Things that make you appreciate the team.

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Blackwood

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Southern California
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Last night I had one of those moments. A few things went wrong in short order, and lead to a big f-up. If I believed in one, I'd thank god for my team mates.

Plan was a simple external wreck dive on the local Palawan. The boat left the harbor at little after 7:30PM, so it was pretty dark (as planned).

Anyone who's been reading socal boards is probably aware that we have a large contingent of blue whales in the area. Turns out that means there's also blue whale food.

On the wreck, our lights were like magnets to millions of krill. It was pretty crazy. They'd fill in the reflector on the head and black it out. It was cool for a while but soon got annoying.

Anyway, these little buggers were following us up the shotline on deco. At about 50 feet, my primary light died. Two nights before I had replaced the connectors on my battery. Guess I didn't do a good job. No big deal, I deployed a backup.

The krill made it very difficult to read one's gauge, and we bumped past our 20 foot switch depth by about 5 feet. We all noticed it and immediately swam down.

That's when the fun started.

On switching to O2, I manage to drop my backup light. Now, I see two intermittently bright lights (my buddies' HIDs being swarmed by krill). What I don't see is my depth or the upline. I go for my other backup, but somehow I'd twisted my harness gearing up and then clipped the deco bottle over it.

So I'm disoriented, holding a live O2 reg, don't know how deep I am, and can't unclip my light. Next thing I know, I'm next to a diver. I recognize the suit. It's not one of my team. In fact, it's Chris who is decoing on 50%.

I try to signal "give me a light," "my light is ****ed," "I'm ****ed." I try to read his gauge. I try to stick my hand in his light beam to read my gauge.

I imagine I looked like a crazy guy. With all the krill and darkness and whatever, I couldn't get my point across (later on the boat, he said he thought I was telling him he was on the wrong gas or something).

Anyway, as I'm resigning myself to using them as a reference, calming down, and riding out their deco schedule (or pulling out wetnotes and hoping they'd accommodate mine), one of my teammates (Christian) appears. I'm able to show him how I've trapped my light. Even looking at it from his perspective it took a while to free it. We go up to our other teammate. At this point the shotline is non-existent.

We all switch, I put my hand around Christian's bicep (as I would were I leading him blind), Tim flies a bag, and there we sit for the next 15 minutes or so. I had to take my hand off Christian to read my gauge, and with their 2 HIDs and the krill to contend with, I didn't want a repeat performance, so I didn't check it very often.

Christian was calling the deco and he considerately kept updating the stop time so I could keep track (I was counting in my head, but 8 minutes it a long time to count with no reference). After what seemed like an eternity, we go to 10 feet, hang, and then do a slow ascent to the surface. The boat is kinda far away, but they see us (luckily, the fog started rolling in soon after).

Really, all this CFery took place probably in about 30 seconds. But I'm going to put my tail between my legs and admit that I really freaked out and stressing - one more thing could have lead me to panic.

Upon surfacing, I declare "that's it, I'm sitting out the next dive." After calming down and relaxing, after Maciek brings up my dropped backup light (which fell right near the shot line), and after talking it out, I thought it may be better to splash again rather than beat myself up. I had a boat ride to think it through, and decided: yes, I'm diving.

Maciek was sitting out the second dive so I took his primary light. This time Chris and I teamed up on the Ammo Barge (a small upside down wreck about a mile out of King Harbor in Redondo Beach). We'd initially planned some (very) light penetration, but I nixed that. We each grab a stage of 32% and descend to... green. Kelp? Reef? This isn't ammo barge. We should be on sand at 80 feet, and that wreck is on its side, not upside down. Chris pulls out his wetnotes and writes "Where are we, Avalon?" I reply "Maybe. 65FSW?" Chris responds "Not Kansas." Heh.

So we pull out a reel and head northwest looking for a crane that sits on the stern section of Avalon. It's a long swim, but we find it. At least now we know where we are.

The viz was spectacular. The dive was warm and calm. No krill. No equipment or diver malfunctions. I'm really glad I opted to dive.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share. When the fit hits the shan, having a good team makes all the difference in the world.

