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Had a close call with a silt out in a zero vis harbor job
We were doing a hull inspection on a barge in the Mobile ship channel. My umbilical got snagged on a piece of sunken debris I couldn't see, and when I yanked it free, I kicked up a massive silt cloud. I lost all sight instantly and my comms got fuzzy with static. I went straight to my training: stopped moving, felt for my umbilical, and followed it hand over hand back to the down line. Took about 90 seconds of slow, calm movement to clear the cloud. Has anyone else had a silt out that bad, and what's your first move?
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the_drew16d ago
Wait, you followed the umbilical back to the down line? I was always taught to find the down line first, then follow that up. If your umbilical is snagged again on the way back, you're stuck. Did your training really say to follow the umbilical?
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moore.beth16d ago
My first dive in Lake Michigan, I dropped my primary light and stirred up a ton of muck on the bottom. It was like someone poured ink into the water, zero vis in two seconds flat. I just froze and grabbed my backup light, holding it right against my mask to read my gauges. Took forever to find the anchor line by just sweeping my arm in slow circles. That feeling of being blind down there is no joke.
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