Opinion Poll on Current. What do you consider strong?

[d33ps1x]

Out of curiosity and because different people in different situations with different gear all perceive things differently I am wondering what you people consider a weak, strong and unmanagable current.

Remember this is not a tough guy contest although there are so many tough guys out there. I am honestly curious. No need to tell tall tales.

If you could include your location and typical dive type/conditions and perhaps a tale of unmanagable current as well that would be really interesting too.

Thanks all

 

[LoneWolf]

but I think SCUBA should be a relaxing past time. If swimming into the current is giving me a cardio work out than I think the current is too strong.

 

[LoneWolf]

I have only dived the Bahamas and Cayman. However I did do a boat dive in the Bahamas once where I was randomly teamed up with three other people. Being a newby I was fine with one of the older more experienced divers taking the lead. Well right off the bat we start riding along in a fairly strong current, it felt like a drift dive except our boat is ANCHORED. I admit it felt pretty cool to have the current just sweep us along but all the while I am thinking "uhhhh, we are going to have to go back through this current". I keep signaling to the leader that we need to start heading back. I guess he figured we could head out for 20 minutes and then do the reverse course in 20 minutes. I didn't know the signal for "Hey, do you have any concept of physics? It is going to take a heck of a lot longer to head back against the current!" I tried to convince at least one of the others to head back with me but everyone wanted to stay with the "experienced" guy.

So eventually we start heading back into this current that was even stronger than I expected. I was probably at the limit of the amount of air my regulator could provide me and I kept leaving rest of the group behind me. I would slow down and let them catch up then I would take off again. Finally our fearless "leader" signaled that he couldn't do it anymore and everyone started to surface. We were a long way from the boat (oh, I forgot to mention it was a night dive!) We tried to surface swim but the current was even stronger on the surface. So we used our lights to signal the boat and they sent tender for us. That part was not fun.

 

[jerseybones]

When I first started diving I only dove in med. to strong current, Highlands Bridge, and off of SandyHook NJ. We would thumb the dives when we got tired of pulling our masks up from under our chins. This experience made diving the fast moving rivers of South Carolina in search of fossils "no problemo" as we had heard the current there could be very strong. I worry a little about some of the newer divers doing so much training in Quarries and Lakes and then wanting to see some wrecks without having spent much time diving with your mask around your ankles every now and then You will miss out on some great dives if you dont take the time and get comfortable in the current.FYI when at peak the tidal velocity under the Highlands Bridge in NJ is among the fastest in the world. We usually get out before that!

 

[diver_paula]

Out of curiosity and because different people in different situations with different gear all perceive things differently I am wondering what you people consider a weak, strong and unmanagable current.

Remember this is not a tough guy contest although there are so many tough guys out there. I am honestly curious. No need to tell tall tales.

If you could include your location and typical dive type/conditions and perhaps a tale of unmanagable current as well that would be really interesting too.

Thanks all

I do a great majority of my diving on Great Lakes shipwrecks off of boats.

Unmanageable is when I can't pull myself down the anchor / buoy line. There have been numerous occassions when getting to the bow line has been extremely difficult and taken twisting the stern to bow line to hold on. But, if we can get to the down line all is usually well given the current at depth is usually less. When there is still a rough current at depth, going against the current for the first portion of the dive is a given.

A stiff current is what we dive in the St. Clair River. But, that's a given as it's a river dive. & it sure is nice to have a shipwreck to hide / rest behind part way thru the dive.

The worst current experience I've had was several years ago when I was working in Louisiana. I went out on a charter to a couple oil rigs. The current was ripping and we were instructed to pull ourselves down the anchor line. & then to position ourselves so that we would be pushed into the leg of the oil rig. At that point, to hold on and drag ourselves down the leg until we got to a platform / the current let up.

