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Thae way i deco when diving wrecks is this: First of all we never dive on the anchor line because it can pull off. We have always got a separate line to the wreck that we do the descent/ascent from. This way we can never lose the line. This line is placed at a spot where it is easy to locate for example on the port side of the bridge. This way it is nearly impossible to fail in locating it. In fact we have made thousands of trimix wreck dives in our dive group and no one has ever missed the line If the vis is very bad or the wreck so broken up that it is hard to navigate on we use navigational guide line. If we cant find the line (which has never happened) we inflate the bag approaching the first stop and lock the reel. Note that we do not tie off the reel line to the wreck. When the bag hits the surface it will be in the area directly over the wreck and the crew will spot it. If the boat is anchored the crew will simply put a buoy on the anchor line and drop it and then start to chase the lift bag. The Halcyon surf mat is thin, long and in bright colors so it can bee spotted at a distance. The advantages to this approach of doing the deco over the Jersey up line method is in my opinion: No risk at all of losing the line because we do not dive on the anchor line. Locating the line will bee much easier when the line is carefully placed on a easy to find spot on the wreck and it is permanently placed there rather than a randomly placed anchor line that can end up pretty much anywhere. No need to have 150m 1/8 inch line on a must bee pretty huge reel and no need to have a 150-200ib lift bag. This means a cleaner configuration. The surfmat is also closed circuit so it can not sink back on you as a traditional lift bag can. If there is a current you wont fell it at all as a diver because you will drift in the same speed as the bag. The only drawback is that you will drift during your deco so in some highly trafficked areas it might bee impractical but in most locations it can bee overcome by a boat chasing the lift bag. It does take some skill in buoyancy control to do it this way but if you can not do this you should not do deco wreck dives in my opinion. I can easily do my entire deco with out any line at all. The bag is there to mark my position and the line is good to have because it gets tidious watching your bottom timer all the time. Regards, Ingemar Art Greenberg wrote: > Bill, > > I'm "the other Art", but I'll answer anyway. > > On 15 Jan 99 at 23:10, you wrote: > > > What's standard practice for New Jersey deco these days? It sounds > > like you're still shooting lift bags from the wreck and tying off, > > but if you're not carrying large upline reels of sisal (the way I > > was taught before I moved to Miami and learned better <g>), how are > > you recovering the nylon line? And if you're using nylon line, why > > carry it on a difficult to stow "mini upline" reel? Why not use a > > penetration reel and clip it to your butt D-ring? > > Standard practice is to use the anchor line as the primary descent > and ascent line. Shooting a bag is only done if the hook has pulled, > if you're lost and unable to locate the hook, or if you've had an > equipment failure that makes an immediate ascent necessary. > > Using a small reel with nylon line makes for an upline that is easier > to carry (though obviously not completely painless). There are ways > to deploy the line so that it is, in theory, recoverable from the > surface. I've been able to pull this off, but I think some luck is > required. Generally, the wrecks here are so well covered in fish > nets and monofilament that another hunk of line isn't going to make > all that much difference anyway. > > Several folks have suggested that a guideline reel would be a good > alternative. None of them, however, dives here. While I think it > might be a good idea, I have to wonder about the breaking strength of > guideline (#36 I guess) relative to what's really needed. The nylon > line I carry is 1/8 inch braided, which is very, very strong. It > might be overkill. > > One suggested the same reel used for navigation could be used as an > upline. One potential difficulty with that would be the equipment > failure scenario, where you're away from the hook on the guideline > and need to ascend from your current location. It is possible that > there's not enough line left on the reel to do that under these > circumstances (especially if the reel is loaded with #36). This > would indicate the need for a backup ascent line, and we're back to > carrying two reels with heavy enough line to use for that purpose. > > > For that matter, why not run a continuous guideline from the hook > > and just return to the anchor line at the end of the dive? > > Actually, from "near" the hook. We would NEVER tie onto the hook, > since if it pulls, we're no longer connected to the wreck (I use a > secondary tie, too, but wonder if that would hold). This is the > expected normal practice. The upline is only intended for use when > this method fails. > > Art Greenberg > artg@ec*.ne* > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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