Incident - Spiegel Grove

[DandyDon]

Hall Monitor Don...?! :lol2: They get some ripping currents there. I don't know if they're as bad where the Grove was planned to be sunk, but at the spot where she prematurely went down - bad! Ever been on a mooring line with your legs flowing horizonally in the current?

I don't doubt that you're a much better swimmer than I am, but swimming into a bad one there with dive gear is out of the question, I think - unless someone who has done it wants to correct me...?

 

[Divmstr223]

Hall Monitor Don...?! :lol2: They get some ripping currents there. I don't know if they're as bad where the Grove was planned to be sunk, but at the spot where she prematurely went down - bad! Ever been on a mooring line with your legs flowing horizonally in the current?

I don't doubt that you're a much better swimmer than I am, but swimming into a bad one there with dive gear is out of the question, I think - unless someone who has done it wants to correct me...?

Actually, I am a very strong swimmer....put fins on me and I'm gone...lol. But the kind of conditions that you are talking about is exactly why I need to buy a saftey sausage. You just never know what could happen on any given day.

 

[DandyDon]

Actually, I am a very strong swimmer....put fins on me and I'm gone...lol. But the kind of conditions that you are talking about is exactly why I need to buy a saftey sausage. You just never know what could happen on any given day.

Yeah, bought one for my first ocean dive - carried it ever since. Used it some.

 

[tiburon72157]

the current there can get real wicked...real quick. life threatening quick.

 

[stu_in_fl]

I don't know if they're as bad where the Grove was planned to be sunk, but at the spot where she prematurely went down - bad!

- I think it actually went down where they intended, just initially not the right way up....and those pesky currents aided it in flipping upright in that storm - I'm lucky, never been down there blowing like a flag on the line....

....anyhow...back to the posts:


As previous posters have said
(1) Try to go up your planned mooring line...now the ship is upright it is much less disorientating (if that is a word), so really you should be able to find your line even in poorer viz. But if you can't make it to the correct one then :
(2) Get any mooring line - if it looks like there is current, often the dive boat will (or should) give you an alternate to try for if you cannot make it to the original one - this is better than having divers coming up on 8 different lines.
(3)...if ALL else fails - no chance of getting close to any line near the ship, and as a very last resort - blue water ascent (doing proper safety stops etc and keeping with your buddy - lock arms etc and inflate both safety sausages and any other stuff you have. - at least the boat will know which direction you will be in (but it is still a BIG ocean) - so make yourselves as BIG as possibel......inflate and prepare to wait a while....

 

[ArcticDiver]

Just wanted to chime in to reinforce the fact that the Rainbow Reef crew did an excellent job in this incident. They behaved in a disciplined and effective manner. The Captain used the abilities of his crew and of the divers on board in an effective way to recover divers who were in the water. I've dove with them before and I'll dive with them again.

The number of divers on either of the boats had very little to do with this incident. Sure, it is a more pleasurable situation when you only have to share a large boat with a few other divers. But, that does not necessarily translate to being unsafe. In this case it surely didn't.

Rainbow Reef, like most other dive ops, has its problems. But, none that I saw in any way compromised safety or the professionalism of their crew.

I just want to note the diver who had the problem came from the Horizon Divers boat. Since I wasn't on that boat I can't comment either favorably, or unfavorably.

Perhaps the best take-away lesson for all is to remember that when a diver signs those releases the diver is taking full responsibility for the dive. That is as it should be. The boat captain is not a member of the SCUBA police and is not the final authority on how the diver conducts himself in the water.

 

[idive2]

I think these deep dives are sometimes taken for granted by both new divers
and more experienced divers as well. I think the casual approach to air management
some have at intermediate depths can lead to huge problems on these 100 fsw
dives. I think air supply should be a high priority in doing your dive, it is very easy
to miscalculate the air you may need to return to a line or for that matter even make
your ascent when you have half a dozen divers on the down line. I'd rather be doing my safety stop with 1000 psi than be caught struggling for the ascent line at 500 psi. With regards to open water ascents I would certainly try to use the line when possible but if air supply is even slightly low I would much rather be on the top in open water with reserve air than struggling to reach a line if my air supply is in any way in
question. These are all tough calls and they are made tougher when currents and
diminished air supply begin to play into it. I guess the best thing would be to not get into the situation which is not always possible but sometimes being cautious from the get go can go a long ways.

 

[Mike Newman]

Wow! I've seen alot of stories about divers being blown off the speigel grove but this one brings it home as I plan on diving it st. patties day weekend [sat. a.m.]
I do understand the risk factor and plan on maintaining the decent line all the way to the hull.as well as keeping a good hand hold on the structure during the entire dive. I would like to at least make it into the pilot house before my accent .
Is there any other advice you guy's can give.

Don't be too anxious about the Spiegel. I have many dives on the old girl and about 3 out of 5 dives are current-free. A fourth is usually manageable - and the odd 5th one is the one to watch out for. You're likely to have a wonderful experience without real challenges.

But do obey all the advice of your dive operator, particularly about line use and recovery procedures, if anyone does get swept away.

Have a great visit to the Grove!

 

[Web Monkey]

I love the helpful deck hands who want divers to hand stuff up.

The mask stays on my face, the reg stays in my mouth and the fins stay on my arms until my butt is planted in the seat.

If they want to haul my BC up, they'll need to workout more, since I'll still be in it.

Of course if they had a cool boat like Moe Hunt's Landing Craft in A-Bay, they could just hook you up and crank up the hoist.

Terry

I have the opposite problem when diving on a boat where they want you take off your BC before you get on the ladder. "Take you your regulator OUT of your mouth!" they remind me as they pull the BC up and I am hanging like a landed trout

 

[Web Monkey]

I'd love to dive the Grove, but I'm never sure how seriously to take the warnings. I'm not sure if they're trying scare off recently minted AOWs with 20 dives, or if it's a real problem where the current is going to rip me off the wreck at a moment's notice.

Is the current any worse than Cozumel, for example?

Terry

Don't be too anxious about the Spiegel. I have many dives on the old girl and about 3 out of 5 dives are current-free. A fourth is usually manageable - and the odd 5th one is the one to watch out for. You're likely to have a wonderful experience without real challenges.

But do obey all the advice of your dive operator, particularly about line use and recovery procedures, if anyone does get swept away.

Have a great visit to the Grove!