I was able to get to the bow. But, did not have the strength to go from the bow to the buoy line. Totally surprised me and wore me out. I wasn't the only one. If I recall there were about 25 people on the boat. Me (in my mid-20s at the time), a writer from a SCUBA magazine, a large group of college guys and a few miscellaneos others.

Of that group only four were able to make it to the down line. Of those, only two made it down. They got to about 15 feet and gave up.

A few people did better on the second rig. By that time, I was too seasick and didn't bother trying.

The writer's article appeared about a year later and was quite interesting.

Another 'fun' current story was diving The Bibb off the Florida Keys several years ago. I was with two of my buddies from Michigan. We had a great dive although one of my buddies had some mask problems during our safety stops. We were basically flags on the line and hanging on with all we had.

When we got back on the boat we found out why we didn't see anyone else down on the wreck. Only one other dive team made it to the wreck and by the time they did their air was depleted to the point they had to head back up. They were also wreck divers but hadn't been in the water as much as we had in the recent years.

Current is always something to keep an eye out for, be prepared for and respect. & having a tag line and a line from the stern to the bow sure help. & throw lines if needed in an emergency.

Paula

 

[diver_paula]

The current was stronger than usual on one of my charters to the North Carolina wrecks. We had been blown out a couple days in a row. The weather was much better but still 'seasick conditions' for a good number of us.

The current was strong enough that we would dump the air from our BCs prior to jumping in off the side of the boat. We'd immediately grab a weighted line they had running under the boat from stern to bow where we would wait for our buddy. Who better be close behind!

After working our way up to the anchor line we started down. I had an Ikelite dive light that floated if it didn't have it's accompanying lead weight in it. (At the time I didn't know the weight existed.) I had just about enough between pulling / kicking to the bow, dodging the bouncing bow and pulling down the line when my light wrapped itself around the line.

In trying to get free during the bouncing the light managed to separate from the handle. All I had left was the lanyard with a handle floating off it. My immediate thought was F### it! I don't like the floating light anyway. Which I did and just continued down the line and on with the dive.

Upon reboarding, I found out that one of the deck hands had seen the light floating in the distance and taken a long hard swim to rescue it. Ooops! Luckily I wasn't with the light and thus didn't need to be rescued with it.

Paula

 

[NICKSLICK]

for socal divers, you might know the spot. on the east end of the CORANO ISLANDS, there is a arch that runs thru the end of the island, from one side to the other, inside of the island to the outside, filled with seals. on the particular day i was diving there, it was 5 feet deep for about 40 feet. now mind you, the arch went some 15 above the water, so it wasnt a cave dive of any kind. anywho, the swell was pretty big that day, and the surge it produced was incredable. basically, you would mount yourself about 10 feet outside one side of the entrance, grab hold of a big rock, and get ready. the wave would come thru, and push pretty hard... then it would start to suck back out. push up, let go, and FLY. i mean i have NEVER gone that fast underwater, it was like being a spit ball shot thru a straw. the surge would pull you about half way thru the arched cave on the first swell (about 20 feet away from the starting point), there YOU GRAB hold of a rock, and hang on... with each wave, you would be twisted around the rock like a flag on a pole. the incomming surge being so strong, it would almost rip your mask off... and you DONT turn your head. the amazing thing, is that even in this huge surge, the visability didnt drop, it remained a solid 40foot vis. the cave is very wide, and any silt and debris in the water had long since been wiped clean. while you were there, the playful seals would swin all around you with in arms reach... but dont let go! when your finally done watching the frollicking seals, you time your departure! 1, 2, 3 push off, and FLY thru to the other side in to a deep ravine some 40 feet deep and relax. then go back and do it again.

too much fun.

 

[Diver0001]

I think a current is weak when you can easily swim into it and station holding costs a minimum of effort (light finning).

I think a current is strong when I can't easily swim into it but it's still possible and station holding costs a fair (constant) to moderate effort.

If a current is strong enough that one false move will you get blown off a wreck or that you can't maintain station without holding on to a fixed object then I would call it unmanageable.

