Australian GBR: Almost Died

[outofofficebrb]

I’m glad you’re okay. Carry and use a DSMB in the future. I would have launched it from depth if I thought there was going to be a problem and current would take me out. You made it back to the boat safely (hooray) but if you hadn’t, here’s where it would have helped. If you launch it sooner, the boat will see it sooner or increase their likelihood of seeing you as you will be closer. If you happen to get blown off course or further from the boat and get too far, having done this, ghe likelihood of being tracked will be better rather than surfacing once you’re completely out of air and then deploying one when you’re already super far out, maybe beyond visual reach.

 

[CT-Rich]

I know where you are coming from, and I often recommend an alternate gas supply on SB in appropriate settings. Don’t take this the wrong way, I think that we are thinking alike for the most part.

But by recommending an AGS in this particular accicdent analysis, I think that you are doing the OP and other new divers reading this thread a disservice. This would be the classic definition of a gear solution to a skills problem.

AGS is primarily for catastrophic gas loss (e.g. blown LP hose). The problem here was planning and situational awareness. I don’t want the OP to think that they can sling a pony and go on being an adrenaline junkie...

One more thing - they exhausted themselves swimming upcurrent for the anchor line. The drag from a slung pony would have added to that problem.

I am going to side with skills on this. His gear worked as intended. I dive a steel 120, but when the gage reads 300 psi, I am just as screwed as this guy. He got a good scare and he posted about it, no need to belittle him for not getting closer to dead. He made mistakes, some he self identified, others we are pointing out.
There really was nothing wrong with his gear that I could see. His gage wasn’t stuck, his computer wasn’t mentioned, so I’ll assume it was fine. He stuck with his buddy. He wasn’t over weighted. If he wasn’t applying skills to the gear he was using, what makes you think more gear is the solution?

 

[RyanT]

I mean absolutely no disrespect and I'm just asking out of sheer curiosity here. The OP says they are from Australia, which of course uses the metric bar. Did the OP convert bar to psi for us yanks, or is there a bit of story here?

 

[doctormike]

I am going to side with skills on this. His gear worked as intended. I dive a steel 120, but when the gage reads 300 psi, I am just as screwed as this guy. He got a good scare and he posted about it, no need to belittle him for not getting closer to dead. He made mistakes, some he self identified, others we are pointing out.
There really was nothing wrong with his gear that I could see. His gage wasn’t stuck, his computer wasn’t mentioned, so I’ll assume it was fine. He stuck with his buddy. He wasn’t over weighted. If he wasn’t applying skills to the gear he was using, what makes you think more gear is the solution?

I think that you have me confused with someone else. I didn't recommend any gear change. I recommended situational awareness and dive planning.

 

[CT-Rich]

I think that you have me confused with someone else. I didn't recommend any gear change. I recommended situational awareness and dive planning.

I was agreeing with you. Those are both skills issues, not gear.

 

[doctormike]

I was agreeing with you. Those are both skills issues, not gear.

Gotcha. I misunderstood.

You replied to me and asked “what makes you think more gear is the solution?”, but I guess you weren’t referring to me.

 

[soggybadger]

I know of people who have drivers licences but hardly ever drive and as a result their vehicle handling skills are lethal. Giving them cars with as many safety features and as little power as possible probably saves lives because the definitely are not going to take the time to improve their driving skills. I would suggest that the same is the case with diving. If someone has an over inflated opinion of their own skills give them two ponies.

 

[Shortdive]

Mike Ball runs a pretty good operation and have a good safety record. You would of received a pretty good dive briefing, which included to swim into the current and then drift back to the mooring. They would have also discussed what to do in the event that you do not make it back to the mooring. I.e send up a safety sausage and their tender would pick you up. They always maintain a lookout. The issues you encountered were not a big deal. Live and learn.

 

[Neilwood]

Mike Ball runs a pretty good operation and have a good safety record. You would of received a pretty good dive briefing, which included to swim into the current and then drift back to the mooring. They would have also discussed what to do in the event that you do not make it back to the mooring. I.e send up a safety sausage and their tender would pick you up. They always maintain a lookout. The issues you encountered were not a big deal. Live and learn.

They were not in this case - the OP made it back on board still breathing. That doesn't mean their actions were correct.

A few things to take away from this:
1) Focus on safety not pictures. The OP had no idea of time elapsed therefore I don't think it a stretch to wonder if they knew how close to NDL and by extension mandatory deco they were.
2) If caught in an unexpected current and you are sucking through air at an unexpected rate, head up earlier. Don't fixate on getting back to the line, fixate on getting back to the surface with some gas to spare. Better to be at the surface a distance away from the boat breathing fresh air and signalling the boat with a DSMB than getting halfway up the line and getting no air
3) If breathing from a reg and getting water, try purging it. That that action is not mentioned suggests lack of familiarity with their gear.

Hopefully lessons learned for future.

 

[Dan]

The following is an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote while aboard the Mike Ball liveaboard 7-day option from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef..... We are both seasoned divers, just good with our air. Would we have to use our emergency, emergency Nautilus GPS units and send a distress signal? Probably not.

I look above me, my dive buddy struggling against the current. Already, pressure is getting low; the gauge now reads 1000 psi. She gestures to come up a bit. But wouldn't the current be stronger near the top? Sure, I'll use less air higher up, but the current... how does that work? I don't know...

