Have You ever recovered an item that went to the bottom?

thinwater · Jun 20, 2014

Many items recovered, some as small as a nut, better than 50% chance. Often depends on how hard I look (for $600 glasses I could spend some time--after taxes, that more than a few hours for anyone).

a. Mark in your mind EXACTLY where it went.

b. Take your time. Wear a mask and go down without kicking up mud.

c. Take stick to mark center of search area. Prevents disorientation.

d. Take a flashlight.

e. You can hold breath longer if CALM.

Still failed? Water too cold?

a. Carry a long-handled chicken wire crab net. Great for raking through soft mud. Rake deeply each pass.

b. Be systematic.

c. Wet suit or dry suit. In cold climates this is as vital to safety as PFDs. What if you have a mechanical problem that requires extended diving? What if someone must be recovered from the water, and going in is required for some reason? Cold water should never be a barrier; it never goes below 32F, and you can dress for that with even moderate wet suites, so long as the time is limited.

Lost Parent · Jun 20, 2014

Years ago my wife and I were trolling for salmon and hit a school of anchovies and my wife got excited and set her rod down just as a salmon took her bait , rod over the side and gone
She felt terrible for weeks as I had just bought her the setup
Well we went home and the story spread amongst our fishing buddies
One day a friend of ours phones us from the marina and asks me what brand rod and reel we had lost some two years ago
We tell him and he says he will se me when he gets home
He shows up one day and tells us he was fishing to deep and all he got was dog sharks and our rod and reel
It was still in good shape
What are the odds

Squidd · Jun 21, 2014

My buddy and I were out sailing on Lake Superior "at night" and were pulling into a protected cove and getting ready to set the anchor, he gets a phone call and does the phone between the shoulder and cheek thing so he could use both hands to help me....

Sure enough "plop" it goes in in 10' of clear water...lands screen up on the bottom "with the light still on"...we could see it glowing in the dark

You got about 45 seconds before the light goes out and the phone is gone for good...

He was down to his shorts and over the edge before I could say "now what"...

He dove in the <50* water and grabbed the phone just as the light went out...phone was a loss but he did save the "chip" with all his contact info on it...

I put the ladder in while he dove and he could barely climb up after the short dive..

IH82BL8 · Jun 25, 2014

Cheek block from the strbd quarter. I was removing it to replace the sheave. I recovered it the next day with snorkeling gear. It took several dives and, in fact, I had said I was going to make one last dive and that's when I found it.

cephius (Dave) · Jun 25, 2014

We were on a week long dive trip on my 30' pilot schooner. Since we had the cove to ourselves, I set out two anchors. On the first dive my buddy checked the stern anchor and physically set it in the sand. A couple hours later and the line was slack. I pulled the line in and found no chain or anchor.

Every dive we looked for it, no luck.

On the third day we were joined by a dive boat with about 15 people aboard. The first person in the water pops back up and declares, "Hey, there's an anchor down here!" We successfully recovered it.

waternwaves · Jun 25, 2014

wallet, digital camera, cell phone, tools, hats, cushions, interior couch cushions(dont ask), step stool, staineless tethers, and other assorted sundry items.....

All recovered except the digital camera that had photos from one of the best sailing trips ever. (only reason I did not go for the camera was the boat was moving through and area of terrible water cloudiness)

SeaTR · Jun 26, 2014

Lanyards, Lanyards, Lanyards.

Of course, who has not...NOT!

LANYARDS, LANYARDS, LANYARDS.

...on my 16' Paceship, lost a relatively new 3.5Hp kicker while sailing in Niantic (CT) bay under a new fresh wind, and waves, from a storm approaching from the SW. All I heard was "kersplash". It had vibrated off the transom from the robust wave action...no lanyard and I had not torqued down on the clamps well enough. I shot three bearings to land points in "hopes" of coming back for recovery (before GPS).

Two days later a work buddy (he was a diver as well) and I went to the hand triangulated position on his boat and attempted to use his bottom sonar to find any potential engine "bottom contour blips" and then he would dive to do verification searches. HA ! Who were we trying to fool...this is New England. Can't sling a dead anything without running into rock...on land or at sea. We tried a couple of more trips without the success. It was just one more item, of a long list of them over the years, to Davy Jones's Locker.

It was something similar to one of those Star Trek characters...'resistance (to accepting the loss) is futile'.

Forrest15112 · Jun 26, 2014

I had bought a 300' spool of line to replace the lazy jacks, flag halyard and wrap the wheel. I set it down on the dock on top of a small ice chest, turned away and heard it fall, a rolling on wood sound, then a big splash. The next day I returned with a scoop net, taped it to the end of my boat hook and after about 15 minutes, had retrieved the line. While I was pretty sure I had snagged it in the net, there was part of me thinking that I might have that missing witness from the local organized crime trial. It was still nice to see the spool when it broke the surface.

Rick D · Jun 26, 2014

Actually Happened To Us...

Forrest15112 said:
I had bought a 300' spool of line to replace the lazy jacks, flag halyard and wrap the wheel. I set it down on the dock on top of a small ice chest, turned away and heard it fall, a rolling on wood sound, then a big splash. The next day I returned with a scoop net, taped it to the end of my boat hook and after about 15 minutes, had retrieved the line. While I was pretty sure I had snagged it in the net, there was part of me thinking that I might have that missing witness from the local organized crime trial. It was still nice to see the spool when it broke the surface.

