Lessons Most frightening moments

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After seeing how the post I wrote about the reverse block resonated with people, I would like to make another post today, namely about the most frightening moments I've ever had.

It's easy, particularly for novice divers, to think that people like myself, with decades of experience, thousands of dives and a deck of c-cards have everything under control and nothing bad ever happens.

I wrote about the reverse block because of that. I wanted to show that I am still human and I can still make mistakes. On the internet there is a strong tendency for (technical) divers and instructors with a lot of experience to project an image of themselves as always solving problems correctly, always making the best decisions, and in the case of instructors in particular, having a monopoly on good ideas that lead to perfect students diving perfectly.

None of that, of course, reflects reality at all.

So I will start. I urge experienced divers to share their own stories.

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First
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1985. I was certified as AOW and we were making a deep dive along a wall. The bottom, for all intents and purposes, at the bottom of the wall was unsurvivable. A diver who diving with a group slightly ahead of us got caught in a large ball of discarded fishing line that he didn't see. He started sinking. The incident started at 42 meters. My buddy and I had just started our dive and we saw this happening. Nobody in his group did. We went after him. This was the first time I had dived deeper than 42 meters. I couldn't tell how deep we were when we caught him because the (analogue) depth gauge I was using was pinned at its maximum depth. This was also my first deco dive or at least my first dive where I was "off the tables" and unable to to know how to ascend. I was, at that time, unaware of oxygen toxicity, gas management and ascent protocols. We returned (at a rapid pace) to 30ft. (10m) and waited there until our tanks were empty on the assumption that any damage done by our deep incursion would be fixed by that. Upon surfacing we didn't know if we were going to get the bends or not. I was, frankly, scared. It still gives me the heebiejeebies to think about this incident more than 30 years later. We did something there that was completely out of control (also the rescue) and we got off easy.

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Second
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2002, I think. I was working as a DM. We temporarily lost a diver during a dive. The situation was that we were on a platform at 25m and doing some exercises for the AOW (deep) dive. A group of divers (maybe 6) descending LANDED on us and kicked up so much silt in their attempts to slow down before impacting the bottom that the visibility went from 5m to black-out in a matter of seconds. I grabbed the two divers right in front of me and dragged them out of the silt cloud. One of them turned out to be our diver and the other one turned out to be one of the idiots who landed on us. We were missing a diver. We surfaced. Naturally our divers were told to surface if they became separated but this diver did not. He remained where he was and waited to be rescued. On the surface we decided that I would search for the missing diver because I had the most experience of everyone (including the instructor). At that point I was a DM but I was already technically trained. I had very limited time. I went back down and eventually found him but it was luck. He survived and my beard got grayer overnight. If I couldn't have found him in the next 5 min his death would have been on my conscience until I died. This was so frightening to me that I nearly abandoned all plans I had to become an instructor.

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Third
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The accident. My team saved the life of a diver who ran out of air during an AOW training dive (by another group, not mine) and was left for dead on the bottom at 18m. We acted quickly and professionally and got him into the hands of paramedics within about 10 min. As an aside, the fact that the Dutch paramedics were able to be on scene so quickly was no small part of this! He looked dead when we retrieved him. He lay in coma for several weeks after the incident. Doctors had basically written him off when -- unexpectedly to all -- he woke up and subsequently made a reasonable (albeit not full) recovery.

The impact on myself and on the members of my team was substantial, particularly because of what we viewed as our 'mistakes'. One diver (the DM) stopped diving. He started hyperventilating during the descent to find the "body" and after that he started to hyperventilate on EVERY dive. He stopped diving.

To me it changed EVERYTHING about how I view training and my role as an instructor. I didn't organize things on the surface as well as I could have, if I had had a second run at it. Yes, I had the EMS on site in 10 min. Police, paramedics, trauma doctor, helicopter, fire department with a boat, a private boat.... all of that I had..... but I was overwhelmed and not communicating as well as I could.

Someone tried to chase my (uncertified) OW students into the water to go search. He didn't know that they were uncertified and I ripped him a new one in a way that I regret, giving in to the emotion. An NOB (CMAS) instructor showed me by example how to control the dive site in a way I had never learned, I missed seeing a diver (the DM who caused the accident) displaying passive panic. It only became apparent to me when they had to take him away by ambulance when he collapsed.... it was MUCH more messy scene than I had ever imagined and I was not in control as well as I would expect from myself. At one point, once the EMS had control of the surface situation I grabbed another diver (a DM) and went searching myself. This was a mistake. I can't get over the mind set that drove me to ACT when I SHOULD have been coordinating! I'm like the guy who charges into a burning building because I can't fight the urge to DO SOMETHING! I HATE that about myself.