I continue fighting the current. I need to go all-out, I realize, or I might not make it back. But with 1000 psi, and a safety stop, I might not have enough air. And I don't know how far I have strayed with the current...

I angle my body parallel to the ocean floor and lower it as one does an engine on a boat. I need to fight this current if I want to resurface properly. I need to give it my all.

I begin an intense flutter, disregarding the resistance from the current. I imagine myself a super saiyan powering up: channeling my inner anger. Why do I have to get to curious and carried away? And not just figuratively...

I'm making progress, and I can identify the same coral I saw before I got lost. But how close are we to the mooring line? I lost track. Taking larger breaths now, from the hard workout, I look at my pressure gauge. 500?! I should be resurfacing now! I knew fighting the current would take more air, but this much? I look up to my dive buddy. She continues to kick onward, as if she knows precisely where we are. How much further?

What do we do? I ask myself. We are barely making progress against the current. There's no telling just how far we had strayed from the initial dive site. If we resurfaced in the middle of no where, they might not even see us. I look up to my dive buddy, still fighting the current. She seems just as flustered as I am.

Then, just as I'm about to make an emergency ascent, I see it: there it is! The mooring line reveals itself through the shroud of debris. So we made it! I relax for a second, exhaling bubbles in the form of relief.

But my problems are far from over, I realize.

Reality suddenly sets in, and I hesitantly look at my pressure gauge: the hand sits, pointing to the red zone, mockingly. 300 psi... that's not good! I've never been this low before. I hasten my approach, following the mooring line. How much further? I'm still fighting the current, I realize. My dive buddy kicks aggressively toward the safety stop line. The finish line? How low is she on air? Can she even do one? I see her perform a double-take on either side to make sure I'm still alive. Probably a good idea at this point.

I continue fighting the current. I know I can do this. They probably add some extra leeway on these pressure gauges like gas meters on vehicle dashboards: enough gas to get you to the next gas station before running out. Right?

I shouldn't be taking that risk in the first place.

And I have other problems. I notice my vision caving in on me: dark spots encroaching on my peripheral vision. Is this early signs of DCS? I don't care, I reason; I won't have time for a safety stop.

I can see the ladder now. Surrounding it, what seems like tens of new divers, looking each way, conversing ever so calmly. Damn it! With this many divers waiting to board, I wouldn't be able to board even if I did resurface without taking a decompression stop, I unsoundly reason, making excuses. I may as well get swept away by the current at the surface, shouting unsuccessfully for the conversing divers' attention.

At this moment, I perform the metal check most divers should do but don't in cases of emergency: stop, think, act.

That's it! I realize, as I spot the emergency regulator dangling from the safety stop rope. I can make it there, then catch my breath, and make a safe ascent. Safe? Hardly.

I finally make it to the rope, grabbing it for all my life. This time, the mantra "stop, think, act" in mind, I take one last breath. It could very well be that if the reg doesn't work. I put the emergency reg in my mouth and begin breathing. Immediately, I feel water filing my lungs. I am gargling. But still breathing. Did this thing even work? A second breath. The pungent taste of salt water rips through my mouth. There's no way this is safe. I look up for my partner: no where to be found. I need to make an emergency ascent. My feet are burning, sore -- maybe even overworked. I take one more breath of salty air, and return my own regulator to my mouth. What little air I do have left I'll use to surface, this time come hell or high water (less water, please!). The taste of dry air returns through my mouth, like sanity returning only for a fleeting moment. I look up and remember what to do if my air runs out: make a low "aaah" sound while looking up. I make my way to the ladder. It's finally free of other boarding divers! I resurface, inflate my BCD, and hang on to those railings for all my life. A woman says something at the top of the ladder, muffled by the water plugging my ears as water rushes down my mask. I made it.

I'm of the opinion that bad things come in threes: a weird superstition I shamelessly adopted from my first diving instructor. So it's no surprise that I find myself making excuses that had another bad thing happened during the dive, I would have aborted. But I'm equally aware that I risked my life doing what I did. And yet, laying down yet again, this time in my deserted quarters of my room, I find the experience exhilarating in hindsight. Call me an adrenaline junkie, but it's experiences like these that remind us of the fragility of life. The more I have close calls, the more I am thankful for the dives I get out of without complications. Maybe I'm just a thrillseeker after all.

Did you listen to their safety briefing?

They loaned you Nautilus Lifeline (NLL) for good reason, like to call for help when you are lost at sea or out of air. When that happens, you just need to get to the surface & call them through NLL, give them your GPS location & launch SMB. They’d have launch their RIB & picked you up. No stress. No big deal.

I was in Mike Ball’s Spoilsport a couple years ago going to Cod Hole and got paired up with a newbie. We made a dive plan about going against the current & when one of our tanks got down to 1000 psi, we would turn around and headed back to the boat. After a few minutes of diving, without telling me, he just took off, finning like mad going back to the boat. I had to chase him down back to the boat. After arriving at the boat, I learned that he was low on air much earlier than he thought, got panic, took off & left me behind. He was OOA by the time he got to the boat. The DM got upset about his action & told him that he should have surface & let them know where we were so they could pick us up.