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Wreckdiving in the NorthEast can be a fun and exciting experience. Some of the best and most challenging wrecks populate the waters off the coasts of NY, NJ, NE, CO, etc. But there are a few things you need to bring along to make your trip an enjoyable one. Recommended equipment list: Drysuit, doubles, fins, signal horn, signal mirror, EPIRB, VHF radio (in watertight enclosure), Safty sausage, dye marker, 9mm auto, parachute flares, florescent panel, and anything else which can aid your survival when the dive boat leaves you behind. Strategies: It is recommended that when you tie onto the wreck, sneak down into the engine room and remove the throttle arm off of the governor. If the boat has two engines, make sure you get both of them. This will prevent the boat from leaving without you. If you have an "old salt" skipper and he puts a lock on the engine room door, pause to remove the propellers from the shafts before heading down the anchor line. Some skippers weld the nut on the end of the shaft to prevent this from occuring. If this is the case, sneak back on the boat and hit the skipper on the head with a wrench or hammer and tie him up in the pilot house until you are ready to leave. If the skipper is armed, drunk and belligerent, pull out your 9mm and attempt to take control of the pilot house. This is what a dive buddy if for. Your buddy must provide covering fire while you gear up and do your dive. When you come up you can cover for him and let him dive. ----------- While these contingencies might seem a bit much, let me tell you about my trip. On this one the captain apparently was wacked out on crank so he was ultra alert. He kept mumbling somthing about having to get that bet down on the third race, so we knew we were in for some trouble. As I geared up, my buddy slipped the clip in his Glock and slipped it in a force fin. (by the way, force fins are the best for weapon concealment as they have a large hole in the toe pocket for the bullets and muzzle blast). When the skipper when into the head, he lept up and sprayed the cabin with some rounds and I dove over the side. This was one mean ass skipper. No sooner did I start my ascent, I heard the engines start up. I looked up and saw the lifeless body of my buddy floating face down on the surface. Damn! I thought, should have brought the AK! When I surfaced I was really pissed. OK, thought I, You asked for it! I pulled my special radio out. This was the radio with nothing but a big, red button in the middle. I spun around to face the shore, held up the tranmitter and pushed the red button. In the distance a flash lit up the horizon, and soon a black mushroom cloud rose above the waves. "That the last time that asshole leaves my ass behind", I mumbled. I started the long swim home. Think about this tale the next time you dive in the great North East. Jim -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send list subscription requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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