tacoma narrows

[Burntchef]

got a call from josh last friday wanting to know if i was down to do a quick work dive with uas, the dive was to be on the stanctions of the new bridge. i was happy to help with the fisheries project and a chance to dive something that is normally off limits added to the appeal. we met in tacoma the next morning and randy williams and rob wilson was allready there, we waited for the other boat to show up and divided into teams. myself and josh- randy and rob- and 2 other divers i dont remember. rob and randy were on one boat with the four of us on the other, we motored out, geared up and went to work.

what we were doing was placing new fish sensors on some attatching points on the stanctions. the sensors themselves are placed in big plastic boxes with a freaking huge heavy shackles on each side. josh had did this dive on friday with bj so he explained what we would be doing and how to do it. i am sorry to say though that we were not able to fix the box in as the spot that was picked did not have 2 points for the shackles but the other teams got theres done.

i will let josh add some details of the project. but added some pics.

[Burntchef]

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[Burntchef]

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[BDub]

Nice, guys.

We did that a year or so ago for UAS, but we did it a little north of the bridge, not on the bridge......lucky bastards!

What kind of profiles did you guys run?

[Joshua Smith]

Nice, guys.

We did that a year or so ago for UAS, but we did it a little north of the bridge, not on the bridge......lucky bastards!

What kind of profiles did you guys run?

These were shallow- the previous day, BJ and I set one at 94 fsw. Howard and I were unable to find adequate anchor points the next day at, I think, 60 fsw. Both were definitely no deco dives.

The funny thing was that after BJ and I surfaced on day 1, they asked us what depth we had mounted them at-

(Simultaneously)
BJ: "94 feet!"
Me:"64 feet!"

(We looked at eachother quizically)

The funny thing was, BJ and I had looked at eachother as we were gearing up, and had the following conversation:

BJ: "I'm not gonna bother with my backup bottom timer or compass."
Me: "Oh, me, either! We won't need 'em for this kind of dive!"

So, we didn't have any way of proving whose computer was hosed.

Turns out, it was mine. (I think I owe BJ a few beers due to a small wager over who was right....)

It was really cool doing these dives- I learned a lot about working underwater. Every simple thing you can do on dry land is 278% harder if you're diving. Those sensors have some weight to them- so, as we started to descend, we had to overinflate our BCs and drysuits- when we got to the anchor points, and were able to let go of the silly thing for a second, after we rested it on the Steel flange we were going to anchor it to, we (one at a time, because someone has to keep a hand on it!) became positively buoyant, had to vent, and so on. Then, when you grab a tool like a scraper, clipped off to your harness, you have nowhere to put it down- it has to be re-clipped, if you need to do something like unscrew the shackle.....anyway, what would normally have taken minimal effort, and just a couple of minutes in my shop, diveway, or backyard, turns into a pretty involved,complex, evolution, underwater. I was pretty glad to be doing this with 2 guys who I know and trust, because I've dived with them a lot! Thanks, BJ and Howard!

[Maverick]

Yeah i was a pretty fun day, and an interesting task at hand. I found it crazy hard to swim into the mild current on the surface with this open box (as in pictures posted above) each holding a shackle and kicking and kicking and I swear the stantion was getting farther away. When we finally reached it Josh was ready to descend (damn CCr's ) I on the other hand had to catch my breath before going under. I was diving 29% air and was very comfortable working and we were defiantly working.

I enjoyed diving this masive wall and we even saw a beautiful red Irish Lord and a Shaggy Mouse. that added to my dive and was just the icing on the cake for a unique experience.

Thanks guys

[Burntchef]

when we finally got the box rested on the ledge i removed the shackle and tried to get it onto the steel support but it just wouldnt fit even after scraping it, so i used the pin to hammer it on and after a few strikes i looked at josh who signals me to use the non threaded end , well after beating on that thing for a few minutes it was obvious it was a no go. i placed the shackle back on the box, screwed in the pin and we made our joint ascent since it taked 2 people to handle that thing. hopefully i get a invite to go back, it was fun and unique.

[BDub]

Awesome reports, guys.

It certainly doesn't make things easier when you have the fear of god in you about losing or dropping the sensor!

I brought several extra double enders with me, along with quite a few zip ties in my wetnotes. After we detached it, I rigged the sensor like a stage bottle. When we surfaced, the first thing Bob said said was "You made sure you weren't gonna lose that, didn't you?"...my response..."F NO!"

[spatman]

Yeah i was a pretty fun day, and an interesting task at hand. I found it crazy hard to swim into the mild current on the surface with this open box (as in pictures posted above) each holding a shackle and kicking and kicking and I swear the stantion was getting farther away. When we finally reached it Josh was ready to descend (damn CCr's ) I on the other hand had to catch my breath before going under. I was diving 29% air and was very comfortable working and we were defiantly working.

I enjoyed diving this masive wall and we even saw a beautiful red Irish Lord and a Shaggy Mouse. that added to my dive and was just the icing on the cake for a unique experience.

Thanks guys

ok, who hijacked Mav's account? only three typos? has to be an imposter.

[jackieg]

Hm...I thought I sensed a familiar presence on the water last week. Thanks for the report!

[Maverick]

Yeah i was a pretty fun day, and an interesting task at hand. I found it crazy hard to swim into the mild current on the surface with this open box (as in pictures posted above) each holding a shackle and kicking and kicking and I swear the stantion was getting farther away. When we finally reached it Josh was ready to descend (damn CCr's ) I on the other hand had to catch my breath before going under. I was diving 29% air and was very comfortable working and we were defiantly working.

I enjoyed diving this masive wall and we even saw a beautiful red Irish Lord and a Shaggy Mouse. that added to my dive and was just the icing on the cake for a unique experience.

Thanks guys

ok, who hijacked Mav's account? only three typos? has to be an imposter.

[Pez7378]

If you were diving 29% air, what is the other 71%?

[mz53480]

If you were diving 29% air, what is the other 71%?

Good question! Let me know the answer on that one, as I want to try it out sometime.
(Would helium qualify? But then thinking about it.....that would make the O2 content in the "air" to only be ~6%, so unless he was deep diving...... )

[Tom Nic]

Great report guys!

Thanks for telling the story.

[defied]

<lookAtMe>I wonder if those sensors were from Hydroacoustic Technologies (HTI). If so, they're probably the ones that I built a few years back. We had an order from the State, that had to be fulfilled. I built every single one of them, while going to college.</lookAtMe>


D(B)

[Romer Treece]

Thanks again to you all for stepping in and ruling it!! Wish I could have been with ya, but two weeks prior of Vit C, Echinacea, lot's of rest, wasn't enough to stop the 102 fever!!