Since that time (it's been years) I've been replaying that event in my mind and thinking, "if I had only done XXXX then YYYY". It drives me CRAZY to think that if we were sharper we could have found him 30 seconds or a minute earlier and his recovery could have been better. The fact that he survived is utterly astounding. These things never end like that.... but I feel responsible for the fact that it took so long.

This was a formative moment in my diving. I considered stopping as well but eventually decided not not to. To this day I cannot -- and will not -- teach or participate in the Rescue course, even though I may be the one instructor in my circle who is most qualified to talk about the differences between theory and practice. It's just too intimidating.
 
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We were diving a wreck at 30 meters (100 feet) at night.
I've dived that wreck at least 30 times - in fact I'd dived it the day before and that morning.
Its a straightforward dive.
Wreck anchored to buoy on surface. About four minutes by boat from the shore.
The wreck itself is small. About 8 meters (26 feet) wide by 50 meters long(165 feet).
You descend, do about two loops around it then explore the top. Then swim towards the mooring line and ascend.
On that night dive, we'd decided to enjoy the bioluminescence by turning our lights off midway through the ascent.
I should've prefaced this by saying there was no current that night. Visibility was great - about 10 meters (32 feet).
So we're at about 20 meters (65 feet) - we've all turned our lights off and the scene was magical.
No more than a minute later, and I know it was a minute because I wanted to see if I could get in a minute of safety stop at the same time (for safety, right). So I checked the time just as I turned the light off. Turned the light back on. Look around me. There's no one. Look up. No one. Look down. No one. Wheres the rope? Not in sight.
I then realize theres a current. I was ascending alongside the rope and obviously let go to shake and move my hands to agitate the bio. So I hadn't noticed there was a current. Ahh ****. Not an issue.
Plenty of air (plus the spare 30 cu ft tank), a fully charged 4500 lumen primary light, a 1500 lumen spare light and the 4300 LED light from my camera. I have an SMB. I know the boat will be on the lookout. Its dark and no boat traffic so even a candle can seen.

Check my compass so I can orient myself and pray the current is either taking me north or south or west. Because the coastline is serendipitously parallel to north/south. So if I'm headed north or south or west (towards the shore), its fine. But if the current was dragging me east - then mas no bueno. Because thats open ocean to Iran hah. Fortunately it was a solid north. Alright great. No issue. But I was a little worried because I couldn't gauge how fast/how far I was heading away from the boat.

No matter. I'll just ascend normally and do my safety stop.
About 5 meters higher on ascent, my arm and backside bump into a person. Their torso. You know that feeling when you smack a torso.
Sorta soft at first then firm. One of the best sensations on earth considering the tribulation I was going through. Yay, another human. I wasn't in a state of panic but its always nice reuniting, right?
As I turn around, with glee that I'd somehow managed to find my dive partners, I shine my light in that direction and I find myself face to face with a medium to large size barracuda. At least a meter and a half long - 4-5 feet.
It was was sleeping! Between my bumping into it and then a second later shining my light at it, it woke up bared its sharp teeth at me and swam away. My heart jumped. It was a harrowing three seconds.

My reaction was to bolt to the surface but I didn't. I just reminded myself I still had plenty of air and light.

I get to the surface after a safety stop, shine my light to the boat and they come get me.

Lessons learned: A current can start at any time - if you turn your light off, make sure to be holding the rope.

But what are the chances of bumping into a barracuda in the middle of the vast ocean!
Apologies for the late response but I think it is worth a comment.

Unless you have a deco obligation, if things are going south (north in your case lol), then omit the safety stop. If you discover you are drifting and especially if you are not sure of how quickly, a safety stop could put you a LONG way away from the boat. Given you had started your ascent and then lost your references (line, wreck AND surface vessel), I am guessing that you might have been drifting for a few minutes at an unknown speed. You realistically have no idea how far away the boat is at this point. Better at that point to surface, spot the boat, signal and then if you wish (once you know your location, drift rate etc), redescend and complete the stop.

It should always be understood that a safety stop is good practise but it is only padding what should already be a safe dive (if you are within NDL limits). If there is any danger from another source such as low air, unknown drift, injury etc then the safety stop can and probably should be omitted. Only a deco obligation (where NDL has been exceeded) presents a situation where a stop MUST be completed to ensure a safe dive.

My colleagues and I (we didn't dive in a group but there ended up being three pairs of divers together including 2 instructors, 2 DM's and my pair) were on a drift dive in the Red Sea however we all missed a turn point where the reef changed direction. We drifted for about 5 minutes until we realised our mistake and ascended with 6 DSMBs (three of which were 6ft). The waves were only about 2ft but even a 6ft DSMB at 1/2 mile is pretty small to see. We ended up about 1/2 mile away from our boat and luckily were spotted by another boat which had stationed further of the island and they radioed our boat to get the rib directed to us for pick up. Had we not skipped our safety stops I reckon we could easily have been out of visual range for both boats so would have required a lot more assistance in getting seen and picked up.
 
