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With 2 trips completed to the "Andrea Doria" I was looking forward to diving with some of the gang from the VBTech group. Still I was tired from the 2 earlier trips and was very fearful of anything happening, at least these guys would listen to me I thought, we dived together all the time. Maybe I could even get a good dive in..... Pete had signed up for all trips and he was collecting artifacts on almost each dive, before the group arrived I had asked him to refrain from showing these guys any artifacts he had and when he brought them up to not let them see it, to just put it away. I did not want them to get "china fever" as I did on my first trip to the wreck and do something really stupid. He agreed because he knew what I was talking about, he'd seen it before.... Everyone was arriving and loading gear when one of our mates made the worst move that could be done, we had been at the dock for a day and a half. She waited until now to pull out a china plate given to her by a customer as a token of his affections and started to clean it in front of everyone then wrap it in paper and ask Rick to store it in his Van... I was pissed.... I could see it in their eyes with the milling about, joking around as I believed they were showing signs of getting ready to make a bad decision. I held a briefing and explained to everyone that only 2 divers on this trip had the skill and knowledge about the wreck to go where Pete was going and unless I had told them personally to follow him I was not talking about them.... It worked for one dive I think.... I also explained how some of them would become "unwrapped" on the first dive and make mental mistakes, the wreck has a "stigma" to it and sometimes causes divers to have gear problems on their first dive to it, I used my leaking mask on my first dive to the wreck in 99 and Tom on his first dive when he forgot to hook up his crouch strap as examples .... These things happen and they did on this trip.... Mask came off, fins came off, drysuit hoses left off, all mental mistakes..... Everyone found that the wreck was , just that a wreck, nothing different from the others we have dived to a point. It is my opinion that this is where divers become victims to the wreck, not giving it the respect it deserves, not many wrecks offer the massive penetration dives the Doria can, many who come dive the wreck are very good at depth dives, ocean dives, and wreck dives. Very few can boast they have done wreck penetration dives that actually START at 200ft, you must do everything right on these dives, no room for error. It seems that those who die on this wreck have less than 10 dives to it, it also seems those who say it is easy also have less than 10 dives to it, choosing to dive the outside where it is easy and their skills best suited, a safe dive in the scheme of things..... It goes without saying the vis and temp cause others problems, only those who don't do it would say different..... After 2 dives some in the group began whispering about going in and finding something, thinking I was asleep, looking at the drawings. Pete came to me and told me the same thing I was hearing, I went to Rick and told him to talk to some of the guys, they weren't ready for that kind of dive, its a fools bet to say you can..... Being disappointed invites mistakes, I choose to try and recover something that caught my eye on a previous dive, I loaded my toolbag with reels, lift bags, and tools. There is an old saying "don't put all your shit in one bag", I must have forgot... I jumped in the water and the snap came undone... I watched it sink much faster than I could have caught it, I never will risk my life over any gear, I let it go... over 500 dollars in stuff.... I went down the anchor line and went in the direction the bag should be, Pete had sent up one of those rectangle windows on a liftbag and reel then secured it at the anchor, I gave it no thought. But when I started having line fall on me, I realized he had gotten his window and it was his line falling on me, I untangled myself and I now had a line secured at the anchor to help me look for my bag of gear, good deal..... I scootered out over the hull and towards what is called the dark side of the wreck letting the line slide through my fingers to guide me back, I came across a huge crack in the hull it was burping bunker oil and I got it all over me...... I had to wash me, my drysuit, and my scooter with joy to get the bunker off..... I now hated the wreck.... I retreated back to my seclusion as I did on the second trip, disappointed in the whole trip, refusing to dive and save myself for anything if necessary , mad at everything everyone . Pete being the diver he is gave up one of his honey holes in an effort to keep them safe, not everyone was talking foolishly, but it only takes one to fuck up a trip..... I would not speak to anyone, I stayed in my bunk and only came out to check the weather and eat..... Capt Charlie came to me and said the weather forecast was bad, we had time for one more dive. Everyone was surprised to see me mixing and a couple said "I thought you weren't diving anymore", I said I'm not, this is for un tieing..... Everyone made their last dive, Capt Charlie and I were happy to be leaving, just one more and we were done...... Everyone was on board but 4 when I went to unshackle.... and I have already told what happen next... What I did not say is how happy I was to see everyone working to the same goal when the seizure happened, everyone did what they were suppose to...... As I reread this report I can see it gives the trip a negative appearance, it just shows how stressful these kinds of trips can be on those who run them. It also reflects how past trips I have been on have scared me for life I think...... Would I do it again...yes... cause I love to dive.... JT "You can't learn to dive on the net, sooner or later you have to get in the water" Your Guide to Great Wreck Diving along the East Coast & more Web Site http://www.capt-jt.com/ Email captjt@mi*.co* -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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