Christian, Tim: thanks. I owe you.
 
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Anyway, I just thought I'd share. When the fit hits the shan, having a good team makes all the difference in the world.

Christian, Tim: thanks. I owe you.
Couldn't agree with you more!!!

Great report, Marc, felt like I was there with you as I was reading your post. Thank you for sharing.
 
the team is what keeps those dives that go sideways from going totally tits up. it's a good thing.
I bet most of us here have a similar story
 
Wonderful story. I have to confess, one of the reasons I shelled out megabucks for a gauge that glows is that I can SEE the darned thing, even in complete darkness.

Sounds like this is also a reinforcement for the practice of clipping ones light off before doing a gas switch. Could you have put the gauge under a hanging backup light to read it, during the switch? I've never tried that.

And one final point -- I will never forget Danny Riordan's response to my, "I checked my backup lights in the parking lot." He looked at me sadly and said, "How do you know they didn't flood?" It is my guess that you guys didn't check backup lights in the water before diving (or on board after gearing up). Do you think that check would have picked up the twisted harness and inaccessible light?

I don't know about you folks, but around here, I've seen even well-trained divers getting sloppy about plans and checks, as staged decompression diving becomes routine. I actually chewed my favorite dive buddy a new one for that, after a dive about six weeks ago. It's so easy to skip stuff, because it's always been okay in the past.

I really don't want to sound preachy or critical, and definitely kudos to your team for salvaging the situation. But they taught us to do things the way they did because the people who went before us learned the hard way that mistakes are much easier to fix on the boat or on the surface, than in the water.

Glad you came out okay, and glad you did the second dive.
 
I can quite tell who was your buddy with you doing an O2 switch and Chris on EAN50?

Checking backup lights here for OW dives is really more hassle than its worth IMHO. You're not in an overhead and like you did, there's someone to fix the situation when you need it. I don't think I can even get mine off my harness on the surface with gloves on, my wing inflated while trying to stay close to an anchor line etc etc. Low value, high pita factor to check them.

I will hand hold backup lights on the bottom, but always clip them off on ascent. If you clip it to the right chest you can use your right hand to point the beam at the bottle then your left hand to point the beam at your right wrist while the deco reg is in your right hand.

Glad to hear everything shaked out ok, just remember if you have a working reg in your mouth there is no emergency.
 
I can quite tell who was your buddy with you doing an O2 switch and Chris on EAN50?

Chris and Charles were diving 21/35 & EAN50.

Christian, Tim and I were diving 25/25 & Oxygen.

I met Chris at 30 feet. I lost 10 after deploying my O2.

I will hand hold backup lights on the bottom, but always clip them off on ascent. If you clip it to the right chest you can use your right hand to point the beam at the bottle then your left hand to point the beam at your right wrist while the deco reg is in your right hand.


In retrospect, I should have left it clipped off, but I felt naked without an effective way to signal the team. That krill was really, really thick. I knew that I'd literally have to stick it in their faces for them to see it, particularly with their eyes adjusted for eachothers' lights.

Glad to hear everything shaked out ok, just remember if you have a working reg in your mouth there is no emergency.

True that. It is a bit... odd knowing that you've descended off your switch depth and are now holding a live reg deeper than MOD, lost your team and have drifted off the line in pitch black at night, though :wink:

Wonderful story. I have to confess, one of the reasons I shelled out megabucks for a gauge that glows is that I can SEE the darned thing, even in complete darkness.

I learned back on board how to use the backlight for my gauge. Lesson learned: RTFM.

Sounds like this is also a reinforcement for the practice of clipping ones light off before doing a gas switch. Could you have put the gauge under a hanging backup light to read it, during the switch? I've never tried that.

If I've ever done a gas switch with a backup light I don't remember it. Chris suggested I clip into the bungee of my gauge mount. That way if I drop it, it doesn't go too far, and I don't have to pass it hand to hand for various tasks.

I think in clear water I'd leave it clipped off like Richard suggested. In this type of scenario, Chris's method seems better to me.

