The picture to the left is of me diving on the Spiegel Grove last May. Note that I am outide of the ship. Yesterday three experienced divers from New Jersey died while diving the same wreck, insude the vessel. Four men, friends from New Jersey who held advanced open water certifications (which was my certification at the time of my dive), hired a boat captained by Mark Cianciu of Scuba-Do Charters to take them to the wreck. During the fatal dive, one man was stationed at the entrance to the ship while the other three went inside. The man stationed outside the wreck began to run out of air and surfaced safely. The other three must have gotten lost inside; one made an emergency ascent and died before reaching a recompression chamber, the other two were found dead deep inside the wreck. All the divers had wreck reels that apparently weren't used. A wreck reel is a piece of equipment which allows a diver to set a guideline while swimming in that the diver then follows on the way out of a wreck. Think of it like like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. Rescue divers who entered the wreck found a great deal of silt had been kiclked up, seriously decreasing visibility. This may have led to the divers becomming disoriented and running out of air. The death toll onthe Spiegel Grove now stands at six.
It is always sad to hear that a member of the diving community has died. It is especially sad when it happens on a wreck that you have also been diving on. The Grove is not a dive for beginners, although I certainly was a beginner when I dove it. The currents around the wreck are brutal and it takes a concerted amount of energy just to get down the anchor line to the wreck. The full story of my own near fatal mishap on the Grove can be found here. Even with the advance certification I hold I would never consider entering the wreck without additional ship penetration training. Even wrecks like the Grove, which was deliberately sunk to create an artificial reef and had all the doors cut off making fairly wide penetration openings are deathtraps for the uninitiated. As a diver it is your responsibility to “plan your dive and dive your plan” and not to dive outside the limitations of your abilities and experience. All divers know this. What concerns me, and concerned me at the time I dove the wreck is the somewhat cavalier attitude of many of the dive operators in Key Largo who don’t carefully scrutinize divers experience levels before agreeing to take them out to the wreck. The Spiegel Grove is an attractive wreck because it seems deceptively benign; a 500 foot boat upright on the bottom at only about 100 feet. The dive outfits I chartered often made both morning and afternoon trips to the wreck and put as many as 20 divers at a time down the line. It seems like a miracle to me that more divers haven’t bought it, considering the disguised hazards of a strong current and low visibility inside the wreck. Of course, ultimately the responsibility for safety on a dive rests with the diver. Those poor souls who didn’t make it back reflect the adage that there are old divers and there are bold divers, but there are no old bold divers. RIP gentlemen.
It is always sad to hear that a member of the diving community has died. It is especially sad when it happens on a wreck that you have also been diving on. The Grove is not a dive for beginners, although I certainly was a beginner when I dove it. The currents around the wreck are brutal and it takes a concerted amount of energy just to get down the anchor line to the wreck. The full story of my own near fatal mishap on the Grove can be found here. Even with the advance certification I hold I would never consider entering the wreck without additional ship penetration training. Even wrecks like the Grove, which was deliberately sunk to create an artificial reef and had all the doors cut off making fairly wide penetration openings are deathtraps for the uninitiated. As a diver it is your responsibility to “plan your dive and dive your plan” and not to dive outside the limitations of your abilities and experience. All divers know this. What concerns me, and concerned me at the time I dove the wreck is the somewhat cavalier attitude of many of the dive operators in Key Largo who don’t carefully scrutinize divers experience levels before agreeing to take them out to the wreck. The Spiegel Grove is an attractive wreck because it seems deceptively benign; a 500 foot boat upright on the bottom at only about 100 feet. The dive outfits I chartered often made both morning and afternoon trips to the wreck and put as many as 20 divers at a time down the line. It seems like a miracle to me that more divers haven’t bought it, considering the disguised hazards of a strong current and low visibility inside the wreck. Of course, ultimately the responsibility for safety on a dive rests with the diver. Those poor souls who didn’t make it back reflect the adage that there are old divers and there are bold divers, but there are no old bold divers. RIP gentlemen.
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