Stressful experience

[Capt. Ty]

There's a Captain that doesn't own the boat or have anything to lose in a liability lawsuit.

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board, glad everything turned out OK.
I do wonder about a captain that takes new divers on 70-80 ft dives, current or not. There are way too many nice reefs in 20-40 ft of water to do deep wrecks, esp for beginners. Next time, get on a charter that will take you to some more suitable dives. If you are the only ones on the boat, you have some control of where the boat goes, after all, you are the paying customer. Don't be afraid to suggest a dive option, esp if you are the only one on the boat. Often when I am in the Keys I do shallow reef dives because the divers with me are new or rusty. I check with the op before booking the dive and if the dive is not to my liking, I go elsewhere. Someone is doing a shallow dive. I am the customer and have some say in the product I get.

 

[DandyDon]

The "captain" cannot leave the boat unattended. As mentioned below this is a violation of Coast Guard regulations & should be reported.

Are you sure?

I'm going to PM a captain to take a look at this..

 

[Charlie99]

It's a good thing to listen to that little internal voice saying "something's wrong here!"

It's an even better thing to actually do something about it.

Luck was with you that day.

 

[Charlie99]

Non-pros are known to do it <leave boat unattended> in the Keys, other Florida waters.

And some pros too. I ended up being the only customer on a 6 pack out of the Lower Keys a few years ago. The Captain asked if I was OK with both him and the mate joining me on the wreck. I agreed, as long as someone shoreside knew where we were and when to expect us to call back. He just chuckled and said that was his SOP when leaving an unattended boat. We also left the boat unattended for the first part of the 2nd dive on a 70' wall nearby, and then pulled the boat along as the world's biggest dive float for the 2nd half of the dive.

Obviously, the anchor was checked on both dives, and someone back at the marina knew exactly where we went down and when to expect a call back. While not as ideal as having a qualified boat operator left on the boat, considering the conditions that day, it was within my acceptable risk level.

YMMV.

Charlie Allen

 

[Gombessa]

then pulled the boat along as the world's biggest dive float for the 2nd half of the dive.

Wow, how far can you get towing a boat behind you? Did everyone grab the line like a sled dog team?

 

[scubarchtraveler]

Thank you to all for your comments and suggestions. I have learned from this experience. I should also have mentioned that the captain/guide's plan was to guide us through the wreck once and we could do it again if we wanted! I had the gumption to cancel this plan as soon as I entered the water, but I should have cancelled the entire dive. The sea was relatively rough and, of my 30 dives, I only had about 7 ocean dives under my belt and they were under ideal conditions.

 

[Misplaced Priority]

My 16yo AOW RESCUE with close to 100 ocean dives, me with ?? crap >800 with me on a dive charter out of Key Largo to dive the Speigel Grove. 5 to 6' seas all the way out. Got there and found insane current. Two other guys rolled over the side and made their way up the granny line to the ball and went down. I rolled over and felt like I was being pulled behind a moving boat. I scratched the dive for my son's sake right then and there. I could see me explaining to his mom. Well dear, I think he should be just off the coast of Miami by now. The other two guys did a second dive while we waited. I told my son then. Just because we can does not mean we should. Yes it was an expensive boat ride, but I refuse to be adrift in the Atlantic ocean. I was frankly surprised by the lack of a well thought out contingency plan for divers who get blown off the wreck. If you get blown off the SP in a 3 or 4 knt current hell you could be a mile away before you safely surface. I will not dive with those guys again. I felt they put $$$$ before safety.

 

[DandyDon]

My favorite Key Largo Op has a very long line and a good swimmer for a first mate - been known to fetch people who missed the current and down lines. But they sold last year, don't know who my fav is this year.

It's very important to carry signal devices on those dives, have good BC and a good float plan if you miss the lines totally.

 

[maj75]

My 16yo AOW RESCUE with close to 100 ocean dives, me with ?? crap >800 with me on a dive charter out of Key Largo to dive the Speigel Grove. 5 to 6' seas all the way out. Got there and found insane current. Two other guys rolled over the side and made their way up the granny line to the ball and went down. I rolled over and felt like I was being pulled behind a moving boat. I scratched the dive for my son's sake right then and there. I could see me explaining to his mom. Well dear, I think he should be just off the coast of Miami by now. The other two guys did a second dive while we waited. I told my son then. Just because we can does not mean we should. Yes it was an expensive boat ride, but I refuse to be adrift in the Atlantic ocean. I was frankly surprised by the lack of a well thought out contingency plan for divers who get blown off the wreck. If you get blown off the SP in a 3 or 4 knt current hell you could be a mile away before you safely surface. I will not dive with those guys again. I felt they put $$$$ before safety.

Thats the conditions at Speigle Grove. If you trained here and dive here, you know what to expect. Likewise,6-8 foot seas are fairly common there and at the Duane. The boats I dive do have a line with float trailing off the back of the boat, in the current.

As to the original post, I would like to know the operator and the wreck, if you recall. You could have saved a lot of air using your snorkle while adjusting your bouyancy and moving to the down line. No sense in burning up your air before you have started your descent.

Local dive operators get criticized alot by the "out ot town" crowd, especially this time of year. They tend to be northern, freshwater divers, who may have logged many dives and hold advanced certs. However they may rarely if ever dive in the "open water" conditions that are common this time of year in the Keys.

A cert only applies to the conditions trained in. If a diver didn't get trained in rough surface conditions and/or current, then they should probably take a course when you get here.

Always remember If you are not comfortable with the conditions, abort.