Her Air Stopped on 140 Foot Dive

[MSilvia]

Aqua Divers, eh? Why am I not suprised they'd run a trip like that?

 

[Wreck]

I have never understood turning the first stage knob back 1/2 a turn from the completely on position. If I remember correctly, it was so that the knob doesn't get frozen in place.

I was told it was to prevent damage to a valve seal. Maybe someone who has actually worked on them could explain it in more detail.

 

[miketsp]

I rig my equipment up as soon as I'm on the boat, check PSI and then turn the air off and completely purge the regulator. Why? My wireless pressure transmitter falls asleep with inactivity and my computer shuts off and throws away the trasmit code by the time we've gotten to the dive site. So, just before I strap up to go in, I turn the valve FULL on (minus a half turn), wake up the transmitter, and resynch my computer, check the pressure, and then strap up.

By leaving the regulator unpressurized (purged) until you're ready to strap up, you'll know when you're pressurizing it by looking at the guage while turnign the valve, but not vice versa. It's a visual/memory confirmation to see the needle go up for these people who can't remember which way is off. If they forget to turn it on, then that first breath will tell them before they stride off the boat, not after the second or fourth breath as they stride into the water. I'm suggesting this for new folks, but probably wouldn't be bad habit for the rest of us(?) A tech-oriented instructor of mine has done this more than once, so it happens to more than just newbs.

Sounds like a major disadvantage for AI.
In my case I like to set up & test my equipment leaving the BC partially inflated when I close the valve. This leaves the SPG reading 200bar or thereabouts.

At dive time I see how much HP is left which tells me if there is a leak or not (normally oring) and if the BC has inflated more then I have a power inflator problem.
On some very noisy boats it is not always easy to hear leaks.

 

[scubafanatic]

...for what's it's worth, I got my BOW cert at one LDS (NASE) and my AOW at another LDS (PADI) and I don't remember either shop/agency requiring or even addressing the ability to reach one's own tank valves....it never came up in training at all.

On my own I figured out that might be a good skill to learn, which was reinforced during my Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures and Cavern certifications (TDI).

For reasons I've have yet to understand, the vast majority of recreational divers insist on 'butt-mounted' tanks.......reminds me of today's kids and their baggy jeans, almost a contest to see how low they can wear them before they fall off.......same thing with tanks.

I've given up discussing the matter with most fellow divers (recreational ones, anyway) ..... they ***** and moan about how the tank valve will bang them in the back of their heads if it isn't 'tail-dragging-mode' mounted.

Karl

 

[Wreck]

Sounds like a major disadvantage for AI.

The benefits outweigh the annoyance for me. A side effect benefit is that I'm assured my valve is fully open right before I go in.

On some very noisy boats it is not always easy to hear leaks.

Maybe not, but they are sure easy to see during a buddy check on the hang bar/line. I just remembered that not all dive boats have those ...

 

[Iruka]

Hi Wreck....often we get divers here in Guam on vacation from various countries in Asia, some of whom are excellent divers, but many who really need to be watched closely. In a way, that's to my advantage...they want & are willing to pay for a guide/DM even though they might have hundreds of dives. In general, American & European divers want to just pay to get on the boat, and don't want a guide. I understand that...I'd do the same if I was on vacation. I'm very aware that a lot of divers consider it a personal insult if I touch their gear...so I don't....I just keep an eye on them. A lot of the diving here is of the "cattle boat" variety...you might have 40+ divers....6 or more of them YOURS...on a boat, with 5 or 6 different languages being spoken among the guides & customers. From past experience (4,800+ dives) even after telling my group more than once "everyone turn on their air, please" I'll still have sometimes 2~3 of them who don't...they're distracted with something else, don't know which way is on, are too weak to open the valve (I'm not joking!) or whatever. Of course it's better for divers to be well-trained & self-reliant...but in the...let's see, I need a noun for "hectic"...hecticity? ha ha...of trying to get everyone geared up I have to be SURE the air's on. But I will take your suggestion to an extent, I think...I'll tell everyone to turn their air on before they put the tanks on, then I'll go and check/turn on the ones that haven't done so before they put on the BCDs. I think sometimes people who haven't worked in a tourist diving environment, where most of the people had a 3-day course (sometimes the actual in-water training being done by an instructor who doesn't speak their language!) and only dive a couple times per year, don't realize how much...ummm..."special care" must be given. I've seen divers put on their BCDs upside down, try to put the tank where your BODY goes, regulators attached every way imagineable, pushing BOTH buttons on the inflator when trying to descend (and not just for a few seconds....continually until I can wrestle the inflator away from them, ha ha), actually trying to breathe from the oral inflator because, oh, I guess it looks sort of like a regulator. Here's one of my all-time favorites....a diver (not mine, in this case) was descending on the line...breathing from the octopus rather than the primary....and the octo was upside down...and, best of all...it was still attached to the Octopus holder on the diver's BCD! So she had her neck contorted so that her head was down near her chest. Anyhow, it's an adventure over here sometimes!

