"Bottom" three diving experiences

[driftin' by]

One pretty well sums it up for me- Midwest, quarry diving in a wetsuit and choosing to stay in 42-degree water because it'd be colder if you got out! However, the viz was great unlike when the water is more tolerable. Oh, but wait... good viz only matters if there is something worth looking at!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Yes he was and the Coast Guard increased his fine for it. Told him if they catch him in a bp/w again they'll strip his license.

Oh well, there you have it.

Thanks for asking BTW, that makes me feel real good.

Just ribbin' ya Don ... you get so down on BP/W wearers sometimes I just figured there was a traumatic experience behind it somewhere ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver Dennis]

1. Jellyfish lake

2. Jellyfish lake

3. Jellyfish lake

:voskl1:

Hee hee. You don't like the biological soup there do you?



I found it was good to see... once. Then again, I was there with just my girlfriend and another friend and it was very peaceful at 8 AM, the sun just coming up over the trees and the jellyfish rising from the deadly sulfur layer...

I wish I would have seen the alligators. Are you sure they are not mythical?

 

[serambin]

Body recovery of a car crash victim.

Stan

 

[Cacia]

I wish I would have seen the alligators. Are you sure they are not mythical?

I was exaggerating a bit. I saw them in my mind....but they do have crocodiles in marine lakes, ask MikeV. I saw a huge one in a book.

http://www.pacificislands.cc/pm72005/pmdefault.php?urlarticleid=0015

Apparently they are called "muggers". Sounds like an Almity term.

 

[Darnold9999]

New year's day 1979, serious hangover, ice on the shore in Victoria, descend to get warm, plastic backplate breaks in the middle of the dive, tank almost falls off - we call the dive after about 20 minutes - just not any fun.

Cancun in about 89 a few months after a major hurricane, forget which one, but it ripped the fronts of 10 story building right off. Out in a 14 foot boat, shallow, swells, feed the fish, then dive to see a bottom of - sand - corals covered in - sand. Boring, went down to Coz and the diving was much better, still sand, but not so much.

Costa Rica, - my dumb dive - poked my nose into a crack, got sucked in and bouced around for a bit. Learned I don't panic - at least in that situation .

 

[SparticleBrane]

Hmmm.....haven't had as many dives as the rest of you but I've had an experience or two.

I've grown up on and around boats and I'd only been relatively seasick once--that was after being on the water for ~6 hours in some fairly rough seas while racing a sailboat.
It was my first dive in the Keys, right after being certified. I hopped in and for whatever reason I thought they wanted us to switch from our reg to snorkel...whoops, got a great big mouthful of salt water from a passing wave. Switched back and went under. Never could get the taste of the salt water out of my mouth and started feeling queasy about halfway through the dive. As we surfaced, the surge towards the top just finished me off and I started throwing up underwater (through the reg, as taught ). Kept going at the surface--the combination of salt-water taste, surge, and diesel fumes kept me hurling...
Everyone got back in shortly for a second dive except for me--I fed the fishes for another 10 minutes over the side to the point of dry heaves.

My first certification dive wasn't a whole lot of fun--for reasons unknown I never tried on my wetsuit...and it was a size too small. It was also a 7mm 2-piece since we were in a quarry in May. Took me 30 minutes to get it on; I pulled so hard I ripped the skin off my knuckles . Dives weren't a whole love of fun because the crotch in the suit was so low I also couldn't frog kick. Then I had to spend 30 minutes getting the darn wetsuit off...

Most recently was probably my dive on the Duane with an insta-buddy. We went over everything at the surface but all that flew out the window once he saw the wreck from the anchor line. I was quickly left behind by my "buddy" as he FLEW at least 30ft in front of me. We were both diving 32% so we agreed on a max depth of 100fsw. I hit 100fsw and he hit 120fsw. Probably half of my dive was either watching him, or trying to keep up. He ended with ~300-400psi (hard to tell on those gauges that only read in 250psi increments).

 

[Queen]

1. First SAR body recovery dive in zero vis 34 degree water. :ick:

2. Barfing up a lung in 3-5 foot seas off Islamorada, barfing, barfing, barfing. :shudder:

3. Any crappy dive in an IL Borrow Pit.

 

[Guba]

So many "teaching/learning" dives! Truly, with the wealth of these experiences, there HAS to be a lot of lessons being taught. Okay, my list...starting at the ones with the least instructive content:
3) North central Texas lake...vis about three feet. Three of us were diving together, or trying to. About the third time we got seperated we learned that some dives just weren't worth the trouble.

2) Playa del Carmen, Mexico...a poorly maintained rental tank fowled my first stage, but my air delivery to about 30 percent--at 65 feet. Insta-buddy wasn't that far off, but he only had nine dives, was Polish (not that that matters), was up-current, and he wasn't watching me. I learned that as long as you can draw a breath (veeeery sloooowly) there's no need to get overly excited. Just take a moment to consider options and choose the best one.

and number 1) Lost a partner in the Gulf of Mexico. No, I don't mean lost track of him--I mean he had an un-deserved aneurism in the water and was gone before we got him back on the boat. Lots of tough lessons learned that day. I'll let you surmise what they might be.

Anyway, thanks for all the experiences and comments. Proof once again that divers can learn a lot even when the water isn't pristine, the buddy is uh, shall we say less that perfect, and/or the situation just isn't what you expected at all. God bless ya'll for your humor, your insight and your willingness to share so that the rest of us can learn a thing or two.
Much obliged!

 

[Walter]

3. August 3, 1986; #205 - Davis Reef off Tavernier - I was stung by a Bristle Worm leading to a severe allergic reaction.
2. April 29, 2006; #1705 - Near South Jack Wreck off Bradenton - My buddies & I encountered two large Bull Sharks who acted like they wanted to eat us.
1. My worst dive ever October 13, 1990; #760 - 90/120 ledge of Conch Reef off Tavernier - I nearly killed myself through being over confident, over cocky and under prepared.