I finally saw why everyone talks about that salvage job in Mobile Bay

We were pulling up a sunken barge section last fall, water was super murky with maybe 2 feet of vis. My old habit was to just feel my way along, but the lead diver had us run a taut line from the crane hook to the wreck as a hard guide. We got the lift point rigged in under an hour, which would've taken me half a day of fumbling before. Now I keep a spool of that bright orange poly line in my bag for any low-vis work. What's your go-to trick when you can't see your hand in front of your face?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarahh8118d ago

Honestly, I've never been a fan of those poly lines for a hard guide. They stretch too much under load and can snap back. In zero vis, I'm a big believer in a simple weighted shot line. Drop it right on the spot, follow it down hand over hand, and you've got a solid, non-stretchy rope from surface to work site. It's old school, but it doesn't lie to you like a bungee cord.

the_angela17d ago

Totally agree with you @sarahh81 about the poly line being a bungee cord. I tried using one as a descent line on a murky river dive last year. The current had me swinging like a pendulum because the stretch was so bad. Switched to a basic nylon line with a five pound weight at the end, just like you said. It was way more solid and I could actually feel my way down without fighting the rope. What kind of weight do you usually use on your shot line?