Currents

BanditDJB · 06-27-2007, 11:40 PM

What type of problems can currents cause when descending or ascending? What do you do when currents take you off course? I wouldn't mind hearing of some of your experiences with currents.

bookboarder · 07-01-2007, 09:39 PM

I'm curious about this as well... Particularly from those who have more extensive diving experience.

MgicTwnger · 07-01-2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanditDJB

What type of problems can currents cause when descending or ascending? What do you do when currents take you off course? I wouldn't mind hearing of some of your experiences with currents.

Obviously currents complicate things. On a drift dive, where you are drifting with the current along a coral reef or some such, one person in the group has a lift bag or marker on a line he controls so that the dive boat can follow the group's position. The trick is to stay togeather.

Diving to a fixed object such as a wreck, you go down and up on a mooring or anchor line. You might also have to hang on to the wreck once you are there. Coming up the line in a deco situation many divers carry a "jon line" which attaches the diver to the moring line at deco stops.
If you are swept away, and it doesn't take much of a current to do that, rather than fruitlessly fighting it, shoot a bag if you have one (and you should) to let the boat know your position and help with deco stops (good bouyancy control really pays off here). When you surface start blowing your whistle or horn, or shout like hell. Fins make good signaling devices if you don't have a safety sausage (I won't say it

).

**glynneco** · 07-02-2007, 03:30 AM

The biggest problem is getting blown off the wreck. Surfacing some distance from the wreck can cause mayhem. We had an experienced diver let go of the anchor line in a very strong current to go around some folks coming up. It was startling to see how quickly he disappeared. There were about 12 divers in various stages of going up and down. To complicate things over half the group was deco diving and couldn't just "pop up". Not understanding what happened down below an alert diver saw him come up a couple hundred yards away and begin to get carried further away in the current. He was in his early 60's and not knowing his condition the Coast Gaurd Helos were called. We were rushing to recall everybody and handing out O2 like candy so we could anchor up and chase him down.
Surface currents can go one direction and bottom currents in another and they can change! Always pay attention. That easy swim back can turn into something else so watch your air, bottom time, buddies AND the current. If you get blown off stop as soon as you can. Do your stop and get up and snignalling as quickly as possible.

I never dive in the ocean without a sausage and whistle. If it's not blue water I pack a bag and a wreck reel as well.

BanditDJB · 08-12-2007, 10:16 AM

Glynneco, MgicTwnger,
Sorry I'm getting back to you guys so late. The dives went pretty good last month and the current didn't turn out to be my worst enemy. It was the visibility that caused me some difficulty. We went down especially to practice navigation and it was a challenge. While we were down we did get lost briefly cause the vis was only about 10 feet but after looking around really good the landmarks helped out. We found the anchor and everything was alright. I'll tell you its amazing how easy it is to get lost down there in murky water. Now I've got 10 dives and some good ideas for some equipment that I need, like lights,strobes, and a saftey sausage etc... I think that the advanced course I'm about to take will clear up some of my getting lost problem.

**glynneco** · 08-12-2007, 11:17 AM

The solution to most diving problems is more diving! Invest in a Wreck Line for the low vis situations. They are an invaluable tool in those situations. They permit you to dive in situations where you would otherwise be forced to call the dive. They are woth their weight in glod.

MgicTwnger · 08-12-2007, 11:26 AM

In some places, 10' of viz is the rule, not the exception. Landmarks and a reel are the surest way to know where you are, a compass less so because it can be inaccurate and to err is human.
AOW is really for giving you a taste of a number of speciality courses. IMHO, some are very important/useful: Peak Performance Bouyancy, Rescue, Deep Diving, Nitrox, and others like Wreck depend on what kind of diving you will be doing. Others are less important, and some are downright silly and just created to sell you another class.
My advice: don't become card-happy. Lots of diving, picking the brains of more experienced divers, along with the right training, will get you where you want to be.