You can also do an ascent and safety stop kicking against the current. If low vis take a bearing on the direction before leaving the bottom. This could put you somewhat upcurrent and make it easier to drift down to the boat.
 
Apologies for the late response but I think it is worth a comment.

Unless you have a deco obligation, if things are going south (north in your case lol), then omit the safety stop. If you discover you are drifting and especially if you are not sure of how quickly, a safety stop could put you a LONG way away from the boat. Given you had started your ascent and then lost your references (line, wreck AND surface vessel), I am guessing that you might have been drifting for a few minutes at an unknown speed. You realistically have no idea how far away the boat is at this point. Better at that point to surface, spot the boat, signal and then if you wish (once you know your location, drift rate etc), redescend and complete the stop.

It should always be understood that a safety stop is good practise but it is only padding what should already be a safe dive (if you are within NDL limits). If there is any danger from another source such as low air, unknown drift, injury etc then the safety stop can and probably should be omitted. Only a deco obligation (where NDL has been exceeded) presents a situation where a stop MUST be completed to ensure a safe dive.

My colleagues and I (we didn't dive in a group but there ended up being three pairs of divers together including 2 instructors, 2 DM's and my pair) were on a drift dive in the Red Sea however we all missed a turn point where the reef changed direction. We drifted for about 5 minutes until we realised our mistake and ascended with 6 DSMBs (three of which were 6ft). The waves were only about 2ft but even a 6ft DSMB at 1/2 mile is pretty small to see. We ended up about 1/2 mile away from our boat and luckily were spotted by another boat which had stationed further of the island and they radioed our boat to get the rib directed to us for pick up. Had we not skipped our safety stops I reckon we could easily have been out of visual range for both boats so would have required a lot more assistance in getting seen and picked up.

Good point.
I decided to do the safety stop because it was my 4th dive that day - of which three were pretty deep.
And the current wasn't very fast but there was a current.

But good point to keep in mind. Thanks.
 
Good point.
I decided to do the safety stop because it was my 4th dive that day - of which three were pretty deep.
And the current wasn't very fast but there was a current.

But good point to keep in mind. Thanks.
I understand your reasons for doing it and they are certainly valid.
 
Apologies for the late response but I think it is worth a comment.

Unless you have a deco obligation, if things are going south (north in your case lol), then omit the safety stop. If you discover you are drifting and especially if you are not sure of how quickly, a safety stop could put you a LONG way away from the boat. Given you had started your ascent and then lost your references (line, wreck AND surface vessel), I am guessing that you might have been drifting for a few minutes at an unknown speed. You realistically have no idea how far away the boat is at this point. Better at that point to surface, spot the boat, signal and then if you wish (once you know your location, drift rate etc), redescend and complete the stop.

It should always be understood that a safety stop is good practise but it is only padding what should already be a safe dive (if you are within NDL limits). If there is any danger from another source such as low air, unknown drift, injury etc then the safety stop can and probably should be omitted. Only a deco obligation (where NDL has been exceeded) presents a situation where a stop MUST be completed to ensure a safe dive.

My colleagues and I (we didn't dive in a group but there ended up being three pairs of divers together including 2 instructors, 2 DM's and my pair) were on a drift dive in the Red Sea however we all missed a turn point where the reef changed direction. We drifted for about 5 minutes until we realised our mistake and ascended with 6 DSMBs (three of which were 6ft). The waves were only about 2ft but even a 6ft DSMB at 1/2 mile is pretty small to see. We ended up about 1/2 mile away from our boat and luckily were spotted by another boat which had stationed further of the island and they radioed our boat to get the rib directed to us for pick up. Had we not skipped our safety stops I reckon we could easily have been out of visual range for both boats so would have required a lot more assistance in getting seen and picked up.


This makes no sense to me. Why not send the big smb up early, have it tied to a string and then complete your safety stop?

What benefit does ascending early provide? Perhaps the opportunity to scream and yell and splash, but if you have a big marker and an attentive crew, I generally don't see a whole lot of benefit to blowing off a stop.
 
This makes no sense to me. Why not send the big smb up early, have it tied to a string and then complete your safety stop?

What benefit does ascending early provide? Perhaps the opportunity to scream and yell and splash, but if you have a big marker and an attentive crew, I generally don't see a whole lot of benefit to blowing off a stop.
We ascended as soon as we realised that we had missed the turn (which was probably a few minutes later so we were pretty sure we had already drifted a good way beyond the correct point and the boat. Given that we knew we were drifting at a fair rate (it was a drift dive), we knew that any additional time beyond the turn point that we missed would result in us being even further away from the boat and safety.

