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To: garlooent@ao*.co*, wreckdiver@wreckdiver.com, techdiver@te*.ne*,
     wahooo@ju*.co*, techdiver@te*.ne*
Subject: the final word on lines and progressive penetration
From: wahoo-capt.janet@ju*.co* (Captain Janet C Bieser)
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 01:21:06 EST


you know .... call me a wimp but ...i don't like not knowing exactly how
to get out of any overhead environment all by my self. i started in
diving as a free diver as a child, i would spend hours ...all day
swimming on the surface and free diving, when i started scuba diving the
gear was an accessory, something nice but not essential i always relied
on my swimming ability to get me out of any stupid jams i got my self
into.....use all the air ....swim up (young and stupid), a lot of the old
time wreck divers started as free diving spear fisherman and i think they
and me have an idea way in the back of our minds that if all else fails
we can just swim away and go to the main air supply the sky. not true in
overhead environments....and really deep dives but i still have an uneasy
distrust in being DEPENDENT on any peace of equipment. i don't go into
wrecks with out a line but i feel a little uncomfortable the whole time i
am inside there a sneaking little feeling...what if...?
one time when i greedily went into the first class dish hole in the
andrea doria and did not run a line because it would take time away from
digging and loading up dishes and we were using double aluminum  80's at
the time and air and time was a big factor, every one else was not
running a line , i made a mistake and came to a dead end in 210 feet of
water inside the wreck and not the hole gimbal tourched in the ships
side,i can't even describe the feeling... ,  it was a solo dive...i
eventually found an other way out and lived but i will never forget that
lesson ....
but even with a line it is not a safe proposition, lots of razor sharp
stuff in there and other abandoned lines, people run them in there and
then abandon the line and it eventually chafes at the tie offs and
becomes a entanglement hazard for everyone else,( which is why some of
the wreck crowd abhor lines) you could get confused, put the reel down
for just a second to pick up a gold bar or something and then realize you
can't find it, even if you don't put down or drop the line wreck
penetration is a big roll of the dice how ever you do it.when you learn a
particular wreck using the progressive penetration method there is an
ever present danger of going just a little too far on a particular dive
and getting lost .i bet there have been little episodes in each of the
progressive guys history that they have survived and learned to avoid
repeating. they are lieing if they deny it.( i have heard many storys )
wreck penetration is a real problem ,line heavy enough to be very safe
from chafing or cutting on razor sharp electrolysis steel is impossibly
thick so you have to take risks to do what you want, and it is
significantly MORE risky than using a guide line in a cave even with
expert line running technique.imagine doing a lost line drill in a silted
out wreck and finding other cut lines electrical wires, all kinds of junk
, remember you have neoprene gloves on... if you want to avoid that
particular risk you have to stay out of the wreck. 


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