Close calls?

[diverlady]

I've had 2 separate sets of rental regs crap out on me at about 80ft. I was getting mostly water in the reg. The first time I was going down a line and my buddy disappeared ahead of me. Two others coming down the line behind me stopped to help. It seemed to clear itself and I continued on slowly. It screwed up again and I stopped, switched to my octo and continued. We cut the dive short.

The second time my buddy (different buddy) was right with me when the regs started delivering water. It fixed itself. We continued on very carefully and cut that dive short too.

After that I bought my own regs and haven't had a problem with them.

I had a surface issue once. I had never understood how you could have an emergency on the surface since there's plenty of air there so what's the problem?!?! Now I know. I had a new diver as a buddy during a scrounge dive. I had a velcro strap for my goody bag around my wrist and it came undone. I shot down (about 15ft or so) to grab it, got and didn't realize my weight belt had slid up slightly wedging under my diaphragm. We did a controlled ascent during which time my buddy's regs started delivering water (gee, think they were the same ones I had???). He switched to his octo and we continued. I had a lot of trouble breathing at the surface and had no idea why. I have asthma but have never had an issue with it diving before (never even had an attack - ever!) but since we had to work at staying at 15ft for a safety stop, I figured maybe I had exerted myself (I wass tired as this was our 3rd dive) and my asthma was acting up. When the boat arrived I was instructed pull myself along the rail to the back. At this point it was all I could do to hang on. I indicated I was NOT okay, shut my eyes and just hung onto the railing on the side of the boat trying to breathe. The urge to remove my mask and hood was incredible but common sense ruled. DM jumped in to help, while my buddy was given instructions (which he didn't follow- another issue) to get out of the water in case they needed to rush me to shore. Apparently my lips were quite blue at this point. DM removed my weight belt and the problem was fixed!! I tried to climb aboard the boat myself but the rescue divers insisted on practicing so they did their thing.

Diverlady

 

[DivemasterWill]

Shore Dive, off Rhode Island, three Divemasters out at high slack tide, about 110 feet. We misread the tide tables by about 10 mins, and when I and the other DM turned around to look, the other Divemaster was getting dragged along the bottom by the dive flag. Of course, this is 15 mins into the dive, and gas is dwindling. Being that I'm something of a big galoot, I grabbed the flag from her, figuring I could overpower the current that was now draining Newport Harbor. After being dragged along the bottom for about 30 feet, I figured it would be wise to let the flag go, and get back topside.

Long story short, if anyone in England found a dive flag in August-September last year, it's probably mine.

~W

 

[Inkypoo]

Twas' 2 yrs plus back & my first dive after OW certification. The chilling incident ocurred toward the end of the dive. One chap in our group (also a newbie) due to poor compensation for an increasingly bouyant tank....floated up and straight into the path of this huge triple-screwed vessel which appeared at high speed. Funny thing was he wasn't even aware the whirring blades were coming THAT close and in fact he was still rising toward them!

All I could do was freeze and stare in semi-awe....good thing there was this ol' timer with us who shot up and yanked the floater down to safety. It was touch&go at that time and something that sticks in my mind up till today....It's always when you're a newbie that you get into trouble and also can't get people outta trouble.....

I've read about other similar incidents that had messy conclusions instead.....huge propellors give me the creeps!

 

[BartBe]

diverlady once bubbled...
I've had 2 separate sets of rental regs crap out on me at about 80ft. I was getting mostly water in the reg... It seemed to clear itself and I continued on slowly. It screwed up again and I stopped, switched to my octo and continued...

The second time my buddy (different buddy) was right with me when the regs started delivering water. It fixed itself. We continued on very carefully and cut that dive short too.

Diverlady

... ??? Why do you continue when something like that happens...??? I would call it off and get some different gear !

 

[diverlady]

I figured it was a bit of sand or dirt under the disk (I don't know the technical term) preventing it from sitting flat that was causing the water to come in. When it cleared itself, it seemed fine for several breaths. We continued on. I was on a boat with 18 other divers so there was no spare equipment such as regs at the time. The first incident was during the second dive of the day, I believe, on day two so that was the last dive of the weekend. The 2nd event was during the first dive of the day (I don't remember which day) and for the second dive, the boat captain offered me his regs which I used.

We did shorten the dives. The amusing part was on both dives, my buddies came back with much less air than me. They were surprised that I hadn't sucked back a ton of air due to stress.

I was getting some air when the regs malfunctioned so it wasn't a complete "no air" situation.

At that particular time, I made the decision to continue carefully and my buddy (and at least 2 other divers) stayed very close to me. Every situation is different and everyone makes decisions based on their environment at that time. It's a judgment call and hindsight is always 20/20. Another time, place, group of divers or diveboat, I might have aborted too. If I had a new diver for a buddy, I most likely would have aborted but I was (at that time) the least experienced diver in that group and had several others with 10+ years experience hovering closely. I felt comfortable continuing.


