What if...? Miscellaneous Problems

[Pinion]

Hi folks
I would like to chime in on this...(I have only done Discover...so...No expereance)
* Buddy making fun of air use*.....This was a topic in my home just last night. I am
trying to quit smoking...But i believe that for a while I am going to suck a lot of air.

I feel like I am an air hog. and I smoke, a lot. I've found that I only use a little more air than those I've been in the water with. When you figure in my constant screwing with trying to get buoyant I'm likely not as bad as I feel like I am.

That's not to say you shouldn't still try to quit smoking. If you're ready to quit (and you want to) you will very likely succeed with it (I hope you have good luck with it). If you're not ready and you have desire to quit (like me) it will be a very rough road and likely you will end up still smoking.


I won't say that smoking doesnt cause excess air usage because I think that it does. but I haven't seen how it is seriously making me use more air than the 4 non-smokers that were with me. and I'm also a chunky fella so I have that working against me as well.

 

[Cave Diver]

What if...? you were doing a wreck dive and after gearing up and descending down the anchor line, when you get to the bottom the wreck is nowhere in sight and you see drag marks in the sand from the anchor?

(additional background info - Wreck in 90' of water. Visibility about 25'. Strong current from surface to about 20'. You had to wait on your buddy @15' because their ears wouldnt equalize.)

What if...? same situation as above, except this time you find the drag marks, but no anchor after the dive as you're ready to begin your ascent.

 

[Kenny13]

What if...? you were doing a wreck dive and after gearing up and descending down the anchor line, when you get to the bottom the wreck is nowhere in sight and you see drag marks in the sand from the anchor?

(additional background info - Wreck in 90' of water. Visibility about 25'. Strong current from surface to about 20'. You had to wait on your buddy @15' because their ears wouldnt equalize.)

What if...? same situation as above, except this time you find the drag marks, but no anchor after the dive as you're ready to begin your ascent.

In that first scenario, I'm just going to signal to my buddy that we need to ascend and go back up the anchor line. Do any required stop(s) and let those on board the boat know the anchor didn't hold and we have drifted once we reach the surface.

Second scenario, if remaining gas allows we should follow the drag marks from where they start to try to locate the anchor & line before ascending. I've got pretty good visibility and current isn't a problem at depth, so as long as I've still got enough reserve and can still see the drag marks I should be able to locate the anchor and do my ascent from there but I would monitor air pressure constantly.

If I don't have enough reserve gas to follow the drag marks and have to ascend without the aid of the line, I guess I would try my best to slowly ascend at an angle in the direction of the drag marks. Since the current is strong in the upper 20' I would wait until safety stop depth to shoot an SMB and hope I'm close enough to the boat for it to be visible. Another thought here with 25' of viz could be to ascend to ~25' in order to conserve gas and use the available viz to try to locate the boat, then shoot my SMB at safety stop depth. Critique away

 

[SoccerJeni]

What if...? you were doing a wreck dive and after gearing up and descending down the anchor line, when you get to the bottom the wreck is nowhere in sight and you see drag marks in the sand from the anchor?

(additional background info - Wreck in 90' of water. Visibility about 25'. Strong current from surface to about 20'. You had to wait on your buddy @15' because their ears wouldnt equalize.)

What if...? same situation as above, except this time you find the drag marks, but no anchor after the dive as you're ready to begin your ascent.

I'm bracing myself to look dumb here...but I guess I will risk looking dumb in order to learn what I don't know...that's what all these What If's are about, right?

I have never dove in a current before, and have only been to a small plane at a shallow site, so I don't even know if that could be considered a wreck. I did some research online about this since I didn't know what to. So, I have a couple of questions.

First question is: Should I have learned wreck drift diving in OW? If so, I did not.

Second question: In my research I see that it suggests you descend along a line which could be hooked to the wreck or an anchor line being drug. So, if the boat is attached to the wreck, won't the boat be somewhat held in place on the surface while the divers are below until someone unhooks it? Your scenario suggests the boat is dragging the anchor in the sandy bottom, so I'm assuming the goal here is the boat is trying to drift?

Third question: I'm assuming that during the dive brief "missing the target" procedures would be discussed, am I right?

I feel clueless

 

[Cave Diver]

First question is: Should I have learned wreck drift diving in OW? If so, I did not.

No. The fact that this is a wreck is irrelevant unless you're penetrating. The same procedure would be used for a reef, or any other feature you're attempting to dive in this situation. It's also not a drift dive, because the boat has anchored in, rather than dropping you off and following bubbles.

