Solo wreck diving

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AADiveRex:
Its not about someone specifically being a liability, just like its not about me being better than anyone. To assume your buddy isn't capable of errors or problems would be just as shortsighted and foolhardy as assuming that you yourself are incapable of error. In either case, the results can have disasterous consequences.

If the diving situation is such that having a buddy is less of a risk than not having one, I do choose to dive with a buddy if possible. However, most often for me, that is not the case. The fact remains that on highly technical dives, in my assesment, the risks often outweigh the benefits. If you need specifics to understand what I mean, I can get as detailed as you want, but I think my last post made the point clear.

Let me make one other point explicitly clear...I am not trying to suggest that diving solo is in any way safer that diving with a buddy. I'm not advocating the elimination of the buddy system, or in any way suggesting that a highly skilled buddy team can't dive together safely. The position I am taking is that:

a) there are risks associated with diving with a buddy, just as there are risks in any diving situation. Having a buddy introduces one set of risks, and minimizes another. Diving solo eliminates one set of risks and introduces another.

b) with the right skills, training, experience, and equipment, the risks of solo diving can be managed to within acceptable limits, for those who choose to accept those risks.

I am personally more comfortable with the set of risks without a buddy, since I can better anticipate my own actions and responses than I can predict those of a buddy.

On my last trip to the U-869 a few weeks ago, there were 10 divers on the boat, all highly skilled, competent technical divers, 5 of us well known technical instructors. Only two of us dove as a buddy team, the remaining 8 were solo. Most of the solo divers knew each other well, and some had dived together in the past, yet they chose to dive solo. Some of them were people everyone on this board would recognize. I am not alone in my convictions....

Dive Safe
Adam

You have said things so much more eloquently than I could.

Thanks for that.
It seems you and I are the only ones in this thread from the North East (NJ-LI)area.
My guess based on my experiences are that most NE wreck divers dive solo as you described with the 853.

The requirements for solo diving seem to be like the triangle of fire (fuel, heat, oxygen), for diving its is training, gear, and experience.
You need all three.
 
DEEPLOU:
Thanks for that.
It seems you and I are the only ones in this thread from the North East (NJ-LI)area.
My guess based on my experiences are that most NE wreck divers dive solo as you described with the 853.

No, I'm definitely from the North East. ORing is from Virginia Beach which has diving conditions to ours.

We've seen a lot of "I dive solo because a buddy is a liability" and the same people have said that a well trained buddy team is probably safer. So, what this indicates to me is that those people are solo diving simply because they are unwilling to put in the time to develop buddy skills.

As for the 853, everyone in my circle dives it as a team. Unfortunately, I've never made it out there, since all 5 of my attempts in the last year have been cancelled due to bad weather. :(
 
Soggy:
since all 5 of my attempts in the last year have been cancelled due to bad weather. :(

On the other hand, that dive trip to the CP in Dec 2003 was good weather.
 
Boogie711:
DA - I wasn't trying to make this personally, although you're obviously taking it that way.

What am I supposed to think when I read statements like "I am not subject to the errors, mistakes, or pequipment problems of anyone else, just my own. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself, and I am not responsible for anyone else's life, just my own. " This is a statement you yourself agreed with....

....Obviously, you feel that someone else on a dive team is a liability. If you feel that someone is a liability, then obviously you feel that you are better than they are, and less likely to be entangled, run out of air or get lost?

Let me put it to you another way - do you feel that diving in a well prepared dive team with competent team members is safer than solo diving?

If no, why not? If yes, then why do you choose to not do so?

If someone on a dive team is less skilled then I am, then yes, they are a potential liability. That is not the same as saying that having anyone on a dive team is a liability. It depends on the persona nd on the situation. Regardless of how good someone else may be, there are time when I am just more comfortable going solo. It eliminates the need to communicate with the buddy, keep track of the buddy etc and allows me to focus on the goals/objectives of the dive.

I will state in some cases I am less likely to get lost, run out of air or get entangeld when solo.

For example, I am a very good underwater navigator and I have found it is much easier to navigate with peak effiency when I am not having to divide my attention with keeping track of a buddy.

Similarly, when I reach my turn pressure I can turn immediately with no need to communicate with and attempt to turn the rest of the herd. I just do a 180 and am on my way out.

