billt4sf
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My wife and I had a learning experience yesterday in Monterey at the Breakwater and Im writing it up here to see if theres something else we could have learned and for the benefit of others. Our lessons are at the end.
First dive was wonderful! The events of the second dive started when I decided to put on my BPW in a slightly different order. At the beach, just prior to entry, I couldnt find my inflator hose and turned out it was jammed under the webbing. My wife had to undo the shoulder strap and the chest strap, and take her gloves off to do it, with the gear strapped on our backs on a very warm day. We were anxious to get in because we were getting hot and the equipment is so heavy. While we were doing this, some guy asked us "Can you take our picture?". He didn't get a great response.
Got the inflator hose located correctly and in we went. We went out the large pipe to the Metridium fields as we have done before and as we did on the first dive. We were doing these dives to practice buoyancy in our dry suits on the way back she had previously had some difficulty with unintended ascents and we had recently worked with a friend / mentor on how to avoid them (burp air from the drysuit periodically as we ascend on the way back) and if they happen, how to exhale and dive down hard to re-establish buoyancy. Max depth was 45 feet.
On the way back, at about 25 she started to get floaty. Her feet were going high and I pushed them down, which pushed me up (Newtons 3rd Law) and we both started to ascend a little. I found that her exhaust valve was closed and I madly began opening it, then I had to get down so I exhaled and swam down hard. I reestablished buoyancy at 25 but she was not around. Neither could I see her on the surface so I was worried. I thought I would see her up there. Hmmm . Swam around a little, looked in some kelp, and flashed my light in all directions. I was worried, but I figured it was only 20 feet and after a couple minutes I swam up slowly.
When I hit the surface I didnt see her, and dammit I couldnt find that inflator hose. I had moved my light from my right D-ring to my left D-ring, and I had added a clip weight there as well. I had to struggle to stay on the surface, and I was worried about my wife. I thought about it for maybe 10 seconds, then I dumped my weights. I remember actually holding on to the clips and thinking Am I really going to do this? Answer: YES!
That worked. My head cleared the surface and I saw the wife floating 50 yards away. I was not quite comfortable so I waved my arms in distress. She waved back like Hi! Good to see you, too! ****. Waved to her: Come over. Again she waved back. ****. So I yelled Help me! and I knew what would happen she freaked. She swam over in a semi-panic, found my inflator hose (right where it should be) and I inflated my BC.
She was exhausted. After she caught her breath, we swam back, exhausted and relieved.
We talked and identified the following things we learned:
· We need to get in the habit of signaling hand over head Large OK after surfacing separate from one another, and remember that waving arms is Help not Hello.
· If one person surfaces before the other, we should stay together by looking for and following the buddys bubbles
· The drysuit can be inflated to establish buoyancy on the surface.
· The drysuit exhaust valve has to be checked that is open each dive and during the dive
· We need to find a way to do buddy checks before leaving the car! We have portable tables to make gearing up less strenuous, but Id say we need more of the mindset that even though it is difficult and hot, gearing up and walking to the shore is do-able we have done it before -- and if getting in is do-able, 10 second buddy checks are do-able.
To be honest, I hardly know anyone that does buddy checks, at least not in a visible way. On vacation dives, only very rarely have I heard a DM say Buddy check before splashing. We need to do them anyway.
If you can think of other lessons we should learn, please let us know.
Thanks,
Bill & Emily
First dive was wonderful! The events of the second dive started when I decided to put on my BPW in a slightly different order. At the beach, just prior to entry, I couldnt find my inflator hose and turned out it was jammed under the webbing. My wife had to undo the shoulder strap and the chest strap, and take her gloves off to do it, with the gear strapped on our backs on a very warm day. We were anxious to get in because we were getting hot and the equipment is so heavy. While we were doing this, some guy asked us "Can you take our picture?". He didn't get a great response.
Got the inflator hose located correctly and in we went. We went out the large pipe to the Metridium fields as we have done before and as we did on the first dive. We were doing these dives to practice buoyancy in our dry suits on the way back she had previously had some difficulty with unintended ascents and we had recently worked with a friend / mentor on how to avoid them (burp air from the drysuit periodically as we ascend on the way back) and if they happen, how to exhale and dive down hard to re-establish buoyancy. Max depth was 45 feet.
On the way back, at about 25 she started to get floaty. Her feet were going high and I pushed them down, which pushed me up (Newtons 3rd Law) and we both started to ascend a little. I found that her exhaust valve was closed and I madly began opening it, then I had to get down so I exhaled and swam down hard. I reestablished buoyancy at 25 but she was not around. Neither could I see her on the surface so I was worried. I thought I would see her up there. Hmmm . Swam around a little, looked in some kelp, and flashed my light in all directions. I was worried, but I figured it was only 20 feet and after a couple minutes I swam up slowly.
When I hit the surface I didnt see her, and dammit I couldnt find that inflator hose. I had moved my light from my right D-ring to my left D-ring, and I had added a clip weight there as well. I had to struggle to stay on the surface, and I was worried about my wife. I thought about it for maybe 10 seconds, then I dumped my weights. I remember actually holding on to the clips and thinking Am I really going to do this? Answer: YES!
That worked. My head cleared the surface and I saw the wife floating 50 yards away. I was not quite comfortable so I waved my arms in distress. She waved back like Hi! Good to see you, too! ****. Waved to her: Come over. Again she waved back. ****. So I yelled Help me! and I knew what would happen she freaked. She swam over in a semi-panic, found my inflator hose (right where it should be) and I inflated my BC.
She was exhausted. After she caught her breath, we swam back, exhausted and relieved.
We talked and identified the following things we learned:
· We need to get in the habit of signaling hand over head Large OK after surfacing separate from one another, and remember that waving arms is Help not Hello.
· If one person surfaces before the other, we should stay together by looking for and following the buddys bubbles
· The drysuit can be inflated to establish buoyancy on the surface.
· The drysuit exhaust valve has to be checked that is open each dive and during the dive
· We need to find a way to do buddy checks before leaving the car! We have portable tables to make gearing up less strenuous, but Id say we need more of the mindset that even though it is difficult and hot, gearing up and walking to the shore is do-able we have done it before -- and if getting in is do-able, 10 second buddy checks are do-able.
To be honest, I hardly know anyone that does buddy checks, at least not in a visible way. On vacation dives, only very rarely have I heard a DM say Buddy check before splashing. We need to do them anyway.
If you can think of other lessons we should learn, please let us know.
Thanks,
Bill & Emily