Doing skills regularly helped save me at Kelvin Grove

[StuartT]

So yesterday I was diving at Kelvin Grove with a regular buddy. About 70 minutes into our second dive I went under a rope anchor line in the bay at about 15 feet. My buddy was a little ahead of me when I realized the rope had snagged somewhere on my first stage. We had agreed before the dive if we were to get separated to just continue solo as we were both comfortable with that. And also to limit our run time to 70 minutes or so. I had about 1300 psi left in my steel 100 plus a full 30 cube back mounted pony when the entanglement happened. Initially I had a few second panic then thought about the situation and decided I was ok as I wasn't that deep and had no deco obligation. So I decided to ditch my gear and do an emergency ascent. I first dumped any air that was in my suit to avoid rocketing to the surface. I also realized the buoyancy of my suit would get me to the surface once I ditched my gear. So I detached my drysuit hose and started to remove my backplate/wing rig. I didn't have a weight belt on as my 16 lbs was in tank strap pouches(so no weight belt to ditch). So when I removed my gear I took a big breath, let go of everything and ascended to the surface at a reasonable rate( I think) exhaling all the way up. I probably could have tried to untangle the rope from my first stage once I had my gear off and in front of me but made the decision to just get to the surface as I was solo at this point. Doing skills like this regularly really helped calm me down and assess the situation at hand without panicking. When my buddy surfaced a minute or so after me she initially thought how the hell did you get to shore so quick and get your gear off as I was standing in about 2 ft of water with just my suit ,mask and fins. when I told her what happened she offered to retrieve my gear which was very kind of her. Our club does regular pool dives where we practice thing like gear removal, mask drills, smb deployment, air sharing etc. plus I often will switch regs,do mask drills, etc during ocean dives. All ended well thanks to keeping sharp on drills. And thanks Kerry my getting my gear back.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm confused as to why you didn't make any attempt to disentangle yourself first. You had plenty of air for an attempt.

 

[StuartT]

Actually I did spend a few minutes reaching back and trying to figure out how I was snagged but couldn't get myself free. Forgot to mention that.

 

[kerrycorcoran]

Good story. I think it's important to practice these skills regularly. Might have to mention this to my LDS to see if they'd be will to sponsor some month drills or something.

 

[diver 85]

Actually I did spend a few minutes reaching back and trying to figure out how I was snagged but couldn't get myself free. Forgot to mention that.

Could you 'reach' the anchor rope & cut it with a knife???---while you were still tangled???......

 

[Darnold9999]

Always a bit tense when something actually happens, but two things come to mind as comments only - not criticism.

First, that is one of the reasons why I sling my pony, if I need it separate from my rig I can use it, abandon the rig and have leasurely trip to the surface.

Second, you had lots and lots of air, probably safer to disentangle the gear and then surface rather than leave your source of air and go to the surface. Depends on what the entangelment is - a line I would disentangle. A net leave it. Monofilament depends...

At 15 feet it probably makes no difference, just a comment and Monday afternoon armchair quarterbacking glad it worked out.

 

[StuartT]

I also thought of that after the fact as I always carry a large knife. It was definitely a possibility although a large vessel would have crashed on the shore. Had it been my only option the boat would have been sacrificed.

 

[yardpro]

i was tangled like that once but deeper.. i was at about 60 feet. and got caught on monofilament.

i had to get out of my bc, spin around and cut the bc, then was able to get back into my gear....

not second guessing you, but at that depth there would be no reason not to at least try to get the gear free before ascending..

 

[dumpsterDiver]

It is hard for me to imagine why you would ditch your gear in 15 ft of water with an hour or more left in your air supply. Is it difficult for you to remove the tank and work underwater while holding your tank? What type of practice did you engage in prior to this incident which prepared your for this emergency response?

 

[chillyinCanada]

got caught on monofilament.

i had to get out of my bc, spin around and cut the bc, then was able to get back into my gear......

Did you mean to say cut the bc free?