Everything worked out great and now we're REALLY scared!

[billt4sf]

This happened to us in April 2012 in Kona. We had just completed the AOW course, and we signed up for the “Pelagic Magic” night dive. The dive briefing was held in the classroom at the operator’s site and lasted at least 30 mins, during which time we were presented with the types of critters we would see and how the dive was to be conducted. I remember being a little confused until I realized that we would be far enough out to sea (oh yeah, we’re going to see pelagics!) that the bottom would be way below us. No anchor line, the boat would be drifting.

There were about 8 people on the dive, all certified divers and one Dive Guide. We each had a line about 6’ long attached to us and this line was then clipped to a second line that was weighted and was about 40 or 50’ long. So each of us could go up or down on our own line independently.

I got geared up and jumped in. As soon as I entered the water, I thought, “Shoot, am I supposed to wait for my buddy? (my wife) or should I just go down?” I yelled up to the crew about this but they didn’t hear me, they were getting others ready. Other divers had already descended so I did, too.

I descended and my first reaction was “Am I going down?” Two seconds later I hit the end of my line so that answered that. I tried to reach neutral buoyancy but again I knew I was moving in the water column but couldn’t tell if I was going up or down. I popped up to the surface and tried again. Finally I hit upon the technique of being slightly negatively buoyant and finning slowly and tried to begin to enjoy the dive.

I looked for my wife, I identified her and saw that she was negatively buoyant, hanging on the end of her line. I went down and we exchanged OK signals, and I signaled her to "go up" "a little bit" but she ignored me so I went back up a bit and tried to be in about 20’ of water, finning slowly to keep that level. I really started to worry about her being on the end of her line so I again tried to get her to come up to no avail. The DM was swimming around, checking on various group members and I pointed her out to him. He also tried to get her to come up a bit but she didn’t.

When we got back in the boat she and I talked about it and she thought that she was supposed to be on the end of her line ("Isn't the bottom where you are suppossed to see stuff?"). When I pointed out to her that there was essentially no bottom, if the line slipped she could have been lost she started to cry. She just didn’t realize the situation.

We have talked about this a number of times after the dive and we both get a sinking feeling (no pun intended) about our lack of ability and understanding for this dive. I contacted the operator with my concerns and they were responsive but truth be told, I doubt they made any changes. I consider them a very reliable operator and we plan to dive with them again, maybe repeating this dive (this time with some more understanding and skills).

We know now some things we did wrong and some skills we didn’t have (and needed) but I’ll leave it here for comments at this point. Maybe some others can learn from our mistakes and I'm sure that I will learn something, too.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Insta-Gator]

Sounds like a lesson learned on communications and buoyancy, two skills that require constant reinforcement.

Sent from my ADR6350 using my Fumble Thumbs

 

[tempoffroad]

Agree with above. Get as neutral as possible so if something did happen she wouldn't sink fast. I have dove at night and its easier for me to float above someone and watch them or their light if I dissorented.

 

[Crush]

I am glad that you are OK.

I am not sure that I would try hanging off the end of a 50 ft rope in the open ocean at night if I was not already comfortable doing blue water ascents and descents, meaning that I was also proficient at doing them in a controlled fashion. Personally, I would not have been "hanging off the end" but would rather have tried to maintain neutral buoyancy with no finning.

Edit: "Blue water ascent" means that you ascend in a controlled fashion without the aid of a mooring line over "blue water" (or very deep water). If you dive along a wall you might find that the bottom is hundreds of feet below you. Backing off from that wall and ascending over the deep would be a blue water ascent. Such ascents can be unnerving at first. Without obvious reference marks like a sloping bottom or a mooring line you rely upon your gauges and small bits of "stuff" floating in the water to gauge your ascent rate and to help you hold your safety stop.

Edit 2: Yes, you should wait for your buddy before descending.

Edit 3: "Go up a bit" can be confused with "thumbing the dive" unless you have clear, distinct, and agreed upon hand signals. A "go up a bit" signal that I was taught was to hold your hand palm-down, fingers extended and together in front of your navel (with your thumb in towards your body) and to make a "C" shaped motion, moving the hand (held in the same position) towards your body, upward, then outward so that the final position of your hand is the same as before, only about 8 inches higher than where it began. With that hand motion you are clearly indicating that you are to move from your current level upward to a new level. You can follow this with hand numbers to indicate the final depth after ascent.

 

[nimoh]

on top of the lessons on communication and buoyancy, there is also a lesson in paying attention and understanding the dive briefing...ok, this may fall under communication

 

[RonFrank]

From what I am reading nothing went wrong? If your attached to a rope nothing will go wrong unless the rope breaks or you do something stupid like holding your breath.

Did you see anything cool?

 

[Mike]

Wow!

What a combination!

Less then two dozen dives, doing a night dive, blue water with no bottom, and tied to a line

You've got to be kidding me. That's so ripe with danger it's not even funny.