I don't know if you have ever been on a boat and tried to spot divers 1/2 mile away in anything other than flat calm but it is not that easy even with a large SMB with even relatively small waves. I know I could barely see our liveaboard boat from where we surfaced (which is at least 5M/15ft high from the water) so how they could be expected to see us (with an SMB max 2M high) I am not sure. As I posted it was another boat (a liveaboard) that spotted us which was luckily positioned a lot closer to where we surfaced and only a few hundred yards away so could spot us easily. When we looked at where we were from our boat after the rib returned us to it, there was virtually no way we could have been seen by them so had it not been for the other boat we could have drifted a hell of a long way.

I was always taught (and it is backed up by all available info and all the main dive agencies) that a safety stop is not mandatory, that skipping one should have no adverse effects and should you feel that you are in more danger underwater (for whatever reason) you should skip it. Based on the idea of drifting away from safety at a fair rate or ascending ASAP and being more visible (on the surface it is easier to make yourself more visible by waving the SMB/ shouting/waving arms) I will always take the on the surface option. Better to be on the surface wishing you were under the surface, than under the surface wishing you were on the surface.
 
This makes no sense to me. Why not send the big smb up early, have it tied to a string and then complete your safety stop?

What benefit does ascending early provide? Perhaps the opportunity to scream and yell and splash, but if you have a big marker and an attentive crew, I generally don't see a whole lot of benefit to blowing off a stop.

Ascending without safety stop provides the exact benefits you mention:
scream - shine light - and get attention

In my case, I was drifting parallel to the coast and not in any immediate danger as opposed to drifting into open waters
 
My apologies for what is going to be a lengthy boring post.

My most scary dive involved barracuda and a shark, but that was the least scary part.

Back in the mid 90s when I was doing a lot of diving in the Saudi part of the Red Sea, I frequently dived off a friend's boat at a spot called Tower Reef. He and some friends had installed several underwater mooring points around the reef and we frequently did overnighters there.

One Friday, we set out in not so calm weather and after tying on the mooring started to kit up. There were four of us on the boat, Kevin (the owner), Tuula (his wife), Simon and myself. It was pretty choppy and Simon was first off the boat as he was feeling a bit nauseous followed by Tuula.

We were all photographers, and the standard practice on Kevin's boat was to hang our camera rigs on lines from the boat. Given that this was back in the day when using 35mm film, it made sense to have two housings for use. My housings contained a camera with a 105mm lens and the other with a 60mm lens, and on this particular dive plan I was going to photograph the longnose hawkfish that lived on some coral at 35m.

No sooner had Tuula left the boat she re-surfaced and announced that there was a shark circling the mooring at 5m (which was a 55 Gal oil drum).

Kevin threw his gear in the water and jumped in, but I was a bit slower. Anyway once in the water I couldn't see the shark and grabbed my housing that held the camera with the 105 lens as I wanted to shoot the hawkfish. However, as I was descending I spotted a shoal of barracuda, and I had always wanted to get inside a shoal and shoot some shots. I think by now I was more than 10m below before I started to ascend inside the shoal, and looking up I saw the shark perfectly framed at the top of the shoal and managed one shot before it disappeared. I shot a few close ups of the barracuda and then decided to carry on with my plan, the longnose hawkfish.

It was then I noticed that I was "in the blue" with no sign of the reef!

I then surfaced and discovered that it was very choppy forcing me to fin upwards to see where the boat was, and it was far away. I had not noticed the current!

I could easily make out the reef and the "tower," which was perpendicular to the direction the current that was taking me (away from the boat) and I started to swim towards it, but the surface conditions did not make this easy. I decided to dive under to something like 3-4m and using my compass headed towards the reef. Whilst en route to the reef I was joined at some point by a single barracuda for several minutes, which made me a bit nervous but it buggered off when I took a photo of it.

Eventually I reached the reef and still had 100+ bar in my tank. I did consider surfacing and walking on top of the reef until I got near the boat (which was unmanned), but decided that it would be easier to swim at around 5m next to the reef. Eventually I spotted bubbles heading my way (horizontally) and came across Tuula photographing a nudi, and I was already down to 50 bar. I signaled to her asking where the boat was, and it was basically only around 10m away, so I immediately headed there, clipped off my camera and climbed aboard so happy to be safe onboard.

After that incident I was never comfortable about diving from a boat with nobody on board. We didn't use SMBs back then, in fact I'd never seen one at that point, but there was nobody on the boat anyway. The whole incident really scared me and certainly made me more aware of how conditions can change suddenly without being aware of the changes. Also, had I stuck to my plan and ignored the barracuda I would have been next to the reef and under the boat all the time and probably safer.

I sometimes wonder how long it would have taken for the others to find me if I had drifted off given the conditions that day, but I try not to.
 

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