...body recovered from under our boat, that is. Homicide victim. We were taking a cruise (on a cruse lliner) about 20 years ago. Getting ready for dinner with the news on. Saw my boat neighbor being interviewed and how she discovered the body in our slip. A bit disconcerting.

SeaTR · Jun 27, 2014

EVERYBODY's got one...

Love those 'Sea Stories'...keep 'em coming!

sailorhokie · Jun 27, 2014

Managed to recover my keys including both cars keys.

For some reason I decided to put my keys in my shorts pocket *while stepping onto the boat from the finger pier dock* at my marina. Not a good choice.

The keys were fumbled and splashed into the murky water of the Chesapeake.

Panic quickly set in as I had to pickup the two little ones from daycare and the wife was out of town traveling. Of course, we didn't keep spare car keys on the boat. Needed some ingenuity.

Luckily I had bought a large magnet to hunt down a screw I dropped near the boat while I the hard. Called my neighbor for a ride and he brought a fishing pole. Tied the magnet on the fishing pole and went fishing. Thee attempts later I pulled up my keys.

Was definitely worried given all of the plastic on the car keys. Despite not playing golf forever, I keep a metal divot fixer which seems to come in handy over and over. It saved the day again by providing a sturdy metallic contact for the magnet.

Josh

Perfect Excuse · Jun 27, 2014

My most annoying loss was a new lexan companionway board left propped against a lifeline stanchion. I watched as a rented house boat captain attacked the dock immediately across from us. His objective was to use the dock as a braking device. I watched the new lee board swan dive into 30 feet of water with a mud and loon s**t bottom. I lost the board, but I saved a life by cracking a cold Canadian attitude adjuster!

BrianW · Jun 27, 2014

While pulling the carburetor from my H26's Honda 9.9 while it was in my slip, I first dropped a pair of pliers. A minute later, I dropped the carburetor! I dove 8 feet and retrieved them both! BrianW

Kermit · Jun 30, 2014

I've never recovered anything that went overboard. Too many to list. But I did recover a Sunbrella tiller cover that flew off on the interstate. I realized it was gone when I got home. I retraced my route on I-20 the next day and found it at the beginning of the Wateree bridge. Took me about 2 seconds to realize I had seen it and what seemed like a quarter mile to stop. Let me tell you, those cars go FAST on I-20.

The Garbone · Jun 30, 2014

Saturday we drove out to the boat and were just unloading some things before going out to dinner. Had the dog with me and as we walked down the dock noticed our neighbors 6 yo granddaughter fiddling with the hose, she had it on and stuck in her mouth with water spraying everyplace. Very cute.

Put the dogs leash on the cleat (jack Russell) and stepped aboard. Sure enough I here a plop, turn and see the dog is no longer on the dock, just the 6 foot leash going from the cleat to under the water and my wife freaking out kicking off her shoes about to jump in. He was down about 5 seconds before he popped up doing the paddle.

Little girl had spayed him and he jumped back off the dock. Not so cute.

Lost a winch cover overboard once and as I tried to recover it got tangled in a crab pot. Never got the cover back but did experience the joys of clearing a fouled prop.

bananabender56 · Jul 1, 2014

Have lost the rental car keys while climbing over the bow. Fortunately a diver was bottom cleaning and found them in 5 minutes. A quick dry out and the remote worked fine.
Things we didn't find: 45 lb Delta anchor between T&C's and Luperon, and wedding ring between Tonga and Fiji. One quite funny and the other tragic

Ken13559 · Jul 3, 2014

I've dropped couple things over the side. Never able to recover except for anchor if that counts. My friend wasn't so lucky with his anchors. One went down without any rope and a other went down with rope ...not tie off. Same boat, same person. Go figure.

pateco · Aug 15, 2014

Prop Shaft in the New River Fort Lauderdale. Zero visibility, but finally found it.
Go pro Camera, recovered twice in one week. "My son needs a lanyard."
Multiple winch handles racing. (Never recovered Always keep spares)

Akapeterc · Aug 19, 2014

I have lost my glass twice, both times when I have fallen into the water off the marina fully clothed. Both times I got them back by tying the fish landing net onto 2 boat hooks connected together. The first time took about an hour, but the last time, which was only 2 weeks ago, I couldn't believe it when they came up on only the second drag along the bottom.

Sailor_Jeff · May 11, 2015

Went scuba diving for a friend. He lost an anchor in piscataqua bay. Seems his wife helping him dropped anchor and as the line payed out they both realized too late was not secured to the cleat on the boat.

Anyway, it was an expensive anchor, so he took me in his boat the next weekend to the exact spot by land sighting points (days before GPS) and I went over the side. Found two anchors, ten feet apart with lines laying along the bottom not connected to anything. Of these, one new, one old, both Danforth types. Neither of them his, but he said those would do. One more dive found two more anchors. None of them his original anchor, but all had loose lines attached. He and she did not feel so foolish after that, because four other boats had the same mishap in the same place. At 19 years old, I got a free dive trip, and that's all I wanted.

Now, with my own boat, wondering when I'll make that same error...