The silt cloud during our harbor cleanup dive taught me a hard lesson

Last Tuesday, our team was doing a harbor cleanup dive in my local area. We were pulling out old tires when a passing barge churned up the bottom. Visibility dropped to zero in seconds. I couldn't see my gauges or my dive partner. I had to feel my way along the guideline and stay on comms with topside. This close call made me rethink our low-vis procedures. What do you guys do when the water turns to mud mid-dive? I'd like to hear about gear setups or tricks that help in those situations.

4 comments

4 Comments

christopher_foster893mo ago

Ever hear about the time my buddy got caught in stirred-up muck during a wreck survey? He just froze in place and held onto a rail until it cleared, said trying to move at all made it worse. His rule now is to always have a big, dumb glow stick clipped to his tank valve so his partner can spot it in the soup. That and running a shorter hose so he can literally feel his buddy right next to him. Makes sense to stop and get your bearings instead of fighting through it blind.

beth2763mo ago

Used to think you should swim out of bad vis... but freezing with a glow stick makes way more sense now.

wyatt1353mo ago

Witnessed a diver get lost in zero vis once after stirring up the bottom. He kept swimming blindly and almost ran out of air before we found him. @christopher_foster89, your buddy's idea to freeze and use a glow stick is way safer.

aliceb803mo ago

My buddy still ribs me for that time I got turned around in murky water and signaled 'OK' to a piece of driftwood. Now I always run a super bright backup light on a lanyard, even in daytime, because you NEVER know when the bottom will turn into chocolate milk. That and keeping a death grip on my buddy's arm until we can see again.