Incident - Spiegel Grove

[H2Andy]

oh wow, rachel...wasn't ignoring you, just missed this post

First, I'll respond to Andy....

There is nothing dumber than doing a blue water ascent in a ripping current unless it's part of the dive plan and the boat is watching for you.

yes there is.... fighting a current and drowning is far dumber

as, sadly, the incident we are discussing here illustrates

is it my first choice? heck no... but if it comes between exahusting
myself and over-breathing my reg to get to a line or saying "screw that"
and taking my chances with a free ascent, i'll take the ascent.

 

[HowardE]

oh wow, rachel...wasn't ignoring you, just missed this post




yes there is.... fighting a current and drowning is far dumber

as, sadly, the incident we are discussing here illustrates

is it my first choice? heck no... but if it comes between exahusting
myself and over-breathing my reg to get to a line or saying "screw that"
and taking my chances with a free ascent, i'll take the ascent.

While this is generally true, the SG does have MANY mooring lines. The ship is SO BIG, how could you not realize "oh my... I must be getting blown pretty hard... maybe I should just grab a line before I get blown off the ship entirely"

I personally think that in this case here, the captain explained it, when he said that this group of divers didn't take the advanced-ness of the dive seriously.

But I also think that ANY diver who is diving from a boat should always carry a safety sausage, just in case something like this does happen.

 

[H2Andy]

While this is generally true, the SG does have MANY mooring lines. The ship is SO BIG, how could you not realize "oh my... I must be getting blown pretty hard... maybe I should just grab a line before I get blown off the ship entirely"

ok, i'll say it again: it's not my first choice. if i can grab a line, awesome.
if i can grab a hold of the deck, awesome.

but IF it comes to struggling to reach a line or doing a free ascent, i'm doing
the free ascent.

come on guys, it's not rocket science

 

[wreckchick]

It's part of the dive plan to not find yourself somewhere where you can't get to a line or the deck or the lee of the current. I'm NOT recommending this, per se, but on the SG and the Duane and numerous other wrecks you can duck inside to catch your breath and then hunker down and keep moving.

To me, a blue water ascent is should be the absolute last resort. I've done one and I ended up a really, really long way from the boat in "no current" so I can't even imagine how far a person could travel in one that's ripping. When tracking divers doing drift deco we've traveled over 2 miles before. That's really long way away to see a safety sausage.

I learned to shoot a bag in the S&R part of my AOW. Very handy skill, IMO. Everyone should find some way to go play with lift bags.

Rachel

 

[HowardE]

ok, i'll say it again: it's not my first choice. if i can grab a line, awesome.
if i can grab a hold of the deck, awesome.

but IF it comes to struggling to reach a line or doing a free ascent, i'm doing
the free ascent.

come on guys, it's not rocket science

Ok

 

[H2Andy]

It's part of the dive plan to not find yourself somewhere where you can't get to a line or the deck or the lee of the current.

of course, but you know, crap does happen... as apparently happened to
this diver... which we are discussing .... in a perfect world, no diver
departs from plan, and no diver ever dies

in that case, there's no need to ever discuss how to handle the
unexpected, or an emergency situation, since evertyhing will always
go according to plan

you said there was nothing dumber than doing a blue water ascent.

i disagree. drowning is dumber. and far more terminal.

i'm just saying, think about the premises being discussed before jumping in with
such sweeping statements.

 

[Divmstr223]

It's part of the dive plan to not find yourself somewhere where you can't get to a line or the deck or the lee of the current. I'm NOT recommending this, per se, but on the SG and the Duane and numerous other wrecks you can duck inside to catch your breath and then hunker down and keep moving.

To me, a blue water ascent is should be the absolute last resort. I've done one and I ended up a really, really long way from the boat in "no current" so I can't even imagine how far a person could travel in one that's ripping. When tracking divers doing drift deco we've traveled over 2 miles before. That's really long way away to see a safety sausage.

I learned to shoot a bag in the S&R part of my AOW. Very handy skill, IMO. Everyone should find some way to go play with lift bags.

Rachel

I see nothing wrong with making open water ascents, I do it all the time. I don't spend too much time looking for anchor lines etc.....I navigate back in the direction I came from and if I don't find it, I tell my team let's go up and we handle our business.... I've done it too many times to keep count and there has never been a surface current that I couldn't kick my way back to the boat in. I'll tow anyone back to the boat if need be too.

I agree with Handy on this one. Dying under water is alot dumber than surfacing a distance away from the boat. When it's time to surface, you need to surface, don't bother with trying to find the closest ascent line if it becomes unsafe on a low air situation. Safety first...go up!! :14:

 

[Willie]

What classes teach how to deploy a bag properly? I'd like to learn how to use one.

A discussion on how to deploy and SMB and another. Some good points in this post as well.

I practiced deploying for the first time on a recent dive and it was not very pretty. Definitely something I need to practice. That is why I started researching. I have another good link, but I cant find it right now.

Willie

 

[DandyDon]

I see nothing wrong with making open water ascents, I do it all the time. I don't spend too much time looking for anchor lines etc.....I navigate back in the direction I came from and if I don't find it, I tell my team let's go up and we handle our business.... I've done it too many times to keep count and there has never been a surface current that I couldn't kick my way back to the boat in. I'll tow anyone back to the boat if need be too.

Uh, you ever dive the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits? :11: You will need your passport when you get to The Bahamas.

I agree with Handy on this one. Dying under water is alot dumber than surfacing a distance away from the boat. When it's time to surface, you need to surface, don't bother with trying to find the closest ascent line if it becomes unsafe on a low air situation. Safety first...go up!! :14:

Ok - yeah, I really don't know where this whole discussion came from, and I have been following the thread. This diver drowned on the surface on a drift line.

 

[Divmstr223]

Uh, you ever dive the Gulf Stream in the Florida Straits? :11: You will need your passport when you get to The Bahamas.
Ok - yeah, I really don't know where this whole discussion came from, and I have been following the thread. This diver drowned on the surface on a drift line.

Thanks Hall Monitor Don, you busted me....I must have went off topic, I took something Handy said and ran with it, my badd. :huh:

And you're probably right Don, I would end up in the Bahamas if I were diving where you say. But like I said before "every surface current I've been in" I had no issues with, never did I say troublesome ones did not exist. eyebrow