Extreme wreck diving

[Anders Knudsen]

I am sorry if this post is misplaced, but I have to ask.

If the wreck is actually lying on the bottom of the sea at 170m (this was reffering to the Graff Zeppelin- admin note) - would you then still dive it?

I think expeditions like this is extremely exiting, especially because I am only in the beginning of technical diving.

I am looking forward to read the trip report from the Graf Zeppelin in a couple of years.

Best

Anders Knudsen

[Richard Lundgren]

Diving 170m in the Baltic would indeed be rather hard core. Not impossible but a serious undertaking. We have to fight the cold and even if we dont experience any leaks or so mild hypothermia is to be expected. If we would find the Zep at these depth we would use a ROV to identify and do some video. Some might get tempted to get wet but realisticly not.

In the Read Sea this would not have stopped us :rolleyes:

[Ingemar Lundgren]

I donīt think anyone in our group would consider a dive in the baltic sea to 170m. 100-130m is really the maximum depth if you want to get anything useful done. You could do a 170m bounce dive but what would be the point? You need atleast 15min BT to get anything done, shoting video etc. The Baltic sea is cold at 20-30m+ even in the summer and the decompression after a 15min dive to 170m would not be practical here.

I have done dives to 120m, not in the Baltic but in the Agean diving the HMHS Britannic. Cold was not a problem there. There where numerous other problem involved because of the long decompression though. 4h drifting decompression was one of them, one time we drifted 10-12nm in one of the worlds most trafficated areas. The weather can change quickly at sea to and there are many other considerations that you have to take in to account.

What is the deepest wreck dive ever done? What BT did they have? As far as i know the Edmuns Fitzgerald is the deepest wreck dive ever done and that was done in the great lakes! Pretty impressive but i am not sure if they really got anything done on that dive.

[Tulle]

4h drifting decompression was one of them, one time we drifted 10-12nm in one of the worlds most trafficated areas.

Why did you do drifting decompression if there was one of the worlds most trafficated area? Didn't you have a fixed referens?

[Richard Lundgren]

Why did you do drifting decompression if there was one of the worlds most trafficated area? Didn't you have a fixed referens?

The current was wild in 1997 thus making hanging a pest. A choise between two evil things and here drifting was the way to go. During our 1999 project the current was milder and we didnt have to drift

[Ingemar Lundgren]

The current was to strong for the deco station in use, it tipped over on several occasions so we had to set it free. There was a boat following the station on the surface, alerting ships etc. I had little influence over the dive planning. I had to dive and go with the flow. This was the 1997 expedition.

[Henrik Enckell]

What is the deepest wreck dive ever done? What BT did they have?

http://www.oceantechnical.com/worldrec.htm

[Tulle]

The current was wild in 1997 thus making hanging a pest. A choise between two evil things and here drifting was the way to go. During our 1999 project the current was milder and we didnt have to drift

Why didn't I think of that?! :o I think it's becuase I never done a dive abroad, only in my wonderful Baltic Sea! (and westcoast) We don't have to think about currents here :p
Maybe I can widen my experience when the money starts rolling in... they haven't started yet :D

[judas]

Hi...

Wreck of Graf Von Zeppelin was discovered near Polish city Leba at depth near 80 m by Petrobaltic.

info in polish :)

http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/wyborcza/1,68586,3505105.html

More info later...

Have a nice day :)

Lukasz Potyra
www.bolandadivers.pl (http://www.bolandadivers.pl)

[Ingemar Lundgren]

Congratulations! Please let us know when you have more info.

[Richard Lundgren]

Hi...

Wreck of Graf Von Zeppelin was discovered near Polish city Leba at depth near 80 m by Petrobaltic.

info in polish :)

http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/wyborcza/1,68586,3505105.html

More info later...

Have a nice day :)

Lukasz Potyra
www.bolandadivers.pl (http://www.bolandadivers.pl)

Can you arange a quick expedition to the site?

[judas]

i would like, but now polish navy send to the site their forces... it is polish economical zone so we need oficial permison to dive there, and i think we need wait 1 or 2 days for official information...

