Missing Diver Off Vandenberg?

[BRT]

We both have Dive Alerts so if one somehow can't find the other at least we can communicate that fact.

I have been separated from my wife in the Hood Canal. I could hear her banging her tank, and that sound slowly drifted away, but I couldn't find her.

 

[Centrals]

I hope it is a medical issue so all concerned parties would feel a bit better.
RIP.

 

[yle]

It does both. I'm afraid to use it on the surface, it's pretty loud...enough to damage your hearing. Underwater it's more of a quacking sound

A Dive Alert is extremely loud at the surface; it's an air horn. If you need to use it at the surface, submerge your head so your ears are underwater. Seriously.

 

[Steelyeyes]

I have been separated from my wife in the Hood Canal. I could hear her banging her tank, and that sound slowly drifted away, but I couldn't find her.

I had a similar problem at Sund Rock. I was descending slightly below hey wife and visibility went to complete zero. Took me a bit to get oriented and come up into water that didn't look like ink. I found her pretty quickly once I could see. It felt longer but it was probably two minutes.

 

[BRT]

I had a similar problem at Sund Rock. I was descending slightly below hey wife and visibility went to complete zero. Took me a bit to get oriented and come up into water that didn't look like ink. I found her pretty quickly once I could see. It felt longer but it was probably two minutes.

We were on the bottom at Sund out near the cables. Scary.

 

[JohnN]

With all respect to the deceased diver, when artificial reefs like the Vandenberg are created. How much thought is given to the depth where they will be deposited?

Yes 150' is within the limits of a diver on air (given a sufficiently large tank), but the risk threshold would be significantly reduced if the depth was at 100' (or 70'). Still sufficiently deep to not interfere with surface navigation but a much safer recreational dive

Does the bottom terrain accommodate this? It seems these sunken ships are almost always placed in water that should only be accessed by technical divers which obviously stops no one

 

[Divin'Papaw]

With all respect to the deceased diver, when artificial reefs like the Vandenberg are created. How much thought is given to the depth where they will be deposited?

Yes 150' is within the limits of a diver on air (given a sufficiently large tank), but the risk threshold would be significantly reduced if the depth was at 100' (or 70'). Still sufficiently deep to not interfere with surface navigation but a much safer recreational dive

Does the bottom terrain accommodate this? It seems these sunken ships are almost always placed in water that should only be accessed by technical divers which obviously stops no one

Keep in mind this is a tall ship. Really tall I think. If it’s not sunk deep enough it’s a risk to navigation.

 

[RyanT]

@JohnN, you bring up an interesting point. I'm just speaking from my experience with the S. Florida wrecks here... The reality is that there is a lot of variability in the bottom depth at which artificial wrecks are placed. There are actually lots of wrecks in this neck of the world that are at 100' or less. A critical consideration is the navigation depth. The top of the wreck needs to be deeper than a certain depth for navigational purposes (I don't know what that actual depth is). In the case where folks want to create a BIG artificial reef (like the Vandenburg or Spiegel Grove), the depth will have to be fairly deep to ensure that the top of that giant ship isn't shallower than the navigational depth. So if you want to sink a 100' long ship for a wreck, it can be placed safely in a shallower location than a 500' ship. In addition, the artificial reef programs are just as interested in supporting the fishing community as they are the dive community. Obviously depth doesn't really present a hazard for the folks who are fishing.

 

[scubadada]

In Florida, the artificial reef permit limits the the height of the artificial reef to no more the half the depth of the area.

 

[Wookie]

With all respect to the deceased diver, when artificial reefs like the Vandenberg are created. How much thought is given to the depth where they will be deposited?

Yes 150' is within the limits of a diver on air (given a sufficiently large tank), but the risk threshold would be significantly reduced if the depth was at 100' (or 70'). Still sufficiently deep to not interfere with surface navigation but a much safer recreational dive

Does the bottom terrain accommodate this? It seems these sunken ships are almost always placed in water that should only be accessed by technical divers which obviously stops no one

They need to top out less than 85 feet so that they don't require a permanent buoy by the Coast Guard.