These days I do most of my diving in the Netherlands. Currents are a constant here and surface currents are often (especially when wreck diving) much stronger than on the bottom.

I have had a few interesting experiences with heavy currents. I posted one of them here: http://www.scubaboard.com/t28149.html

R..

 

[Doc]

I am wondering what you people consider a weak, strong and unmanagable current.

If you could include your location and typical dive type/conditions and perhaps a tale of unmanagable current as well that would be really interesting too.

Some good responses so far, but it goes to the point that all of our knowledge base is best as experiential.

You don't know what you don't know.

Until you've felt yourself on the surface drifting quickly away from the dive boat...

Until you've been holding onto a John Line (running from bow to stern) being mashed against the dive boat and other divers hanging on for dear life...

Until you've been going hand over hand using a "down line"
(connecting your dive boat to a dive site) and you look at your buddies "blowing" horizontal & straight out like a flag...

Until you've gotten over your Caribbean Coral no-touch bias and are hanging on for dear life to a piece of lava rock...

Until you've used a wrap-strap, knife, or a hook...

Until you've felt your second stage LP hose vibrate furiously in your mouth due to the liquid wind...

Until you look up and all of your drift dive buddies have quickly disappeared into the haze of the ocean currents...

Until on your drift dive you pick a different depth than your buddies and you all are uncontrollably split apart as quickly as the Blue Angels doing a Fleur-de-lis....

Until you are literaly tumbling through a chute in the coral and variously sinking and floating due to air bubbles in the water...

Until you understand how dive sites get names like "Elevator", "Heart Attack", "Gone", "Blink", "African Express", "Upside Downside", and "Washing Machine"...

Until you fly through "Gordon Rocks" and can avoid whumping into the Hammerheads and Mobulas while understanding the concept of "vertical currents"...

Until you're struggling for dear life and then you see a sea lion zooming up and down stream- who must be oblivious to all physical trauma that you are experiencing...

Until you have felt a current dragging you under an iceberg...

Until then, you are still collecting life experiences. If you're really lucky, you'll continue doing this for a couple of dives to come. Just got to keep learning.

 

[String]

Out of curiosity and because different people in different situations with different gear all perceive things differently I am wondering what you people consider a weak, strong and unmanagable current.

It depends entirely on what you're planning to do on the dive. If you want an easy look around a nice area you want as little current as possible, certainly a curent you can fin and make progress against. A current you cant move against at all would therefore be classed as unmanagable.

If you want a drift dive, you need a current. What is managable and what isnt would depend on how fast you want to drift and experience level. 5kts isnt THAT uncommon here but im not too happy in that or more due to reg and mask being ripped off and in low vis the potential for being smacked into rocks. I must admit although i do them, drift dives arent my favourite type of dive. The reeling in/out gets tedious as does the constant buoyancy adjustments over an uneven bottom.

On a wreck or non drift dive its really a case of how badly you want to see something - weigh up the want to see the area with the amount of air you're going to consume staying in the area. Again, any current its impossible to pull yourself along against is unmanagable.

Example from this weekend - shallow dive on a wreck with strong current. Several divers missed the shot line buoy by 2-3ft and couldnt swim back to it. Result is they never saw the wreck and ended up on a drift dive. Those of us that grabbed the line and used a lot of effort hauling ourselves down it saw the wreck. I hadnt seen it before and want to stay on as long as possible. It was very hard work, used a large amount of air but just about managed it by pulling rather than swimming along. Any more current and that wasnt possible. After a while it was pretty exhausting so we just let go and turned it into a drift dive.

but I think SCUBA should be a relaxing past time. If swimming into the current is giving me a cardio work out than I think the current is too strong.

I fail to see why anyone would choose to do a dive that sees them working against a strong current. Just drift !

I HATE the concept used abroad of anchored dive boats for this and many other reasons.