Using a spool to return to anchor on boat dive

[astrofunk]

Hi all -

There are times when I definitely want to return to the anchor line on a boat dive, for instance, when the diving combines low viz and a high surface current. I figure this would be a fine time to deploy my safety spool, but I've never actually done it and am interested in your feedback. For reference, I'm talking about diving within recreational limits, in cold California water.

First, do people actually do this? Even under strictly recreational conditions, occasionally there are dives on which I'm so preoccupied with the navigation (usually because I'm nervous about drifting down-current of the boat during our ascent, should we fail to return to the line) that I'm not really enjoying myself. (And for the sake of the question, let's assume I generally do my utmost to make a dive plan that keeps me up-current from the boat. In real life, I've blown that a few times. Usually that just means a tough swim back to the boat; but at least once I was generally afraid of being swept out of sight.) I figure, having a continuous guideline to open water allows me to enjoy cavern dives; having a continuous guideline back to the anchor might allow me to enjoy these OW dives.

Next, what do folks use for their primary placement? The anchor itself? And what about subsequent placements? In my limited experience with cavern diving, there were plenty of opportunities for placements; it seems like that'd also be true on your typical California reef, but what about when you're over plain old sand? And in the cavern, I don't worry about damaging fauna by accidentally making a placement on some living thing...

Finally, what about surge? In the cavern setting there was definitely flow -- but at least that doesn't change directions. Certainly surge would ratchet up the possibility for entanglement, but do folks generally find that this is manageable?

Of course, should I miss the anchor on a dive like this, I know I can always shoot my SMB to increase my visibility to the boat. But I think I'd find greater peace of mind in finding the anchor in the first place.

Thanks a lot for your thoughts! I'm posting this to the DIR forum because I think it's more likely that DIR divers would be bringing safety spools as emergency equipment on all dives. Mods, feel free to move the thread if you think there's a more appropriate place.

Best,
Steve

 

[SteveAD]

I've done this in New England waters where vis is often <10 feet. I use a reel instead of a spool, because frankly a spool simply does not hold that much line. I attatch directly to the anchor so in the event that the anchor does drag, my guideline will still take me to it.

 

[dsteding]

We do this with spools here, especially in the lake with bad vis. For short distances, it works fine, for longer distances, a reel seems to work better. Ties are pretty much on an as available basis, with the primary on the anchor or the shot line, if one is used.

 

[astrofunk]

...because frankly a spool simply does not hold that much line.

Agreed.

I'm imagining a scenario in which all I've got is a spool (I don't carry a reel), and the conditions are as described. The question then is: is this a done thing?

It sounds like the answer might be yes. Cool.

 

[Peter_C]

I will start off by saying I am not full DIR. Yes people do it all the time. I have considered it myself when kayak diving in strong current with low vis (Isn't it always low vis on the North Coast?) Looking for a tiny kayak anchor and thin line can be hard to spot even if it is white. A reel would make it easier than a spool. I know many of our privately owned local Monterey boat divers do this.

Here is another option that you throw over the side of the boat and is commonly used by lobster divers especially at night. Sport & Scout

 

[Rainer]

Most of the DIR guys I dive with (myself included) jump in with a reel on every dive. Vis up here is just too variable not to have it (we won't do drifting deco due to possibility of floating gill nets, and a general dislike of drifting in the North Atlantic). Getting back to the anchor line is a must. If vis is good enough, we don't deploy; if marginal, a reel per team comes out. We tie into the mooring or something adjacent to the mooring.

 

[Randy43068]

are you using a spool or reel?

 

[rjack321]

I do it all the time. Get yourself a 400ft reel and a 100ft spool to go with your 150ft spool though. Here's some options...

Large rambling reef:
Use a reel. Don't really worry too much about tieoffs just when you make major changes in direction so you might only use 5 in 400ft

Wall:
Use a 150ft spool. Anchor near the top of the wall. Drop over the edge. trailing the spool but with it only tied off on the anchor. Clip off and leave the spool at your target depth. Swim outbound into the current at the target depth and in return 10ft shallower. When you get back to the line pull up the spool and then wind it up to the anchor.

Use the 100ft spool to shoot a bag when your larger 150ft spool is in use. Generally if you are leaving something and then coming on a reciprocal course to pickit up again, avoid making any tieoffs. That way if you miss it you can pull the anchor and retrieve your spool/reel too.

Basically a line perpendicular to your direction of travel is a huge target to hit on your return course. Way bigger than an anchor. So you don't necessarily need to keep the reel/spool in hand. Just lay it in a way you can readily find it again and let it lead you back to the anchor.

 

[lamont]

Next, what do folks use for their primary placement? The anchor itself? And what about subsequent placements? In my limited experience with cavern diving, there were plenty of opportunities for placements; it seems like that'd also be true on your typical California reef, but what about when you're over plain old sand? And in the cavern, I don't worry about damaging fauna by accidentally making a placement on some living thing...

For recreational diving around here the typical protocol is to drop a shot ball with an upline on it and have a live boat (rather than hooking the wreck and anchoring the boat). Sometimes we would hook up the upline to the wreck, but still we're typically going to have a live boat.

Without a boat tugging on the upline its going to pretty much stay where it is. We do a primary tie onto the upline itself. Since the upline is a closed tie onto an anchor line which will not fray and which has a shot ball on one end and a boat on the other end and we're not worried about snorkelers cutting the line or anything like that there isn't a whole lot of point to a secondary tie. The secondary tie is if the primary comes loose or is cut/removed by someone. If you think your line might be situated or might get blown such that it would catch on an object and might cause it to fray or break then a secondary would be warranted. For lake dives around here there's no current and there's typically not a lot of structure until you hit the wreck so there's very little point. Also if your line breaks between the upline and the secondary tie you may have a line back to your secondary tie, but your upline is gone so you're really no better off.

Now if you're penetrating a wreck, there's another issue. If you're tied off to the upline and the upline goes away, it'll probably take at least some of your line with it and it may remove some of your ties and potentially remove your continuous guideline to open water. In that case you probably want to anchor the upline, then tieoff near to the upline, rather than on the upline. Recreationally, though, we don't have that concern -- if the upline goes away it doesn't matter how much line it takes with it, once we hit the cut in the line we thumb the dive and shoot a bag.

 

[b1gcountry]

The only bad thing about tying to the anchor line itself is that if it moves, or breaks free, then your line is probably going to snap loose. Depending on what you tied it to, it may take that with it as well. I would probably tie off near the anchor. If its gone when you get there, then at least you can do an ascent from where the boat is supposed to be, and if you have a reel/spool, you can tie off to the wreck to make your ascent.

I have never had to do this however, and the only time I've used a spool for navigation on a wreck is when I'm looking for a debris field not visible from the wreck.

Tom
BTW, this gets the big NOT DIR disclaimer