A slight mishap

[Scubaroo]

ibnygator once bubbled...
I know that some folks on this board don't use a snorkel regularly. And of course this is not a situation that you should expect to happen very frequently, but does it make anyone think twice about diving without a snorkel?

Head injuries or your first stage being ripped from your tank withstanding, if your head is close enough to the surface that a snorkle will work, look up. A snorkel sure works great in choppy water, but so does keeping your regulator in your mouth. I doubt that not having a snorkel would ever have been a contributing factor in anything reported by DAN (not that I've checked, just guessing).

At the beginning of the dive, even if you spend 5 minutes floating about on the surface with your reg in your mouth, you might breath down perhaps 3cf of gas. At the end of the dive, your tank is going to be refilled anyway (for 95% of divers most of the time), so why conserve air then? What happens if you slip off the ladder reentering the boat and suddenly find yourself back in the water with your head under? Keep your regulator in your mouth until you're back in the boat (at least that's what I was taught, and on more than one boat been told "it's nice to see someone who knows the proper way to board a boat"). So diving without a snorkel, suface conditions permitting, is easy and possible.

In California they're more trouble than they're worth when you have kelp to deal with.

 

[Genesis]

Glad you're ok!

This is one of the "problems" with drift diving, and its worse with some boats than with others.

With boats that drift stern-to (and plenty of them do), you wind up with essentially what you had happen. That's not good. Were it my boat, I'd be inclined to put out some kind of drogue off the bow when drifting to keep the stern from turning into the waves. I tend to drift beam-to in the Hatt, which can be QUITE uncomfortable if you're succeptable to seasickness, but is quite a bit safer in that you won't get slammed like this back against the platform or the hull.

There is also significant risk to the vessel in drifting stern-to in rough seas, and anything that crashes INTO the cockpit (stern) area counts. If a wave is enough to essentially "poop" you, its enough to worry about, irrespective of the size of the vessel.

Again I'm glad you're ok overall; ripping a first stage off the top of a tank valve is plenty of force to have knocked you out cold if you had contacted the boat a bit differently than you did....

(Thanks to whatever deity you prefer are probably in order!)

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

pinstripe1 good to see you ok and your Dan insurance should cover same
this leads me to this argument that more experience divers agree in Din is the way to go, more secure ect ect ect.
any chance you didn't get your yoke tight ect and did you and your buddy check your equipment before , also didn't anyone see the big wave ect wear was the dive master he should been back boat assisting everyone off the boat ect ect just fuel for thought !!!

 

[Epinephelus]

Diver0001 once bubbled...
-When you're jumping off the back of a boat the prop isn't going to be moving. This is one worry less. Even if you do get sucked under the boat you'll just be under the boat. That's all. Sounds like under the boat might have been safer than on the surface at that moment

Props are sharp. Some are very sharp. Turning they are deadly. Stopped they can split your head wide open if you run into one.
E. itajara

 

[Epinephelus]

pinstripe1 once bubbled...
The geyser was (I suspect) air from the tank propelling water from the sea. Why this would be going up in the air instead of just blowing at the back of my head is beyond me.

The hole in most standard "K" valves is aimed upwards rather than at the back of the head, hence the "geyser" was as it should be. An exception is the 200 DIN/Yoke convertable, which would indeed blast the back of your head under the same circumstances.
E. itajara

 

[Raven C]

When I was reading your post I first thought that if you had a secondary on a necklack, my preference, you would not have had to look for air because it would have been infront of you and very easy to access. Then reading the rest, I questioned the hazard of a necklace as mentioned by another.

I have tried to imagine your situation and wonder if there could have been a problem with the connection when installing your regulator that would have contributed to the problem. It sounded like maybe there was an equipment problem that caused you to lose the whole thing. Is this logical? I am curious.

I have been in rough sees and I have been scared of being hit by the boat or sucked under myself. But other than being tossed around like a rag I have been lucky and I have not lost essential gear. I do hold on to my reg really well upon entry. . I often enter the water on the side of the boat because it puts my in the water quick and I have less worry of the bow or stern movement. But that works best for me. Also, I mostly dive from an ridged hull inflatable when diving local ocean waters so access from the side is great for me.

I really am glad that you are ok.

R

 

[Raven C]

medic13 once bubbled...

any chance you didn't get your yoke tight ect and did you and your buddy check your equipment before ...wear was the dive master he should been back boat assisting everyone off the boat ect ect just fuel for thought !!!

You beat me to it. R

 

[MASS-Diver]

a freak accident to me, unless someone screwed up putting your gear toghter (on dives like this no one assembles their own gear right?).

BTW, yoke sucks

 

[pinstripe1]

I've thought about the "loose fit on first stage" theory myself. Though I often check the connection when I don't assemble gear myself (as was the case here) I don't remember whether I did this time or not.

However, that can't be the full explanation. There was enough force to tear out the retractor cable, the inflator hose, and the inflator hose valve. I sure banged into something...

 

[SueMermaid]

Diver0001 once bubbled...

When you're jumping off the back of a boat the prop isn't going to be moving. This is one worry less. -

Didn't Pinstripe get the gash in his arm from the prop? Or did I read that wrong?

Wow, what a story. :wacko: I was gasping for breath reading your account! I think you should be impressed with yourself that you had the presence of mind to use your snorkel, and to get on the ladder.
I am very happy that you are relatively OK, that you had DAN insurance, and that you had all those medical people on the boat with you! What are the odds of that happening?