[rwilson9]

I am an experienced recreational diver (about 1200 dives), and I'm 74 years of age in good health.. What I would like to know is this: Is it feasible for me to consider undergoing technical diver training? Do you know of any my age who have done it? I'm not sure if age is a factor in technical diving.

Thanks,

Richard:confused:

[Richard Lundgren]

Hi Richard

I will depend on your actual physical status and on how you have lived your life. Gregg Bemis, owner of the Lusitania etc, did dive Lusitania when he was 75 years old so nothing is impossible. If you are well fit with no heart or respiration problems this might be an option worth pursuing. Remember that if you dont want to walk down that road you could still be part of exploration and expeditions serving in other roles than as a bottom diver. The use of ROV as a compliment of diver documentation is becoming more common even within technical diving.

Take care
Richard Lundgren

[rwilson9]

Richard,

Thanks for your encouraging words. I'm in excellent health, except when I get a cold. The common cold, for me, invariably turns into asthmatic bronchitis, which restricts my diving, of course. But I do about 100 dives per year and have done so for the past 10 years--without any health problems.

Does trimix, which I assume you use, pose any threat to health?

Thanks,

Richard

[Ali Fikree]

When I I dived the U-533 here for the first time, it must have been in 2004. The water temperature at 112m was something like 28C. We were very uncomfortable during decompression and were close to peeling off our wetsuits. The water temp was close to 32C at 6m.:o

Most of our deep dives ( 55-93m) that we do during the year we use wetsuits except in winter. We have it pretty good as helium is cheap in Dubai.

Open invitation to anyone that wants to do some deep dives here and enjoy a holiday. I have an extra bedroom and tons of cylinders.

Ali

[caverkevin]

For the GZ, I hope that details and logistics get worked out for this wreck. After seeing all the side scan images, I am very interested in personally spending some time on this wreck. Not at the risk of getting in trouble with foreign governments.

For extreme wreck diving, there are many things to think about. Logistics, risks and goals. Sometimes the risk to people and property can be too great to justify the goal of just getting wet to have a good time.

For the Edmund Fitzgerald dive. Personal reports from friends that were diving the area at the time, question what really happened on that dive. As a 535 foot/163 meter dive at that time in ice cold water was really uncharted territory. It appears that there have now been some deeper wreck dives under similar conditions.

There are other deep wrecks in Lake Superior that have been located but not explored. There are many hurdles to exploring them. There are ROV's that could be used. Often there is not the money to pay for fuel and personal to conduct a operation. Also owners of ROV's can be quite nervous about operating a ROV next to a giant entanglement hazard. As they also like to have safety divers for the ROV.

If you are talking about people diving to these wrecks. It is very hard to put together buddy teams of people willing to commit to the same level of risks and dangers to just go diving. I have only three people that I trust to dive with in the Great Lakes. Once you start talking about diving past 80 to 90 meters, interest fades fast to go diving.

Hopefully, I might be able to expand the network of buddies and be able to enjoy some of these difficult wrecks around the world.

Cheers!!

Kevin

[Richard Lundgren]

...The common cold, for me, invariably turns into asthmatic bronchitis, which restricts my diving, of course.

Hi again Richard,

Yes - any reduction of your pulmonary system will restrict your diving in terms of decompression efficiency and DCI tolerance. You might not notice these limiting factors if you stay out of the decompression zone but will have to deal with this during longer exposures.

How cold do you get and what environment protection do you normally use? Maybe you can find a workaround this problem. Being cold also reduce the blood flow hence also limiting the decompression efficiency.

I would recomend training if your motivation is strong (It sure seams to be:) )

Take care
Richard Lundgren

[Richard Lundgren]

For the GZ, I hope that details and logistics get worked out for this wreck. After seeing all the side scan images, I am very interested in personally spending some time on this wreck. Not at the risk of getting in trouble with foreign governments.

For extreme wreck diving, there are many things to think about. Logistics, risks and goals. Sometimes the risk to people and property can be too great to justify the goal of just getting wet to have a good time.

