Time to "fess up"

[motorref]

About my OOA incident: several weeks ago I was diving with Mselenaous and her frien Jack on the USS Duane, a little over 100'.
As we were heading back to the mooring line I had a coughing spasm that seemed to last forever, but may have only been 2-3 minutes. Unfortunately in that short period of time I went through approx. 1000# of air, leaving me with lexx than 500#.
I swam up to Elena and showed her my gauge, and she was kind enough to share air with me on the ascent. As we neared the surface I went back on my tank, and made it to the boat with no issues.
So what did I do wrong?
The only things I can come up with are that 1) I didn't shave my mustache, and that may have allowed water into my facemask, and 2) I inhaled some sewater, causing the coughing fit.
Lessons learned: 1. DON'T PANIC! 2. Relax and have faith in your dive buddy - you'll make it back OK.
Buy your saviour some lunch - it's the least you can do!!

KevinL

 

[nimoh]

I don't think you did anything wrong. Your dive plan included a contingency for each buddy team member to have enough reserve air to get both to the surface, and on this dive, you needed to take advantage of it.

 

[mala]

I don't think you did anything wrong. Your dive plan included a contingency for each buddy team member to have enough reserve air to get both to the surface, and on this dive, you needed to take advantage of it.

less than 500psi at 100+ft underwater.

i think this qualifies as something that is definately not right.

he was lucky his buddies had enough gas to aid him to the surface.

 

[nimoh]

less than 500psi at 100+ft underwater.

i think this qualifies as something that is definately not right.

he was lucky his buddies had enough gas to aid him to the surface.

he would have had plenty of air for the both of them (1500psi) if not for the coughing fit, but due to the coughing fit he needed to use it. He wasn't lucky that his buddy had enough air, they planned for it.

When I plan my dives, I plan for an appropriate reserve given the profile, but I don't plan for a reserve in case I have to use my reserve.

 

[mala]

i have never seen a coughing fit use 1000psi in 3mins.
i have seen inexperienced divers going deeper than qualified and running out of air because of bad planning.

but i wasnt there.

 

[TSandM]

This is kind of a cool story, because to me, it illustrates why the concept of "rock bottom" is so important. Even if you dive with reliable buddies who never make any mistakes, there are weird things that can cause rapid gas loss and leave someone needing extra gas to get home. In some cases, it's equipment related, like freeflows, but in this case, the freeflow was from the diver

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

less than 500psi at 100+ft underwater.

i think this qualifies as something that is definately not right.

he was lucky his buddies had enough gas to aid him to the surface.

Luck had nothing to do with it ... it was part of the plan.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[decompression]

This is kind of a cool story, because to me, it illustrates why the concept of "rock bottom" is so important. Even if you dive with reliable buddies who never make any mistakes, there are weird things that can cause rapid gas loss and leave someone needing extra gas to get home. In some cases, it's equipment related, like freeflows, but in this case, the freeflow was from the diver

+1 for rock bottom

 

[RonFrank]

Shaving your mustache has nothing to do with anything, but breathing water is dangerous and something you should work on not doing. Coughing should involve your mouth, not the nose. I have coughed plenty UW and it is a non event. This is entirely under your control but for so many new divers sucking water thru the nose is dangerous.

I say through the nose as your reg was in you mouth so its the only other possibility unless you spit your reg out. Maybe it was just a cough but you indicated you had water in your mask? Water in the mask should not matter unless you are breathing from your nose. This is an issue that needs to be addressed before you do any more deep dives. You had an instructor there and I am glad you did. This is one reason why boat ops in FL require new divers to dive with an instructor. You nose breathing needs to be fixed and a pool is not a bad idea.

Glad this was a non event.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I say through the nose as your reg was in you mouth so its the only other possibility unless you spit your reg out.

Not so ... one common reason why people end up breathing water is that the regulator mouthpiece develops a crack alongside the ziptie that holds in in place. Usually the way this crack gets found is that your reg starts breathing wet, and you go looking for the reason why ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)