Andrea Doria Trip, July 2001

The First Trip

The following is a report on my first Doria trip, you must understand as you read these that I must look at these things in a different view, one as Capt. and one as diver.... All of those who went are invited to return again....

The first trip to the wreck "Andrea Doria" placed the dive vessel "Miss Lindsey" as the only vessel to do it all, the "Monitor", the Billy Mitchell Fleet, and now the 'Doria"..... no other dive vessel has done what I would call the big 3 of the east coast......

I had started planning the Doria trip over a year ago and as usual it is always a trip that everyone wants to be in on, but not do any work to make it happen. It was going to be just one trip for the VBtech guys so they could be on a boat they trusted and were comfortable with. Others heard of the trip and asked to set up other trips to make available for them and others divers who wanted to go. From the start I made it understood that if I had to work it, I would dictate how it would be done, who would get to go, and I would be on all the trips.

I was very selective as to who went, I think I hurt some feelings as I denied them access to the trips. So on the short end, the first trip was very light, taking only 3 divers to the wreck. I was glad it was not full, it would give me the time to conduct a good mooring and a safe trip, to prepare for the next 2 trips that had more divers.

I was lucky to have Pete Wohlleben on all 3 trips as a customer, with over 126 dives to the wreck I listened to his advise on the wreck, but in the end I think he learned a few things from me and left the boat impressed on how I did things. There is nothing like seeing something done to get the full picture, when you have been doing it wrong for so long.

We left for the wreck in flat seas 11pm, a good forecast for at least 36hrs. The wreck which is over 100 miles from the mouth of the inlet at Montuak. We arrived at the wreck at around 6:30am, we marked the wreck on our bottom machine. I suited up for a free descent drop with my scooter to the wreck, a pre picked location had been made for the tie in and I would send up a lift bag to mark it. Rick Atkins would then bring down the mooring line when he descended down my lift bag line to that location. I would be waiting to help him secure it...

The comment was made what if I missed the wreck, first I'm sure for those that have never done a free drop, it is a terrible thought to descend in a vast ocean on a deep dive and miss the wreck in low vis. I spent over 3 hrs on my first Doria trip while the boat I was on spent time trying to snag the top of the wreck and thought it a waste. I do not believe I can miss a wreck that is the size of the Doria 728ft long in any kind of vis.

The call came DIVE DIVE DIVE, I jumped in using my scooter to tow me directly down, in less than a minute I was at 160ft and I started to inflate my wings, I should see the wreck soon it comes up to 190ft. At 170ft it came in sight, only 20ft of vis. I landed on the hull and saw a huge crack running from the top to bottom, I determined I was aft of midships and scootered fwd, once I found Gimbels hole (now a window) I headed for the tie in location and shot my bag as planned, then wrapped the reel around the exact tie in location, I waited for Rick to be dropped by the boat and come down my line. Within minutes he came into view, I took the line with chain and shackled it to the wreck, 19 minutes since I left the boat and we were done....

I started up for my deco and Rick asked to remain for a minute and look around, I let him, because he is who he is, better than most. I was on the boat before breakfast was ready and Pete was there to greet me and tell me that was "pretty impressive".

Everyone did dives and I was content to help everyone, Rick and I were able to only do one real dive as we were working and that is why we there to work.

We departed the wreck after 2 days, seas were building the forecast bad..... We placed a mooring ball on the line and headed for shore. We were pounded by 6-ft seas before we got back and it hadn't got bad yet....

JT

The Second Trip

While back at the dock Capt Charlie, Ike Bullock, Becky, and myself clean the boat for the next trip. Rick Atkins left as crew and was replaced by Tom Sawicki. I could already feel the effects of the trip taking its toll on me, 27 hrs to drive the boat up to Montauk from Va Beach, my constant worrying about everything and then the trips them self.

The next group was a charter by Christina Young and a small hardened Doria group of divers, she only had 7 in her group as she was even much more picky than I as to who went. Personally I want to thank her for all the help she gave me in locating a slip up there. It seems dive boats are not welcome up there by past performance of others , at one point she had gotten us a slip by an inside source at one of the major marinas. Then 2 months before the trips for some unknown reason the marina got amnesia about giving us a slip and had no record of the reservation done in the fall of 2000. Some fast action by Capt Charlie located a marina who would take us and to my surprise was cheaper and better suited for our needs. The owner was very nice to us and invited us back for next year....

