Under Currents What To Do In Case You Get Caught ?

[mikeh]

Perhaps others have experienced a down current more powerful than anything I've ever heard of, but the idea of inflating your BC on ascent seems to be a good way to embolize, but not a good way to live through the dive.

Based on my limited experience, which includes a nasty downwelling on a dive on the Santa rosa wall last year, the currents in Coz tend to have a lateral element, the one that moves you horizontally along the wall. When caught in a downwelling, merely swim close to the wall, with the lateral drift, and upward. Think of it exactly the way you'd think of exiting a rip. The current is normally weakest up against the wall, and fighting both lateral and vertical currents will get you tired and use up air.

Letting the DM know you are new, and avoiding the 'advanced' drifts hould more than suffice. Coz is awesome, enjoy it!

Mike

 

[ColdH2Odvr]

My wife and I were caught in a ferocious down current at a local site we’d been on together many times. We were heading back to the entry/exit point (shore dive) when I noticed that all the little floaty stuff in the water was heading down. About the time my mind got to the first m in hmmm we shot down from twenty to forty feet. I instinctively grabbed my wife with one hand and a rock with another. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mike, the third in our trio disappear like something from lost in space. I remember thinking, ‘damn, that’s too bad, I really liked Mike’. It’s not that I’m that callus about my dive buddies, it’s just that that’s all the thought I had time for and this was one helluva current. We had shot down the wall to a sloping field of rocks and sand. The rock I had grabbed didn’t hold and began to be drug down with us; I let go and grabbed the next rock that came along, same effect. The third rock I grabbed held. Now at about 60-65 feet I tried to pull my wife up to the rock. There was little I could do with both hands busy but if I could get her to the rock we could climb out. Pulling as hard as I could and her kicking, I still couldn’t get her up to the rock. After a few attempts, I stopped and caught my breath. I pondered our situation and thought ‘well, I’m not going to die here…’ so I pulled again and this time got her to the rock.

Once on the rock we did a little hand over hand across the current and tucked under the lee side of a near by bolder. There we caught our breath, and our bearings. This had all happened at the end of our dive so I almost didn’t want to know what my air gauge said (one emergency per dive is quite enough). Fortunately, we both still had the better part of 500psi left so life was good. We continued to move across the current and were very quickly out of it.

Once clear of the current we ascended safely to the surface.

Discussing it later, we both felt that airing up wasn’t an option (there just wasn’t time). Also, we always knew that dumping our weight belts was an option but we both felt we hadn’t hit that point yet. Down currents aren’t that uncommon around here so we had already discussed what we would do if we encountered one, and that’s exactly what we did. I’m a fanatic no touch diver but when push comes to shove, I’m going to assert my place on the food chain rather than become part of it. I apologize heartily to all the invertebrates I squished but they’ll grow back, I won’t.

Lessons learned: We are very small and Mother Nature is very very big (it’s hard to appreciate this until you’re just another leaf in the wind). Watch what’s going on around you, kelp is a great way to see what’s going on above you and where you’re going. The little floaty stuff (of which we have lots) responds to current trends much faster than our ponderous bulk does, watch it. If something doesn’t make sense pay attention! Do exactly what you’re doing here; discuss the possibilities with your buddy and others. What we did may not have been what the textbooks say to do but we knew what to expect from each other and that’s exactly what we did. Finally, DON’T PANIC. As reefraff said, Stop. Breathe. Think.

My 2 cents,

Dave

 

[docmartin]

neveer encountered downcurrents in cozumel. however, i have heard of downcurrents at barracuda that were so strong that inflating and kicking up did not do the trick. fortunately, when i dove barracuda we never encountered anything like that.

some of you write that in the event of a downcurrent you should get close to the wall because the current would be weaker. this is actually the exact opposite of what i learned when i did my drift diver specialty in cozumel. i was told that the downcurrent occurs when a current hits the wall and is deflected downward. what you should do then is add some air to your bc and kick away from the wall. after a short distance you should clear the current. unfortunately, i don't know who is right - the getting closer to the wall or swimming away school of thought.

getting closer to the wall and trying to hold onto something seems less scary than swimming out into the blue. on the other hand the explanation of downcurrents occuring when a current hits a wall and is deflected downward sounded pretty logical to me which would make swimming away from the wall the sensible solution. by the way, the current could also be deflected upward which could result in a rapid ascent. in this case you would obviously deflate your bc and swim away from the wall.