Second question: In my research I see that it suggests you descend along a line which could be hooked to the wreck or an anchor line being drug. So, if the boat is attached to the wreck, won't the boat be somewhat held in place on the surface while the divers are below until someone unhooks it? Your scenario suggests the boat is dragging the anchor in the sandy bottom, so I'm assuming the goal here is the boat is trying to drift?

Tying into the wreck via a permanent mooring ball or by the DM physically linking the anchor to the wreck is preferred. On some smaller wrecks or on reefs, this may not be acceptable because it could cause damage, or the structure is not sufficient to hold the boat.

Third question: I'm assuming that during the dive brief "missing the target" procedures would be discussed, am I right?

I feel clueless

No. The captain is working under the assumption that they've hooked the wreck, or a spot close to it and unaware that the boat is drifting. A diver following the anchor line down would have no reason to suspect they would miss the target.

 

[SoccerJeni]

No. The captain is working under the assumption that they've hooked the wreck, or a spot close to it and unaware that the boat is drifting. A diver following the anchor line down would have no reason to suspect they would miss the target.

So this was a mistake they did not get anchored in then?

 

[Kenny13]

So this was a mistake they did not get anchored in then?

That's pretty much it. Either the anchor didn't take at all, or it pulled loose. It seems to me that it was slightly different in the 2 scenarios. In scenario #1, you had to wait at 15' because your buddy had trouble equalizing. When you got to the bottom there was no wreck and there were drag marks showing the anchor was dragging the bottom. To me, this sounds like my buddy & I were the last ones down since he had trouble equalizing and the anchor pulled loose after the other divers were already on the wreck. Therefore the anchor was never holding, or at least set long enough for the others to get to the wreck, but pulled loose before I did.

In scenario #2, you are finishing the dive ready to ascend when you find the drag marks and no anchor. This tells me the anchor was holding at least long enough for me to get to the bottom and leave the anchor line to explore the wreck, then came loose at some point afterward.

 

[SoccerJeni]

That's pretty much it. Either the anchor didn't take at all, or it pulled loose. It seems to me that it was slightly different in the 2 scenarios. In scenario #1, you had to wait at 15' because your buddy had trouble equalizing. When you got to the bottom there was no wreck and there were drag marks showing the anchor was dragging the bottom. To me, this sounds like my buddy & I were the last ones down since he had trouble equalizing and the anchor pulled loose after the other divers were already on the wreck. Therefore the anchor was never holding, or at least set long enough for the others to get to the wreck, but pulled loose before I did.

In scenario #2, you are finishing the dive ready to ascend when you find the drag marks and no anchor. This tells me the anchor was holding at least long enough for me to get to the bottom and leave the anchor line to explore the wreck, then came loose at some point afterward.

Ok, thank you Kenny!

Knowing all of that info now, I like the way you answered the questions. You seem smart and I'll copy your answers to the test. Lol!

I hate that I don't know the answers to some of the scenarios and it makes me question my knowledge base and makes me think I should re-read all of the OW book. Disappointing and frustrating.

 

[Kenny13]

Ok, thank you Kenny!

Knowing all of that info now, I like the way you answered the questions. You seem smart and I'll copy your answers to the test. Lol!

I hate that I don't know the answers to some of the scenarios and it makes me question my knowledge base and makes me think I should re-read all of the OW book. Disappointing and frustrating.

Lol at the "smart" part

Don't feel bad. A lot of this stuff wasn't covered in depth or at all in OW. I've just been trying to read through them and catch all the information available to answer as best as I can despite the lack of training & experience. For instance, I noted that I had to wait for my buddy to equalize at 15', viz was 25', and the wreck was at 90'. That told me that at 15' I couldn't see bottom or any of the wreck (unless part of it came very close to the surface which is highly unlikely, as it would be a navigation hazard), so I had no visual reference at that depth to see that we were drifting until I saw the drag marks at the bottom. Meanwhile, other divers from the boat could already be exploring the wreck not knowing our boat was adrift, but with no wreck in sight I don't know which direction to head and would be better served to head right back up the anchor line while I still have that attachment to the boat.

BTW, these are great exercises in thinking on the fly!

 

[AzAtty]

What if...? you were doing a wreck dive and after gearing up and descending down the anchor line, when you get to the bottom the wreck is nowhere in sight and you see drag marks in the sand from the anchor?

