Sorry it is kinda long:
I have about 40 dives under my weight belt and have enjoyed all of them. But this past weekend was the first time I have seen and been a part of a dive incident. I will preface this by saying that everybody walked away fine and health.
I was diving the Fort Lauderdale this past weekend to get some dive in before summer work started. On Friday afternoon I went out with my father and a good friend, also on the boat was a DM, captain, and one other women. We get to the site and the DM jumps the wreck and the boat hooks up to the line. There is a decent surface and underwater current to the north. But it wasnt anything that posed a threat. We all get in the water, my father, friend, and I are budded up, and the woman was going solo. The DM was in the water so my group figured they might buddy up at the wreck. Didnt seem much of a concern to anybody.
The dive went great, saw some amazing rays and a very larger grouper. My father got a nice fly by from a ray that made him jump as soon as it came into view, but gave an amazing view of it.
The dive is getting almost over and time to do another quick pass and up the line. At this point I see the woman on top of the wreck towards the south end of it and her tank appears to be un-strapped and floating off her back. I know that the current is too strong and there is no way I could catch up. I tried banging on my tank, and to no avail. I tried to head her off on the way to the line, but couldnt find her. Anyway, we go up, 5min safety stop and then surface. As we are getting on the boat we hear faint screaming and after scanning the surface of the water she is 150 yards north off the bow of the boat.
Holy crap! :wacko: What the heck is she doing all the way out there? She is flailing her arms and seems to be in a state of panic. My friend, still in the water, the captain was about 3 seconds away from throwing him a dive flag and going back for him if he didnt get up the ladder fast! We get to her and she is obviously having a lot of trouble, and not handling the situation well at all. My father the first in the water to after her I toss the line and the DM and captain pull the line in. Shes resting and catching her breath at the stern of the boat, still in the water. Got her gear off and pulled her out of the water.
She is missing two weight pouches, and a $1200 camera and $800 housing. She dumped everything because she said she could not stay floating at the surface. And that her BC was not holding air. She realized her tank was not strapped in when she got to the surface. We checked her equipment afterwards and her BC seemed to be holding air fine. So maybe a dump valve was snagged from the take and hoses pulling down. We will never know.
She lied on the bench for a while to catch her breath and calm down. She did not appear to be suffering from DCS or any other physical problems. She said she surfaced slowly and safely. Just her pride and breath a little lacking.
We got back to the line, which was about 400 yards away. (that damn current). The DM still had to jump the wreck and pull the line. She was told to go due north for as long as she can safely. Shes in the water a decent amount of time and surfaces with everything the women dropped. Both weight pouches and the camera that were all just sitting on the bottom of the ocean.
So I think everybody worked well as a team to get things in order and calm the victim down. But it was an interesting experience. Not that I would like to see it again, but I am glad to see how everybody performed in that situation. And most of all, nobody got hurt.
All in all it was a great weekend, got some nice dives in and had a great time!
I have about 40 dives under my weight belt and have enjoyed all of them. But this past weekend was the first time I have seen and been a part of a dive incident. I will preface this by saying that everybody walked away fine and health.
I was diving the Fort Lauderdale this past weekend to get some dive in before summer work started. On Friday afternoon I went out with my father and a good friend, also on the boat was a DM, captain, and one other women. We get to the site and the DM jumps the wreck and the boat hooks up to the line. There is a decent surface and underwater current to the north. But it wasnt anything that posed a threat. We all get in the water, my father, friend, and I are budded up, and the woman was going solo. The DM was in the water so my group figured they might buddy up at the wreck. Didnt seem much of a concern to anybody.
The dive went great, saw some amazing rays and a very larger grouper. My father got a nice fly by from a ray that made him jump as soon as it came into view, but gave an amazing view of it.
The dive is getting almost over and time to do another quick pass and up the line. At this point I see the woman on top of the wreck towards the south end of it and her tank appears to be un-strapped and floating off her back. I know that the current is too strong and there is no way I could catch up. I tried banging on my tank, and to no avail. I tried to head her off on the way to the line, but couldnt find her. Anyway, we go up, 5min safety stop and then surface. As we are getting on the boat we hear faint screaming and after scanning the surface of the water she is 150 yards north off the bow of the boat.
Holy crap! :wacko: What the heck is she doing all the way out there? She is flailing her arms and seems to be in a state of panic. My friend, still in the water, the captain was about 3 seconds away from throwing him a dive flag and going back for him if he didnt get up the ladder fast! We get to her and she is obviously having a lot of trouble, and not handling the situation well at all. My father the first in the water to after her I toss the line and the DM and captain pull the line in. Shes resting and catching her breath at the stern of the boat, still in the water. Got her gear off and pulled her out of the water.
She is missing two weight pouches, and a $1200 camera and $800 housing. She dumped everything because she said she could not stay floating at the surface. And that her BC was not holding air. She realized her tank was not strapped in when she got to the surface. We checked her equipment afterwards and her BC seemed to be holding air fine. So maybe a dump valve was snagged from the take and hoses pulling down. We will never know.
She lied on the bench for a while to catch her breath and calm down. She did not appear to be suffering from DCS or any other physical problems. She said she surfaced slowly and safely. Just her pride and breath a little lacking.
We got back to the line, which was about 400 yards away. (that damn current). The DM still had to jump the wreck and pull the line. She was told to go due north for as long as she can safely. Shes in the water a decent amount of time and surfaces with everything the women dropped. Both weight pouches and the camera that were all just sitting on the bottom of the ocean.
So I think everybody worked well as a team to get things in order and calm the victim down. But it was an interesting experience. Not that I would like to see it again, but I am glad to see how everybody performed in that situation. And most of all, nobody got hurt.
All in all it was a great weekend, got some nice dives in and had a great time!
