That time my comms went dead at 90 feet on the Lake Michigan pipeline job

I was doing an inspection on a section near Gary, Indiana, and my surface line just went silent. I had about 15 minutes of air left on my bottle, so I went to the standard hand signals with my tender, Mike, and we got me up in a slow, controlled ascent. It turned out a connection on the boat had corroded through. Anyone have a better method for checking those deck-side fittings before a dive?

3 comments

3 Comments

reed.eva2mo ago

That "slow, controlled ascent" is key. Did you have a pre-agreed backup signal plan with Mike for a total comms loss, or was it all just standard hand signals?

kevin_bailey1mo ago

Remember my buddy Jake telling me about his comms failing at 90 feet. They had this whole backup plan, like tugging the line three times for "go up" and two for "stop". He said when his unit died, it was dead quiet, just bubbles and him doing the three tugs. Mike felt it and they went up real slow like they practiced.

uma3062mo ago

Fifteen minutes of air left and you just went to hand signals? That’s some serious calm under pressure.