Below this post you will find info from the suunto gekko. It appears from the manual that if you have incorrect assent rate (as you stated you yo-yoed) that a recommended/optional safety stop can be converted to a required safety stop. Though the manual does not explain the difference between a required safety stop and a deco obligation, it seems that the computer will not lock you out but penalize your significantly on your next dive. This would explain why the computer let you continue to dive but then bent you on the next dive even though you corrected your buoyancy issues and no one elses computer seemed to feel that they violated them.
Seems like a somewhat stupid feature as the waves during rough seas will often make my computers very unhappy on my safety stop. You said the dives were over a year ago so I fully believe that you computer said ER and not LOC. The things you stated about your dive, and the things stated in the manual explain to my satisfaction of what happened. You either did not notice that it was in DECO on your second dive of choose not to believe/accept what it told you. You may disagree with how it handles it calculations, but it did as the manual said it would.
I underlined the important parts of the manual. MYSTERY SOLVED.
Jimmy (loves to solve a good mystery)
3.2.2. Mandatory Safety Stop
When the ascent rate exceeds 12 meters/min [40 ft] momentarily or 10 meters/min
[33ft] continuously the micro-bubble build-up is predicted to be more than allowed
for in the decompression model. The Suunto RGBM calculation model responds
to this by
adding a Mandatory Safety Stop to the dive. The time of this Mandatory
Safety Stop will depend on the severity of the ascent rate excess.
20
The STOP sign will appear in the display and when
you reach the depth zone between 6 m to 3 m [20 ft
to 10] also the CEILING label, ceiling depth and the
calculated Safety Stop time appear in the display. You
should wait until the Mandatory Safety Stop warning
disappears (Fig. 3.13.).
The Mandatory Safety Stop time always includes the
three minute Recommended Safety Stop time. The total
length of the Mandatory Safety Stop time depends on
the seriousness of the ascent rate violation.
You must not ascend shallower than 3 m [10 ft] with
the Mandatory Safety Stop warning on. If you ascend
above the Mandatory Safety Stop ceiling, a downward
pointing arrow will appear and a continuous beeping
starts (Fig. 3.14.). You should immediately descend to,
or below, the Mandatory Safety Stop ceiling depth. If
you correct this situation at any time during that dive,
there are no affects on the decompression calculations
for future dives.
If you continue to
violate the Mandatory Safety Stop,
the tissue calculation model is affected and the dive
computer shortens the available no-decompression
time for your next dive. In this situation, it is recommended
to prolong your surface interval time before
your next dive.
---------- Post added April 18th, 2012 at 09:52 AM ----------
I don't mean to be rude, but this post directly contradicts your first post and your actions. I don't know if you've remembered things differently or maybe didn't like the comments so you're adjusting things to seem better now that people are piling on (me included), but something isn't adding up. You can't count your surfing, kayaking, wakeboarding, or anything else as diving experience unless it's actually diving. Hell if I did that I'd say I was a fish too... but those sports are almost completely irrelevant to your diving capability. (Comfort in the water does play a factor though...) Now your profile says 0-24 dives, which also doesn't match what you are saying. I don't much care about dive counts but I do care about people's actions. The actions you described in both posts don't sound like the actions of someone with as much dive experience you say you have unless you're a vacation type diver that does "guided" dives all the time. That also doesn't match with what you've said though, so I'm quite confused.
If you have as many dives as you say and you still didn't do a proper weight check, or have SOME idea of what your weight should have been from simple math and experience, I'd say you should do some refresher work. Relying on a "master diver" to tell you what weight you should be using is definitely a newb thing to do, as are several of the other mistakes you made. I'm not doubting your veracity, just suggesting that you should take some refresher training. At the very least go back and reread some of your materials from OW.
Second, just because you're a "high tech person" that "works with flight computers in a research setting" doesn't mean you had any idea how the computer in your hand was working at the time. As has been said, dive computers (the 5 I've putzed around with and read manuals for) don't lock you out for a missed safety stop. That means the computer thought you were in deco. The fact that your "master diver" friends and you didn't recognize that is a major problem. Yes, Suunto computers are typically more conservative than other brands. Yes, people have seen as many as 6 or 7 minutes difference in NDL times from other brands, depending upon the dive. Were you in deco? Maybe, maybe not, but the computer thought you were and that's all that matters when you're diving on the computer.
Unfamiliar gear is a bitch; plain and simple. It rarely fits properly, it's not what you're used to and it sometimes doesn't work well. Lesson learned. I'd dare say you have other lessons you should have learned from this trip, though.
DAMN FJPATRUM,
Make sure to kick his dog and slap his mom on your way out.
You could have saved yourself some typing and time by just saying "YOU SUCK" in big font.............
Just sayin'
Jimmy