I would also argue that risk of entaglement is potentially less than when I am with a buddy as I am able to fully focus on where I am at and what I am doing with no need to divide my attention with keeping track of the buddy. If I am entangled, a buddy may or may not be of help and if the viz is zero, the buddy may not even know I am entangled. The few times I have become entangled were buddy dives where I snagged something while attending to or looking at the buddy and in all cases I freed myself anyway.

Now, a neccesary part of safe solo diving is the ability and the need to be brutally honest about your limitations and to stay within them. And when I am solo, I, by definition, am intimately aware of the limits and abilities of everyone along on the dive. I can not always say the same when I am diving with a buddy. And furthermore, when solo diving I am never tempted to push my limits in the belief that a buddy will be able to pull me back if I wander over the edge so the risk of being overconfident in the groups ability is just not a factor.

To use another analogy to try to illustrate the point, flying a twin engine aircraft under instrument flight conditions or at night is theoretically safer than making the same flight in a single engine aircraft. But the reality of the situation is that twin engine aircraft tend to have poorer saftey records in general in good weather or bad. This is due to increased complexity, increased potential for mechanical failure, higher demands on pilot skill and currency and greater potential for indecisiveness and indecision if an engine does fail.

In many respects this is very similar to diving with a buddy compared to diving solo. Buddying up for the dive adds a degree of redundancy but also increases the complexity of the endeavor and in some cases the benefits of having a buddy just do not outweigh the costs.

Granted, in some circumstances a well prepared team can be ideal and can be the clear way to go and I do go that way when the situation dictates. But very frequently solo diving makes more sense and when that is the case I will choose to go solo.
 
Boogie711:
As I read this paragraph, without looking at your location or where in fact the U-869 was located, I said to myself "Oh, he must be from the Northeast!"

I was right. It explains a lot, actually.
Hey Boogie, I'm not sure, am I supposed to be flattered or insulted?
 
AADiveRex,

I have a couple of questions for you, if I may be so bold.

What is the debth of U853?
How long was your dive (including deco)?
What setup do you use (Rebreather/Multiple gases)?

I think one of the main factors for solo dives is to try to eliminate possible confusion in a hostile enviroment in the midst of a complex situation. I was wondering if others in this thread understand exactly what kind of diving was to be discussed here?

In my earlier post I was trying to make the point that before anyone takes up solo diving, wreck penetration, cavern diving, salvage or prehistoric animal baloon figures they should have the basics down to a fine art.

That was why I asked what the prereqs for the SOLO DIVER were. They were the BASICS required before attempting this kind of dive. And they were fairly substantial.

Good divers never stop learning. Expand your skills, dive different waters, discover new wonders. Then do it all over again.

Good diving to you all.
Paul.
 
DEEPLOU:
The requirements for solo diving seem to be like the triangle of fire (fuel, heat, oxygen), for diving its is training, gear, and experience. You need all three.
I would also add discipline and skill to that list.

Thanks Lou,
Adam
 
Aquawookie:
AADiveRex,

I have a couple of questions for you, if I may be so bold.

What is the debth of U853?
How long was your dive (including deco)?
What setup do you use (Rebreather/Multiple gases)?
Actually, the dive was the U-869, not the U-853. The 853 is in 130 fsw. I did an hour bottom time on that one just last week. The U-869 is at 230 feet. The wreck used to be known as the U-Who. The new Book "Shadow Divers" details the discovery and identification of this U-Boat.

My planned bottom times were for 30 minutes, but I cut them back to 25 since my hands were getting real cold. The bottom temperature was 38F, with not much in the way of relief on the deco stops until 50 feet and shallower, so I shortened my bottom time, but did the planned deco anyway. This was an open circuit dive. Back gas was Double 100cf 17/30 Trimix, Deco on 30cf 50% and 30cf 85%.

On one dive I explored the deisel engine room and control room, on the other I attempted to get into the elecric motor room, but backed out of it, due to risk. This is a very nasty room, lot of entanglement hazzards. In my opinion, wasn't worth it. Instead, I entered via the blast hole and headed up to the forward torpedo room. Both wre great dives. I had not been to the wreck since the early 90s, before it was identified, and it was good to see it again.

Two of the other divers on the boat were using rebreathers. One Inspiration, one Prism.

Hope this clarifies.
Adam
 
AADiveRex:
The U-869 is at 230 feet.

Hope this clarifies.
Adam

Thanks Adam, that clarifies things nicely.

By the way what was the dive time, feet wet to feet dry, for each dive?

Sounds like a wonderful dive. Enjoy your weekend.

Good diving to all.
Paul.
 

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