As most complain about the high cost of the Doria trips, I did to when I went with other boats. The cost of running those trips can only be seen if you are paying the bill to do them, we had over $6000.00 in cost and had never left the dock for the first trip yet. Granted most boats would not have to endure the cost as we did to get up there, but once there the cost of everything is unreal.

As departure time came near the weather forecast was good, a weather pattern of fronts were coming at perfect timing for our trips, we left an hour early. The group on this trip had formed as a team to recover some artifacts on this trip and all things hinged on being at the mooring I had set in place. The group was worried that several dive boats were slated to be out there at the same time and it is a well known fact that much of the crews on these boats have little skill at getting that "exact" spot, so these boats have taken up the habit of securing up to someone else mooring and use the excuse of divers in the water so they can't move while even knowing you were coming to the wreck to began with, I have been on one of those such trips.

Once at the wreck, it was plain no one was on our mooring, no other boat was there and neither was our mooring. Once again I had to prove my way was the right way, the plan was the same as the first trip except Tom would be taking Ricks place if I could not located our mooring line on the bottom and send it up by lift bag.

The group seem to have this uneasy look as I prepared to scooter down to the wreck, I'm sure Pete had told them "wait until you see this shit", they had never done such a thing which is really routine in FL, but with great vis down there, that is not the case on the Doria. Capt Charlie dropped me on the wreck at the same location as the mooring had been, again I hit the wreck with ease only to find vis was now 10ft, using Big Mike's(owner of LDC) way judging vis, 10ft in each direction means 40ft, hey it didn't seem so bad then.....

Landing on flat hull plate in low vis at first I was confused at to what direction to go, everything was flat..... Then I saw my first porthole and knew what direction to go and with a few feet of that porthole I saw the chain at our mooring location. The line I could see headed out into the debris field, that really sucked. I undid my scooter and left it next to the chain, I knew from past experience it could not handle the depth of 250ft I could hit in spots out there..... The line which was over 200ft in length went straight out and down, I swam the distance to find it wrapped around 2 life boat davits and then down to 242ft, it was a long swim at that depth. The ball was deflated by the pressure of depth and I worked my way back untangling the line. Once back I put my lift bag and slide ring on the line to raise it up to the surface. I inflated the bag and up it went, but again the line got hung up in the debris field somewhere. I had to make a decision, should I go back out there and undo it or let Tom have a shot at it....

For me it was a no brainer, Tom had never been to the wreck and the Doria can be intimidating for ones first dive to it, not something I wanted to do to him. So without a second thought back I went, at the very end it was tangled in a net and I worked to free it. After getting it undone it did not go up, the lift bag had formed a upside down V in the mooring line and the ring did not slide. At 240ft and nearly 25 mins into the dive I checked my gas, I had used more than planned and found it risky to swim back to the mooring chain and try and work the bag up. I then attached my up line reel ( big wreck reel with 540ft of line on it) to the mooring line and started up for my deco. At my deep stops everything was fine, but the boat could not locate any lift bag and was unaware of the decisions I was making. I was hoping once on the surface we could just pull the mooring line up as it was no longer tangled in anything. At 70ft I made a gas switch and the current picked up, I was being blown down and could not obtain depth control, the big reel tension screw was as tight as I could get it, yet it kept playing out line like a big fish running on the other end. I then got my other reel and deployed my see me Float to help maintain depth control and for the boat to see, I would only turn loose of the reel that had the mooring as a last option, I had worked to hard to get it. I worked both reels through my deco and at 20ft the current backed off which made that portion of the deco easier.

Once on the surface I saw the boat and they seem to wait for me to move to it, by this time all the reel was deployed off my big reel and I could not go anywhere, I signaled to the boat and Pete was the only one who realized I had the mooring line on my reel. He told Capt Charlie to back the boat up to me and I past the reel up then boarded the boat. I was spent, no more was it safe for me to do anything on deck, I was sure from the work load I was pumping bubbles, in 30 mins or so they should be gone and I would not take any kind of hit as that has been my window for past problems. Pete took over and pulled the line up as Dan reeled it in as the boat backed up, in a matter of minutes my lift bag and the float ball burst out of the water behind the boat, it reminded me of the movie "Jaws" with the barrels.