I want to end by saying I appreciate the suggestions, and with COMPETENT divers, I really do give them a lot of freedom...they're here to enjoy diving, and as long as they're not endangering themselves, others, or the reef, I'm just there to help in any way they want....or don't want, if that's the case! But with divers who really aren't CLOSE to being competent, I do whatever I need to in order to keep them alive to dive another day.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah.... right.... that makes it SO much better.

Instead of larger tank, perhaps a more appropriate equipment rental would have been a tag with her loved ones' phone number and the make, model and tag number of her car.

Alternatively, a basic OW course is always a nice gift.

Woefully unprepared and underequipped is the kindest thing I can say about this incident. The idea of bolting to the surface when there is a gaggle of divers with gas is a failure of planning and training on a monumental level. I'm also curious why and how the buddy let it get to that point.

Someone asked about her going to 140 feet on a 80 cf tank. It's very common on Blue Hole dives, with newbies; that's wrong, but the operators don't make any money saying "You're not qualified," so they do it. I did arrange for the couple I'd invited on the trip and I to have 100 cf tanks, which has nothing to do with the problem presented, but was still a good idea.

She had her own equipment, a few training cards, over 100 dives logged, but blew it when startled by the OOA problem, not grabbing her buddy's auxillary 2nd stage. She did good, though, ascending to get the air going, then going to a Dive Guide who'd know what her hand signals meant.

While it's common for operators to check all tanks for being turned on, I had previously noticed the new kid and told him to not touch mine.

Truthfully, I'd forgotten about watching my SPG on test breaths; always learning and relearning; I'll readopt that. BTW, I can reach my main tank valve and do practice that, and my Pony valve is easy to reach.

While I've learned here, I hope others have, too. Thanks for the posts...

 

[SueMermaid]

Someone always turns on my air when I am on a cattle boat. I don't care if they do or not, I will make sure it's on before my BC goes on, and if there is a crewmember helping me by holding my tak valve, I ask them to please not turn my valve, that it is on. Every. Time. But sometimes, even that doesn't work.
I learned very early on the hard way (and, ironically, at the Blue Hole) that it is easy for someone to turn your tank off rather than on. Fortunately, my BC was full of air and I was able to take off my backpack and turn the valve myself and continue with my dive. It was a valuable lesson. At least four times since then, someone who was trying to help has turned off my tank when I had it on, despite my pleas.
I always blast my purge valve three times before I jump in, and that has served me very well.

 

[jagfish]

I want to end by saying I appreciate the suggestions, and with COMPETENT divers, I really do give them a lot of freedom...they're here to enjoy diving, and as long as they're not endangering themselves, others, or the reef, I'm just there to help in any way they want....or don't want, if that's the case! But with divers who really aren't CLOSE to being competent, I do whatever I need to in order to keep them alive to dive another day.

Sounds like quite a wild west show you have there sometimes! I'm sure you've gleaned a lot of valuable insight from your personal set of experience...Thanks for sharing it.

JAG

 

[Wreck]

Hi Wreck....often we get divers here in Guam on vacation from various countries in Asia, some of whom are excellent divers, but many who really need to be watched closely.

Some of the mishaps you mentioned I've never heard of before and they were all amusing, but I'm not surprised. I must admit that with lots of people getting suited/geared up there is a lot to distract me, including keeping out of everyone else's way. It's not difficult to get interrupted from a train of thought/habit/routine and become a little unfocused. And then there are those who get totally unfocused... and it's not that they don't know how to do things right, it's just that they're too stressed, excited, distracted, etc.

In the end I guess it is warranted for you to take some action since they are sort of paying to have you look after them (whether pre-dive assistance is implied or expected) as the case may be. But as for DMs, I guess the jury is out on what is expected of them, or what they expect of themselves.