But what's a bigger risk:
Going for a little bit of a ride on the line while the boat drifts?
or a boat pulling loose from the wreck, while divers are in the water?
If the boat pulls loose, you're stuck with a bunch of divers doing drifting ascents (possibly at different depths, drifting at different speeds, etc.) Lots of potential for someone to get
lost. Or you can try hooking back in with divers on the wreck, also not a good idea.
On the other hand, that would have to be one hell of a windy day to give you a ride all the way to the surface. You have the weight of the anchor and the chain. Not to mention a properly weighted diver, at
depth, with with an empty wing is pretty negative. And a smart diver will dump at least some gas before pulling, more if conditions indicate that they're going for a ride.
LakeSuperior, what kind of depths could you possibly be hitting "close to the beach" that your dives require a "fair amount of deco."
Not trying to be a smart ass, but like I said before, that's the way most of the boats have been doing it around here for years. In case you're not familiar with the diving up here, there's 2 little wrecks called the U-869 and the Andrea Doria. Out there, even if a diver who's been out of the water, does a bounce dive, just to pull the hook, they'll need to hang for a good 10 minutes. And that's in 260 feet of water in a spot that tends to have ripping currents.