Scuba diver dies while exploring popular shipwreck, a third tragedy in the Florida Keys

[scubadada]

...I've never done a rec dive on the SG but I would think those would be some pretty short dives. Doable, just not long dives...

Obviously depends on your gas, profile, and gas consumption. Between 2004 and 2009, I did 20 dives on the Spiegel Grove using an AL80 with 32% nitrox. Average max depth 110 ft (96-129), mean avg depth 70 ft (66-73), avg dive time 39 min (26-48). Sometimes it was NDL and sometimes it was remaining gas that prompted ending the dive. My RMV back then was probably a little higher than it is today, I wasn't calculating it then.

I did 4 dives in one day on the Spiegel Grove in 2015 off @Wookie's Spree. Same profile but with a HP steel 100. Avg dive time was 51 min (41-57). The first dive was limited by gas (short fill, 2860), the other three by NDL. This was a rec/light tec trip with 2 dive windows. My son and I got in dive time that was reasonably comparable to the tec divers, 1:38 in the morning and 1:44 in the afternoon.

 

[John the Pom]

My open water training (NAUI/YMCA) was in 1986. The training limit then was 130 fsw. We used tables (and 60 fpm ascent rates), which meant very short bottom times.

rx7diver

Tables forced you to at least think about a plan for every dive; and doing a decompression dive meant a lot of planning for dive profile and air consumption. Computers make life much easier but, as a grumpy old man, I do seem to see quite a few divers with a "Don't worry about planning - the computer will look after me" attitude.

 

[dulinor]

Yikes. My wife and I were at the SG just a couple of weeks ago for a regular rec dive (although we saw someone solo diving side mount pop out the fuselage in front of us, which was amusing.) My first time there, her 2nd I think.

Definitely seemed like the kind of place that was completely reasonable if you stuck to plan for depth/duration. A less experienced diver in the group was a little freaked out on that dive - threw up in his regulator a couple of times (he said from the current, which was quite sporting) and decided to skip the last dive of the day. Not sure I'll forward him the article...

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Snoopy was the official mascot. We called the SG "Top Dog". The image is on the main deck almost amidships just outside the crew mess deck and the barber shop. (Technically this is out of range for recreational divers in that it is more than 130 linear feet from the surface.)

I have done a lotta dives on her...mostly main deck/well deck and shallower. If one ventures into the wreck below the main deck where no currents ever get to there is a LOT of very fine silt that stirs up very easily, zeroing the vis in a matter of seconds. There are no holes in her on those decks like on the O2 level that allows light inside so it is as dark as any cave.

Without a guideline I could not find my way out of her under those conditions and I lived on her for about 18 months.

I cannot understand why people think they can do these dives safely on a single AL80 with no guideline.

 

[TravelGas]

Great photo Capt. Jim. What is the depth to Snoopy and the sand at the deepest point ?
Which tank size do you recommend; 100, 120 ?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Great photo Capt. Jim. What is the depth to Snoopy and the sand at the deepest point ?
Which tank size do you recommend; 100, 120 ?

The photo was taken off of a Google search. Depth is in the 90 foot range with another 40-50 feet swim to an exit.

When making dives like this, to Snoopy I suggest a larger volume tank with an H-valve and redundant regulators. I am sure a LOT of people dive to Snoopy with AL80's and do just fine.

 

[Eric802]

Many of the videos on YouTube of folks going to Snoopy show them doing it with AL80’s*. Definitely a penetration dive by definition, but it doesn’t look like one where a line would be needed.

*Not saying that makes it a good practice

 

[RyanT]

What is the depth to Snoopy and the sand at the deepest point ?

I had 134', but that was in the sand where it's a washout around the bow. Most of the sand is 130'.

 

[Johnoly]

..people dive to Snoopy with AL80's and do just fine.

At the shop's counter for check in, they should give people who want to find Snoopy on an AL80 a blacked out dive mask, spin them twice and then tell them to find the shop's front door exit. That should 'educate' them what a silt out is.

 

[MrVegas]

I did four dives on the Spiegel Grove last winter (two two-tank days). We used AL80s and 30%. They were some of my favorite dives I've ever done -- that wreck is an awesome dive site. The first day we hired a guide (which I think is a good idea for the first time on that site). The second day we went on our own. Conditions were pretty benign -- not too much current. Basically, 30 minute dives or so maxing out between 95-105 feet. (Saw Snoopy both days.) The parts of the wreck we were in did not seem that dangerous or extremely silty -- but I'm sure diving that wreck can be as dangerous as someone wants to make it if they get tempted to go deep in the parts that haven't really been prepped for diving.

Is there any more information on where this individual was diving on the site?