"Proper" use of a reel

[dbulmer]

NWG,
Because you were someone I'd listen to.

SparticleBane and others.,
Thanks for the info.

 

[francousteau]

Why ask me? I'm not the one who's doing it.

I can only assume they're using a reel because vis is bad and they want to get back to the upline. Sounds like more of a New Jersey thing, and I suspect they're rather far offshore at the time, so getting to the upline would be a real concern.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

More like an inshore thing, at least for me. Offshore, about 18 - 20+ miles, visibility is better and the wrecks are more intact. On those sites, I might or might not run a reel depending on the wreck and viz (however, I always run one inside the wreck). Our inshore wrecks, about 9+ miles out, have been wire dragged pretty drastically and there's a pretty good debris field. Without a line, you could follow the main structure and then jump over to a smaller debris field leading away from the main structure without really realizing it. Once you do that, it can get pretty dicey finding your way back without the use of a reel because one debris field leads to another. Our viz tends to be 8' - 15' (sometimes as little as inches) on average and it's a pretty cloudy viz at that. So, running a reel even though we're not penetrating, is the way we find our way home. A lot of the old timers don't run reels here because they've been to the wrecks so many times that they have an intimate knowledge of them. For me . . . I want to make it back to the upline. HTH

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

More like an inshore thing, at least for me. Offshore, about 18 - 20+ miles, visibility is better and the wrecks are more intact. On those sites, I might or might not run a reel depending on the wreck and viz (however, I always run one inside the wreck). Our inshore wrecks, about 9+ miles out, ...

Regional differences in terminology ... in Puget Sound, anything you can't surface swim to is "offshore" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SparticleBrane]

Regional differences in terminology ... in Puget Sound, anything you can't surface swim to is "offshore" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I'm sure you can swim out as far as you want. Whether or not you come back...is different altogether.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm sure you can swim out as far as you want. Whether or not you come back...is different altogether.

Not really an issue here. Puget Sound gets real deep, real fast. Even the sites we commonly do by boat are very close to shore ... it's just that they're close to a shoreline you can't access except by boat.

In a pinch, you can almost always swim to shore if you had to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SparticleBrane]

How far away from shore are we talking?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

How far away from shore are we talking?

Depends ... most of the tech dives I've done so far are within 1/4 mile of terra firma, even though we do them from a boat.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[waterpirate]

Wreck reel and laying line 101,
The first drill anyone should become familiar with is the lost line drill, if usung wreck reel for navigation back to tie-in. Bad low vis wreck diving should be treated the same way as penetration in my opinion, slow progression over time to learn the wreck, save for the silt out. Takes time and patience.
Eric

 

[RoyN]

My instructor always comes back with a wad of ropes in a mess.

 

[Meng_Tze]

My instructor always comes back with a wad of ropes in a mess.

I wonder what he/she is teaching you then....:huh: