PART 4 – Losing Your Line

Well, here I sit in the world’s tiniest seat next to a lady who has all the duty free on offer on this long haul flight to South Africa laid out all around us. I actually feel more confined than I do when I’m trying to push through some skinny passageway into the bowels of a wreck. I fear if I head to the toilet I may need to line off just to make it safely back to the confines of this hellish nightmare that is “cattle class”!

This month we are looking at more line issues. For me, the worst fears I have, other than gas loss of course, are losing the line or losing a teammate while deep inside a wreck. These are my favourite skills as they are lifesavers and they are also “fierce” in their intensity.  Watching Advanced Wreck divers calm themselves internally, and then not only attempt but also succeed in these skills makes my day.

One thing I will say before I explain these drills is that there should NEVER be a reason for anyone to ever have to practise them for real. Following the rules that I set out in the last Wreck Head article should allow you problem free wreck diving. I have done hundreds of penetration dives in caves and wrecks and not once have I had to use these skills in anger.

Let’s look at lost line drill this time and then lost teammate next time round. These drills are harrowing enough, so I am going to space them out a bit, ha ha!

As you know, turning your back on your line is effectively enough to get you lost. Obviously if the visibility is great and your lights are working then relocating your line should (famous last words) be easy. But imagine for a minute that you have no visibility, due to light failure or a silt out and you now have a major sphincter squinting moment. There are a few ways to deal with it but my favourite is quite simply…praying! Now, I don’t mean you whip out your wetnote version of the bible. I mean you adopt the position of utmost respect and get down on bended knee.

As you already know, the best place to tie line is low so we start with that as a basis for the search. The first thing you do upon discovering that you have lost your line and all visibility is get yourself firmly nailed to the floor of the wreck. On your knees! Then take out your emergency reel/spool and find something to tie yourself off to. Now you have your last “known” position so you can’t get any more lost. If possible do a second tie off so you have an angle set from which to start your search. It’s quite incredible to note that most divers actually find the line roughly 180 degrees behind them. So with that in mind simply turn yourself 180 degrees using the line as a reference and then commence your search pattern. With one hand holding the spool use the other hand to make an upward sweep from the floor in an arch as high as you can go without leaving the floor. What you are hoping (and praying I guess) for is that you will make contact with your lost line. If you don’t at first succeed, try, try, try again. Stay very calm, stretch your free arm out along the floor as far as you can go, shuffle forward on your knees and let some line spool out. Then go through the whole ritual again.

There is a chance that you will not find your line and you may move across the room and meet with a wall. What I would advise you do now is gently lift yourself off the floor and reel yourself back down to your anchor point.  There is a chance that you may have skipped under your lost line so if you swim back as close to the roof as possible, you may just reel yourself into your line by snagging it from above.

The process explained above needs to be repeated until the viz clears or you snag your line. As you can imagine, even when this is done in a controlled environment during a training programme your heart is going to be bouncing in your chest, so doing this for real must be just terrifying. And it’s little thoughts like this that keep me on my toes and stop me from taking life for granted.

As I mentioned before, there are other methods of searching for lost line and your instructor may show you different techniques. This method is my personal favourite.

As ever, all opinions expressed are my own. I am in no way trying to replace proper instruction. My opinions may differ from agency to agency and instructor to instructor and I do not wish to disrepute any of them.

Paul is the Director of Training at RAID. To find out more about the courses that RAID offers, visit www.diveraid.com.