Out of the side of his mouth and under his breath, W.C. Fields would say, "How fortuitous."
I'm gearing up at a local clear water lake on this perfect Labor Day under a bright clear sky, light pleasantly cool breeze, with calm water, and very few boats or people....
I'm approached by a kayaker who is vaguely familiar. He says hello and mentions a nearby cabin owner friend having lost a mast and sail two days prior when his son flipped the small family sailboat. He wonders if I might be able to find it. He points and describes the location somewhat vaguely about 300 yards out.
Naturally, I first imagine counting money, then I come to my senses and picture swimming a search and recovery pattern for an hour in the 44-degree 50-foot deep water only to come up empty because of the typically inaccurate description of the location of the incident. Then there's the thought of the disappointed and disgruntled client who shelled out the "get wet" fee.... hmmm.
What the heck, I'll lower the "get wet" fee and see what can be done. Placed a call and soon was speaking face to face with the owner of the now-crippled sailboat.
W.C. Fields also said, "Never smarten up a chump." Hmmm.... naw, I'm not like that....it's a nice day for a dive with a mission.
A pleasant surprise, the man seems to have a good sense of where the incident happened since he witnessed it from about a hundred yards away on the other shore. He points to another boat crossing in about the same spot and I take a bearing.
I offer a cut-rate deal of a $25 "get wet" fee and and an additional $50 if the items are recovered. I promise to spend up to an hour looking. Secretly, I'm not hopeful, since the vis at 50' will be less than 10'. I bring my tuna ball attached to my flag line, a 3-lb weight, a 250' reel and begin a 15-minute surface swim.
Finally arriving to a spot about 300 yards out and between the white cabin 300 yards away on the west shore and the green cabin 100 yards away on the east shore, I call over to the man who has returned to his cabin where he witnessed the incident. I ask him confirm if this location is his "best guess" or if I should move a bit. I'm hoping he tells me to move a few dozen yards one way or the other, but he says, "That looks good." Uh-oh, that means it's probably not good. I have a plan set in my mind for laying out line and swimming a pattern and hoping for the best.... down I go, head-first, to save as much of my 120 as possible for swimming the pattern.
64-degree water gives way at the 30-foot level to much colder water, dropping to 44-degrees. Glad I dive dry with lots of insulation....
Green mottled moving shapes of sunrays are overtaken by featureless dark green. At 40', the dark-gray silt-jello bottom begins to appear ten feet below....something light-colored off to the side....a nice new towel....I swim a yard or two and reach it on the bottom at 50'.
This is a great sign, since it clearly has no silt on it. I'm excited now. I rotate and scan the limits of the visible areas ten feet away....there's the bright aluminum mast standing upright where it speared the silt jello....and the sail with boom and vertical member lying on the bottom four feet away!
Ka-Ching!
Back to the surface with the items, my bottom time was 8 minutes, total dive time of about 28 minutes! The owner comes over in his canoe and happily takes the items and I descend to continue a pleasure dive!
How fortuitous!
Anyone else care to share some diving search and recovery "Ka-Ching" stories?
Dave C
I'm gearing up at a local clear water lake on this perfect Labor Day under a bright clear sky, light pleasantly cool breeze, with calm water, and very few boats or people....
I'm approached by a kayaker who is vaguely familiar. He says hello and mentions a nearby cabin owner friend having lost a mast and sail two days prior when his son flipped the small family sailboat. He wonders if I might be able to find it. He points and describes the location somewhat vaguely about 300 yards out.
Naturally, I first imagine counting money, then I come to my senses and picture swimming a search and recovery pattern for an hour in the 44-degree 50-foot deep water only to come up empty because of the typically inaccurate description of the location of the incident. Then there's the thought of the disappointed and disgruntled client who shelled out the "get wet" fee.... hmmm.
What the heck, I'll lower the "get wet" fee and see what can be done. Placed a call and soon was speaking face to face with the owner of the now-crippled sailboat.
W.C. Fields also said, "Never smarten up a chump." Hmmm.... naw, I'm not like that....it's a nice day for a dive with a mission.
A pleasant surprise, the man seems to have a good sense of where the incident happened since he witnessed it from about a hundred yards away on the other shore. He points to another boat crossing in about the same spot and I take a bearing.
I offer a cut-rate deal of a $25 "get wet" fee and and an additional $50 if the items are recovered. I promise to spend up to an hour looking. Secretly, I'm not hopeful, since the vis at 50' will be less than 10'. I bring my tuna ball attached to my flag line, a 3-lb weight, a 250' reel and begin a 15-minute surface swim.
Finally arriving to a spot about 300 yards out and between the white cabin 300 yards away on the west shore and the green cabin 100 yards away on the east shore, I call over to the man who has returned to his cabin where he witnessed the incident. I ask him confirm if this location is his "best guess" or if I should move a bit. I'm hoping he tells me to move a few dozen yards one way or the other, but he says, "That looks good." Uh-oh, that means it's probably not good. I have a plan set in my mind for laying out line and swimming a pattern and hoping for the best.... down I go, head-first, to save as much of my 120 as possible for swimming the pattern.
64-degree water gives way at the 30-foot level to much colder water, dropping to 44-degrees. Glad I dive dry with lots of insulation....
Green mottled moving shapes of sunrays are overtaken by featureless dark green. At 40', the dark-gray silt-jello bottom begins to appear ten feet below....something light-colored off to the side....a nice new towel....I swim a yard or two and reach it on the bottom at 50'.
This is a great sign, since it clearly has no silt on it. I'm excited now. I rotate and scan the limits of the visible areas ten feet away....there's the bright aluminum mast standing upright where it speared the silt jello....and the sail with boom and vertical member lying on the bottom four feet away!
Ka-Ching!
Back to the surface with the items, my bottom time was 8 minutes, total dive time of about 28 minutes! The owner comes over in his canoe and happily takes the items and I descend to continue a pleasure dive!
How fortuitous!
Anyone else care to share some diving search and recovery "Ka-Ching" stories?
Dave C
