JamesP
Contributor
Ice Diving Warning
Folks,
A number of us have received private email / pms requests, from divers wanting to be escorted on an ICE DIVE of the Kinghorn in Rockport. This CANNOT be done either practically or safely for anyone without proper training or equipment. If the SB members which also have experience with this dive site or other that are similar could post their experiences here it would be appreciated.
Please take this warning to heart folks. You have got to play safe. There is nothing down there worth dying for.
1.You cannot make this dive on a SINGLE tank.
2.If you dive this wreck with an ice overhead, once you are on the wreck you are approx 800ft from the nearest exit point.
3.In this area an 800ft drift with a light swim on to the wreck takes approx 10 to 12 mins.
4.Exiting the wreck, getting back to the end of the line can take 15 mins. plus depending on current flow, which does vary day to day.
5.Things can definitely go wrong on these kinds of dives in these temperatures. Common failures are wing inflators freezing open, free flows and hyperthermia. Each one of these failures has the potential to KILL YOU and or the buddy you are with. Thats right folks KILL YOU.
6.Buoyancy control and no silting fin techniques are also essential for this dive. Silting out can and does happen very easily in this particular environment. Once the particulate is suspended within 40 to 50 feet of the shore, it hangs in the water column forever. I have seen this site reduced to 3ft and less. It makes it impossible to navigate and you CANNOT SURFACE if you get lost.
Gas management is critical for this ice dive. A growing number of us keep 200cft plus of back gas as reserve for this kind of diving. Folks, that means we use double tanks just for our reserve gas. We have done this dive many times using just back gas. The last time we had just made it to the wreck (800 ft and 12 mins out and away from the nearest exit), when 2 of the 3 man team had complete regulator failures. One diver was without gas, I had free-flows in both secondary regs. This left the other two divers on an air share and myself continually cycling through valve shut downs to clear the free-flows. It took 6 to 8 minutes to remedy the out of gas situation of the first diver. This left the third diver to monitor the two of us as we made our way out. I had to continually shut alternating regs to clear the freeze up all the way to the exit point, which we reached approx 22 minutes from the start of the first failure. In those 35 minutes I used 170cft plus of gas. Hence we like to keep all our back gas for reserve from now on.
This is a single instantance of things going wrong in the worst way. The point is these things can and do happen. It took a minimum of 6 minutes to get the second set of regs working. 6 mins without gas is enough to KILL anyone. This was do while moving to the exit. It was done while maintaining buoyancy and trim, therefore the visibility was still good for the trip out. It would have been a whole other ball game had we stirred up the bottom.
Folks, I have posted this here to illustrate the seriousness of this kind of ice diving. I can understand the desire to rush into the adventure. I have experienced myself. But please approach this with caution. If you are at a recreational level please limit your dives to an ice diving course and or a club or group that has harness equipment and support to allow you to participate safety.
Folks,
A number of us have received private email / pms requests, from divers wanting to be escorted on an ICE DIVE of the Kinghorn in Rockport. This CANNOT be done either practically or safely for anyone without proper training or equipment. If the SB members which also have experience with this dive site or other that are similar could post their experiences here it would be appreciated.
Please take this warning to heart folks. You have got to play safe. There is nothing down there worth dying for.
1.You cannot make this dive on a SINGLE tank.
2.If you dive this wreck with an ice overhead, once you are on the wreck you are approx 800ft from the nearest exit point.
3.In this area an 800ft drift with a light swim on to the wreck takes approx 10 to 12 mins.
4.Exiting the wreck, getting back to the end of the line can take 15 mins. plus depending on current flow, which does vary day to day.
5.Things can definitely go wrong on these kinds of dives in these temperatures. Common failures are wing inflators freezing open, free flows and hyperthermia. Each one of these failures has the potential to KILL YOU and or the buddy you are with. Thats right folks KILL YOU.
6.Buoyancy control and no silting fin techniques are also essential for this dive. Silting out can and does happen very easily in this particular environment. Once the particulate is suspended within 40 to 50 feet of the shore, it hangs in the water column forever. I have seen this site reduced to 3ft and less. It makes it impossible to navigate and you CANNOT SURFACE if you get lost.
Gas management is critical for this ice dive. A growing number of us keep 200cft plus of back gas as reserve for this kind of diving. Folks, that means we use double tanks just for our reserve gas. We have done this dive many times using just back gas. The last time we had just made it to the wreck (800 ft and 12 mins out and away from the nearest exit), when 2 of the 3 man team had complete regulator failures. One diver was without gas, I had free-flows in both secondary regs. This left the other two divers on an air share and myself continually cycling through valve shut downs to clear the free-flows. It took 6 to 8 minutes to remedy the out of gas situation of the first diver. This left the third diver to monitor the two of us as we made our way out. I had to continually shut alternating regs to clear the freeze up all the way to the exit point, which we reached approx 22 minutes from the start of the first failure. In those 35 minutes I used 170cft plus of gas. Hence we like to keep all our back gas for reserve from now on.
This is a single instantance of things going wrong in the worst way. The point is these things can and do happen. It took a minimum of 6 minutes to get the second set of regs working. 6 mins without gas is enough to KILL anyone. This was do while moving to the exit. It was done while maintaining buoyancy and trim, therefore the visibility was still good for the trip out. It would have been a whole other ball game had we stirred up the bottom.
Folks, I have posted this here to illustrate the seriousness of this kind of ice diving. I can understand the desire to rush into the adventure. I have experienced myself. But please approach this with caution. If you are at a recreational level please limit your dives to an ice diving course and or a club or group that has harness equipment and support to allow you to participate safety.
