Gradual Ascent
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Would you ditch your tanks and regulator too?
hypothetical scenario 4 our Monday morning quarterbacks 20 miles out & boats gone
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Not only would I keep all of my gear, but I'd carefully remove only the (DIY) lead weights from my belt and toss them to Neptune and keep the belt and weight clips! Weight belts might be cheap, but so am I. 
I'd use the spools to lasso an orca and ride it back to shore.
There are a couple things that might be of value in this thread, even if Leah has sort of stacked the odds against our wretched hypothetical divers 
First is staying together. A pod of divers in the water can take turns keeping watch, care for one another, keep spirits up, etc. It isn't always easy to stay together. One of the better options that most divers habitually diving on wrecks 17-20 miles out would have is jon lines. Using these to clip the divers together is a place to start.
Second is visibility and floatation. While many recreational divers carry the little 'safety sausages', again, divers routinely taking charter boats 20 miles offshore should have the huge SMBs with them that offer closed circuit inflation capabilities and the solas radar reflective tape on them. Many divers carry more than one SMB. A pod of four divers lashed together with between 6 and 8 large SMBs (plus HID lights and strobes) is going to be easier to spot than a single diver.
Third, is trying to stay in one position. Sounds odd, perhaps, but it may be possible. How much gas might be leftover from the dives? The point is that charter boats going 20 miles offshore are navigating by the GPS numbers of the wrecks or bottom features that they are diving. It is entirely plausible that, given enough bad luck, an anchor line could part and an engine could fail to start for some reason that would leave the charter boat adrift until repairs could be made. But the point is that (uh, pirates and drug runners aside) the captain can always find the wreck again. Alternately, he can radio another captain or coast guard and can provide the GPS numbers where the boat was anchored. If the bottom is only somewhere between 40-70 fsw deep, and one of the divers can descend to the wreck and secure a reel to it (or a spool of heavier nylon line), then upon surfacing again with the reel the group of divers lashed together may be able to maintain their position vis a vis the wreck. This might also be the case where the charter boat tied off to a mooring that was semi-permanently attached to the wreck. The point is that being adrift in shipping lanes sucks, and if circumstances allow you to tie off a reel to the wreck or feature you're diving on you stand a much better chance of being rescued more quickly. Food for thought...
FWIW.........
First is staying together. A pod of divers in the water can take turns keeping watch, care for one another, keep spirits up, etc. It isn't always easy to stay together. One of the better options that most divers habitually diving on wrecks 17-20 miles out would have is jon lines. Using these to clip the divers together is a place to start.
Second is visibility and floatation. While many recreational divers carry the little 'safety sausages', again, divers routinely taking charter boats 20 miles offshore should have the huge SMBs with them that offer closed circuit inflation capabilities and the solas radar reflective tape on them. Many divers carry more than one SMB. A pod of four divers lashed together with between 6 and 8 large SMBs (plus HID lights and strobes) is going to be easier to spot than a single diver.
Third, is trying to stay in one position. Sounds odd, perhaps, but it may be possible. How much gas might be leftover from the dives? The point is that charter boats going 20 miles offshore are navigating by the GPS numbers of the wrecks or bottom features that they are diving. It is entirely plausible that, given enough bad luck, an anchor line could part and an engine could fail to start for some reason that would leave the charter boat adrift until repairs could be made. But the point is that (uh, pirates and drug runners aside) the captain can always find the wreck again. Alternately, he can radio another captain or coast guard and can provide the GPS numbers where the boat was anchored. If the bottom is only somewhere between 40-70 fsw deep, and one of the divers can descend to the wreck and secure a reel to it (or a spool of heavier nylon line), then upon surfacing again with the reel the group of divers lashed together may be able to maintain their position vis a vis the wreck. This might also be the case where the charter boat tied off to a mooring that was semi-permanently attached to the wreck. The point is that being adrift in shipping lanes sucks, and if circumstances allow you to tie off a reel to the wreck or feature you're diving on you stand a much better chance of being rescued more quickly. Food for thought...