Once the mooring line was secured to the boat the group was really happy and could hardly wait to start their dives. I asked Christina what she thought of what I'd done, she said something I don't recall, but it was my answer that I was ashamed of, I have always tried to be on a level playing field with all divers and I am ashamed to report that I told her "their was nobody else on this boat that could do what I just did", my ego had exposed itself, not a pretty sight.... it was short lived....

I spent most of the day in my bunk recovering from a taskful dive. They recovered lots of nice artifacts and had a real good time. I also remained in seclusion on this trip, not happy with my actions and not happy with the actions of one of my crew on a personal note , we did not speak to each other unless we had to, more stress for me. I was not having a good time....

Tom and I made 2 dives to the wreck, scootering the exterior of the wreck from one end to the other..... seeing what it would take others several dives to do...

Again after 2 days the weather forecast was bad we had to go in most got 3 dives in some got 4.....

JT

The Third Trip

With 2 trips completed to the "Andrea Doria" I was looking forward to diving with some of the gang from the VBTech group. Still I was tired from the 2 earlier trips and was very fearful of anything happening, at least these guys would listen to me I thought, we dived together all the time. Maybe I could even get a good dive in.....

Pete had signed up for all trips and he was collecting artifacts on almost each dive, before the group arrived I had asked him to refrain from showing these guys any artifacts he had and when he brought them up to not let them see it, to just put it away. I did not want them to get "china fever" as I did on my first trip to the wreck and do something really stupid. He agreed because he knew what I was talking about, he'd seen it before....

Everyone was arriving and loading gear when one of our mates made the worst move that could be done, we had been at the dock for a day and a half. She waited until now to pull out a china plate given to her by a customer as a token of his affections and started to clean it in front of everyone then wrap it in paper and ask Rick to store it in his Van... I was pissed.... I could see it in their eyes with the milling about, joking around as I believed they were showing signs of getting ready to make a bad decision.

I held a briefing and explained to everyone that only 2 divers on this trip had the skill and knowledge about the wreck to go where Pete was going and unless I had told them personally to follow him I was not talking about them.... It worked for one dive I think....

I also explained how some of them would become "unwrapped" on the first dive and make mental mistakes, the wreck has a "stigma" to it and sometimes causes divers to have gear problems on their first dive to it, I used my leaking mask on my first dive to the wreck in 99 and Tom on his first dive when he forgot to hook up his crouch strap as examples .... These things happen and they did on this trip.... Mask came off, fins came off, drysuit hoses left off, all mental mistakes.....

Everyone found that the wreck was , just that a wreck, nothing different from the others we have dived to a point. It is my opinion that this is where divers become victims to the wreck, not giving it the respect it deserves, not many wrecks offer the massive penetration dives the Doria can, many who come dive the wreck are very good at depth dives, ocean dives, and wreck dives. Very few can boast they have done wreck penetration dives that actually START at 200ft, you must do everything right on these dives, no room for error. It seems that those who die on this wreck have less than 10 dives to it, it also seems those who say it is easy also have less than 10 dives to it, choosing to dive the outside where it is easy and their skills best suited, a safe dive in the scheme of things..... It goes without saying the vis and temp cause others problems, only those who don't do it would say different.....

After 2 dives some in the group began whispering about going in and finding something, thinking I was asleep, looking at the drawings. Pete came to me and told me the same thing I was hearing, I went to Rick and told him to talk to some of the guys, they weren't ready for that kind of dive, its a fools bet to say you can.....
Being disappointed invites mistakes, I choose to try and recover something that caught my eye on a previous dive, I loaded my toolbag with reels, lift bags, and tools. There is an old saying "don't put all your shit in one bag", I must have forgot... I jumped in the water and the snap came undone... I watched it sink much faster than I could have caught it, I never will risk my life over any gear, I let it go... over 500 dollars in stuff.... I went down the anchor line and went in the direction the bag should be, Pete had sent up one of those rectangle windows on a liftbag and reel then secured it at the anchor, I gave it no thought. But when I started having line fall on me, I realized he had gotten his window and it was his line falling on me, I untangled myself and I now had a line secured at the anchor to help me look for my bag of gear, good deal..... I scootered out over the hull and towards what is called the dark side of the wreck letting the line slide through my fingers to guide me back, I came across a huge crack in the hull it was burping bunker oil and I got it all over me...... I had to wash me, my drysuit, and my scooter with joy to get the bunker off..... I now hated the wreck....
I retreated back to my seclusion as I did on the second trip, disappointed in the whole trip, refusing to dive and save myself for anything if necessary , mad at everything everyone .

