SCarolinaDiver
Registered
I was taking my advanced open water class this past weekend. We did 4 dives over 2 days. This was the 1st dive of the second day, it was a deep dive. While 130 is the rec limits, Our instructor told us of a graveyard at 135 ft in a local lake and we all agreed that it would be awesome to see.
This lake is colder than others in the area by just a few degrees. (Lake Jocassee, for any of you from the Carolinas) The air temp was approaching 100 that day and it was sunny, so we were all glad to jump in the water. We all wore 3 mm wetsuits and hoods. Some had gloves. (We knew it would be cold but were only going to be down there a few minutes, plus I dont think any of us had thicker suits.)
We began our descent and it got colder and darker fast, as lakes do. (We all had glow sticks attached to our yokes and lights that stayed on)
Neither me or my dive buddy had gloves, and I can honestly say that I have never been HALF that cold in all my life. I just hurt, plain and simple, it just hurt to be that cold. So I got to the bottom of the line and looked around at the eerie surroundings with my hands under my armpits and waited for our time to ascend as a group. A couple minutes in I heard that tell tale sound of someone trying to yell underwater. *Red Flag* I had just taken Diver Stress and Rescue about a week before, so my senses to this kind of thing were heightened. I looked up and about 20 feet up, which was still about 115 feet I see 2 divers going up, one I could only assume was the Instructor or DiveCon. My dive buddy and I shortly found we were the only ones left and calmly ascended to 70 feet to perform a task we were planned to do and then to 20 ft for safety stop. I was anxious to get to the surface and see what went wrong.
Come to find out, a young diver of 16 and the minimum dives for the class (Not to speak ill of him, I am 22 and only had the minimum number of dives for the class) Had reached depth and began breathing rapidly and could not catch his breath or slow his breathing and shot to the surface. The instructor went up with him, ignoring ascent rate procedures, and no safety stop. The kid had a panic attack because of the cold and not being able to catch his breath and freaked out. His quick ascent didnt present a cause of concern to the instructor as his computer did not say anything about it. He threw up once he reached the surface and calmed down. The instructor went back down to avoid any ailments. The guy was fine when all was said and done.
Just another lesson about being mentally prepared for a dive, and also having the right exposure protection!
This lake is colder than others in the area by just a few degrees. (Lake Jocassee, for any of you from the Carolinas) The air temp was approaching 100 that day and it was sunny, so we were all glad to jump in the water. We all wore 3 mm wetsuits and hoods. Some had gloves. (We knew it would be cold but were only going to be down there a few minutes, plus I dont think any of us had thicker suits.)
We began our descent and it got colder and darker fast, as lakes do. (We all had glow sticks attached to our yokes and lights that stayed on)
Neither me or my dive buddy had gloves, and I can honestly say that I have never been HALF that cold in all my life. I just hurt, plain and simple, it just hurt to be that cold. So I got to the bottom of the line and looked around at the eerie surroundings with my hands under my armpits and waited for our time to ascend as a group. A couple minutes in I heard that tell tale sound of someone trying to yell underwater. *Red Flag* I had just taken Diver Stress and Rescue about a week before, so my senses to this kind of thing were heightened. I looked up and about 20 feet up, which was still about 115 feet I see 2 divers going up, one I could only assume was the Instructor or DiveCon. My dive buddy and I shortly found we were the only ones left and calmly ascended to 70 feet to perform a task we were planned to do and then to 20 ft for safety stop. I was anxious to get to the surface and see what went wrong.
Come to find out, a young diver of 16 and the minimum dives for the class (Not to speak ill of him, I am 22 and only had the minimum number of dives for the class) Had reached depth and began breathing rapidly and could not catch his breath or slow his breathing and shot to the surface. The instructor went up with him, ignoring ascent rate procedures, and no safety stop. The kid had a panic attack because of the cold and not being able to catch his breath and freaked out. His quick ascent didnt present a cause of concern to the instructor as his computer did not say anything about it. He threw up once he reached the surface and calmed down. The instructor went back down to avoid any ailments. The guy was fine when all was said and done.
Just another lesson about being mentally prepared for a dive, and also having the right exposure protection!