DeepSeaDan
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2013
- Messages
- 334
- Reaction score
- 684
- Points
- 93
Several years ago my buddy & I spotted a 2-sided, 4'x 8' porcelain sign on the bottom of our favourite river to dive. We said, more than once: "We really should bring that sign up!", but never seemed to get around to it. Well, this month we did! Problem was, we didn't really think it through properly, thus what turned out to be 'phase 1' of the salvage, was quite an experience!
Now understand, we're both former professional divers, so we should have known better. We rigged two plastic pails for lifting, only to discover the sign to be much heavier than anticipated - did we halt the lift & fetch two more pails? Of course not! We decided to 'muscle' it to the exit area! With one of us on either end, we hoisted the sign off bottom and started making our way downstream in 25' of black water. I was leading the way but couldn't use my dive light as I needed both arms to lift my end. The bottom was littered with huge logs, fallen trees, stumps and a variety of other obstacles that we tripped over or had to feel our way around with our feet. You can imagine our path to the exit wasn't exactly a straight line - more like a huge zig-zag!
We managed to haul it about 80% of the way before our air supply and our energy were near exhausted. We decided to stash it and finish the job the following weekend. Phase 1 took about :90. Phase 2 took just :27! Amazing what a little thought & planning can do! We had it up & out of the water with comparative ease, though we had a steep riverbank to surmount before we could trailer it home. All-in-all a fun adventure it was. My buddy took it home, cleaned it up and it was sold within a week.
Not as much fun as hunting for bottles n' crocks - I think I'll stick to that from here-on!
Now understand, we're both former professional divers, so we should have known better. We rigged two plastic pails for lifting, only to discover the sign to be much heavier than anticipated - did we halt the lift & fetch two more pails? Of course not! We decided to 'muscle' it to the exit area! With one of us on either end, we hoisted the sign off bottom and started making our way downstream in 25' of black water. I was leading the way but couldn't use my dive light as I needed both arms to lift my end. The bottom was littered with huge logs, fallen trees, stumps and a variety of other obstacles that we tripped over or had to feel our way around with our feet. You can imagine our path to the exit wasn't exactly a straight line - more like a huge zig-zag!
We managed to haul it about 80% of the way before our air supply and our energy were near exhausted. We decided to stash it and finish the job the following weekend. Phase 1 took about :90. Phase 2 took just :27! Amazing what a little thought & planning can do! We had it up & out of the water with comparative ease, though we had a steep riverbank to surmount before we could trailer it home. All-in-all a fun adventure it was. My buddy took it home, cleaned it up and it was sold within a week.
Not as much fun as hunting for bottles n' crocks - I think I'll stick to that from here-on!
