That time a current shift on the Columbia River made me rethink my whole dive plan

We were setting up for a simple piling inspection near Astoria, Oregon. The tide tables said slack water at 2:15 PM, but the river had other ideas. At 1:45, the current was still ripping hard enough to spin my umbilical like a jump rope. My tender, a guy named Carl who's been on the river for 30 years, just shook his head and said, 'Tables lie, the water tells the truth.' We had to delay the whole dive by over an hour. Do you guys always wait for the tables, or do you trust your eyes on site more?

2 comments

2 Comments

juliawalker2d ago

Carl's right, the water never lies. @the_richard, we've pulled the plug on jobs too when the current just won't quit.

the_richard2d ago

Man, that reminds me of a time we had to call a whole job because the current never actually slacked. Just kept running like a freight train all day!