Ye are spoiled rotten, ye have a diver to tie in and release.
What do you do when the anchor line breaks free?
- Thread starter doctormike
- Start date
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OP
My buddy shot the bag with her spool, not her reel.
If I had done it I might have done the thing where you shoot it on your reel (that has a lot of line), tie it off, and then ascend holding your reel and unspooling as you go up. That way you don't abrade the line and risk it breaking (like with the loop method), but you now have two lines, and your reel is with you. The only downside of that is you need a lot of line, to cover the distance from the wreck to the surface twice, plus the scope.
What she did was to just shoot the bag on her spool, then tied it off, and left the spool. We took her reel up with us.
Another option would be to tie it off and finish with a knot, and then cut your spool off and take it with you, but I would worry about the security of that arrangement, and spools are not that expensive. I wouldn't want to leave a reel behind unless I didn't have enough line on my spool.
OP
I see what happened now, well done on completing the dive with all safe and sound.
I would solo air dive the Moody out in the shipping lanes and learned to somewhat cover myself . I use a lot of hardware not in the dive industry . Commercial fishing , sailboat , and industrial to name a few
Was on a dive trip offshore in the Gulf of Mexico a few weeks back when the boat broke the moring. The u bolt cemented in the reef broke and set the boat adrift. It was at the end of the dive, 80ft avg depth and we were within 20 yards of the anchor line and heard it snap. We watched it plane away and upwards with one diver holding on for the ride. I gathered a group of 5 together that were near and got an OK from everyone. I gave the hand signal for shooting a bag and proceeded to launch a 6ft DSMB on a finger spool. We ascended together and made a 15ft safety stop as we drifted. Near the surface the wave and current action were more pronounced and thought it would be a good idea for the others to deploy some of their signaling buoys (a requirement per boat rules). One failed to inflate and the finger spool fouled in the effort. It was cut away and discarded. Second diver with DSMB and finger spool never got to inflation before finger spool became a bird nest. Wadded up and back into a pocket. I was glad I was familiar with my gear and was able to assist with a good outcome. I have since bought a reel from Subsea Sports in FL that should eliminate the failures I witnessed with finger spools. Things could have been much worse had this been at night. Since then I bought a Dryfob that carries a PLB and a strobe that rides on my right waist strap against the plate and is unnoticeable to me. Open ocean diving requires some thought toward the what if scenarios and the crew had briefed the what if very well before any diving was allowed. Review those emergency procedures, pay attention to the boat briefing and it will pay off.
Curious as to why have Jersey Up-Lines fallen from favor? IMHO, it is the right tool in the tool box...
OP
I guess because they are so big and rarely needed? Plus a reel with cave line is more versatile...
I had a talk with a few people about this that were either on the boat or frequent GB a good bit. (I was actually on with you last weekend to the RP Resor... great day).
I've always been told lift bag for non emergency, smb for emergency (in NJ). In this instance I would think it would be best to shoot a bag on a reel tie off and cut the reel so you only lose out on some cheap line.
I used to think running the reel through a railing or something and coming up that way made sense, but my buddy got lost on the Algol and tried to come up that way. He said it was absolute hell trying to prevent the reel from coming all the way undone. It sounded miserable.
@doctormike I think you guys did a great job. I would bet if it ever happens again it would feel more like an inconvenience than anything else. I would hope if it ever happens to me I can be as cool calm and collective. Thanks for sharing.. it's great to think about these things.
I've always been told lift bag for non emergency, smb for emergency (in NJ). In this instance I would think it would be best to shoot a bag on a reel tie off and cut the reel so you only lose out on some cheap line.
I used to think running the reel through a railing or something and coming up that way made sense, but my buddy got lost on the Algol and tried to come up that way. He said it was absolute hell trying to prevent the reel from coming all the way undone. It sounded miserable.
@doctormike I think you guys did a great job. I would bet if it ever happens again it would feel more like an inconvenience than anything else. I would hope if it ever happens to me I can be as cool calm and collective. Thanks for sharing.. it's great to think about these things.
OP
Sure, glad you liked it!
Yeah, that railing looping technique sounds pretty fancy, but I wouldn't do it. In addition to the difficulty of keeping the line taut ("line is evil"), unless it was a brand new wreck, I wouldn't want to floss my line over any rusty debris and expect it to hold. Just as easy to tie it off and then ascend holding the reel if you want to keep your reel and have enough line. That way you have two lines and no abrasion . The only downside is that you can't retrieve the line, so it stays on the wreck when you cut it on the surface.
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