dktexas54
Contributor
Was in panama recently diving in the san blas islands. The bouy marker showed a ripping surface current of 2-3 kts i estimated. our dm asked if we wanted to abandon the dive and go elsewhere. there were ten of us and experience ranged from instructors to dm's to rescue with multiple open ocean dives. we all elected to go down. doing a backflip off the boat, my buddy and i quickly decended to depth (80'), got a compass reading into the current and proceeded. the current at depth was still pretty strong 2kts at least. we hid behind some big walls to block the current and to relax. after 30 mins or so we began our ascent. i got my heading back to the marker and the current was moving us pretty good once we got clear of the wall. vis was about 60'. my partner found the bouy line and grabbed it. i made the mistake of looking away for a split second and i was past the line and moving pretty fast. having only 700 psi left, i elected not to try and swim back into the current to find the line figuring i might exhaust myself. i drifted up at the recommended 60 fpm then 30 fpm ascent rates till i hit 20'. i began a 3 min safety stop between 20 and 15'. i had no visual reference with the bottom or anything else so i was fixed on my gauges watching air and depth. after 3 min. i ascended and located the boat at least 1/4 mile away. or more. i popped a sausage and they spotted me and everything was ok. my question. was my judgement ok or should i have abandoned the safety stop knowing the current was taking me away? i knew i would be some distance from the boat but in that split second of decision making, i thought it better to off gas knowing i had equipment with me, sausage, horn,etc i could use for them to spot me. doing my post dive analysis, i think i should have just started up after missing the bouy. what are your thoughts?
thanks,
demoman
thanks,
demoman