Part 3 – Tie Offs

Well here we are again… Part 3 of Wreck Head!!! Looks like you’re stuck with me.

Last time I discussed reels and spools and their pros and cons. This time we are going to get into the nitty gritty of line laying. Line laying rocks! When I am wrecking and caving you will always see me volunteering for the line work. I love it. Makes me feel like an explorer, ha ha! Did James Bond ever use a spool????

From time to time I’ve had the opportunity to run wreck workshops at dive events, and one of the most popular activities at these workshops is always line laying. The divers that participate in these workshops have the most exciting time – there is something about spools and reels which makes us come over all funny!

Before I start though I need to stress something very important; none of the techniques discussed in my articles are in any way designed to replace proper training. No amount of words can replace a good instructor. Penetration dives without training are dangerous so please seek professional guidance before you dive headlong into some old rust bucket!

Essentially there are three major tie off points when laying line. The first is the primary tie off. This should ideally be in open water or as near to it as you can get. The reason for this is that if you found yourself in a loss of light situation and you followed your line (essentially blind) all the way to the primary placement, you would simply be able to ascend with no fear of connecting with some serious tin on the way up to the light. Select something substantial to tie off to, so you are guaranteed that the line will still be there when you exit. Tying onto something that will move is not exactly the best thing you could do!

On the reel/spool there is an “eye” tied into the line, which is used to secure the line during this initial procedure. Simply feed the line around the object you are tying to and then run the spool though the eye to make a tight connection. Then wrap the line around the tie off point a further three times; this will make it incredibly secure.

Before proceeding into the wreck you must seek approval from your team.  They may spot something that you haven’t, so take your time before moving on. You are now looking for the secondary tie off point. It should be in the overhead environment but preferably still in the “light zone”. The reasons for this are obvious. When tying this knot we simply wrap the line three times to make it secure and then make a spring-like connection with the line. This is what we call a line-to-line connection. To make the connection you feed the line under and over the line coming from the primary tie. This knot causes the most grief, as it is really easy to get a line-to-line-to-line connection. If this happens the knot will not spring it will just grab. The reason for having a spring connection is it helps keep the line taught while moving through the wreck.

The third tie off is called a “placement”, and by design these knots are quick to make and quick to release. To make a placement you simply wrap the line around a tie off point once and then make another line-to-line connection. From then on, we generally use placements for all the other tie offs through the wreck.

We seldom do a “final” tie off in wrecks as we normally bring the team and line back out with us after each penetration. So I’m going to leave final Tie Offs, Line Tees and Arrows until next time when we will discuss longer penetrations (Sounds terrible doesn’t it, ha, ha!!).

When moving through the wreck be sure to keep your spool/reel from free running, as line will trail wildly behind you and may accidently get trapped. This causes real danger to divers exiting in a hurry as line traps stop divers from feeling the line all the way out of the wreck.

Tie your line reasonably low as well and I recommend running near the walls of the wrecks rather than right in the middle of a corridor. Keeping it low means you can pass over your line really easily – swimming under a line is incredibly dangerous due to the possibility of catching the line on your equipment.

There are some very important line rules you need to remember:

• The team follows a set order into the wreck and at the turn point of the dive; they simply do a 180-degree turn and leave the wreck.
• The reel handler is first in and last out. This diver is called diver one.
• No one can overtake diver one on the way in and diver one is not allowed to overtake anyone on the way out.
• If you can’t see the line you are “LOST”! To see the line, you must either have visual or tactile contact with the line.

In order to hone your line laying skills dry practising is a must. You can use anything, like turn all the furniture in your house upside down, and line yourself from one end of the house to the other. Your family will really love you for this. An easier solution of course, would be to do what my instructor did to me and line off through a row of trees. The sod made us do a simulation of lost lights following the line through the trees. I wish he had given me a helmet!

As ever, all opinions expressed are my own. I am in no way trying to replace proper instruction. My opinions may differ to some agencies and instructors and I do not wish to disrepute any of them.

Paul is the Director of Training at RAID. To find out more about the courses that RAID offers, visit www.diveraid.com.

Main photo: Jason Brown