Wreck Entry

tchil01 · May 22, 2002

I did two of my certification dives last weekend for my external survey/ penitration class. We dove a small boat that had a hole cut in the bow ( The Silver Comet for those of you who know Dutch Springs) and used our reel to enter and go through the cabin, up some stairs and out the back of the boat. We then reversed course and followed our line back out.

My question is, Is it better to enter a wreck feet first or head first when you need to go down in a wreck? I did it both ways and didn't notice a whole lot of difference other then it was easier to control my line going feet first.

Anyway, I was wondering what more experianced wreck divers on here thought.

Thanks
Ty

Spectre · May 22, 2002

Originally posted by tchil01
My question is, Is it better to enter a wreck feet first or head first when you need to go down in a wreck? I did it both ways and didn't notice a whole lot of difference other then it was easier to control my line going feet first.

Feet first, definately. Have you ever tried to swim backwards? If you get yourself stuck, it's _much_ easier to pull yourself out with your arms and swimming, then trying to back out after your arms have entered the wreck.

Lost Yooper · May 23, 2002

If the hole is small, I'll go in feet first. If it's a big hole, I'll go in horizontal. If I can't fit throught the hole with all my gear on, I don't go in it.

Mike

WreckWriter · May 23, 2002

If you're going in vertically (as in DOWN a hole rather than through a hole) go feet first. Backing up is hard to do.... (wasn't that a song??)

Tom

NJ Wreck Finder · Jun 11, 2002

What training course are you taking that is doing certification dives for wreck penatration on the Silver Comet? I hope the class includes a real wreck penatration? There are plenty of "easy" wrecks for penatration off the Jersey coast. The Venturo tug quickly comes to mind. Plus many many others.

Good luck and dive safe,

dan

tchil01 · Jun 11, 2002

Originally posted by NJ Wreck Finder
What training course are you taking that is doing certification dives for wreck penatration on the Silver Comet? I hope the class includes a real wreck penatration? There are plenty of "easy" wrecks for penatration off the Jersey coast. The Venturo tug quickly comes to mind. Plus many many others.

Good luck and dive safe,

dan

The dive was part of the NAUI Wreck survey/ Wreck Penatration course. We did two dives at Dutch Springs.. One being a survey, the other being the penatration... Then we will do 4 ocean dives, two being external surveys and two being penatrations. Venturo tug was one of the posibilities, as well as the Great Issac, although I heard that the Issac is caving in some and may not be a good choice to penatrate.

Ty

Wendy · Jun 11, 2002

What sort of skills are you being taught as part of the wreck penetration portion of the class?

tchil01 · Jun 11, 2002

The two courses were taught together so they kind of overlap. The classroom was a lot of wreck identification, how to get info on a wreck, different ship types and their characteristics, some discussion on salvage laws and artifact collecting. A fair amount of time was spent on how to plan a wreck dive.

The skills were mostly around how to use a penetration reel, how to use a Jersey Reel and Lift bag for light salvage work. How to prevent silt outs and what to do if they happen was also covered and practiced.

My understanding is that these kinds of courses from NAUI are developed individually by the course directors and then approved by NAUI, so the course work and skills taught are different depending on the instructor and where you are.

Ty

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