Yogi Diver
18-06-08, 11:19
OK. I've been shamed into fessing up so here goes!
It was a nice day for a dive. There was a liitle bit of a swell as we left Crail Harbour in the club Rib, BRAE, a 6.5 metre boat with an onboard diesel engine and water jet propulsion unit. On board were the Diving Officer, Training Officer, (me), 2 Trainees and 2 other qualified divers. Dive plan was primarily aimed at giving the trainees their first dives from a rib with the Chingford being the goal. Nice and shallow for the inexperienced trainees and the light swell wouldn’t cause any problems.:)
We used the handheld GPS to locate the coordinates where we had been told the Chingford lies, just off the caravan park at Crail and the 2 qualified divers kitted up and jumped in first closely followed by me and the first of the trainees. We had a pleasant bimble around the reefs and saw quite a bit of life, but not so much as a rivet from the Chingford. Ah well, it was never the main reason for the outing anyway and we had a pleasant dive, completing a few of his assessments, before heading back to the surface where Brae was waiting nearby to pick us up. Or so I thought.:(
We surfaced about a hundred yards from the boat and the DO waved to us and shouted to us to swim towards the boat. Lazy Barsteward!! I thought. What’s the fecking point of having a boat if you have to swim to it? :mad:
Once we approached the craft, he explained that they had gotten caught on a rope and were stuck fast.
I helped the trainee back on board and dipped under the boat to check it out. Holy sh*t!! :eek:
The rope had been sucked into the water intake, wrapped itself about 30 times around the propshaft and stalled the engine. Propshaft being through the grating, there was nothing I could do to release it. All I could manage was to cut the rope free whilst the DO kept hold of the free end to prevent us from drifting before the other 2 divers surfaced. By this time the swell had increased in magnitude and the boat was bobbing about above my skull, threatening to do the world a favour any moment. I held on to the boat with one hand and cut the rope free with my dive knife in my other hand. Successfully freed, the DO tied the free end of the rope to the transom and we waited on the remaining divers surfacing. Luckily, they surfaced close by and were soon helped on board.
By this time we noticed that the boat was taking on water and, being tied from the rear, the waves were breaking over the transom, filling the boat with even more water! Turned out that the rope had bent the propshaft, knackering the seals so water was pouring into the engine compartment.
We managed to restart the engine and limp towards Crail Harbour for a few minutes before the water level finally flooded the engine and that was it dead. So there we were, drifting in the Forth with no power and rapidly filling with water. Luckily the rib tubes were in good condition and were supporting us so there was no real danger of us going down, but neither was there any way of getting back to Crail Harbour. :eek:
Ever tried to row a 2 ton boat with 6 fully kitted divers on board?
Time to speak nicely to that lovely chap in the Coastguard. “I think we may need some assistance here.”
Luckily for us, the RNLI were already out at Anstruther on a training exercise so, within 5 minutes, their rib was with us, closely followed by the big lifeboat. They evacuated us on to the rib, (but wouldn’t let us bring our kit!:() and then towed BRAE back to Crail with the large boat.
It was extremely embarrassing being brought back into the harbour to see several members of the Coastguard and the RNLI lined up along the wall waiting for us. We were interviewed by the Coastguard and had our wrists slapped because we had to admit we did not have Flares on board. (These had been transferred to our other boat and not replaced before we set off.):o:o
All in all, it was an experience I’d rather not repeat but not one in which anyone could be blamed. The intake of the rope was a freak accident which luckily enough happened close to shore and in an area with little current to speak of with the RNLI very close by so we were never really in any danger but this could just as easily have happened much further out with strong currents and divers could have been lost as a result. A definite case for twin engines, or better still 2 boats, something very few of us ever have the luxury of. At the very least, every boat should have a pup engine. Not really enough but better than nowt!
It was a nice day for a dive. There was a liitle bit of a swell as we left Crail Harbour in the club Rib, BRAE, a 6.5 metre boat with an onboard diesel engine and water jet propulsion unit. On board were the Diving Officer, Training Officer, (me), 2 Trainees and 2 other qualified divers. Dive plan was primarily aimed at giving the trainees their first dives from a rib with the Chingford being the goal. Nice and shallow for the inexperienced trainees and the light swell wouldn’t cause any problems.:)
We used the handheld GPS to locate the coordinates where we had been told the Chingford lies, just off the caravan park at Crail and the 2 qualified divers kitted up and jumped in first closely followed by me and the first of the trainees. We had a pleasant bimble around the reefs and saw quite a bit of life, but not so much as a rivet from the Chingford. Ah well, it was never the main reason for the outing anyway and we had a pleasant dive, completing a few of his assessments, before heading back to the surface where Brae was waiting nearby to pick us up. Or so I thought.:(
We surfaced about a hundred yards from the boat and the DO waved to us and shouted to us to swim towards the boat. Lazy Barsteward!! I thought. What’s the fecking point of having a boat if you have to swim to it? :mad:
Once we approached the craft, he explained that they had gotten caught on a rope and were stuck fast.
I helped the trainee back on board and dipped under the boat to check it out. Holy sh*t!! :eek:
The rope had been sucked into the water intake, wrapped itself about 30 times around the propshaft and stalled the engine. Propshaft being through the grating, there was nothing I could do to release it. All I could manage was to cut the rope free whilst the DO kept hold of the free end to prevent us from drifting before the other 2 divers surfaced. By this time the swell had increased in magnitude and the boat was bobbing about above my skull, threatening to do the world a favour any moment. I held on to the boat with one hand and cut the rope free with my dive knife in my other hand. Successfully freed, the DO tied the free end of the rope to the transom and we waited on the remaining divers surfacing. Luckily, they surfaced close by and were soon helped on board.
By this time we noticed that the boat was taking on water and, being tied from the rear, the waves were breaking over the transom, filling the boat with even more water! Turned out that the rope had bent the propshaft, knackering the seals so water was pouring into the engine compartment.
We managed to restart the engine and limp towards Crail Harbour for a few minutes before the water level finally flooded the engine and that was it dead. So there we were, drifting in the Forth with no power and rapidly filling with water. Luckily the rib tubes were in good condition and were supporting us so there was no real danger of us going down, but neither was there any way of getting back to Crail Harbour. :eek:
Ever tried to row a 2 ton boat with 6 fully kitted divers on board?
Time to speak nicely to that lovely chap in the Coastguard. “I think we may need some assistance here.”
Luckily for us, the RNLI were already out at Anstruther on a training exercise so, within 5 minutes, their rib was with us, closely followed by the big lifeboat. They evacuated us on to the rib, (but wouldn’t let us bring our kit!:() and then towed BRAE back to Crail with the large boat.
It was extremely embarrassing being brought back into the harbour to see several members of the Coastguard and the RNLI lined up along the wall waiting for us. We were interviewed by the Coastguard and had our wrists slapped because we had to admit we did not have Flares on board. (These had been transferred to our other boat and not replaced before we set off.):o:o
All in all, it was an experience I’d rather not repeat but not one in which anyone could be blamed. The intake of the rope was a freak accident which luckily enough happened close to shore and in an area with little current to speak of with the RNLI very close by so we were never really in any danger but this could just as easily have happened much further out with strong currents and divers could have been lost as a result. A definite case for twin engines, or better still 2 boats, something very few of us ever have the luxury of. At the very least, every boat should have a pup engine. Not really enough but better than nowt!