Diverlady

 

[BartBe]

I personaly think thats madness... no matter how many expert divers are hovering close, for me thats asking for trouble !

Your reg is not supposed to give water and even if the problem clears by itself, that's your reg telling you something is wrong with it. Being a piece of equipment (not to mention, probably your most important one) that has a leak, I wouldn't take it in to extra depth and pressure ???

This is how accidents happen... 'Oh i'll be fine... nothing to worry about'...

I know I'm only a newbee and maybee i'm too worried. I don't know much about the whole diving thing yet, but I do know (very well) what I would do in that situation !

It may not happen the same day but there will be a next dive you know !

 

[diverlady]

BartBe,

I think you're missing the point of the thread. It seems to me the point is (besides the poll) for people to describe their situation, what they thought was happening, what they did and what the outcome was to give others the opportunity to learn of the types of things that can go wrong. It also can teach people how problems can compound very quickly. I don't think it was meant to encourage others to critique their decisions or berate their actions.

If, under similar circumstances, you would choose to abort the dive, then that's your decision. Mine was otherwise.

Thank you for refreshing my memory as to how a regulator works and its level of importance in the hierarchy of my equipment. There are times when a reg might allow for "wet-breathing" such as when it is inverted. Not all regs do this but some do. Since I was diving in current and looking up and down the line, it was possible that I had placed the second stage in such a position to allow for wet-breathing. Stopping and assessing the situation is the first course of action I would take. Again, if you choose to abort at that time, your decision.

Ah, a newbie. That certainly explains your comments. Since you've admitted your inexperience, might I offer some advice (unsolicited I realize). Look, listen and learn. There is a wealth of information and experience on this board and many are willing to admit their mistakes in order to prevent others from making the same ones. This is a service to you and me and everyone else who has never experienced the troubles they have. Learn from it. I do but I'll reserve judging anyone's actions until I've been in that same situation.

Diverlady

 

[Iruka]

I have 4,399 dives and I've never really felt in danger PERSONALLY during a dive, although I've rescued a lot of customers from themselves, more or less, but had a very dangerous situation a few days ago. I'll leave the names out in case there are any pending legal developments (no-one was hurt, luckily!).

Anyhow, there were 2 large "cattle boats" at the north & south moorings of a famous site here in Guam, the "Blue Hole." There's only maybe 60' or so between these 2 moorings. We were at the North mooring, starting our descent, with a current running from South to North. A third, smaller boat decided to come in. Generally, they would catch a line "downcurrent"...meaning coming in from the North (behind) our boat. Instead, for what reason I can't imagine, he decided he wanted to moor BETWEEN

 

[Iruka]

(continued) the two boats. About 6~8 divers were just descending or still on the surface as he tried to squeeze in...apparently (I couldn't see, as I was a few feet down by this time) he missed the line from the South boat, and the current took him directly into ours. First I knew of it I looked up & saw spinning props only a few feet away...his boat slammed into ours, with the prop only about 1 foot away from the nearest divers...still spinning! Anyhow, no injuries, some rattled divers (I let them calm down a few minutes on the surface before continuing the...henceforth uneventful...dive) and a dent in our boat.

Apparently that captain was "ordered" to meet us all back at the dock & apologize to everyone. I'm expecting the next time I see him to be asked "would you like fries with that, sir?"

Got a laugh the next day on the boat, however....the guides all got together (different dive shops) to discuss what site to go to. When they asked me, I said "Anywhere where that boat ISN'T)

 

[The Chairman]

Point #1... It's relatively easy to form an opinion here in cyber-space. You relate the event in your minds eye to a similer event, or extrapolate how you think it unfolded. Either way, there is a good chance that you do not have ALL of the needed information. While many of us are great story tellers, we all leave out cogent information that might make the difference in how you handle any situation.

Fer instance, my Micra free flowed dramatically on my last dive outing in Blue SPring. I couldn't get it to stop, but I not only finished that dive, I went on to do another on the same tank.

Preposterous, you might exclaim... that simply is NOT possible! Well it is if you have redundant first stages on an H valve. I closed off the right bank and so I fulfilled the duties to my class breathing on the left bank.

So stop, think and remember that what appears to be black and white in cyber-land, just might not be so in real life. That the person is here, living and has escaped any injury is a good first indication that their logic was sound and their solution a solid one.

Point #2... there is ALWAYS more than one way to skin a cat. Many times divers will think outside of the box to solve a problem. While this is a double edged sword in many respects, you can't expect everyone to approach a particular problem in the same manner. You might prefer your method of resolution, and have valid arguments all lined up, but that still does not make yours the ONLY valid opinion. Different levels of training, competence, experience and comfort will all lead to different divers finding diverse solutions for the same event. It's just something you should learn to live with.