SeaJay
Contributor
Okay, I was telling a friend about my mistake last weekend which could have had pretty big consequences... And it dawned on me that other people could learn from my mistake, so I think it appropriate to share.
...Even though it might not paint me in such a good light. Please be nice, y'all.
Here's what happened: I got to 91 feet on my second dive of the day, and I knew I had some 12 minutes to dive according to my plan. (I was diving air, as EANx was not available). About five minutes into my dive, my computer was telling me that I still had some 16 minutes to dive. That's when I began believing my computer instead of believing my plan. BIG mistake!
At one point, I remember thinking, "I've been down here a while," and checking my computer. It still said I had 3 minutes of dive time left, so I began an ascent from 91 feet. That should have done me nicely. Unfortunately, two minutes later at 59 feet (I was a little slow to ascend), my computer went into deco. It told me that I now had a ceiling at 10 feet. When I got to 10 feet, it now told me that I was to wait there 12 minutes for a deco stop, and an additional 3 minutes for a "standard safety stop." In other words, I now had a 15 minute deco obligation at 10 feet. Why was this a problem? Well... Because I was supposed to be doing a no-deco dive, and had planned my gas consumption accordingly. I had 600 psi in my tank and a 15 minute deco obligation. That was a little scary.
At the end of 15 minutes, I still had 200 psi left, and so I surfaced with that... But only because I put myself into "total relaxation" mode for my deco stop, in hopes that I could extend my gas consumption as long as possible. My total dive time was 38 minutes... Not at all what I'd planned for. If surface conditions had been rougher or the current stronger, I'd have had increased gas consumption, and therefore an OOG and had to blow my deco.
The problem was that I believed that computer... And it got me into trouble. Luckily, I was able to gas-manage myself out of the situation, but I thought I might have to blow my deco or at least air-share with my buddy (who certainly was low too) which was an uncomfortable thought, especially when I'd done all the correct planning. I had no one to blame but myself.
If instead I'd simply limited my second dive to 12 minutes of bottom time like I was supposed to, then this would not have happened.
...This is not meant to bash computers or whatever... I have not mentioned any brand names. And I have not mentioned the "D" word. This isn't about a dive philosophy or whatever... This is about not sticking to my plan. Stupid.
Furthermore, the computer that I have I would still recommend for it's logging features alone. But what I thought might be an interesting experiment (to "check out what it says") got me into trouble.
That's the last time I do that... :booboo:
...Even though it might not paint me in such a good light. Please be nice, y'all.
Here's what happened: I got to 91 feet on my second dive of the day, and I knew I had some 12 minutes to dive according to my plan. (I was diving air, as EANx was not available). About five minutes into my dive, my computer was telling me that I still had some 16 minutes to dive. That's when I began believing my computer instead of believing my plan. BIG mistake!
At one point, I remember thinking, "I've been down here a while," and checking my computer. It still said I had 3 minutes of dive time left, so I began an ascent from 91 feet. That should have done me nicely. Unfortunately, two minutes later at 59 feet (I was a little slow to ascend), my computer went into deco. It told me that I now had a ceiling at 10 feet. When I got to 10 feet, it now told me that I was to wait there 12 minutes for a deco stop, and an additional 3 minutes for a "standard safety stop." In other words, I now had a 15 minute deco obligation at 10 feet. Why was this a problem? Well... Because I was supposed to be doing a no-deco dive, and had planned my gas consumption accordingly. I had 600 psi in my tank and a 15 minute deco obligation. That was a little scary.
At the end of 15 minutes, I still had 200 psi left, and so I surfaced with that... But only because I put myself into "total relaxation" mode for my deco stop, in hopes that I could extend my gas consumption as long as possible. My total dive time was 38 minutes... Not at all what I'd planned for. If surface conditions had been rougher or the current stronger, I'd have had increased gas consumption, and therefore an OOG and had to blow my deco.
The problem was that I believed that computer... And it got me into trouble. Luckily, I was able to gas-manage myself out of the situation, but I thought I might have to blow my deco or at least air-share with my buddy (who certainly was low too) which was an uncomfortable thought, especially when I'd done all the correct planning. I had no one to blame but myself.
If instead I'd simply limited my second dive to 12 minutes of bottom time like I was supposed to, then this would not have happened.
...This is not meant to bash computers or whatever... I have not mentioned any brand names. And I have not mentioned the "D" word. This isn't about a dive philosophy or whatever... This is about not sticking to my plan. Stupid.
Furthermore, the computer that I have I would still recommend for it's logging features alone. But what I thought might be an interesting experiment (to "check out what it says") got me into trouble.
That's the last time I do that... :booboo: