What went wrong on your dive today/recently? And what did you learn?

[VikingDives]

We had planned a team recovery dive on a sunken boat. The boat sunk last year and is owned by a local JROTC program that teaches a sailing camp every year. The local public safety dive team had committed to raising her, but a year had gone by and they still have no timeline to start.

I visited the lake the week before and there was about 6 feet of vis (which is pretty amazing there), but when we arrived and deployed ROVs to do a pre-dive survey, the vis had gone to 0. I noped us right out of that dive.

I'm willing to dive with a risk of entanglement, but I'm not willing to do that in 0 vis. That dive will keep until conditions improve.

 

[VikingDives]

I was teaching an advanced course in a local lake that has a line run between two wrecks (in OW). I had one student and one DM candidate. We were doing a simulated 0 vis exit on the line, and as we came to the end of the line we found a large catfish hooked into the line. To free the fish, I had to cut the main line.

By the time I got the fish free, I was getting really cold. I handed the long end of the line to my DM candidate so I could start the repair. I looked back and he'd let the line go and it was going everywhere and about to entangle him.

By the time we had that sorted, I was really cold and my hands were getting numb. It took me about 10 minutes longer than it should have to do the repair.

Lessons learned:

1 - Fish can wait. I should have gotten out, warmed up, and then gone back.

2 - Even though I'd briefed entanglement hazards, I assumed my DMC would hold on to the line. Rec divers aren't tech divers. I'll be talking more about what to do with the line in the future.

3 - My advanced student, who was kind of a buoyancy mess, went up above the thermocline and executed a beautiful horizontal hover (a first for her) while we were repairing the line. I think the hover improved because there wasn't any pressure on her since I, "wasn't watching and evaluating" her performance.

 

[boat sju]

@VikingDives just curious, is it cave line run between the two wrecks or a substantial rope?

 

[VikingDives]

@VikingDives just curious, is it cave line run between the two wrecks or a substantial rope?

It's cave line or something of similar thickness (maybe 550 cord?). I'm not sure who ran it, and it's multicolored.

 

[boat sju]

It's cave line or something of similar thickness (maybe 550 cord?). I'm not sure who ran it, and it's multicolored.

Multicolored or not, I'm not a fan of cave line being run mid-water column in lakes known to cyclically go through periods of bad visibility. Algae grows on any line too.

 

[SlugLife]

The dive-light came loose and fell off the horseshoe mount on my camera-rig. On the bright side, we saw it floating and rescued it. It wasn't an expensive light, but still, it's better to not lose things. Before the next dive, I'll have a little bit of cord tied to it, just in case it comes unscrewed again.

 

[Jcp2]

Lost dive light after it got caught under a shoulder strap after I had to return to shore to get more weight because of new fluffy undergarment. First cold water dive of the year. Last year I lost a dive light after it slipped out of the soft Goodman handle. Also first or second cold water dive of last year. Morale is that I should use cheap dive lights from Princeton Tech early in the year?

 

[Andy in Gap]

Came here to lick my wounds and it seems I'm not the only one... I dropped my primary light yesterday on my last deco stop. I don't really know how it happened, it was cold, I reached for the anchor line and I saw it going to the bottom. Dive was over an hour in 45F water. If anyone wants to look for a $500 light 9 miles off Manhattan in the mud hole, PM me and I'll tell you where its at.

 

[RyanT]

Bummer Andy. I've never lost a $500 light (yet). I have watched lights go into the abyss though, I feel your pain.

 

[Andy in Gap]

Bummer Andy. I've never lost a $500 light (yet). I have watched lights go into the abyss though, I feel your pain.

Appreciate it. New one is ordered. Live and learn.