What did you learn on the wreck diving course?

[waterpirate]

Wrecks are my passion so I will weight in. A wreck course is very geographic and depth sensitive. Seek out a instructor that dives frequently on the wrecks that you hope to dive. Penetration is NOT for non overhead trained divers of any level of ceertification.
Eric

 

[TMHeimer]

The basic PADI Wreck Course: Had a good instructor-very experienced with caved diving as well. Basically we learned the skills to do the very limited penetration. There were a lot of other interesting tidbits he bestowed upon us which I can't really recall, as I doubt I'l ever penetrate a wreck. Other than that, the stuff in the manual is important, but very basic--watch out for unstable structures, wear thick gloves, etc. -- mostly just logical stuff. We did map a wreck, which would be useful if you're into that. We learned a bit about deep diving since many wrecks are down there. Despite the course being fun and informative, I would say that unless you intend to do the very basic penetration, there is no need to take the course just to swim around a wreck. Just get advice on the layout, etc. and do nothing stupid.

 

[TSandM]

I had a great wreck workshop, taught by two GUE Tech 2/Cave 2 divers. We learned about researching wrecks and planning our paths. We talked about the specific hazards of wreck diving, including instability of the wreck, silt, entanglement hazards, and how to do gas planning for wreck or wreck penetration diving. We did land drills for line running and blind line following. We did shallow critical skills dives, practicing low viz and gas sharing and line running (and one of those dives will remain with me life-long).

And finally, we learned one of the most important lessons of wreck diving, which is that it's an expensive and chancy pastime, because we chartered a boat to go out and do experience dives, and the weather turned foul, and the boat went out anyway, and we got to the site and I was the only diver brave enough to say, "No way, Jose!" and refuse to get in the water.

 

[geoff w]

I had a great instructor - the same course director who did my OW / AOW in 1994 and my DM just a few years ago. He's a good friend also, but I've assisted him with a couple of other wreck specialties and he's great with all

Besides all the things in the PADI wreck specialty, the main thing we learned that stuck with me is what can happen in surge around large openings on a wreck. It's a lot easier than you can imagine to get sucked in and spit out if you swim over a big opening! This didn't happen to any of us because we had good training, but you get a good appreciation for the affect of openings in surge for all your diving after this. We did all the basics, including gas management, laying line, penetrations, etc on the wrecks around San Diego. It's a lot easier to run your line if you go very slow and deliberate, instead of trying to rush through the process. Definitely advanced recreational level wrecks (cold water, ~100 ft deep, currents, limited viz, etc), but the class was worthwhile and a lot of fun. As others have said, you don't need a wreck class to swim around the outside of a wreck (I did that plenty of times before taking the wreck class), but you do gain some good skills

 

[dytis-sm]

I also have had the PADI Wreck Specialty class. Like in all specialties, the course taught me the very basics of this type of diving: using a reel, studying the topology of the wreck, safe wreck diving practices, and then how to penetrate a simple wreck. Did not make me a wreck diving expert but gave me confidence to take baby steps into more wreck diving experiences.

I think that serious wreck diving is part of the tech world where planning and equipment are adequate to deal with any possible scenario in an overhead environment.The PADI course is an introduction to the subject and a primer on how to do it safely around small wrecks. For that reason/purpose I think it is worth the time and money.

 

[Foxfish]

Thanks for the responses people.

 

[DevonDiver]

Wreck courses are entirely dependent on the skill, experience and expertise of the instructor. The instructor experience/training requirements to teach basic wreck courses for the major agencies are a joke - so penetration/overhead training is often extremely flawed and limited in scope.

My (version) of the PADI wreck course is very introductory, but looks towards a longer development in wreck skill; with subsequent training available in progressive levels. Knowledge covers; wreck research and identification, wreck dive planning, gas management, hazards and dangers, specialist equipment, core skills and necessary protocols. I produced my own resources (video and written) to supplement the existing manual. Some of those resources have been well used by other instructors globally and included in some other agency materials (i.e. the IANTD CCR Advanced Technical Wreck manual). There is then an equipment workshop, to configure/customize existing dive gear for wreck diving.

I supplement each of the four dives on the course to enable a more comprehensive and progressive skill development. All dives are video'd for student feedback/review.

Dive #1: Conducted as a 'general' dive on a wreck, I focus on developing core diving competencies, including; buoyancy, trim, non-silting propulsion techniques, situational awareness, dive planning/management, gas management, communication and team skills. All core open water skills must be conducted in horizontal trim without degradation to buoyancy and awareness. I also include redundant air source use with pony cylinder (for those not in doubles/sidemount). This is basically a mini 'wreck fundies' dive (it can be/is more than one dive, if needed).

Dive #2: Primarily a wreck mapping/research dive, I develop modern methods for conducting preparatory penetration dives, including; video/review and supplementing/marking an existing wreck sketch (conducted from dry research) en-situ with relevant information for subsequent dives. Further emphasis develops the core competencies introduced on Dive #1.

Dive #3: Penetration skills dive, including; proper guideline deployment and retrieval, guideline following in zero viz (black mask simulated in open water), air-sharing (viz and no-viz) and an introduction to lost line and lost buddy protocols.

Dive #4: Actual penetration dive planned and conducted by students as a team, on a 'significant' and challenging wreck within course/qualification penetration limits.

My 'level 2' wreck course is the ANDI 'Techniques of Wreck Diving' course - this provides a further 4 penetration-focused training dives within recreational limits with mandatory gas redundancy, optimal gas use and refined ascent techniques.

