Back from Panama City....

[TexasMike]

In a pinch, instead of the fancy reels that cavers and wreck divers use, we can create a spool for you to use with your lift bag.

head to the Home Despot and get you a short length of PVC pipe (short enough to either fit in your BC pocket, or stow comfortably on your rig) and about 80 feet or so of nylon line (a little thicker than kite string, but not too thick), and a brass (nickle plate rusts too quick) clip. Also find a thick rubber band

Tie the clip on one end of the line and wind the line around the PVC pipe. Use the rubber band to secure the line so it won't unravel on you.

Now when you want to do a hanging safety stop, clip your line to your bag, move the rubber band to one side, shoot some air into the bag, and let it go to the surface. Then wind up the line on your pipe/spool until you are at the desired depth.

And, if you ever find something nifty to recover (like the Athens Frog) you can use the line to tie around the object and then lift it to the surface with your lift bag.

Hope this helps! But check with C.B. about the Dive-Rite blue reel. I got one from him Saturday and got a good deal on it.

 

[Duca]

Thanks for the tips, Mike, a safety sausage was one thing I plan on owning soon. I haven't heard that idea about 15' of line... I managed to hover pretty well between 13 & 16, with my wife right above me and our buddy below, the line would've made it a lot easier!

Our dives were set up through PC Dive Center. The first day was with the Double Time, I can't think of the name of the 2nd boat off the top of my head, but the captain's name was Rosanne.

 

[TexasMike]

Duca...

Divers that head for the serious deep end use lift bags and reels for their stops since it provides a simple visual reference for the depth. And when the stop requires some extended time, and there is no boat traffic to snag the surface marker, you can just clip the reel to your bc, deflate your BC to be negative, and literally hang by the line while you enjoy the fish life, nap, or read a book/magazine.

 

[SubMariner]

A good boat crew will watch for changing conditions and compensate for them so that their divers are not placed in harm's way. Therefore, I place the blame squarely on THEIR shoulders for not taking the necessary steps to ensure that divers making a safety stop were not carried away by the current.

It doesn't take much to drop a weighted line down so that divers can hang on @ 15'. Better yet a long safety bar under the boat.

Furthermore, they should be WATCHING for their divers to come up! Just what were they DOING?

~SubMariner~

 

[lildiver]

I was on the same PC dive trip as Duca this past weekend and really enjoyed the diving! The water was a little rough and there was a slight current. But the marine life was abundant! I found the Jew fish hiding in a large hole just under the deck of the Strength. He was really something to see! And Duca, the name of the boat we were on Sudnay was the Tropical Sun. The boat captain and dive master on the Double Time did seem a little more "together" and conscientious about helping the divers on board than the captain and dive master on the Tropcial Sun. All in all, though it was a very good weekend of diving! Beats the heck out of quarry diving!

~lildiver

 

[scubanole]

Duca,

Was it the Tropical Sun??

 

[Duca]

That sounds right...

 

[seaangel]

I am not an expert yet, but I have slept at Holiday Inn Express before, LOL. Anyway, when we did drift dives in West Palm Beach the current was moving pretty good there at times. Our boat always was there for us and none of the 20 or so divers had difficulty being picked up. And by the way we all did our safety stops. I agree with the post that a good boat captain looks out and can be there for his divers.