Handling Currents

This weekend I was playing around over a wreck in about 70 feet of water watching my buddy nurse his bleeding hand that he had cut open on accident when messing with a crab. Then I noticed my face get all warm and I started shooting to the surface.
My buddy and I started to swim down with all our might against a REAL strong upcurrent, I managed to slow my ascent to 10% on my dive computer but I eventually surfaced. (it must have been real funny seeing giant fins sticking out of the water kicking frantically) ut:

I tried to angle out of the current into a deeper section, hoping that it was localized to the slope that we were over. It didn't work.

I met up with my buddy (who unbeknowest to me gave up a couple seconds into the incursion) and we both exchanged "what in sam hill happened" looks at each other and aborted the dive.

How do people who have experienced this handle it?

What would you do in a Down current?? :crazyeyes

How do you recognise terrain that is suceptible to strong up and down currents?

of a story that was related to me a few years ago involving a down current. The current took two divers over a wall. They both swamm very hard towards the wall and were finally able to grab onto the wall. DM's went after them. I believe both divers ditched their weights also to increase their bouyancy and possibly slow their descent. One diver was clinging to the rocks at about 165 feet and the other was close to 200 feet deep clinging to the rocks. Both were brought to the surface safely by the DM's.

I experienced an up current in a quarry during my AOW some years ago. Like you mentioned there was this sudden sensation of being in really warm water and I could tell we were heading to the surface against our will so to speak. Dumped all the air from the BC to no avail and ended up on the surface. Very strange event at the time.

Do you know how the DM rescued the divers?

The updraft really does not concern me that much.. the Down does. After experiencing the updraft I thought to myself.. Thank God that wasn't going Down!

Yes, I've experienced both upwellings and downwellings. You'll usually find them on walls, or in other places where the bottom terrain can cause a current moving more or less horizontally to change direction suddenly ... moving water has to go somewhere, after all. Thermoclines can also cause them, which is apparently what happened in your case.

What to do? Depends on the circumstances. If you can, grab ahold of a rock and hang on ... bull kelp also works well in an upwelling if you can grab a few strands. These kinds of currents are usually transitory and tend to move with the water column. If you can make yourself stationary, it will usually pass you by .... at which point you can make a decision whether or not to continue your dive. If you cannot make yourself stationary, try swimming horizontally toward the direction you think the current came from ... you may be able to swim out of it altogether.

If you're caught in an upwelling, and cannot cling to something then dump your air ... and keep dumping as the upwelling takes you toward the surface. Flare your body to slow your ascent, and attempt to fin down into it. If you can't stop your ascent, at least do what you can to slow it down. And make sure to keep breathing normally ... pressure changes will occur even if you don't feel like you're moving in the water column ... which is typically the case when you're moving with the current.

In a downwelling, fin up. You can inflate, but do so cautiously ... remember that once you're out of the downwelling, extra air in your BCD will send you rocketing surfaceward. You want to monitor your depth carefully and use only the minimal amount of air to reduce the rate at which your depth is changing. When you're doing this, keep the inflator hose in your hand at all times.

For the most part, upwellings are more dangerous ... although they will send you to the surface, they're also far more likely to send you to the chamber. The only time I'd prefer an upwelling over a downwelling is if I'm diving a deep wall or if I'm already getting low on gas when I hit it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

What's with these upwelling and downwelling currents? Scary stuff! Are these sort of things common (I'm still a rookie diver)? Any way you can prevent from getting caught in one of those. I've never heard of this (and I've taken NAUI, SSI and PADI open water course..don't ask why?) Shouldn't this be something that is talked about in an OW class? :wacko: :wacko:

I am Right there with ya Divemed06.

We talked about them in my SSI class, and I read about them, but NO one said they were common. I found out REAL quick how common they were. Lucky for me it was 26 minutes into my first dive of the day and I had not absorbed too much Nitrogen.

Since I was hovering about three feet off the wreck, I did not have time to grab onto anything.

Thanks for the advice NWGratefulDiver.

The Tides in the Puget sound (where we were) are somewhat Extreme. I believe High tide was close to 8-10 feet. With the Hot sun, Cool water, and the tide. Thermal exchanges are frequent.

One can stand on the Pier and see the thermal currents on the surface.

NWGratefulDiver, How much have you done in the Sound?
(and if you have, what is your favorite spot?)

Lordy-the new diver was down to 200 feet? Accolades for keeping his cool! I have wondered about upwellings and downwellings, not having experienced them myself, and would welcome any comments from other divers who have experienced this phenomena, a downwelling to 200 feet sounds pretty hairy, the impact upon gas, esp if it occurred later in the dive is-the stuff tv movies are made of zeN