Remember when we used paper dive logs and pencils?

I still remember a job off the coast of Galveston back in '09. My slate got knocked out of my hand by a rogue current and I had to surface with nothing written down for a whole 30 minute bottom time. The supervisor chewed me out for a solid 10 minutes before letting me go back down with a backup. Has anyone else had a log book fail on them out there?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley8325d ago

Absolutely, I had almost the exact same thing happen with wet notes on a job in the Gulfstream a few years back. The glue on the spiral binding just dissolved in the warm current and the whole thing fell apart like a wet napkin. I spent the rest of the dive trying to hold the pages together with one hand while finishing the inspection, total nightmare. I feel you on the supervisor too, mine just shook his head and handed me a cheap plastic slate that I still use to this day.

dixon.amy25d ago

Actually those weren't rogue currents off Galveston, that's more of a spring tide thing we see in the northern gulf. Galveston gets pretty strong tidal shifts that can surprise you if you're not watching the tables close enough. I had a similar thing happen in 2011 where my wet notes washed out completely because I didn't seal the bag right. The paper just turned to mush in the salt water and I was left with nothing but memory for a 45 minute drift dive. Your supervisor was probably overreacting since most of us have had log failures at some point. Do you always carry a backup slate now like most of the old timers do?