That job in the Columbia River last Tuesday was a real mess

We were doing a basic hull inspection on a barge near Longview, and my umbilical got tangled in a sunken log boom on the bottom. Spent 45 minutes just trying to get untangled in near-zero visibility, with the current pushing me the whole time. The topside crew kept asking for updates while I was trying not to wrap myself up worse. I finally had to cut a small section of my comms line to get free, which meant a surface break to re-terminate. Has anyone else had a simple job go sideways because of old junk on the bottom? What's your go-to move when you get fouled up like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotacraig1mo ago

Honestly, I see that as a procedure problem, not just bad luck. Cutting a comms line as a first resort is a major fail in my book. I've been fouled on old fishing nets and cables, and the move is always to stop pulling, signal topside to stop all tension, and work it back by hand. If you can't reach it, you send a buddy down. Sacrificing your comms for speed just sets up the next dive for trouble. That's how small problems turn into big ones.

barbarac954d ago

That approach sounds solid for most situations but what happens when you're on a wreck or a cave and the comms line is the only thing connecting you to the exit? Tight spaces, silt, no visibility. By the time you signal topside and wait for a buddy, you could be out of air or lost. Cutting that line feels drastic but sometimes it's a time vs. risk call. Have you ever been in a spot where stopping to untangle would have meant something worse than losing comms?

taylorhunt1mo agoTop Commenter

Yeah, "small problems turn into big ones" is my specialty. I once turned a tangled reel into a full gear rebuild because I got impatient. Your method is definitely the right call, even if my past self would have hated hearing it.