[Tom Hannon]

Are there any divers out there who can answer a few questions for me? I am writing a novel about the sinking of a yacht on Lake Superior. No, this is not The Edmund Fitzgerald. I need to know some info on how deep a diver can go to locate/recover some of the victims. Thanks

[Wi11iam]

Originally Posted by Tom Hannon

Are there any divers out there who can answer a few questions for me? I am writing a novel about the sinking of a yacht on Lake Superior. No, this is not The Edmund Fitzgerald. I need to know some info on how deep a diver can go to locate/recover some of the victims. Thanks

Hey Tom,
Your question is very complicated based in many factors.
Air mixes, water temp, current, energy spent, experience, and so on and so on.
There are dive tables based on your air supply mix that allows for different levels of diving as well as certifications.
Sorry I could not give you a better answer.
Soon to be living the life....
Bill

[rubicon]

Tom I know someone who spent many years diving for contents in sunken ships all over the world. Perhaps he has some perimenters

[CarGuys]

Originally Posted by Tom Hannon

Are there any divers out there who can answer a few questions for me? I am writing a novel about the sinking of a yacht on Lake Superior. No, this is not The Edmund Fitzgerald. I need to know some info on how deep a diver can go to locate/recover some of the victims. Thanks

For Sport Diving every 33 feet is like drinking one Martini. After 100 feet on air it is getting into mix gases and extensive commercial training.

In my younger days I pushed the limits in Bonair at 130. I had fellow dive experts with me to make sure I came back up. Some tolerate it better than others. Rapture of the Deep

[new peeps]

Tom,I have been down to 137 feet on with a safety tank staged at 75 feet. That only gave me 8 minutes at 137 feet. I have heard of divers going deeper with different mixes of air and or with two tanks. But I will not go any deeper than this as a advanced diver with deep water certification.

[Villages Kahuna]

As a Master Diver who's spent about 3 months of my life under water, I'll take a stab at helping you with your novel.

Lake Superior is very cold water, certainly requiring a SCUBA diver to use a dry suit. (You can Google that term to get a better definition.)

Superior is a very deep lake, over 1,000 feet deep in the middle. Certainly no one would be rescue diving on any ship sunk in water that deep. There are lots of wrecks around Isle Royale and the shorelines and a few shallow shoals of Superior, about the only places where rescue diving would be reasonable.

As mentioned above, there are ways that a SCUBA diver could extend the length and depth of his dives--the dry suit for warmth, air mixes for extending the length of the dive, etc. But generally, a diver on SCUBA is going to be limited to relatively short dives--five to ten minutes max at depths less than 150 feet. For authenticity of your novel, you should probably research the term "Navy Dive Tables". They'll give you the4 combinations of depth and time that can be dived safely on SCUBA.

Hope this helps.