Anchor

[Searcaigh]

Was not sure where to post this in the main forum or in the Gulf area of Middle East section, anyway this area seems appropriate.

We were the first boat to arrive at a popular dive site called "Martini Rock" which has a mooring for the dive boats. General practice is that if you are the second boat you tie on to the boat already on the mooring, third boat on to the second and so on if there are more boats.

There are several moorings at the UAE east coast dive sites intentionally put there to avoid anchor damage to the corals and the environment.

When I surfaced after my dive, one of the divers, Dave, from my boat was having a major verbal altercation with the skipper of of another boat that was sitting off to our port side.

Apparently this boat had used an anchor and narrowly missed the guy who was giving the guy what he deserved.

There is not really much recourse to incidents like this over here but personally I am going to report this to the Emirates Diving Association (EDA) and see what happens.

1. It is dangerous when divers may be and this case were in the area
2. There are moorings placed to avoid the use of anchors for the reasons mentioned above.

Dave, whom I had just met today for the first time, was really pissed off, however by the time the SI was over he had calmed down to enjoy his second dive. I then heard a story back at the dive centre of another incident where one of their guests was actually hit by an anchor at the same dive dive site a few months ago :shocked2:

Just wondering how frequent these incidents occur elsewhere.

 

[Krazytomdiver]

As a dive guide, Anchors have always been a big contraversary. I've seen more fights over anchoring than I have over billards. That's why the ultimate scuba diving is difting. I've set many expensive buoy mooring lines in ten years just to see them destroyed or stolen. Dropping an anchor and setting it properly should be done by the dive guide or marinero. Divers in a crowded dive site should always be aware of what's over head. Warning buoys and SMB's should be deployed at all times. Boat captain's responsibility is the safety of the surface and surroundings.

"living life without a hard bottom"
KT

 

[alibi 2]

Recently we were doing checkout dives at San Carlos Beach, Monterey CA. The surf conditions were less then one foot and we had two students who were working on controlled ascents, descents, hovering and navigational skills. I was diving in a well maintained dry suit. While adding air to my dry suit it appeared that the inflator valve took longer to close the usual. I quickly vented any extra air and verified that my BC chest strap was not interfering with the inflation valve. It wasn't and we continued the dive in only about 30' of water. We conducted a controlled ascent, 3 min. safety stop at 15' and surfaced to talk about the skills. I tried the inflator valve 8-10 times and it operated correctly each time immediately snapping shut each time I released it. We descended and started the navigation run. I added air to my dry suit and immediatly noticed that the valve did not close correctly. I vented while I disconnected the inflator hose. I maybe ascended 3-4' but it was enough to terminate the dive and we made a controlled ascent. I realize that I could have used my BC to control buoyancy at depth but don't dive after an equipment failure.

Back on the beach I tried the valve maybe 15-20 times without any failures. The very next day I was discussing the situation with a service facility and again there were 15-20 perfect operations while hooked to a tank. The very next operation and the valve stuck in the open position while it very slowly closed. This could have been a real problem at depth. The valve was disassembled and check for debris of any type and none was visible. It appears that the o-rings had dried out somewhat and the valve would occasionally drag while closing. It appears that this has solved the problem.

I don't know anyone who is more anal about thaking care of their gear and yet this happened. Have any of you had a similar occurance with your inflation valves? I fully believe that if it is mechanical it can malfunction regardless of the care and inspection that you give equipment. Stay safe and be aware that **** does happen.