Jersey Line or Up Line use?

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AZ_Zoner

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Scuba Instructor
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Valley of the Sun, AZ.
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Do you guys in Florida that dive the wrecks off the keys frequently dive with a jersey line/up line?

Just curious,

Thanks,

Craig
 
For the most part the wrecks have mooring balls.It is pretty much standard practice to use the lines for a number of reason.One is the current.a good portion of the wreks lie in the Gulf stream and if you let go of the line you would end up a mile or 2 down current.
Another would be that the popularity of the wrecks would create a lot of tangled anchor lines and damage to the wrecks themselves.Not to mention being on a wreck 100 feet down and getting caught in a anchor going up or coming down.
 
With the strong current there, would it not be a bad idea for safety sake? Maybe if you could not get back to a mooring line, you could shoot a bag and accend up the line and not get blown off the wreck? Or are there plenty of mooring lines on the wrecks where it's not an issue?

Craig
 
truck1:
For the most part the wrecks have mooring balls.
Emphasis on plural ballS --- often including one at each end of the wreck, which reduces the need for an upline -- even if you can't make it back to the right mooring ball due to current, you can still probably find one to go up while not getting blown off the wreck.
 
Charlie99:
Emphasis on plural ballS --- often including one at each end of the wreck, which reduces the need for an upline -- even if you can't make it back to the right mooring ball due to current, you can still probably find one to go up while not getting blown off the wreck.


Generally speaking, the bigger the wreck the more balls.The Spiegel Grove for example has 8 - 10 mooring balls.I think 6 are on the wreck and at least 2 are what are called transverse lines where they are hooked at one point on the wreck and the other to the bottom of the ocean.the ball is in the middle and you go down the ball and then turn to the wreck.
The real trick is remembering what ball you decended and go back up that ball.Its fairly common for a lost diver to show up on someone elses boat after getting confused on which ball they came down on.
 
While the Keys wrecks have mooring balls, the wrecks in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and points northward do not. My personal preference is to hotdrop the wreck and shoot a liftbag or SMB as soon as I'm leaving the wreck.

I'd prefer to dive the wrecks in the Keys the same way except there simply aren't any operators that are willing to let me dive that way there.
 
I dive with a 100 ft cave reel just in case I can't find the anchor/ moring line. I can just tie off to the wreck and reel my self up making a free acent, but anchored to the wreck to combat any current.
 
wjefferis:
I dive with a 100 ft cave reel just in case I can't find the anchor/ moring line. I can just tie off to the wreck and reel my self up making a free acent, but anchored to the wreck to combat any current.

Out of curiousity,How would you recover the line?
 
truck1:
Out of curiousity,How would you recover the line?

That's a great question :)

A true Jersey upline uses sisal, which is biodegradable but you wouldn't get very much sisal on a cave reel.
 
truck1:
Out of curiousity,How would you recover the line?

I think if the line kept you from being blow off a wreck, recovering the line would be a non-issue. You or someone else could do another dive and retrieve it. If you do get blow off a wreck, who knows, you might not have the opportunity to go on another dive.

Craig
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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