GPS marks

[Nigel Hewitt]

I have noticed over the years that many people are very secretive about their GPS marks.

Now if we were doing salvage work I could definitely understand this but this is often just the fine tuning of numbers for well known and well documented wrecks.

However people I respect take the alternative view that 'our' numbers should stay 'our' numbers as they represent an investment of time and hard work.

Others, and at the moment that would include me, can't quite see this. Why do I want somebody else to have to use a number from a book that's 100 meters out so they have to drag up and down like we did. I don't get a big cheque in the post because they missed the best of slack.

Am I missing the point here? Should we be protective of this hard won data or should we treat it as a common resource?

[Richie N]

I have noticed over the years that many people are very secretive about their GPS marks.

Now if we were doing salvage work I could definitely understand this but this is often just the fine tuning of numbers for well known and well documented wrecks.

However people I respect take the alternative view that 'our' numbers should stay 'our' numbers as they represent an investment of time and hard work.

Others, and at the moment that would include me, can't quite see this. Why do I want somebody else to have to use a number from a book that's 100 meters out so they have to drag up and down like we did. I don't get a big cheque in the post because they missed the best of slack.

Am I missing the point here? Should we be protective of this hard won data or should we treat it as a common resource?

Hi Nigel,

I think its not so much a case of being secretive or overly protective but perhaps a way to look for trading and expanding on marks. At our branch we don't openly advertise our [detailed] marks online but will willingly pass them on to other clubs etc, and so if they have marks that we don't then ultimately it benefits everyone. When we were new to the area (our RIBs are based in Littlehampton, Sussex) we had no marks and to get us going I contacted local clubs who on the whole were really helpful.

But I agree on the whole It makes no sense to keep marks to yourselves unless of course it's that unknown that has never been dived, teeming with life and food!

[GaryC]

It really would depend on the wreck. If it was a well known and picked clean wreck then no problem, however if it was a recently discovered wreck then I would not give out the marks.

I know that there are teams (educated suspicion) ready to go with explosives and take bits off. I have dived a few wrecks on the east coast where this has been evident. (wreck has changed shape and has lots of nice new rusty bits)

Not everyone that dives does so only for pleasure. I also suspect that the people that don't dive just for pleasure probably know where more of the wrecks are anyway.

You will also find that the Commercial skippers take a dim view of people getting hold of "their marks"

Marks become almost a product.

Just my view - Gary

[Divingtheark]

Interesting thoughts. I recently posted a request for marks on the general diving chat room of this site on behalf of Dorking BSAC.- but have had no responses. (Our GPS failed last year and we lost our marks - stupid us for not keeping copies).

Either I posted in the wrong space and it has not been read, or "we" are being secretive/possessive over marks. I am pleased to say however that Sussex dive club have been helpful to us following a chat/approach in person- and we have started to build our database again.

The marks that are published (such as in the book Dive Sussex) seem incorrect (or have be deliberately altered ) - enough to be of no help at all.

Working with helpful info from friendly divers and combining this with charts marks on our new GPS is however proving to be of real value.

Our thanks to those friendly divers.

[GaryC]

Get yourself on wrecksite.eu Most of the admiralty marks are on that. Any thing that is not, then you ain't going to get anyway as they will either have been specially held back or too new for the owners to divilge.

I back up all my marks to a small garmin etrex. Having lost mine once too.

Gary