Anyone dived at a site with no land visible in all directions?

[In2theabyss]

Dove in the Persian Gulf...Dubai to be exact. We went out so far to dive a sunken car ferry I actually got kind of nervous after we lost sight of land. But was a great dive!

 

[caydiver]

We saw a big group of sea snakes in a cluster. Don’t know if it was a mating ritual but the guides on the boat said they were poisonous so we decided to forgo diving in that spot. Perhaps that and the giant clam garden were my favorites on the GBR.

 

[Akimbo]

"Anyone dived at a site with no land visible in all directions?"

Lots of times. Cortez Banks (off San Diego), Andrea Doria, the North Sea off Scotland and Norway, off Baja Mexico, and off Cape Hatteras. That doesn't include all the dive sites off uninhabitable islands and platforms. A good boat, crew, and seamanship skills are crucial.

Sea Story:
My first dive out of sight of land was off San Diego supporting test dives on the US Navy's Bathyscaphe Trieste II. The bottom was about 6,500'/2,000M. Visibility was spectacular, probably 150'/46M. The Trieste was supported by the White Sands, a floating dry dock that was large enough to hold small ships and nuclear submarines.

Getting her ready to dive was very involved. The White Sands had to be towed since she didn't have propulsion. She would ballast down and open the rear gate so the Trieste (T2) could float out, towed by small boats. A hose was run from the White Sands to pump 67,000 Gallons/253,623 Liters of AvGas (Aviation Gasoline) onto the T2 that was used for buoyancy.

A couple of days of prep, testing, and repairs was required while the T2 was floating on the surface. Most work was just underwater so it had to be done by me and one other Scuba diver that was onboard. It is a good thing we didn't have computers in those days because we they would have gone insane. We must have made over 100 short "dives" per day to 15-25', paying very little attention to ascent rates.

The T2 stayed on the surface with small ballast tanks and the trunk to the personnel sphere supported below the hull (gasoline tank) full of air. She controlled neutral buoyancy by dropping iron shot and bleeding off AvGas. The shot was held in small silos with magnetic fields acting as valves. In addition the entire silo/tub was held in by an electromagnet on a lever. The concept was that ballast weight would be automatically dumped in the event of a major electrical failure or when the batteries were drained; intended as a failsafe.

One of the most surreal moments of my young life was just as the T2 started to descend. I dropped to about 100'/30M while she vented air. They dumped a short burst of iron shot from both tubs and this amazing cloud rained down around me, soon followed by the T2. I saw the face a crewman through the one small viewport as I swam out of her way. I watched her disappear into the deep blue (literally and figuratively). She and my shipmates inside were on their own, far out of range for anyone to help. For reasons that stay with me and I can't explain, I wanted to follow her.

 

[kelemvor]

"Anyone dived at a site with no land visible in all directions?"

Lots of times. Cortez Banks (off San Diego), Andrea Doria, the North Sea off Scotland and Norway, off Baja Mexico, and off Cape Hatteras. That doesn't include all the dive sites off uninhabitable islands and platforms. A good boat, crew, and seamanship skills are crucial.

Sea Story:
My first dive out of sight of land was off San Diego supporting test dives on the US Navy's Bathyscaphe Trieste II. The bottom was about 6,500'/2,000M. Visibility was spectacular, probably 150'/46M. The Trieste was supported by the White Sands, a floating dry dock that was large enough to hold small ships and nuclear submarines.

Getting her ready to dive is very involved. The White Sands had to be towed since she didn't have propulsion. She would ballast down and open the rear gate so the Trieste (T2) could float out, towed by small boats. A hose was run from the White Sands to pump 67,000 Gallons/253,623 Liters of AvGas (Aviation Gasoline) onto the T2 that was used for buoyancy.

A couple of days of prep, testing, and repairs was required while the T2 was floating on the surface. Most work was just underwater so it had to be done by me and the one other Scuba diver onboard. It is a good thing we didn't have computers in those days because we they would have gone insane. We must have made over 100 short "dives" per day to 15-25', paying very little attention to ascent rates.

The T2 stayed on the surface with small ballast tanks and the trunk to the personnel sphere supported below the hull (gasoline tank) full of air. She controlled neutral buoyancy by dropping iron shot and bleeding off AvGas. The shot was held in small silos with magnetic fields acting as valves. In addition the entire silo/tub was held in by an electromagnet on a lever. The concept was that ballast weight would be automatically dumped in the event of a major electrical failure or when the batteries were drained; designed a failsafe.

One of the most surreal moments of my young life was just as the T2 started to descend. I dropped to about 100'/30M while she vented air. They dumped a short burst of iron shot from both tubs and the amazing cloud rained down around me, soon followed by the T2. I saw the face a crewman through the one small viewport as I swam out of her way. I watched her disappear into the deep blue (literally and figuratively). She and my shipmates inside were on their own, far out of range for anyone to help. For reasons that stay with me and I can't explain, I wanted to follow her.

View attachment 499138​

That's quite a story! Thanks for sharing it.

They really dumped fuel into the ocean to control buoyancy?

That electromagnet fail-safe design is a good idea. I just watched the DCV1 documentary a couple weeks ago. It really blew my mind that they didn't have a failsafe design with the weights on that sub. They were repeatedly having electrical failures and expressed a great deal of concern about the ability to ditch weights. I kept thinking he should have at least had a mechanical ditch mechanism or something. All those smart guys and virtually unlimited budget and they seemingly missed such an important thing... Off the top of my head I can dream up a handful of safer solutions than what they appeared to have.

