Why no mooring buoys on wrecks?

[Jupiter31]

Jupiter- What anchor type & size do you use most? Grappling style?

Only use a grapnel - while its possible with a danforth type, I think you stand a better chance of hooking it from the surface with a grapnel - let it hit the wreck, and you can feel it bumping along and feel when it actually hooks.

Ours is 12 lbs (weighs more w/ the chain), but feels like 100lbs after pulling it up after the 3rd "missed attempt"!

 

[drbill]

Do hurricanes play any role here?

We have the same issue with some of the wrecks on our coast. No one seems to want the responsibility for maintenance or the potential for liability.

 

[mike_s]

Do hurricanes play any role here?
.

well they had to reset all the mooring buoys on the Speigel Grove after Hurricane Dennis.

(of course it flipped the 525 ft ship from it's side to upright. The first indicator that something happened was that the mooring buoys were gone or at the wrong depths.)

 

[Scott L]

* We also deal with a lot more current. Live drops allow the boat to pick up divers who don't/can't make it back to the anchor line, rather than chase them down an hour later and 2 miles drifting away.

That could not have been better stated. That would be one miserable ascent-safety stop/deco stop...

 

[Jupiter31]

Do hurricanes play any role here?

We have the same issue with some of the wrecks on our coast. No one seems to want the responsibility for maintenance or the potential for liability.

I think its much more your 2nd paragraph than the first

There also does not seem to be any support for mooring buoys on wrecks from the commercial dive op's - some reefs, sure, but not the wrecks

 

[Tom Winters]

Any buoy offshore from Jupiter down to Miami would last what?, maybe a week before it got hit by one of the random idiots offshore.

 

[Jupiter31]

Any buoy offshore from Jupiter down to Miami would last what?, maybe a week before it got hit by one of the random idiots offshore.

If that, Tom : (

That's why I want to see some buoys, on some wrecks 10 - 15' below, like on the Eagle

Would not prevent a ship from pulling them up, but would help with the sometimes nutty boaters down here b/c few small or medium sized boats draw 10 or 15'

 

[Glock Diver]

Any buoy offshore from Jupiter down to Miami would last what?, maybe a week before it got hit by one of the random idiots offshore.

Well, there are dozens of buoys on the coral reefs in PB and Broward. So I don't think its a concern about boaters tearing them out that prevents the county from deploying them on the wrecks. Obviously, the existing buoys help protect the fragile reefs, which makes alot of sense. I just wish they'd install a few on the wrecks too!

 

[Glock Diver]

Only use a grapnel - while its possible with a danforth type, I think you stand a better chance of hooking it from the surface with a grapnel - let it hit the wreck, and you can feel it bumping along and feel when it actually hooks.

Ours is 12 lbs (weighs more w/ the chain), but feels like 100lbs after pulling it up after the 3rd "missed attempt"!

Jupiter- Is yours the folding grapnel anchor? Or is it all one piece?

I've seen those folding types at a few places, but I'm not sure if their prongs are long enough to be effective grabbing a wreck.

 

[Jupiter31]

Jupiter- Is yours the folding grapnel anchor? Or is it all one piece?

I've seen those folding types at a few places, but I'm not sure if their prongs are long enough to be effective grabbing a wreck.

No, all in one piece - we have a folding grapnel, but have had much more success using the other type - I would say don't waste your time and money w/ the folding type.