As far as the "Am I going down?, supposed to wait for my buddy?"

You always wait for you buddy, always, always, always. A dive master, captain or crew member tells you other wise, you ignore them and stick to safe diving procedures and stick with you buddy at all times.

When you said they tied the line to you and then clipped it onto another line, did you really mean they tied it to you? I don't think I'd be too keen on letting somebody tie me into a line. A clip would be bad enough, but if they tried to tie me in, no way. I'm getting the heebee geebees just thinking about it.

This happened to us in April 2012 in Kona. We had just completed the AOW course, and we signed up for the “Pelagic Magic” night dive. The dive briefing was held in the classroom at the operator’s site and lasted at least 30 mins, during which time we were presented with the types of critters we would see and how the dive was to be conducted. I remember being a little confused until I realized that we would be far enough out to sea (oh yeah, we’re going to see pelagics!) that the bottom would be way below us. No anchor line, the boat would be drifting.

There were about 8 people on the dive, all certified divers and one Dive Guide. We each had a line about 6’ long attached to us and this line was then clipped to a second line that was weighted and was about 40 or 50’ long. So each of us could go up or down on our own line independently.

I got geared up and jumped in. As soon as I entered the water, I thought, “Shoot, am I supposed to wait for my buddy? (my wife) or should I just go down?” I yelled up to the crew about this but they didn’t hear me, they were getting others ready. Other divers had already descended so I did, too.

I descended and my first reaction was “Am I going down?” Two seconds later I hit the end of my line so that answered that. I tried to reach neutral buoyancy but again I knew I was moving in the water column but couldn’t tell if I was going up or down. I popped up to the surface and tried again. Finally I hit upon the technique of being slightly negatively buoyant and finning slowly and tried to begin to enjoy the dive.

I looked for my wife, I identified her and saw that she was negatively buoyant, hanging on the end of her line. I went down and we exchanged OK signals, and I signaled her to "go up" "a little bit" but she ignored me so I went back up a bit and tried to be in about 20’ of water, finning slowly to keep that level. I really started to worry about her being on the end of her line so I again tried to get her to come up to no avail. The DM was swimming around, checking on various group members and I pointed her out to him. He also tried to get her to come up a bit but she didn’t.

When we got back in the boat she and I talked about it and she thought that she was supposed to be on the end of her line ("Isn't the bottom where you are suppossed to see stuff?"). When I pointed out to her that there was essentially no bottom, if the line slipped she could have been lost she started to cry. She just didn’t realize the situation.

We have talked about this a number of times after the dive and we both get a sinking feeling (no pun intended) about our lack of ability and understanding for this dive. I contacted the operator with my concerns and they were responsive but truth be told, I doubt they made any changes. I consider them a very reliable operator and we plan to dive with them again, maybe repeating this dive (this time with some more understanding and skills).

We know now some things we did wrong and some skills we didn’t have (and needed) but I’ll leave it here for comments at this point. Maybe some others can learn from our mistakes and I'm sure that I will learn something, too.

Thanks,

Bill

---------- Post Merged at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:51 PM ----------

If your attached to a rope nothing will go wrong unless the rope breaks or you do something stupid like holding your breath.

Or the boat sinks and pull you down with it, or the line gets fouled in the prop and pulls you into it, or people get tangled up in it... just say'n, I don't know the details of how the line was supposed to work, what it was attached to, but it scares the crap out of me thinking about being tied to something and especially in the dark in open ocean.

 

[TSandM]

I have done the black water dive, and I would say that it is not a dive for beginners, and the dive op should not have permitted you to do it.

It is very easy to get severely disoriented in dark, clear water, if you look away from the tether. It's also possible to get wound up in the tether. It's also VERY easy to injure your ears, if you are unaware of the sawtooth profiles you swim, if you are following the critters.

It's a fun dive, but it was simply beyond your skills at the time. You didn't get hurt, and you may have learned some things.

 

[Griffo]

I'm very glad everything worked out. I've never done a dive like this, it certainly sounds interesting.

If I can, i'd like to touch on the issue of your wife ignoring both yours and your DMs requests for her to ascend a bit. No matter what the original briefing, if my buddy or DM asked me to come up, I would do so once checking that that was safe. I might then ask them why, and if the answer was no-good descend again, but diving is an activity in which your own vision and therefore situational awerness is extremely limited. Simply ignoring your buddy's signals is generally not a very good idea - anything could have been happening to which she was not aware. You might want to, delicately, touch on that point with her.

my /2c

 

[lavachickie]

My concern is that your wife apparently had no situational awareness. She doesn't realize "there is no bottom" until discussing it days later, and then you have to point it out?

Yes, seeing the nifty sea critters is fun. But you've got to understand the bigger picture before you even touch the gear.

Glad everyone is ok.