Missing Boats and the Importance of Lift Bags

[Tom Smedley]

I’m going on a routine dive in Panama City with no students, just myself, my favorite dive buddies, and some other folks that we share the boat with. The question is – how much equipment is too much and how much equipment is just right. We have developed the habit of clipping a lift bag and reel to our BCD, just in case we find that chest of gold, an elusive anchor, or those weight belts that lie strewn about the bottom.

The reel also allows us to go off the structure and safely explore those places just out of sight that are so alluring. The sand dollars and all the nice shells are already picked up close to the wreck so why not venture off a little and find some nice stuff. You also quickly learn that arc where boats swing on anchor and oft times find some nice gear.

This past Sunday we learned of the importance of carrying that little extra amount of stuff. You know toys are always fun to have and when they become necessary it is really comfortable to have them. We did the USS Strength and did go off the wreck and found some sand dollars that are beautiful and have no nicks or breaks at all. We also found the always present weight belt. We like to salvage weight belts because not only do we get the lead out of the environment, we donate it to the guys that do reenactments up at Fort Toulouse to make bullets.

We came back to the place where we knew the anchor line to be tied and found only a carabineer and some chain. Rick was there along with Face and they sported puzzled looks. We had several folks on the bottom with no anchor line and no boat above our heads. The immediate response was to shoot the bag and create an up-line. With a safe path to the surface folks started to ascend. Most had gone into inadvertent decompression.

I guess the moral is that piece of gear that you carry might be just something extra or it may be a life saver. With the help of our technical training, a simple lift bag, and a reel, we ensured that everyone made it to the surface and all necessary stops were completed. The Captain knew exactly where to find us and all were picked up without incident. The whole situation could have easily turned sour with folks drifting all over the place or blowing deco stops, however we all enjoyed a great and hearty laugh.

I like to laugh.

[djanni]

I’m going on a routine dive in Panama City with no students, just myself, my favorite dive buddies, and some other folks that we share the boat with. The question is – how much equipment is too much and how much equipment is just right. We have developed the habit of clipping a lift bag and reel to our BCD, just in case we find that chest of gold, an elusive anchor, or those weight belts that lie strewn about the bottom.

The reel also allows us to go off the structure and safely explore those places just out of sight that are so alluring. The sand dollars and all the nice shells are already picked up close to the wreck so why not venture off a little and find some nice stuff. You also quickly learn that arc where boats swing on anchor and oft times find some nice gear.

This past Sunday we learned of the importance of carrying that little extra amount of stuff. You know toys are always fun to have and when they become necessary it is really comfortable to have them. We did the USS Strength and did go off the wreck and found some sand dollars that are beautiful and have no nicks or breaks at all. We also found the always present weight belt. We like to salvage weight belts because not only do we get the lead out of the environment, we donate it to the guys that do reenactments up at Fort Toulouse to make bullets.

We came back to the place where we knew the anchor line to be tied and found only a carabineer and some chain. Rick was there along with Face and they sported puzzled looks. We had several folks on the bottom with no anchor line and no boat above our heads. The immediate response was to shoot the bag and create an up-line. With a safe path to the surface folks started to ascend. Most had gone into inadvertent decompression.

I guess the moral is that piece of gear that you carry might be just something extra or it may be a life saver. With the help of our technical training, a simple lift bag, and a reel, we ensured that everyone made it to the surface and all necessary stops were completed. The Captain knew exactly where to find us and all were picked up without incident. The whole situation could have easily turned sour with folks drifting all over the place or blowing deco stops, however we all enjoyed a great and hearty laugh.

I like to laugh.

Better safe than sorry. Because of you and Rick I've started diving with a large Dive Rite DSMB and a spool. If you figure out how much gear is too much let me know.

BTW: Glad to know you're laughing about it!!!

[TSandM]

I hear you! We had a situation in our recent Indonesia trip where the whole dive surfaced a long ways from the boat (guided dive) and the boat didn't see us. Even the Assistant Instructor along didn't know how to deploy her SMB, but I knew how to use mine, and was able to signal. On another dive, we were surfacing in an area known to be used by the glass-bottomed tour boats, and I blew a bag from 15 feet just as a safety measure.

The dive op in Bunaken issued SMBs to everybody, but what use is it if you don't know how to use it?

[The Kraken]

Tom,

The Yellow Angel Fish and I ALWAYS dive with SMB's - spool/reel on our boat dives.

Your experience is a perfect example of what can go wrong.

Besides, an SMB/spool isn't that much of an encumberance given its potential safety value.

the K

[MarkUK]

You can get some tiny reels these days – look at the nifty little DSMB reel on www.bodaine.co.uk – and this one in particular will fit in a BCD pocket or clip discreetly to a D-ring or two. A six-foot DSMB in a pouch also doesn't take up much room. I always dive with this reel-and-DSMB combo whenever I am anywhere there is the potential for current, losing the boat, etc.

Everyone should know how to send up a DSMB, both from the seabed and mid-water.

Mark