windapp
Contributor
I had two dives today, in beautiful Port Elizabeth South Africa, and things didn't go as well as one would hope. I wanted to share my experiences, and the lessons I learned from those experiences.
First Dive:
Max planned depth 29 m
Actual dive depth 25 m.
I hadn't slept well the night before, and I suffered for it. My buoyancy control was really off, and my breathing was horendous. We had planned to do a blue-water ascent at 70 bar or NDL, whichever came first. We had lost the rest of the buddy teams, so we had taken on the divemaster as our third. This was all discussed ahead of time, so no big deal. Actually, I am not sure why the divemaster didn't have a dedicated buddy team to be with, and I will suggest that tomorrow during my next dives. At 1100 PSI (just over 70 bar - my gauge is imperial), I signalled time for me to ascend. My buddy, and the divemaster, ascended with me. We did a deep stop (required by the divemaster's computer), and at 1:30 into the safety stop, my tank went below the IP. I have an unbalanced second, so there was sufficient warning, and I signalled, and did a normal ascent as per my training for a low on air situtation. I was still breathing air from my tank, and able to inflate my BCD when I surfaced. I wasn't at all scared during the whole incident but it did make me really think about the things I had done wrong, and the things I had done right.
Things done wrong in my view:
When I noticed my breathing was off, I should have adjusted my end-of-dive pressure to compensate. I was in a thick wetsuit, and with my buoyancy being off a little as well, I should have predicted that I would use a lot more air than planned doing a safe ascent. Next time: If factors come into play that may increase my ascent time, adjust the end-of-dive pressure.
I was too busy watching my depth guage at the safety stop to glance at my SPG. I should have been watching it more vigilantly. I was fortunate that I got the warning from my unbalanced second when I was close to being out of air. Next time: Watch my SPG more closely during my ascent, and stop
Things done right in my view:
I maintained very close contact with my buddy, and the divemaster throughout the dive. Had I actually gone OOA, an alternate air source would have been right there. I think the close contact helped me to stay calm during the situation.
I followed my training to the letter, and did a normal ascent when I was low on air, ignoring the rest of the safety stop as it would have put me in greater jeopardy.
Things I am not going to change:
I am going to continue using an unbalanced second with a balanced first. I normally watch my SPG pretty well, so the time I would need warning would be exactly when it happened, at the safety stop, when I had just enough air to safely ascend from the stop. With an unbalanced first, the warning would have come way to early, and with a balanced second, it wouldn't have come at all.
Second Dive
Planned Max Depth 15 m
Actual Max Depth 12.5 m
My breathing and buoyancy were much better on this dive. It was like I was a whole other diver. I continued to stick close to my buddy. At 0:25 into the dive, his primary second stage started taking on water so he switched to his air-2 octo. What I saw was him trying to breath off of his octo while is primary was freeflowing (a usual consequence of putting your primary aside to quickly switch to your octo). I assumed he was in trouble, and despite practising handing over my octo many times, I tried to hand him my primary. He got the situation under control, and refused it. I put it back in my mouth, and we ended the dive.
Lesson Learned:
As it is my automatic response to hand over my primary, I will practise this as my air sharing technique from now on. No point in practising something one way when your in-built response, which is just as good, will be what you are doing anyways. A big advantage of handing over your primary, is that you don't have to fiddle with it to get it in the right position for the other diver. My octo is always in a place where I can immediately reach it without thinking, so it would have been fine.
First Dive:
Max planned depth 29 m
Actual dive depth 25 m.
I hadn't slept well the night before, and I suffered for it. My buoyancy control was really off, and my breathing was horendous. We had planned to do a blue-water ascent at 70 bar or NDL, whichever came first. We had lost the rest of the buddy teams, so we had taken on the divemaster as our third. This was all discussed ahead of time, so no big deal. Actually, I am not sure why the divemaster didn't have a dedicated buddy team to be with, and I will suggest that tomorrow during my next dives. At 1100 PSI (just over 70 bar - my gauge is imperial), I signalled time for me to ascend. My buddy, and the divemaster, ascended with me. We did a deep stop (required by the divemaster's computer), and at 1:30 into the safety stop, my tank went below the IP. I have an unbalanced second, so there was sufficient warning, and I signalled, and did a normal ascent as per my training for a low on air situtation. I was still breathing air from my tank, and able to inflate my BCD when I surfaced. I wasn't at all scared during the whole incident but it did make me really think about the things I had done wrong, and the things I had done right.
Things done wrong in my view:
When I noticed my breathing was off, I should have adjusted my end-of-dive pressure to compensate. I was in a thick wetsuit, and with my buoyancy being off a little as well, I should have predicted that I would use a lot more air than planned doing a safe ascent. Next time: If factors come into play that may increase my ascent time, adjust the end-of-dive pressure.
I was too busy watching my depth guage at the safety stop to glance at my SPG. I should have been watching it more vigilantly. I was fortunate that I got the warning from my unbalanced second when I was close to being out of air. Next time: Watch my SPG more closely during my ascent, and stop
Things done right in my view:
I maintained very close contact with my buddy, and the divemaster throughout the dive. Had I actually gone OOA, an alternate air source would have been right there. I think the close contact helped me to stay calm during the situation.
I followed my training to the letter, and did a normal ascent when I was low on air, ignoring the rest of the safety stop as it would have put me in greater jeopardy.
Things I am not going to change:
I am going to continue using an unbalanced second with a balanced first. I normally watch my SPG pretty well, so the time I would need warning would be exactly when it happened, at the safety stop, when I had just enough air to safely ascend from the stop. With an unbalanced first, the warning would have come way to early, and with a balanced second, it wouldn't have come at all.
Second Dive
Planned Max Depth 15 m
Actual Max Depth 12.5 m
My breathing and buoyancy were much better on this dive. It was like I was a whole other diver. I continued to stick close to my buddy. At 0:25 into the dive, his primary second stage started taking on water so he switched to his air-2 octo. What I saw was him trying to breath off of his octo while is primary was freeflowing (a usual consequence of putting your primary aside to quickly switch to your octo). I assumed he was in trouble, and despite practising handing over my octo many times, I tried to hand him my primary. He got the situation under control, and refused it. I put it back in my mouth, and we ended the dive.
Lesson Learned:
As it is my automatic response to hand over my primary, I will practise this as my air sharing technique from now on. No point in practising something one way when your in-built response, which is just as good, will be what you are doing anyways. A big advantage of handing over your primary, is that you don't have to fiddle with it to get it in the right position for the other diver. My octo is always in a place where I can immediately reach it without thinking, so it would have been fine.