billt4sf
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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 operators 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, were 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 didnt 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 couldnt 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 didnt.
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 didnt 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 didnt have (and needed) but Ill 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
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 didnt 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 couldnt 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 didnt.
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 didnt 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 didnt have (and needed) but Ill 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