Wreck Tie In

[WetDawg]

Sorry, Cap. didn't mean to offend anyone. Just offering up some friendly advice.

As a well traveled diver and boat Capt. myself, I am well aware that there are "local methods" for doing everything from diving to fishing to dancing a jig. And most everywhere you go the locals will tell you it's the best way to do whatever. I have seen your method used to "snag a wreck" and spent half the morning waiting for the crew to hook up.

I have been on most of the major shipwrecks off the coast of SC and NC having worked on day boats there and here in FL. The technique I described above works is bad viz and even zero viz IF you know the lay of the wreck and know what you're doing. With experience, you will know exactly which direction to go if you miss the wreck, in fact by intentionally "aiming off" a bit you can eliminate error altogether and know for sure where the wreck lies.

Having personally done this a few hundred times I can assure you it's the most effective way to ensure a positive and safe hook up on a wreck anywhere on the planet WITHOUT damaging the very thing you are going to see. The only exception being extremely deep wrecks like the Doria where no one wants to "waste" their precious bottom time fooling around with the anchor line.

Just because you have "always done it that way" does not mean it is the "best" way to accomplish a specific task.

Capt. Wes Gruver

 

[RJP]

Our boat sort of does "the best of all possible worlds" here:

1.) Great boat handling captains that can find the wreck for sure every time
2.) Capt holds the boat right over the wreck
3.) Mate 1 drops a chain line hooked to a mooring ball
4.) Mate 2 goes down the line, at the end of which 99/100 times he/she will find a chain sitting right on the wreck
5.) Mate ties in and releases a tennis ball
6.) POOF - now you have a mooring
7.) Captain pulls the boat alongside the mooring ball and ties up

No grapples to drag the wreck. No anchors to pull out of the sand. No searching for the wreck once you get down. No need for the mate to pull the boat on to the wreck.

 

[flw]

Here is a little more detail that will save you some frustration. However, I would first recommend diving on a local charter boat and ask to dive with the DM when hooking up and you will learn the procedure.

Before you plan to jump on any wreck it's critic to know the orientation of the wreck on the bottom - (i.e. the bow points North) this will help you on your approach with your depth finder, it's difficult to find a wreck even when you have good GPS numbers when you approach it bow or stern on. Also, it is critical to have a boat driver that knows what they are doing, it really helps if they have been down and seen the wreck before as well.

Next - the person jumping (you) should be fully geared up and slightly heavy (with no air in the BC) for a quick "negative" decent - standing on the rear of the boat ready to jump while the boat driver passes over the wreck a couple times to get the feel for the lay of the wreck.

When you pass over (into the current) your boat driver should yell for you to jump when they see the spike in depth indicating that you are passing directly over the structure.

If all goes well, you should land right on it if you are quick getting down, yes this means a head down power finning action on your part (ditch the split fins and get some long fins if you can, they will change your life).


*** BTW *** Dragging anchors and grappling hooks are bad for delicate sea life that attach to wrecks, don't be lazy, get in the water.

I could see how that might work for a shallow wreck, with not too much tide on it that's been dived enough times for every one to know exactly how it lies - however it's not going to work well for anything much over 35-40m, or a small steamship.
And when diving undived, or rarely dived wrecks in areas where the tidal streams are not well logged it's simply not going to work at all. Dropping a shot on the edge of the wreck, and keeping a live boat works in pretty much all conditions at all depths - from 10- 95m - although when deep it really matters what sort of heavy shot you've got and who's dropping it.
That's exactly why I book the skipper, not the boat and prefer to keep numbers down to 8 or so on the boat.

 

[matt_unique]

....

Besides the Poling stern, Salisbury stern, and the 853 which typically are moored, I've yet to find moorings on most of these:

....

Not trying to get into a pissing contest, but saying "most" wrecks are moored is not quite accurate.

Dennis

Hey while we're pissing, I'm a captain too! Let's party! Ha ha! I'm a passenger guy, not a commercial dive charter operator.

