barney

In the journal Underwater Speleology, my partner in crime detailed the joy of scooter failures during a deep cave re-lining project. This weekend during a dive on the SKYCLIFFE off Boynton Beach I was able to document another event, this time with a much different failure mode due to it occurring in saltwater.

We were fortunate enough to have no current, which (should have) made the dive very enjoyable and laid-back.

I reached the wreck just before him to set up the camera when he arrived. We then dropped off the side of the wreck to fetch the hook and shotline to facilitate recovery by the next team. As he scootered down to the sand, the rear o-ring of his scooter decided to play hide-and-seek and disappeared into the scooter body. Due to the flood of saltwater, a circuit was completed, resulting in a runaway. Joe dealt with effectively and efficiently, while I proceeded to "help" him by laughing hysterically and capturing some images...


Joe's scooter decides to eat its own o-ring, floods, and is a runaway...


...he jams into into the bottom to gain control...


...nose down, he takes the bull by the horns, so to speak...


...in the process, a good amount of monofilament line got sucked into the prop.

After getting things under control, I moved the hook to the deck while Joe dealt with his 50-pound PITA.

We then went on to check out the wreck. Temperature was around 81 or so and visibility was around 60-70 feet, though with a heavy "sea snow" factor.

Later, we dived the CASTOR and then over to the Bud Bar and rubble piles. There were lots of goliath grouper on the CASTOR - perhaps 40+.

More pics from the dives can be found on the AUE website:
AUE: ASSOCIATION OF UNDERWATER EXPLORERS

Cheers,
Mike

__________________
Michael C. Barnette
ASSOCIATION OF UNDERWATER EXPLORERS

Dsix36

Thanks for the pics. It makes my broken blade seem a little less of a problem somehow.