FWIW.........
Charlie99
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Being in a known location has some real advantages. In the only real life rescue I've been involved in we were only able to find 13 out of the 24 crew members of a tramp freighter that sank without an SOS off of Hatteras.
At first I would assume that the boat is off chasing down a diver that surfaced far downcurrent, or that it is evacuating an injured diver and forgot to buoy the anchor line. In either case, I'd have to weigh the advantages of being at a known location vs. the additonal exhaustion and heat loss from being stationary with a current washing over us. Particularly if I'm in a well known current such as the Gulf Stream and have good surface signalling gear, then I'd be more willing to cut loose, even knowing how difficult it is to find people, or even something as large as a lifeboat in the open ocean.
At first I would assume that the boat is off chasing down a diver that surfaced far downcurrent, or that it is evacuating an injured diver and forgot to buoy the anchor line. In either case, I'd have to weigh the advantages of being at a known location vs. the additonal exhaustion and heat loss from being stationary with a current washing over us. Particularly if I'm in a well known current such as the Gulf Stream and have good surface signalling gear, then I'd be more willing to cut loose, even knowing how difficult it is to find people, or even something as large as a lifeboat in the open ocean.
S. starfish:
Hahah! Like in the movie Cabin Boy? I love that flick...
"I'm a fancy lad!"
ItsBruce
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I'm apt to go with Evensplit's suggestion. While waiting to be picked up, I'd dull the edge of my dive knife on my lead weights. That way when I carved the dive boat captain's heart out with it, it would include both a searing pain and lead poisoning. ... In all seriousness, when I go diving, someone on land knows I'm diving, approximately where, and when I should be expected back. As a result, I expect someone will be dispatched to look for me, so I'd try to stay put, keeping all divers together, using our combined weighs on the #24 line to "anchor" us, inflate sausages and conserve lights. Note, my regular buddy and I both have Dive Alerts on our rigs, so I'd give a 1 second blast every 5 minutes.
At the moment, whenever i dive offshore, i always carry a minimum of a signal horn, SMB (im getting one with SOLAS tape on it soon), two Knives, two lights, and a reel.
In this situation, I would keep everyone together with BCD's infalted, ditch weights and stay close to try and perserve body heat. I dont usually dive with a hood in 75 degreee water, but I always dive with gloves. i was diving yesterday in 70 degree water with a 3mm suit, but ill be upgrading to a 7/5 semi dry soon, for that temp.
Im also going to be buying a strobe soon and im seriously considering getting a Halycon one man life raft to take when im right out on a wreck somewhere.
And if you do disspear...just hope that someone finds out what went wrong and makes a movie out of it...hehe
In this situation, I would keep everyone together with BCD's infalted, ditch weights and stay close to try and perserve body heat. I dont usually dive with a hood in 75 degreee water, but I always dive with gloves. i was diving yesterday in 70 degree water with a 3mm suit, but ill be upgrading to a 7/5 semi dry soon, for that temp.
Im also going to be buying a strobe soon and im seriously considering getting a Halycon one man life raft to take when im right out on a wreck somewhere.
And if you do disspear...just hope that someone finds out what went wrong and makes a movie out of it...hehe
1) stay together.
2)stab the guy who pannicked and eat him for meat
3) tie all of us together with the line
4)inflate 1 of the smb and use the other 3 as backups or as soon as someone spots it.
5) save the air as much a possible. you might need it later
6)keep the weights unless you really need to ditch. there might be a hidden reef somewhere on the way in
2)stab the guy who pannicked and eat him for meat
3) tie all of us together with the line
4)inflate 1 of the smb and use the other 3 as backups or as soon as someone spots it.
5) save the air as much a possible. you might need it later
6)keep the weights unless you really need to ditch. there might be a hidden reef somewhere on the way in
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