And one final point -- I will never forget Danny Riordan's response to my, "I checked my backup lights in the parking lot." He looked at me sadly and said, "How do you know they didn't flood?" It is my guess that you guys didn't check backup lights in the water before diving (or on board after gearing up). Do you think that check would have picked up the twisted harness and inaccessible light?

Do you completely deploy them?

I got my left backup light turned on. I just couldn't free it from the harness. It wasn't until I went to unclip it that I realized it was stuck. Just turning it on and off (which no, I didn't do as a check) probably wouldn't have helped.

Glad you came out okay, and glad you did the second dive.

Thanks.
 
I can quite tell who was your buddy with you doing an O2 switch and Chris on EAN50?

Charles and I were a team. We were on different gases than the other teams (21/35+50% vs. 25/25+O2; we'd planned a bit deeper and some light penetrations). Marc's team was above us as Charles and I rolled toward 20'. All of a sudden I'm being shaken gently from above. I looked up and could see it was Marc. I just assumed he wanted me to get away from the line so he had more room for his team and their switch (I could see he'd deployed his O2 reg, but hadn't gone to it yet). I started to move away with Charles, but Marc kept grabbing me. At this point I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't tell what (I could see his primary was clipped off and he had a back up on, clipped off, but hanging oddly). Gesticulations and middle fingers weren't helping, especially as it was *really* hard to see anything as the krill would basically block all light, even from the clipped off 21Ws.

I was able to work out that he wasn't OOG and that I wasn't breathing bad gas, but that was about it. I was worried, too, since I couldn't see Marc's two teammates. When I finally saw Christian move toward Marc, I figured they'd sort out whatever the issue was. In all that confusion (probably only 30 seconds, but felt longer) the shot line was gone. Charles and I put up a bag and decoed out on that. We weren't too far from the boat.

Marc, thanks for sharing the story. I do think it shows how a good team (Christian and Tim) can help stop a bad situation from getting worse. I'm sure there are things (some already raised here) to make the next dive easier, and you/we/others will discuss those. In any case, just glad it all worked out. Yes, the dive on the Avalon was a lot more relaxing. :)
 
Thanks for the report Blackwood, it's always a risk to put ones human side out there. Having trapped my longhose under my B/U light in the past I now make a habit of checking its position before I splash. In the water I just turn it on and hold my hand over the lense to see if it's working.

You're not in an overhead and like you did, there's someone to fix the situation when you need it.

I know the context in which you wrote this but that statement bothers me a bit. Having a functional team is one thing but not being able to salvage a situation independantly is a risk that scares me. In the report above I could easily see someone fumbling for the backup as it drops and losing the line (reg in one hand, light in the other). With a bit of current they could then be drifting without lights or reference point and the others might not notice it in time.

Recently I had the experience of buddy seperation at the exact moment of leading through high current and getting entangled in kelp. I drifted back to look for help in extrication and found myself alone. Fortunately I jammed myself into a crevice with both legs and one arm and cut myself free with the other. While I was doing so I thought what a pickle I might be in if it were my only knife and I fumbled it (blindly deploying it from the waist and replacing it afterwards while maintaining position). It wasn't and I didn't but all the redundancy my buddy provided didn't help me a bit.
 
True that. It is a bit... odd knowing that you've descended off your switch depth and are now holding a live reg deeper than MOD, lost your team and have drifted off the line in pitch black at night, though :wink:

Be grateful the blue whale didn't swim by and scoop you up like Nemo and Dori :D

With all those little buggers was the backup light doing anything? Could you even see the line with it? Not having krill quite "that bad" I'm kinda wondering why bother?
 
Wow, Marc!!! I heard there was a bit of a CF, but I hadn't gotten the details. I'm glad to hear that things turned out okay in the end. It is reassuring to know that your team is there for you and able to help work out the kinks.

Curious, what do you think will change in your pre-dive routine, if anything? I know you learned how to use your back light, so that's good. But do you think you'll actually start deploying back-up lights pre-dive (admittedly, I don't do that....I've also not seen anyone do it....like rjack mentioned, might not be that important for open water??).
 
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