Problems- Tiller and Raleigh moorings- I'm pissed

[Ian]

Just got an e-mail from someone who was out on a Tiller charter this weekend. He told me that the operator told the divers on board that he had cut the tag line from the stern mooring to the wreck. He mentioned that it was a hazzard as he had divers getting confussed by the second line and they were getting tangled as they pulled themselves along the line.

For those that don't know, we moved the original mooring system further aft and installed a new heavier one off the bow. From the blocks on the bottom, we have 10' of chain suspended up off the bottom by a five gallon air filled jug and then 3/4" line running to the surface. The stern mooring has a bleach bottle float on the surface while the bow has one of our new 5' tall buoys/light/reflector. On the bottom, we run a 3'8" tag line from the top of the chain to the wreck. There is enough slack in this line that there is no stress placed on the wreck no matter what the wind direction or the amount of scope used by the boat. To prevent the possibility of diver entanglement or entanglement with the wreck when not in use we have a small jug half way along this line to hold slight tension.

This wreck is a small wreck and if divers are not capable of telling the difference between a line tied to the rail almost at the aft end from one tied to the bow by the ships anchor then I would suggest that these divers should not be doing this 110' dive. Likewise, these lines like most other tag are tied directly to the wreck and are designed not to place stress on the wreck. They are there to help divers safely locate the wreck and the ascent line in limited visibilty not as a subsitute for lack of buoyancy control or swimming ability.

We spent a lot of time, money and effort to put the second mooring out. We did it because we have everything from very light Zodiacs to heavier multi engine inboards diving the wreck. Often at the same time. As a lighter boat, this operator cut the tag line to the mooring system that he should have been using.

I don't know if the tag line was totally remove or simply cut at the wreck. I was told "cut" but the person that told me did not see it. If it was simply cut at the wreck, we now have a true hazzard as there will be about 30' of poly line floating up the mooring line that divers will have to work their way through. I would suggest using only the bow mooring with the buoy until we can get out to repair it.

I would also suggest that this operator better screen his divers or take just a few minutes to educate them before becoming slash happy with a knife. As he uses our moorings as much or more than anyone else, it would be nice if he offered to fix it.

If I sound pissed, I am as there was a ton of work involved in getting these moorings out there and we try to make things as easy and as safe as possible. If you don't like the way things are, make a suggestion, don't make them more dangerous than they were.

If you would like to get some sort of idea what was involved, check out the following two links.
http://www.vaxxine.com/advtech/moor/tillerblock.htm
http://www.vaxxine.com/advtech/moor/dalhousie.htm

Our second problem, seems to be a repeated one. I just found out that the buoy on the Raleigh is missing. This is the third time for this shipwreck. No matter how well we secure it we seem to have a problem every year. Hopefully it has just sunk and we will be able to retreive the light and radar reflector. If not, it's about a $550.00 loss. Anyone going out that tway, I'd appreciate it if you kept a lookout for it.

Ian