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Reply to: RE>Here's a real one to think
Well, there's one solution that would appear to me to ease the problem...
Hook one or both knees around the rope to free up your hands
Which can then get out the jon-line to attach to the hang line
However, I'm not sure that this is realistic either. The reason is that if
the current is that strong, it wasn't present at depth else it would have
swept you away during your dive. Therefor, you had to enter the current
during ascent. The boundary to the current was probably not knife sharp,
so there was some period of time wherein the current was present but
not as strong. It was at that time that you should have taken some
preventative action like getting the jon-line ready for use.
(Note, I would keep the Jon-Line VERY short under these circumstances
since the current is so strong that you can't let go with even one hand,
you certainly don'w want to be 6' away from the ascent line and have to
fight your way back to it...)
Re: What could you have done before the dive to prevent this...
First of all, is this some unforseeable current (yeah, like there is such a
thing...) -- i.e. this current has never been encountered before at this (or
near) location? If it was truly unforseeable, then there's little that you
could have done to prepare for it.
If the current was forseeable, then preparations could have been made.
The preparations to be made depend on other considerations:
1) Are there other divers in the water that are acting independently
and, therefore, likely to be using a different dive/decompression
regimen than you?
2) Are there other factors (such as rocks, etc.) that preclude the
boat from unanchoring and turning the decompression stop into
a drift dive?
If the answer to the two of them above are "No", then a preparation should
have been made to signal them that the upine would be detached and the
dive turned into a drift. Probably a pelican float or other marker buoy to
alert the boat that the divers have detached the boat (to assure them that
the anchor line wasn't broken and that anchor itself wasn't dragging).
If, on the other hand, there was a reason that the boar must keep
on-station through your decompression hang, then provision should have
been made for strain-relief at each of the stage points. Note that the
people on-board the boat could easily be aware of the strength of the
current and, therefor, could have gone down to rig the ascent line when
it was noted that the current was increasing.
Perhaps an even better possibility would have been a pressurized diver
transfer bell and an on-deck chamber ::grin::
-- Kevin --
--------------------------------------
Date: 6/21/94 13:19
To: Kevin Klop
From: Tracey Baker
Since I opened my mouth and complained, I'll also offer a question
I think might be useful to think about. This is based on an actual
incident I heard about third-hand. I'll see what other folks have
to say, and I'll send out the "solution" I decided to use (which
came along with the story when I heard it) later.
You're diving on an ocean wreck, depth about 130', with fairly good
visibility and a slight current. After racking up a moderate amount of
decompression, you begin your ascent. As you ascend, you notice the
current becoming a bit stronger; when you finally get to your first
stop, at 30', you are holding on to the ascent line with both hands
so you won't get swept away -- the current has really picked up since
you started your dive. You can't even let go with one hand long enough
to get your jon line out, and about halfway through your 40 minute hang,
your arms _hurt_ and you feel that you just can't hold on any longer.
Questions:
What do you do? Why? What other factors would affect your decision?
What could you have done before or during this dive to prevent the problem?
--tab
--
Tracey Baker tab@pa*.co*
"I don't think safety is the main issue here...
You'd be stupid not to be safe." - J.Comly
--
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Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 16:13:14 -0400
From: Tracey Baker <tab@pa*.co*>
Message-Id: <199406212013.AA26693@pa*.pa*.co*>
To: techdiver@opal.com
Subject: Here's a real one to think about
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