Diving in current

[Hitdbeach]

Hello...just got back from Isla Mujeres. I can say the diving wasn't great, but it allowed time to get wet and practice. However, I did get the chance to do a wreck dive off Cancun. The current was very strong compared to what I am used to. I've dove a bunch in Cozumel, but most of that is drift so you just ride the wave. This was my first time dropping down a line that was necessary to keep everyone together and at the bottom you had to kick like hell to hold par. I would have liked to enjoy the wreck more but I was struggling just to maneuver. Common sense tells me to get behind coral formations or ship parts that block the current. Or stay low to the bottom seemed to help. The good news is everyone including the DM was pumping hard. I am pretty fit so breathing hard in the gym isn't a problem, but at 85 ft I hate it. Are there technics, equipment, or other considerations that would make these conditions easier to swim in. Our safety stop hanging on to the buoy line musta looked like 7 flags in the wind.

 

[Nasser]

Streamline your gear. The more you have tucked in, the less drag.

Be properly weighted. If you're overweighted then you will have to inflate your BC more at the bottom and this will also cause excessive drag.

Get into good trim. You see some people fighting currents that look like they're riding a bicycle. That again causes drag and is a tiring way to move - even without a current.

Sometimes you can get away from the current if you move down closer to the reef or even above the current by a couple of meters.

Exercise is great... doing lots of cardio and strengthening your quads.

I once had a DM tell me that when she encounters a strong current she allows a little bit of give and almost "plays in the current" letting it push her around slightly rather than really fighting it head-on. It sounds strange but what I think she meant was even within this effort, try to relax, breath steadily, and be a little flexible... physically and mentally - this slight pliability makes it less fatiguing to swim against the current. I have since adopted this mindset and it really does help.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

I'll echo each point made by Nasser above. I will add that carrying and using a Jon Line for safety/deco stops on the anchor line will save you quite a bit of exertion.

 

[miketsp]

One of the advantages of carrying a BFK is that you can stick it in the sand when you need to rest without losing ground.

If you have 2 of them you can actually pull yourself along hand over hand as you would when using ice tools.

 

[nolatom]

If touching the wreck is allowed, a one or two-fingered "pull and glide" will move you against the current a lot more efficiently than finning. Pick spots where you are just pulling against steel or barnacles, not soft growth which could be damaged or dislodged.

 

[Akimbo]

… Are there technics, equipment, or other considerations that would make these conditions easier to swim in. Our safety stop hanging on to the buoy line musta looked like 7 flags in the wind.

I’m going to take a bit of a contrarian view. Technically yes you can reduce drag by keeping gear tight, but not enough to matter very much. Even freedivers wearing a skin-out wetsuit generate a lot of hydrodynamic resistance above what sounds like a 3/4+ knot current.

If touching the wreck is allowed, a one or two-fingered "pull and glide" will move you against the current a lot more efficiently than finning...

I concur. I also prefer that technique inside wrecks to minimize stirring up silt.

 

[diver 85]

By chance, did you lose your mouthpiece(2nd stage)on the safety stop---while 'looking' into the current??......Been there done that....

 

[Hitdbeach]

By chance, did you lose your mouthpiece(2nd stage)on the safety stop---while 'looking' into the current??......Been there done that....

Nope...but I had to tighten up my mask a notch....and my snorkel was a pain twisting everywhere

---------- Post added March 9th, 2015 at 08:34 PM ----------

Thanks everyone. Good stuff for next time. Gotta get me some gloves. Being a warm water diver never had much use for them. I was grabbing some hand holds, but always careful about what I was grabbing...more for my safety than anything.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

In Palm Beach we dive on wrecks in strong currents. One thing we do is pretty much never use an anchor line. We drift into a wreck, make our way down stream along it and when we are done, we generally use a reel to send up a marker and then we drift off the wreck ascending slowly as we wind in the string on the reel.

On some of the deeper wrecks, I generally try to be drop 0.15 to 0.12 MILES upstream of the wreck (for 80 feet deep maybe 4- 500 feet away). This only works if the visibility is good and the divers can do drift dives, but it makes it much less stressful.

Also the comment about a hand hold is important too, You can hold with one finger against a strong current, especially if you get your chest low to the wreck and always keep your head pointing into the current if you are trying to cross it or oppose it. Sounds obvious, but people don't know this. Birds always face the wind, divers when stopped on a wreck need to act similarly

Another thing mentioned was don't try to fight the current too much. Watch the fish, they tend to know where the eddies are and the current can push you backwards on a wreck in some situations. Also if you are fighting a current to get a short distance do NOT go too slow! If you get into a current and swim just a tiny bit faster than it, you are getting nowhere.. getting more and more tired, wasting time and air. If you have good fins and are aerobically fit... shoot across the high current areas. Bust ass for 20-30 seconds and swim at maybe an 80% maximum effort, then hold on and rest. This is quicker and easier, then trying to plod along fighting a current.

This video I shot of my 13 yr old son and I and a few others diving on a wreck in probably a 1 kt current might give you ideas. We hold on, use the wreck for shelter, go inside where there is no current and if you skip to like 5 minutes you can see us leaving the sheltered inside of the wreck and then having to fight our way back into the current. I sprint ahead into the current and hold on and then film my son.. he SPRINTS for 8-10 seconds to fight the strong current in an exposed section and then immediately stops, grabs on and rests. Freedive fins are also extremely useful


[video=youtube_share;MvBdEb21UjU]http://youtu.be/MvBdEb21UjU[/video]

 

[charlier]

+1 for dumpsterDive's comments. In general, I'd avoid anchor lines, unless the boat sets a line. It is not uncommon to enter the water 100s+ of meters up current, so you arrive at the correct location and depth. Here an experienced captain is important. One suggestion is watch the fish years of diving - I learn a lot by looking a fish. With more experience and better spatial awareness, you will find that small features can help mitigate currents.

I do not want highjack the thread and rarely suggest equipment solutions, but free dive fins are wonderful in the current. You can use free dive fins as sails, by tilting them with only small flicks from the ankle. As others have pointed out, keep getting more diving experience in currents. In SE Asia, strong currents = great fish.