 

[Akimbo]

They really dumped fuel into the ocean to control buoyancy?

Sure, it isn't much different than than aircraft dumping fuel before landing. AvGas is very volatile and evaporates pretty fast.

A thin film of AvGas floated around the T2 all the time due to tiny leaks. We had to follow the same safety precautions as air crews -- non-ferrous hand tools, no open flames, ground straps for static electricity, and great care when handling ferrous parts out of the water to prevent accidental sparks.

It was hell on wetsuits and corrugated hoses. We were one of the few naval diving operations allowed to use single hose regulators instead of the approved double hose regulator because of it. My custom DUI wetsuit was trashed after those few days of diving.

The bathyscaphe concept was obsolete when I was onboard the T2 in 1970 due to the development of syntactic foam. No modern submersibles had been developed yet with the T2's operating depth of 20,000'/6,100M so the Navy kept her working. It's a good thing they didn't mothball her. She was sent off Hawaii on a "scientific mission" not long after I left her for First Class Diving School. That "scientific mission" was to photo-document the sunken Soviet submarine K-129. It was previously located by a ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) deployed from the US submarine Halibut (SSGN-587).

That information was used for Project Azorian. The Hughes Glomar Explorer was built to recover the K-129.

Sorry for the hijack

 

[PfcAJ]

I've got a solid handful of dives out in the Gulfstream that are out of sight of land.

I think its worthwhile to invest in good signaling gear (big SMB, lights), a PLB or GPS/ Radio like a Nautilus, and maybe even a dye pack.

 

[In2theabyss]

"Anyone dived at a site with no land visible in all directions?"

Lots of times. Cortez Banks (off San Diego), Andrea Doria, the North Sea off Scotland and Norway, off Baja Mexico, and off Cape Hatteras. That doesn't include all the dive sites off uninhabitable islands and platforms. A good boat, crew, and seamanship skills are crucial.

Sea Story:
My first dive out of sight of land was off San Diego supporting test dives on the US Navy's Bathyscaphe Trieste II. The bottom was about 6,500'/2,000M. Visibility was spectacular, probably 150'/46M. The Trieste was supported by the White Sands, a floating dry dock that was large enough to hold small ships and nuclear submarines.

Getting her ready to dive is very involved. The White Sands had to be towed since she didn't have propulsion. She would ballast down and open the rear gate so the Trieste (T2) could float out, towed by small boats. A hose was run from the White Sands to pump 67,000 Gallons/253,623 Liters of AvGas (Aviation Gasoline) onto the T2 that was used for buoyancy.

A couple of days of prep, testing, and repairs was required while the T2 was floating on the surface. Most work was just underwater so it had to be done by me and the one other Scuba diver onboard. It is a good thing we didn't have computers in those days because we they would have gone insane. We must have made over 100 short "dives" per day to 15-25', paying very little attention to ascent rates.

The T2 stayed on the surface with small ballast tanks and the trunk to the personnel sphere supported below the hull (gasoline tank) full of air. She controlled neutral buoyancy by dropping iron shot and bleeding off AvGas. The shot was held in small silos with magnetic fields acting as valves. In addition the entire silo/tub was held in by an electromagnet on a lever. The concept was that ballast weight would be automatically dumped in the event of a major electrical failure or when the batteries were drained; designed as a failsafe.

One of the most surreal moments of my young life was just as the T2 started to descend. I dropped to about 100'/30M while she vented air. They dumped a short burst of iron shot from both tubs and this amazing cloud rained down around me, soon followed by the T2. I saw the face a crewman through the one small viewport as I swam out of her way. I watched her disappear into the deep blue (literally and figuratively). She and my shipmates inside were on their own, far out of range for anyone to help. For reasons that stay with me and I can't explain, I wanted to follow her.

Amazing...thanks for the share!

 

[kelemvor]

I've got a solid handful of dives out in the Gulfstream that are out of sight of land.

I think its worthwhile to invest in good signaling gear (big SMB, lights), a PLB or GPS/ Radio like a Nautilus, and maybe even a dye pack.

I did another out of land sight "dive" (snorkel, whalesharks) last summer in Mexico of Isla Mujeres (I probably mis-spelled that). I always carry a nautilus lifeline, but I bought a bigger 10' SMB and a dye pack for that trip. I'm not sure exactly where we were but it took nearly 2 hours at cruise speed on a fast boat to get far enough out. Small boat, 4-6' seas, high speed...the ride was harrowing.

I think I'll replace my nautilus with a full on PLB if I do anything remote like that again.

 

[BikerBecca]

I've never dove in the pelagic zone, however I have swam in it. We were out in the canyons about 100 miles off of Montauk Point when, after one beer to many, we all decided to jump off the tuna tower. It was a very weird experience to be out in the ocean, no land in sight, no way to see the bottom, and wondering what the hell was lurking below you.

 

[Ryan Mcshane]

Done a fair few out of the UK where you can’t see land and then every day for a month in the Philippines working on a project collecting data on palegic thresher sharks. A big ole sausage is must. Marine rescue GPS like the nautilus lifeline would be nice too.