I will call you out on your last post, you copied and pasted the entire list of MA and RI wrecks! That list included the U853, stern of Poling, Crane, etc. and they indeed have moorings and I use them personally. I don't believe you have been diving on every wreck in MA and RI. No one is that disciplined or has that much time!

I can't comment on the status of wreck moorings in Florida. We should have more moorings around here though.

--Matt

 

[wreckedinri]

Hey while we're pissing, I'm a captain too! Let's party! Ha ha! I'm a passenger guy, not a commercial dive charter operator.

I will call you out on your last post, you copied and pasted the entire list of MA and RI wrecks! That list included the U853, stern of Poling, Crane, etc. and they indeed have moorings and I use them personally. I don't believe you have been diving on every wreck in MA and RI. No one is that disciplined or has that much time!

I can't comment on the status of wreck moorings in Florida. We should have more moorings around here though.

--Matt

Dude,

Since 1988 I've been on the majority of them. I never said I dived all of them. The discussion was about moorings on wrecks and that the vast majority of those listed do not have a mooring.

And that wasn't even my complete list of #'s

Our boat sort of does "the best of all possible worlds" here:

1.) Great boat handling captains that can find the wreck for sure every time
2.) Capt holds the boat right over the wreck
3.) Mate 1 drops a chain line hooked to a mooring ball
4.) Mate 2 goes down the line, at the end of which 99/100 times he/she will find a chain sitting right on the wreck
5.) Mate ties in and releases a tennis ball
6.) POOF - now you have a mooring
7.) Captain pulls the boat alongside the mooring ball and ties up

No grapples to drag the wreck. No anchors to pull out of the sand. No searching for the wreck once you get down. No need for the mate to pull the boat on to the wreck.

Sounds like a fine system. The only deviation is that instead of a tennis ball (or cup) the diver sends a liftbag carabinered to the line. We pick up the bag and the line in one motion.

Be Safe All & Have a Great Summer!

Dennis

 

[Biggen]

While I've heard of the "snag-a-wreck" method, I've never seen it done here in Florida. All the boats I have ever been on, and the only method I have ever used, is a diver (usually me) jumping overboard after the capt has just passed the wreck up current. With the weight of the chain and me finning hard as hell, I can hit the sand in 80' of water in literally seconds. I'm one of the lucky guys that doesn't have to pinch his nose to equalize (I can just DO IT) so I can haul *** to the bottom.

I'm sure its different everywhere and viz does have a huge part to play in it. Here in the Gulf, we are blessed with normally 50'+ of viz at depth so that makes a huge difference. In limited viz our method of tie in would be much more dependent on a skilled capt to know when to tell me to jump in.

I've always said, if the viz in the gulf is 30' and I end up 31' away from the wreck, I might as well be a mile off... While one can sometimes conclude that the current blew you downstream, that is not always the case. I learned long ago that if I don't see the wreck on the bottom coming up to me as I'm descending, to go ahead and abort the descent, head back up, and try again. Less air, less time, less frustration...

 

[oceanpro4]

I agree, its mostly down to the captain to get you in the right place also if the captain knows how fast you can get down can play a role, the rest really isnt to hard, i use my own medium sized mooring buoy attach it to the down-line, take the chain-end down to the wreck and wrap it round a solid part of the wreck 3 or 4 times before clipping the end with a heavy duty carabiner after that and only after that the boat moors to the down-line.

The only wrecks to my knowledge that have mooring buoys in south Florida (and i may be wrong) are the Speigel and the Vandenberg i know this first hand. Other wrecks have had mooring buoys but in salt water they have a short life.The installation of a buoy in Miami Dade (DERM reef program) costs $1000 and another $1000 a year to maintain it. There are allot of reefs here that have allot of buoys like Barracuda Reef close to Port Everglades,Fl which has 29.

Anyway 'Biggen' hits the nail on the head, if you dont see the wreck when your at depth coming towards you go back up and do it again to avoid a lengthy SIT time. I have missed the wreck on the odd occasion, no-ones perfect.