Spiegel Grove - Need Advice

[Boatlawyer]

Thanks guys. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed. Ironic that I spent so much time leading up to the trip worrying about killing myself, and then spent the day wishing I was dead! I don't think I could have moved off the sun deck if someone had set me on fire. OH well, next time I will take preventative measures. I had never had a big problem with seasickness, but was in fairly good company as nearly half the divers eventually succumbed. So, I didn't feel like a complete wimp!

Yes, that boat will be there a long time, along with all the others here. One good thing is I realized my shorty wetsuit is just fine for the 73 degree water here in December.

Funny story. My brother mistakenly brought a wetsuit that belonged to the 12 year old son of an ex-girlfriend of his. He managed to squeeze into it, but his voice was a few octaves higher all afternoon.

Merry Christmas Mark! I'll keep you posted.

 

[Data]

I know, a little late, but luckily not tooo late.
I'm glad to see you didn't dive the sg yet.
you have absolutely no business to dive the sg as harsh as it might sound, but that's a fact.
the sg is a serious deep water wreck dive at the absolute limit of recreational diving. ask yourself a few questions:
how many dives since my ow certification did I do?
how many deeper dives to about 60' did I do?
how good is my buoyancy and trim?
how comfortable am I with dives to 60'
how comfortable am I with passing the aow certification?
when did I take my aow certification?
how many dives on wrecks @ 70' - 80' - 90' 100' did I do after my aow certification?
how could I handle any situation thrown at me while I'm at 120' on a wreck?
how much is the dive to the sg worth to me to die for and not caring about any of the questions I just asked myself?
look at these questions above and answer them to yourself and don't depend on people on a forum to make life decisions for you.
just my 1.02ata

 

[MarkUK]

What? 'The Spiegel Grove is a serious deep water wreck dive at the absolute limit of recreational diving'? Only if you go to the seabed at 42m. Otherwise you hit the top of the bridge and superstructure at around 18-20m, which is only around the max depth for OW divers and nowhere near the general accepted limit for recreational divers.

I appreciate the fact that caution is required, and I think Boatlawyer had shown she wasn't willing to rush into anything, going into the dive with her brother and a DM (I also said she will get more out of the dive once she is AOW). Ok, so on the day, the DM didn't accompany them, but that's something she can take up with with the dive op.

Yes, the Grove can be a ***** when the current is running, but on really bad days, they don't dive it. Otherwise, it is a great wreck to dive, and you don't have to be an expert to dive it if you are sticking around the superstructure and watching your depth. You go down a line, you come up a line, and you don't have to go any deeper than 20m or so to see plenty, so what's the problem.

If this was a wreck in limited vis, with no shotline, a constant screaming current and no high points, then yes, it is beyond a relative novice's limits, but don't make it out to be something it isn't. I took my boss for a double dip on the Grove when it was still on its side and he was AOW with 13 dives. There was some current, but he was happy using the line for ascent and descent, and once on the wreck we stayed at a max of 22m and used the superstucture for shelter from the current. No dramas, no panic – easy to navigate, easy to see (100 foot plus vis) and easy to dive.

Each to their own, and as you are, I was only offering my opinion, but I truly hate when people blow dives out of all proportion. It's like Scapa Flow – some of the easiest sea wreck diving in the UK, yet many who've been there come back with tales of dark, deep, dangerous wrecks. Max is 42m, vis is generally 6-8 metres and in the middle of the Flow there is no current! It is all about the image...

Mark

 

[Mark50]

In October as a divemaster assisting two other instructors, I accompanied 6 newly certified OW divers to the SG. Viz was 50', current was mild, and the top deck where we hung out was at 65fsw - you don't have to go deep to have a good dive.

 

[DEEPLOU]

What? 'The Spiegel Grove is a serious deep water wreck dive at the absolute limit of recreational diving'? Only if you go to the seabed at 42m. Otherwise you hit the top of the bridge and superstructure at around 18-20m, which is only around the max depth for OW divers and nowhere near the general accepted limit for recreational divers.

I appreciate the fact that caution is required, and I think Boatlawyer had shown she wasn't willing to rush into anything, going into the dive with her brother and a DM (I also said she will get more out of the dive once she is AOW). Ok, so on the day, the DM didn't accompany them, but that's something she can take up with with the dive op.

Yes, the Grove can be a ***** when the current is running, but on really bad days, they don't dive it. Otherwise, it is a great wreck to dive, and you don't have to be an expert to dive it if you are sticking around the superstructure and watching your depth. You go down a line, you come up a line, and you don't have to go any deeper than 20m or so to see plenty, so what's the problem.

If this was a wreck in limited vis, with no shotline, a constant screaming current and no high points, then yes, it is beyond a relative novice's limits, but don't make it out to be something it isn't. I took my boss for a double dip on the Grove when it was still on its side and he was AOW with 13 dives. There was some current, but he was happy using the line for ascent and descent, and once on the wreck we stayed at a max of 22m and used the superstucture for shelter from the current. No dramas, no panic – easy to navigate, easy to see (100 foot plus vis) and easy to dive.

Each to their own, and as you are, I was only offering my opinion, but I truly hate when people blow dives out of all proportion. It's like Scapa Flow – some of the easiest sea wreck diving in the UK, yet many who've been there come back with tales of dark, deep, dangerous wrecks. Max is 42m, vis is generally 6-8 metres and in the middle of the Flow there is no current! It is all about the image...

Mark

Its two years since i dove the Speigel. Down at the stern there was a washout, and I was able to record a max depth of 139 ft. But that was just for inquisitive purposes.

Now that it is upright, there doesn't seem like there is much reason to go all the way to the bottom.

Hopefully i will find out next week.

In a way the difficulty of a dive is relative to where you usually dive, what kind of diving you have been doing and how long you have been doing it.

But, I will still take limited vis over raging current any day.