Pete being the diver he is gave up one of his honey holes in an effort to keep them safe, not everyone was talking foolishly, but it only takes one to fuck up a trip..... I would not speak to anyone, I stayed in my bunk and only came out to check the weather and eat.....

Capt Charlie came to me and said the weather forecast was bad, we had time for one more dive. Everyone was surprised to see me mixing and a couple said "I thought you weren't diving anymore", I said I'm not, this is for un tieing.....

Everyone made their last dive, Capt Charlie and I were happy to be leaving, just one more and we were done...... Everyone was on board but 4 when I went to unshackle....below is what happen next...called the "Seizure".

As I reread this report I can see it gives the trip a negative appearance, it just shows how stressful these kinds of trips can be on those who run them. It also reflects how past trips I have been on have scared me for life I think...... Would I do it again...yes... cause I love to dive....

JT

The Seizure:

The diver had made their previous dive some 24 hrs before and prepared for the last dive of the trip along with 2 divers that would accompany them. The divers had only intended to stay 15 min to 220ft, the 2 other divers had made dives that morning and were making conservative second dives.

The dive went as planned, 16 mins BT had been done and the diver elected to dive 20 min tables, all 3 ran exact profiles. All divers were on board but 4 when I went over to unshackle and make a breakable tie in to remove our mooring. I saw the diver who was decoing on our hang bar at 20ft and they looked fine. I took a minute to relax on the hang bar before I descended and everything looked fine.

The following events were told to me as I was not back on board until 20 mins after I went down.
The diver realizing something moved over to the buddy and signaled something was wrong, the buddy not knowing what was wrong asked if they wanted to go up. The buddy also knew that they were diving 20min tables for a 16 min BT and had already done 18 min of the 20 min required stop at 20ft. The diver should be clean enough to surface.

A normal ascent was made by the 2 divers from 20ft only the buddy had put himself in the face to face position. At 5ft the diver seized and the reg came out of their mouth. Bubbles exited the divers mouth during the remainder of the ascent and once on the surface a call for help was made by the buddy, another diver jumped in and the victims head was raised out of the water, the body was in a complete convulse and the arms were so stiff they could not be bent to remove the gear and the harness was then cut. The diver was pulled from the water, within a minute of being out of the water the seizure stopped and the victim puked, lips were blue and color had gone from the face during the seizure, with in seconds those things returned to normal after the seizure. The drysuit was removed, the victim was unaware of what had happen and was disoriented, 02 was administered. The Capt went and made a call to the USCG.

The victim was moved to the cabin until it could be determined the next course of action, I at this time was boarding the boat sensing something was wrong and quickly assumed the rule of carrying information between the radio and the victim, Rick Atkins took control of care for the victim. The victim was now in full control of all their faculties and was stating nothing was wrong, in due time they would admit to a tightness in the chest. I was concerned if there had been any aspiration of SW, a condition I have seen in the past that can result in more complications.

The diver was transferred to a ship that had a trained medical staff and a more suitable platform for an airlift if that was necessary. The USCG flight surgeon agreed to the transfer and contacted "DAN" as another source of information, once on the ship ( in which they walked/ climbed over the rail on their own power) Dan ask the medical staff to perform a neurological test which the victim showed no negative signs to. The medical staff, Dan, and the USCG saw no need to airlift the victim and arrangements were made to pick up the diver when the ship came to port.

When we arrived at the dock, Rick, Pete, and myself chose to drive and pick up the diver. Once there and the ship became moored up, we found that the ships staff would transfer care of the victim to the local hospital that had a hyperbaric chamber. When we arrived there was a bit of confusion as to where the victim was, having found the victim on our own we were asked to consult with the attending physician.

The physician I felt was grasping at poor conclusions and we had seen him consulting the hyperbaric manual and at one point made a different opinion on the condition of the victim. He finally made the decision to do a table 6 as a precaution, the victim exited the chamber no different from when they entered. Exactly 24 hrs after it happen we stopped to eat at McDonalds.

I have a hard time buying that it was an oxtox, the diver never did anything wrong and was well with in the limits for such an event to happen.

JT

Personally I would like to thank everyone on board who did a superb job during a very stressful event and for once the buddy system really paid off.....