Divers: Watch where you attach your deco

[Shot a man in Reno...]

Last week-end, I was on a dive to U-352 on a 6-pack out of Morehead City, NC.
We were the second boat on the wreck. Our mate went down and set the hook (tied our anchor onto the sub wreck). After him, I was the first diver to splash. As I was dropping in on the wreck, I thought that I saw a couple of divers on our anchor line. As I got closer, I realized that there were 4 deco tanks that had been attached to our anchor chain. I knew they weren't ours.

Once I surfaced I found out from the mate that he had not even finished setting the anchor before people from the other boat were hooking their deco tanks onto our anchor line. He had tried to wave them off, but to no avail.

After our dive, we were looking to pull anchor and leave for another wreck for our second dive and yelled over to the other boat for them to send someone down to remove their bottles from our anchor, which took them a while, but we weren't in a big rush.

I expect that hanging your deco tanks on another boat's anchor line, especially without their knowledge, is not a good idea.

The near miss is that, if we had lost anchorage and drifted off of the wreck, those in need of their deco would have been SOL. Depending on the timing of them placing their deco tanks on our line, we may not have known about their deco tanks being on our anchor and not known that they were in danger.

 

[openmindOW]

. . . I was on a dive to U-352 on a 6-pack out of Morehead City, NC.

The U-352 is a truly wonderful dive.

Just out of curiousity, what Operator were you diving with? Which operation was running the other boat?

I wonder if the deco divers had intentionally left their bottles at your ascent line. Personally, I would not care if some other divers were using my boat's ascent line. I certainly understand your point about the risk involved. That's why I wonder if it was intentional.

 

[TSandM]

I was taught that you don't drop deco bottles in OW, and this is a real good example of why.

 

[ktomlinson]

I was taught that you don't drop deco bottles in OW, and this is a real good example of why.

Me too, I thought this was best practice now (keeping them with you). Is it common to drop your bottles in OW?

 

[TreyR]

We only drop ours in caves. Ow they stay with us.

 

[Teller]

If there is no penitration envolved why even drop the stages? I thought 352 was in about 90 FSW.

 

[ncgator]

It's 112 fsw to the sand

 

[Blackwood]

To me.

 

[AfterDark]

I went up the wrong line after a dive there. Swam back to the correct boat underwater so nobody knew but my buddy and I. No surface swim of shame for us! It was my fault

Hanging tanks was very common when I started diving. Never had a problem with it. Putting them on the wrong line now that's a problem!

 

[eelnoraa]

Not a tech diver here, dropping deco bottle on OW water does not make sense to me either