My 'level 3' wreck course is the ANDI 'Technical Wreck' course and my 'level 4' course is the ANDI Advanced Sidemount course (multi-stage and extreme restrictions). I also provide numerous topic-specific workshops to cover a plethora of other specific needs pertaining to wreck exploration and diving.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Did you learn any new skills?

What important knowledge did you learn?

What should you learn?

Did you consider this course worthwhile?

UTD Advanced Wreck Class. Switching to the Metric System to simplify Rock Bottom/Modified Thirds Calculations on-the-fly, and the real-time draconian choices you may have to make to perform a Lost Buddy Search:

Modified Thirds,Turn-Around Pressure and Lost Buddy Search Gas Availability Calculations are much easier in metric with a bar SPG. . .

Suppose you originally planned a wreck penetration starting with 200 bar at the entrance, with an openwater Rock Bottom of 50 bar. 200 minus 50 bar equals 150 bar usable for the penetration --Modified Thirds of this value is 50 bar (one-third of 150 equals 50), so you would turn-around for egress when you consume 50 bar of gas with an actual SPG reading of 150 bar. If you needed to do a gas-sharing emergency egress with your buddy at this point, you would both need 100 bar to get out of the wreck, with 50 bar Rock Bottom remaining to get both of you to the surface (or your Oxygen deco bottle stop of 6m).

Lets say you used up 30 bar already getting to the entrance of the wreck for a total of 170 bar pressure available --can you quickly recalculate Modified-Thirds?

No problem with bar pressure metrics: 170 bar minus 50 bar Rock Bottom yields 120 bar usable for the penentration; One-Third of 120 bar is 40 bar which is your new Modified Thirds turn pressure value. Therefore you would turn the dive when you consume 40 bar for an actual turn pressure SPG reading of 130 bar (170 bar minus 40 bar equals the actual turn pressure SPG reading of 130 bar).

What if you lose your buddy at this instance, at the farthest distance inside the overhead your Modified Thirds value allows? How do you calculate the amount of gas to do a Lost Buddy Search?

Easy! At your turn around pressure reading of 130 bar on the SPG, simply add your Rock Bottom value to your Modified Thirds value (50 bar Rock Bottom plus 40 bar Modified Thirds equals 90 bar); Put a line-arrow pointing the way out on your mainline that you've laid, and take reference note of where you are inside the overhead at that exact point as well. Now go and search for your buddy with the understanding that you must be back at this line-arrow marker by the time your SPG reads this actual value (90 bar). So you would have from 130 bar down to 90 bar reading on your SPG, or 40 bar delta of gas to search for your buddy --if you were to do a straight line search down a long corridor inside the wreck for example, tactically you should use 20 bar out and 20 bar back to your line-arrow marker for a delta of 40 bar, and an actual end of search SPG reading of 90 bar-- you must start your egress whether you found your buddy or not when you use up this 40 bar delta of gas, at the line arrow marker, with the actual 90 bar final reading on your SPG.

At any point before your Modified Thirds turn pressure, for a lost buddy search, the final egress pressure is figured just by adding your Rock Bottom value to the amount of gas you've consumed on the penetration up to that point --for example you start with 170 bar on your SPG and you lose your buddy with 140 bar SPG reading for a delta consumption of 30 bar. 50 bar Rock Bottom plus delta consumption of 30 bar equals 80 bar. Drop a line arrow, and now you've got from 140 bar down to 80 bar (a tactical delta search pressure of 60 bar) to look for your buddy, and be back to your line arrow to egress smartly when your SPG reads 80 bar.

At any point after your Modified Thirds turn pressure, all you need to do to figure out a final egress pressure for a lost buddy search is to subtract your Modified Thirds value from your actual pressure reading, and place a line-arrow pointing out at this point on your mainline. For example, if you're egressing and you lose your buddy with 120 bar actual reading on your SPG: Subtract the Modified Thirds value of 40 bar from 120 bar -which equals 80 bar- and it is this actual reading that you must have on your SPG when you get back to your line arrow to successfully exit the wreck with all your Rock Bottom still available to reach the surface. Another way of looking at this, at your nominal turn-around point & afterward on egress, the amount of gas tactically available for a lost buddy search is always just your Modified Thirds value --in this case 40 bar.

Remember that on a lost buddy search, you may have to deliberately encroach and use up the Modified Thirds Reserve Value needed for an emergency gas-sharing egress contingency (and possibly use up some amount of Rock Bottom as well) --in other words, if you do find your lost buddy and worst of all worst case scenarios he happens to be out-of-gas in a silt-out . . .well dea ex machina. I hope you're in a 3-person Team, somehow make it out and run into other divers on the outside who can donate gas & assist. . .

[Note: the above gas plan is taken from wreck penetration dives on the Yukon (San Diego); USS New York (Subic Bay Philippines); HMAS Perth/USS Houston (Sunda Strait Indonesia); and various wrecks in Truk Lagoon. Depth 30m using twin 11L/bar tanks (double AL80's) and Oxygen deco.]

 

[Foxfish]

Plenty of food for thought here. Thanks.

Going on a wreck dive on the weekend. Last time we did it there was a reasonable current and we were dove down to about 32 m. The wreck was very clean. The guide broke just about every rule in the book in retrospect. I bailed because I was getting close to NDL's and one guide had to go back and try to find a few lost divers. The other guide dropped her weights and had to go back and find them also at the end of the dive. Must have been a few NDL's broken on that dive.