A Silly Mistake-gctid820297

[jas0381]

Silly because I wasn't thinking.

We are at South Thormanby Island after a couple of nights at Port Graves, Gambier Island, all in British Columbia. We have towed our dinghy but a few times. Did today.

I backed up to set the anchor on the perfect spot; forgot I was towing. I wrapped the starboard prop.

Was lucky. The price I paid for not thinking was but three dives in cold water. Since we had no air, I set my personal best for holding my breath. Bottom barnacles got me slightly.

I offer this up as a reminder to put your thinking cap on. I forgot it.

Also, I may well buy stock in the Ginsu serrated bread knife. It cut thru the line rather quickly.

[Jim_Gandee]

Glad you weren't hurt Joe! Smart people do dumb things sometimes. Thanks for sharing your experience and reminding us that we all need to be diligent!

[higgins_jr]

Joe, I haven't backed up onto my tender, but have wrapped crab pot lines etc around shafts. When I bought my boat, I invested in a Power Dive breather unit and a thin neoprene surf suit very soon thereafter and it lives on the boat. It has a small compressor contained in a small tool box setup with hoses/dive regulator and its come in handy many times, including scraping props and bottom as required.

Even used it to dive in coral lagoons. Well worth the investment. http://www.powerdive.com/about-us

Cheers

[CapMartin]

I was in a similar situation in Georgian Bay a few years ago.

My best knives would not go through the entangled line and I was slowly loosing my breath.

A German sailboat pulled up and the captain handed me his bread knive.

Piece of cake...

Since then there is one of those in my toolbox:


Attached files

[smitty477]

Over the years I have found that a decent (not real expensive) dive knife with leg sheath is indispensable.

Unbreakable , serrated one side, easy to carry and use with a safety scabbard to protect your hand from sliding near the blade.

IMO - the easiest and cheapest way to carry emergency 'air' onboard is with a 'brownie' dive hose extension that allows you to leave the dive tank on board and only carry your second stage with you. Combined with a 50 or 80 Cubic foot tank it makes for ease of use and storage and at an effective depth of say 3' the air will last over an hour even when excited.

Around here we have many issues with lobster and crab pot lines most all of which are 100's of feet long and polypropylene.

[green650]

Luckily I'm a diver so I have all my gear on board always. So when my friends run stuff over, no big deal!

At the bare minimum out here I would carry a a wetsuit and mask and snorkel. With the snorkel you could at least survey the situation with your face underwater. I also have a few of these:

https://www.ebay.com/i/282579726827?chn=ps&dispItem=1&ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F711-117182-37290-0%252F2%253Fmpre%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.com%25252Fp%25252FSpare-Air-3000-PSI-3-0-CU-FT-Scuba-Diving-Safety-Complete-Kit-Yellow-300pkyel%25252F1740729890%25253Fiid%25253D282579726827%252526chn%25253Dps%252526dispItem%25253D1%2526itemid%253D282579726827%2526targetid%253D330141506381%2526device%253Dm%2526adtype%253Dpla%2526googleloc%253D9033305%2526poi%253D%2526campaignid%253D887244411%2526adgroupid%253D44555984156%2526rlsatarget%253Dpla-330141506381%2526abcId%253D1129086%2526merchantid%253D101499506%2526gclid%253DEAIaIQobChMI55OF3ffH1QIVHlgNCh0ecAa0EAQYBCABEgI3d_D_BwE%2526srcrot%253D711-117182-37290-0%2526rvr_id%253D1278743735001

Much quicker to grab one of these little bottles. They are refillable with a regular scuba tank and last a few minutes each.

[rbrauerei]

This has been a great thread to read. For the first time I wish I had a bigger boat. These dive options are really awesome. Unfortunately, space is way too limited on my 21' for accommodate.

But as green650 mentions, I'm going to add at least a mask/snorkel to the on board gear box.

[jas0381]

Thanks all. New pony tank coming soon. I will pickup a regulater quite soon and still have everything else from my diving days.

Great advice here, as always.

[CapMartin]

Dive knives are great but I'm not sure they will slice a fresh loaf of bread...lol...

[Solandri]

Back in grad school, when we attached a cable to our robot submarine to gather some real-time telemetry, we had a problem with the cable fouling on the prop. We ended up gluing some floats to the cable to provide enough buoyancy to lift it clear of the prop.

Couldn't you do the same for any rope used for towing? Space the floats close enough and no part of the rope can sink far enough to foul your prop. While towing they'll mostly be lifted out of the water by the tension in the rope, so will add minimal water resistance.

[Norton_Rider]

"Solandri" post=820970 wrote:
Back in grad school, when we attached a cable to our robot submarine to gather some real-time telemetry, we had a problem with the cable fouling on the prop. We ended up gluing some floats to the cable to provide enough buoyancy to lift it clear of the prop.

Couldn't you do the same for any rope used for towing? Space the floats close enough and no part of the rope can sink far enough to foul your prop. While towing they'll mostly be lifted out of the water by the tension in the rope, so will add minimal water resistance.

That or use rope that floats for a towing line. I had my towing line made by Top Knot: http://mooringlines.com/mooring-line...s-tow-bridles/

[iceclimber]

Thanks for the post, I'm afraid I know the taste of that flavor of humble pie. Even a floating line can be backed over. I did the same and had to hang on my swim platform and wound the prop backwards with my feet for quite a while...in cold water. I then got in the habit of using a post it note that says "you are towing" and stick it on my dash.

Cheers Captain.

[iceclimber]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPARE-AIR-Model-300-3-Cubic-Feet-Emergency-Back-Up-Scuba-Diving-Cylinder-Tank-/162624300157?hash=item25dd29e47d:g:yJoAAOSw5-hZivPs

[carguy]

I did this two summers ago with a Jet ski. To make things worse, the wind was blowing 20kts and I was in 4 feet of water. As I worked to cut the line free, the bottom of the boat kept hitting me on the top of the head. When I got done, I had a screaming headache and had black bottom paint in my hair and running down my face. 20 minutes of cursing and two beers later, all was right with the world.

[jas0381]

I did something similar as ice guy, several years ago. Had to give up because of the head banging in the swells. Many diver bucks and cheap wine did it for me.