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Hi Rick, This is *not* a flame. > If I were to concede that this discipline calls for additional > professional training, which I am not ready to do yet, what agency would > best serve that purpose and what would be covered. I'm neither a trained wreck diver nor a trained cave diver, but I recognize there are fundamental differences between the two activities. For one, the penetration line on a cave dive usually leads all the way out to near the surface, or at least a safe depth, which means that you can leave stage bottles such that they will reliably be there on your way back out. On wrecks, your penetration line generally only gets you as far as the anchor, which isn't necessarily going to be there when you get back. Hence, many wreck divers prefer not to rely on stage bottles, which makes rig configuration on long deep penetration wreck dives a helluva lot more complicated. A follow-up to this is that wreck dive decompressions are often done in blue water (grey water? black water?), which has its own set of complexities. Secondly, current directions and velocities are generally a lot more predictable on cave dives than on wreck dives, because currents on wrecks are a function of tides. Depending on the location of the wreck, the degree to which current strengths and directions are correlated with tides may not be all that great (unpredictable currents are something that I *am* very familiar with, and I can tell you this factor is the single greatest hazard on the dives I do). Third, wrecks generally (although not always) have more nasty sharp edges and things to become entangled in than the average cave, which presents a whole set of additional problems (blown hoses, torn drysuits, etc.) Also, if the wreck is in the Ocean, there are a number of critter considerations to take into account as well As for training, I'm afraid I don't know what to recommend. I do know that there are people out there who are very experienced wreck divers, so I'm sure you'll get some feedback. Do *you* need wreck training? I have no idea. But if I were you I sure wouldn't assume that the skills and knowledge you have for cave diving will necessarily keep you alive and healthy on a wreck. Just some thoughts... Aloha, Rich Richard Pyle deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or* ******************************************************************* "WHATEVER happens to you when you willingly go underwater is COMPLETELY and ENTIRELY your own responsibility! If you cannot accept this responsibility, stay out of the water!" *******************************************************************
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