The news of another OW diver dying in a cave just made me shake my head, and wonder what was going through the diver's mind, as he prepared to do something he knew darned well he was not supposed to do. And that made me reflect on whether I had ever done that, and what was going through MY mind when I did.
I can think of two circumstances that involve a cave. One was in the BVI, on a dive along some walls. The guide had told us that there was a small cave in one of them -- he described the cave as being about 20 feet long, with no branching, and no silt. He said he had been in it, and we could go in if we wanted. I knew I wasn't supposed to go in an overhead environment, but given the very benign description (no branches, so no way to get lost, no silt, and big enough to turn around in all the way to the end) I took the chance. The cave was precisely as described, and I enjoyed swimming to the end of it, and felt a wistful sadness that it didn't go any further. I have since read several accounts of people swimming into what appeared to be very benign spaces like that, and getting silted out and almost not finding the exit. You could not have done that in this place, and the guide had told me that, but I had no independent knowledge of it, and no skills to deal with the situation if had not been as advertised. I made an assessment of the risks involved, based on the information I had, and concluded they were acceptable. At least I did have some information . . .
In the other case, we ran line to a jump line in a cave and dove the jump line. We did not do a jump; we had our own primary line to open water, tied into the jump line. We knew we weren't really supposed to dive that line -- the rules exist to keep relatively novice cave divers out of places that are small, silty, or delicate (although this passage is none of those things) -- but we did it anyway, and we did it several times before we got a higher cert level and could do it legally. Again, I had a lot of information about the passage before we went in it, and my first time was with someone who had done this already. I had quite a bit of cave diving experience in the area, and in that system, before we did this (I think I was at about 75 or 80 cave dives at that point). We broke the letter of no rule, but violated the spirit of a couple.
In either case, had I come to grief, the discussion would have said, "She was diving above her training." And in both cases, I was convinced I had done my due diligence and what I planned to do was safe. I'm not sure, looking back on both, that I was wrong, but that's what I would have said to someone who tried to dissuade me beforehand.
I have difficulty seeing how an OW diver can do the same job of convincing himself that it's safe, to enter a real "cave" with branching tunnels, depth and silt, but I would imagine they go through some kind of similar job of talking themselves into it.
What about the rest of you? Done something you knew you weren't supposed to do? How did you deal with it mentally?
I can think of two circumstances that involve a cave. One was in the BVI, on a dive along some walls. The guide had told us that there was a small cave in one of them -- he described the cave as being about 20 feet long, with no branching, and no silt. He said he had been in it, and we could go in if we wanted. I knew I wasn't supposed to go in an overhead environment, but given the very benign description (no branches, so no way to get lost, no silt, and big enough to turn around in all the way to the end) I took the chance. The cave was precisely as described, and I enjoyed swimming to the end of it, and felt a wistful sadness that it didn't go any further. I have since read several accounts of people swimming into what appeared to be very benign spaces like that, and getting silted out and almost not finding the exit. You could not have done that in this place, and the guide had told me that, but I had no independent knowledge of it, and no skills to deal with the situation if had not been as advertised. I made an assessment of the risks involved, based on the information I had, and concluded they were acceptable. At least I did have some information . . .
In the other case, we ran line to a jump line in a cave and dove the jump line. We did not do a jump; we had our own primary line to open water, tied into the jump line. We knew we weren't really supposed to dive that line -- the rules exist to keep relatively novice cave divers out of places that are small, silty, or delicate (although this passage is none of those things) -- but we did it anyway, and we did it several times before we got a higher cert level and could do it legally. Again, I had a lot of information about the passage before we went in it, and my first time was with someone who had done this already. I had quite a bit of cave diving experience in the area, and in that system, before we did this (I think I was at about 75 or 80 cave dives at that point). We broke the letter of no rule, but violated the spirit of a couple.
In either case, had I come to grief, the discussion would have said, "She was diving above her training." And in both cases, I was convinced I had done my due diligence and what I planned to do was safe. I'm not sure, looking back on both, that I was wrong, but that's what I would have said to someone who tried to dissuade me beforehand.
I have difficulty seeing how an OW diver can do the same job of convincing himself that it's safe, to enter a real "cave" with branching tunnels, depth and silt, but I would imagine they go through some kind of similar job of talking themselves into it.
What about the rest of you? Done something you knew you weren't supposed to do? How did you deal with it mentally?