(additional background info - Wreck in 90' of water. Visibility about 25'. Strong current from surface to about 20'. You had to wait on your buddy @15' because their ears wouldnt equalize.)

What if...? same situation as above, except this time you find the drag marks, but no anchor after the dive as you're ready to begin your ascent.

I'm assuming that the dive boat hooked the wreck, and then it's hook was dislodged at different points.

Scenario 1: The hook was dislodged before or during descent.
Query: Did the pre-dive briefing include a discussion of procedures in the event the boat becomes unhooked?
Reasoning and Reaction: Assuming that no discussion of procedures occurred, I'm going back up the anchor line and telling the captain he's unhooked. It is probably a ten minute dive at this point, and my dive plan now has to be adjusted, so I'd probably take a longer surface interval to clear out residual nitrogen so I can restart the dive clean. So I lose some extra time. Big deal. If I leave the anchor line, I stand a good chance of the boat losing me.

Scenario 2: The hook was dislodged during the dive.
Query: Did I remember to stash my EPIRB in my "Oh sh*t can"?
Reasoning and Reaction. No hook means no boat above me for sure, and it can't see me.

Absolute first thing I do is make physical contact with the wreck. The wreck is stationary, and my best chance of getting found is staying with the wreck. I don't want to get blown off the wreck when no one is above me to track my bubbles. Wreck preservation and DIR be damned, I'm in a potential emergency and I need every spare bit of gas I can muster. Kicking to maintain my position is a waste of gas, and contact gives me one less thing to worrry about.

Second, I make sure my team member is with me and locked onto the wreck. I don't need a lost boat AND a lost buddy right now.

Third, I check my gas. I'm at the end of my dive and now I have an emergency to deal with. My breathing rate is up; it's going to take a couple minutes to figure things out. Hopefully, I'm smart enough to be diving thirds or rock bottom, so I should have emergency gas left in addition to my ascent gas.

Fourth, I consult my contingency plan--you know the thing we should prepare just in case our run time exceeds the original plan--to determine how much longer I can stay on the bottom before I can't meet my absolute worst case deco obligation. Now I know how long I can wait for the boat while clinging to the wreck. If I can hang for 20 minutes or longer, there's a good chance that the captain will realize he's off the wreck when we don't show up on time, check his position, and start motoring back. He probably isn't more than a couple miles from the wreck.

Fifth, I take a bearing on the skid marks. The skid marks will indicate the general direction in which the current blew the boat. At some point I might have no choice but to leave the wreck without an upline. Although I hope the current will generally push me in the same direction, I want to be sure I'm going the in right direction if I have to I leave the wreck. I consider leaving the wreck to follow the skid marks, but I've been down a long time and don't know how long ago the hook was dislodged. The hook might be 50 yards away or a full mile away. Absent better information on how long ago the hook was dislodged, I decide to stay put for the moment.

Sixth, I deploy a marker buoy. I might change the order of the deployment based on conditions. In this case, I'm thinking that I'm in contact with the wreck, I'm barely at the end of the working portion of the dive, and I'm having to review backup plans and figure out a few things, so I don't need a balloon on a 90-plus foot string to deal with right now. Get the other stuff done first, then worry about shooting the marker. Also, by looking at the direction my line is pulling, I can crosscheck the skid marks against what my SMB is telling me about surface current direction. If the skid marks go one way, and my line is going another way, it tells me that the boat wasn't blown off the wreck by the current. Rather, the boat left under its own power. This could mean that the captain had to re-hook, or there was some other reason he had to back off the wreck. If it was a voluntary departure, it's probably good news, and the boat will likely be nearby maintaining position with its thrusters. Or it could be bad news, and I try to remember if the person identified as my life insurance policy beneficiary is really pissed at me.

At this point I should be in control of the situation as much as possible. I know how long I can stay on the wreck before I have to leave. I may have some indication of why the boat is not above and where it might have gone. I might give some thought to shooting a lift bag with my primary reel, tying it off on the wreck, and using it as a stationary ascent line to keep me close to the wreck. Maybe, maybe not. The line will probably break, but if I have extra time on my hands I may as well think about creative ways to improve the situation.

I stay on the bottom as long as possible. If the DM with a new hook shows up, it's all good and I do my deco on the line. If no one shows up, then I ascend doing drift deco. My team member and I stick together during the ascent and at the surface. We keep pointed in the direction indicated by the skid marks if the SMB is doing the same. We fervently hope that the boat can see us when we arrive topside.