your way".

3. Critter identification: On the rigs you are DEFINITELY back in the food chain. Your finned companions come in three clases.

• Pretty: Macro and midsize critters that are fun to watch.
• Lunch: Large midlevel predators suitable for dinner. (Generally dinner for 10!)
• WATCH HIM!!!: Large top level predators that can consider YOU lunch. The man in the gray suit is only one of the cast members. Cubera snapper and jewfish over about 500 pounds share this class, as do large warsaw grouper and cuda over about 10'.

FT

FredT,

I have a very special interest in barracudas. I have speared hundreds. Largest jewfish speared..390 lbs. warsaw grouper, weighing 500 lbs., maybe. Where did you see 500 lb. Cubera and 10' barracuda?

Got some pictures?

Regards,

 

[FredT]

Large 'cuda:
South of Mobile on both rigs and wrecks in ~150' of water or more.
South and east of the MS river main pass. Water depth 800'+.
South of grand Ilse LA. Water depth > 200'

Cubera:
Boca Third reef, summer of '72.
East of main pass in about '84. He was chasing a school of redfish about 4' long for lunch.
East of Andros Island in '97 at about 210'.
South of Gulfport on a rig 9-10-01.

I'm not insane enough to shoot a fish over 3' wide with any "normal" gun. No pictures as I usually carry a gun instead of a camera.

FT

 

[sealskin98]

Okay Cuda and Fred, which one of you are going to take me on a first free shafting expedition to the rigs?

Disconnects on a line shaft are good, huh?

I think I'll practice on sunken beer cans and stuff first, something that won't make me feel like I'm in a re-make of Moby Dick.