For the Edmund Fitzgerald dive. Personal reports from friends that were diving the area at the time, question what really happened on that dive. As a 535 foot/163 meter dive at that time in ice cold water was really uncharted territory. It appears that there have now been some deeper wreck dives under similar conditions.

There are other deep wrecks in Lake Superior that have been located but not explored. There are many hurdles to exploring them. There are ROV's that could be used. Often there is not the money to pay for fuel and personal to conduct a operation. Also owners of ROV's can be quite nervous about operating a ROV next to a giant entanglement hazard. As they also like to have safety divers for the ROV.

If you are talking about people diving to these wrecks. It is very hard to put together buddy teams of people willing to commit to the same level of risks and dangers to just go diving. I have only three people that I trust to dive with in the Great Lakes. Once you start talking about diving past 80 to 90 meters, interest fades fast to go diving.

Hopefully, I might be able to expand the network of buddies and be able to enjoy some of these difficult wrecks around the world.

Cheers!!

Kevin

Good post Kevin,

Its true that projects sometimes are a logistical nightmare to set up and that it takes some serious effort based on experience to make it all worth while. This is one of the founding/core ideas behind GUE and its affiliate Ocean Discovery - to be able to bring the divers to the adventure. Both organizations have together and separately proved to be quite successfull in this arena. This forum is a tool for organizing projects like Britannic, Grom, Steuben etc and hopefully the upcoming Graf Zeppelin project.

Right now a permission request is being filed by the Polish authorities and hopefully we will be able to cooperate with the Polish maritime bodies documenting the formidable wreck site of the Zeppelin

Take care
Richard Lundgren

[caverkevin]

Hello Richard,

This is why I am very interested in this forum.

I think I moved to Florida 6 months to a year to late to get involved in the 99 Britannic project. Instead I pulled cat sitting duty for Tyler Moon's cat, Trucker.

Projects are a bunch of fun. The last couple of years I have been able to work with David Trotter and URA on Lake Huron. We were out towing the fish the night of my birthday when the Frank H Goodyear popped up. What fun to see it on the paper. Then be one of the first in the water to see it with your own eyes.

Also have worked with the White Fish Point Museum on Lake Superior. Have worked on project to measure ships to produce site plans. So that fine art work could be produced. Another project was to execute a live broad cast of a dive to a cruise ship full of passengers. We had a tethered camera and ROV on a 45 meter deep wreck. Then later on securing lifting cables to a anchor lost by that same cruise ship.

There are also sorts of fun things to do in the water. Good people with solid training & skills can make a bunch of things happen. Make it look good and easy while doing it..... :cool:

Cheers!!

Kevin


Good post Kevin,

Its true that projects sometimes are a logistical nightmare to set up and that it takes some serious effort based on experience to make it all worth while. This is one of the founding/core ideas behind GUE and its affiliate Ocean Discovery - to be able to bring the divers to the adventure. Both organizations have together and separately proved to be quite successfull in this arena. This forum is a tool for organizing projects like Britannic, Grom, Steuben etc and hopefully the upcoming Graf Zeppelin project.

Right now a permission request is being filed by the Polish authorities and hopefully we will be able to cooperate with the Polish maritime bodies documenting the formidable wreck site of the Zeppelin

Take care
Richard Lundgren

[Anders Knudsen]

Its true that projects sometimes are a logistical nightmare to set up and that it takes some serious effort based on experience to make it all worth while. This is one of the founding/core ideas behind GUE and its affiliate Ocean Discovery - to be able to bring the divers to the adventure. Both organizations have together and separately proved to be quite successfull in this arena. This forum is a tool for organizing projects like Britannic, Grom, Steuben etc and hopefully the upcoming Graf Zeppelin project.



And that is why I love this forum, people actually dive, and not only talk about it.
Graf Zeppelin sounds exiting, but it is a long shot because of the bombing, nobody knows how much is left of the wreck ( as far as I understood)
But wait 2 or 3 years, and I will be ready for a go to the Britannic J I just want to dive that wreck, I think I have seen the GUE 99 Britannic documentary at least 20 times.

good luck with the GZ project.

best

Anders Knudsen