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Hi Matthias: We use a method similar to that described by Doug with a few minor changes. The way we have been doing it here (So. Fla.) is to drop the team with two men tending the line. We use a small grapple that is held by the first man in. The 2nd man stays about 30 or so feet above him and gathers line to feed the man with the grapple so it is not taught when he ties in. If the current takes the line fast we use the grapple to snag the wreck. Otherwise, we wrap the chain so the hook is easier to free at the end of the dive. The rest of the team follows the lead of these two. When the dive is over, two men free the hook after verifying everyone is on the line. One man frees it and the other stands by to assist if necessary. As soon as the hook (or chain or whatever) is freed the man standing by ascends ahead of the man swimming or scootering the hook and goes about 100' off the bottom (or whatever depth is appropriate for the given dive) and ties a loop in the line. The hook is then fowled in it. This eliminates any chance of it snagging something on the bottom. The divers then deco following the float ball, current is no longer an issue and the boat can follow at a safe distance. To pick up divers, the captain motors into the current, lines up with the diver and puts the boat in neutral, allowing the boat to drift into the diver. If he misses, (rare) he continues to drift until he is clear and then motors up current to try again. In my opinion, live boating is the only way to dive in a current and the preferred way to dive anywhere. If you are not live boating, a chase boat is an absolute necessity. Another caveat is that the divers must coordinate their schedules so they finish the dives at about the same time. Otherwise accurate "head" counts are next to impossible and the whole deco turns into a major *CF* with divers floating all over the place. In my opinion, tying the boat into the wreck is the worst and most dangerous way to dive and should never be done unless you have no choice. In that instance, a chase boat is a must. To answer your questions, fowling the hook eliminates the problem of the line catching again. All maneuvers are done in buddy teams. Two men set the hook and two men free it. The descending divers hold the hook and chain. Trouble equalizing is not an issue. You would pass the hook to your buddy and fall back to 2nd position. If you still had trouble, another team member would take 2nd position and you would remain on the line until you could descend. I hope this helps. Regards. Joe Citelli ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthias Voss" <mat.voss@t-*.de*> To: "Capt JT" <captjt@mi*.co*> Cc: "Doug Chapman" <dougch@ea*.ne*>; <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 10:19 AM Subject: Re: Nova Tech Dive Report 7/21/02 & Lessons Learned > Nice one. > What do you do if the line catches again on the ground ? > If I understand correctly, this "one diver with the chain end", will he > have a buddy ? Does he hold to the end, or just follow ? In case b) > everyone can follow. In case a ) he is obviously more negtive than than > the rest. What, if he has trouble equalizing ? > Maybe I did not understand the full context, so please feel deliberate > to explain a bit more. > regards > Matthias > > > > > > Just for thought: > > > Upline with sufficient but not exceessive scope, redundant surface > > > floats, and bottom chain with snap/hook. Down rig with divers is > > > dropped ahead of wreck to drift into wreck (one diver in team drops > > > with the chain end). On end of dive last divers detach chain from > > > wreck and toss into sand. Proceed up line. Now the line is drifting > > > with the current with a slight bottom drag from the chain. No flag > > > flying. No issues. Relaxing. The boat is always free to maneuver. If > > > too crowded on line, you can hover alongside or pop a lift bag > > > nearby. Will still drift the same as main upline with a slight > > > backpeddle to compensate for chain drag on main upline. The captain > > > on the boat knows where everyone is; can drop a safety diver on you > > > if appropriate and recover used stages. Its a piece of cake and > > > works well in raging currents like we can have in the gulf stream > > > (and with close to shore shipping as well). A slight mod on deep > > > stuff (350+) though, and you need a captain with a clue. > > > > > > My two cents, > > > Doug > > > > > > > "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'. > > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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