Tying in without plastic bottles

[Marty Kolenut]

When tying into a wreck, it's always kind of bothered me that, what seems to be the only fail safe way, to signal the boat on the surface that tie in is done .. is to release a few empty plastic bottles which will raise to the surface .. and then float away. Would love to hear any ideas to accomplish this task without adding to the plastic debris in the ocean.

 

[Diver below 83]

Is this really common practice?

 

[Marty Kolenut]

Yes, it is

 

[Diver below 83]

That’s crazy. I would think divers would be the last group of people who would want to release plastic bottles into the ocean. I haven’t done a wreck dive yet so that’s why I asked.

 

[Marty Kolenut]

LOL .. we are. Thats why I'm posting.

 

[rhwestfall]

plastic bottle with a ring on the shot line (rides up the line).... and it is retrieved....

 

[Marty Kolenut]

Thought of that. If there is a bend in the shot line or any slack .. game over. The shot like is not always straight or taut before it is tied to the boat.. which is the status at tie-in. And lets just assume that you mean a light plastic ring. So yeah with sending something up the line, there is no guarantee that the line will be straight. If its a particularly calm day, I've seen the slack in the line lay horizontally. There is also the possibility that the ring could snag. So.. so-far, this has not been a fail safe method.

 

[Sean Walberg]

I had read Shadow Divers a few weeks ago. It talked about using polystyrene cups, and my first reaction was to think that certainly we must have a better way by now.

 

[Ana]

Maybe a bigger metal ring that is attached to a small lift bag or inflatable marker not a bottle.
Worse case deploy an independent marker that would be tied up to the same location and retrievedlater at the end of the dive.
Seems like there has to be better ways than littering the ocean

Get a cheap hydrophone and bang on the wreck a few sets of 3 or 4 bangs per set.
Wow.. I'm glad your looking for alternate ways

 

[divad]

LOL .. we are. Thats why I'm posting.

Flee NJ...they want you to.