 

[greenalien]

ColdH20dvr
Whatever happened to "Mike"??


I plan on going to Coz in the next 18mo and this is great advice. Thanks.

 

[wetman]

ColdH20dvr

i cant believe you left out what happened to Mike. Man i was reading the rest of that post with anticipation and left hangin... come on, spill it

Oh ya, I wouldnt worry about Coz too much. The way our dives were structured were a deeper one, then a shallow second - morning and afternoon then a night dive that night. The shallower dives were all on flatter portions of the reef with no chance for a down current and the deeper ones were just on the edge of the reef where there was some downcurrent that was noticable but you couldnt notice it unless you were well over the side which you didnt have to go to if you didnt want to. The divemasters there were all excellent so just tell them your comfort zone and they will suggest what is good or bad. The dives there for us were all boat/drift dives so see if you can practice some accents ahead of time without the assistance of any anchor line.

steve

 

[cavemanxxx]

Experienced it once very badly in Similans Islands

1. Washing machine ( vortex in the vertical plain as I was being sucked between 2 rocks

2. Decided to terminate the dive.... tough luck, could not even crawl up the rock using hands, water was pushing me down so strong.

3. I knew it was max 40 meters ( still within p02 limits on air) so let go. Got pushed down to 35 meters with full BCD, and full kicking up wards , and then the opposite about 50 meters away from the rock

Pushed a SMB up, stablized, and had a 4 min Deco obligation ( after 10 mins) on my dive computer.

Having done around 800 dives, I thought I had seen it all, well.....obviously not.


New rule for me........ if you see on the surface strong bubbling like a broth of soup, stay clear ! ( p.s. yes, bad decision to go diving but I was with a guide who "knew the site "). Was not a happy camper !

 

[cavemanxxx]

p.s I agree with others, stay well clear of ledges which run off into the depths ( i.e. 1000 ft ) unless you are very positive that there are no strong wellings ( speak with the locals )

 

[Diver0001]

z28pwr once bubbled...
My girlfriend and I are going to Cozumel in a few weeks and read that sometimes there are some under water currents that can pull you down and wanted to know what should be done in case that we get caught in one (God Forbid). We have 0 real dives (just certified) and will be talking to the DiveOperator and only visiting sites that are for Novice and will try to stay > 70' deep.


This hole thing got her a little worried.

So far only thing I've read is to kick as hard as you can and inflate your BCD.


Thanks.

I've been to Cozumel a couple of times and I've seen some big currents there but you jsut ride them and "drift". It's called drift diving (not surprisingly) and it's both easy and fun. PADI has a speciality for it if you want to get a bit of practice with it before you go.

Down wellings usually occur (in my experience) where the bottom isn't flat. The current can flush you into a depression in the bottom as the tide changes (where the water flows you will go ).

In Cozumel there are lots of locations with flat bottoms so you shoud be able to avoid this phenomenon entirely.

If you do dive along a wall where you think downwellings can occur then dive it at low slack. That way when the tide changes water will *enter* the area and with more water coming you'll be less likely to be dragged down along a depression or a wall. And don't overstay your welcome once the tide changes.

If you *do* get caught in one then you just need to get out of the current if you can. Usually this phenomenon is pretty localised. Look around at the plants and try going where it looks lighter, maybe around a corner or behind something like a big rock. Swim across the current if you can. If it's extreme and you are getting sucked down fast then you probably want to break off your dive and just go to the surface. In that case just relax and drift with it, inflate your bcd enough to stop the descent and swim up a bit to start your ascent. Once you're in mid water (off the bottom) the currents will usually subside a bit and you can make a normal ascent. don't over inflate your bcd or your ascent could get ugly. Don't forget to try swimming up and *with* the current not up and against the current.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

wetman once bubbled...
ColdH20dvr

i cant believe you left out what happened to Mike. Man i was reading the rest of that post with anticipation and left hangin... come on, spill it

It's obvious isn't it. He surfaced in China.

R..

 

[Zagnut]

...I can't be left hangin'...I gotta find out what happened to Mike!