If You Want To Criticize

[Pook-60]

…Stand in line…I’m first! My worst dive to date was my best learning opportunity so I’m showing my “skidmarks” to whoever reads this so you can either learn or just nod with a knowing smile.

Here’s the dive situation…
- Dive Location is Myrtle Beach SC, 27 Feb 07
- Dive site is the “Pinnacle” (an artificial reef area with a barge and some APCs)
- Dive Operator was Coastal Scuba…this was a day dive
- Water temp = 51 F°
- Visibility less than 2 feet (fine particulates stirred up from storm 2 days before…found this out after guide made the initial dive to tie off anchor and wreck reel line)
- Depth = 59 ft
- Current ~ 1 Knot

Here’s the joke (the “knowing nod” folks will now be able to figure out the punchline…)
- First time diving my drysuit in open ocean conditions (3rd time with the suit overall…19 dives total = a newbie)
- First time diving in low visibility conditions
- First time diving with any weight in new trim pouches on shoulder (6 lbs…18 lbs in lower BC area)

Here’s the context…
Let’s work this from the bottom up. I need more weight at my shoulders because…I just do. I don’t float, my legs are always beneath me and I can’t move the tank any higher. However…I failed to control what I could…I didn’t test the new trim pockets (and the chosen weight) in a pool or quarry. I instead wisely chose the Atlantic in February!

Now I was certified in Apr 05 but haven’t had the good luck to get any night dives in due to bad timing/luck in either having the time to go dive and/or the buddy to go dive. So…upon hearing that the vis was 2 feet I apparently thought is was best to go “Low Vis” in (you guessed it!) the Atlantic in February!

Having acquired the Drysuit of my dreams and completed the PADI class to properly employ said device…in the best spirit of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” I giant step into the Atlantic in February! Never mind that I couldn’t hover but instead compensated by what could be best described as a combination of breath control and hand/fin flicks reminiscent of a puffer fish. Never attaining the perfect horizontal profile because of legs that sunk deeper than the rest of me. But that’s OK…it’s just the Atlantic…in February!

Here’s the results…
Though properly weighted overall, my wise choice to dive with >25% of the total weight by my clavicles meant that my legs were no longer the lowest part of my profile. Bonus was that since air rises my feet were well ventilated inside the Drysuit. Oh yeah…and since I’ve never experienced a constant headsdown profile in a Drysuit…I’ve never had the need to use my bottom dump valves on the BC so imagine my surprise when I reached for them and they weren’t where I expected them (I was about 30° off with the added bulk from the suit). Let’s throw in the low vis and spatial disorientation looms as a potent specter throughout the dive along with a fairly healthy current tugging at my sleeve.

So there I was…
Approaching exhaustion fighting buoyancy issues…working against the current…tilted head down at a 30-75° angles…spatial disorientation…consciously suppressing panic at least twice…had to grab the dive guide once to keep from floating away…task saturation…did accomplish one sommersault to get the air out of my feet…not nearly enough.

And the punchline…
I…didn’t…call…the…dive. I survived it, tired, exhausted, a possible DCS skin hit. But when faced with the “no kidding” decision on a go/nogo for this dive, I did not recognize how deep the doodoo was and failed to pull the “ejection handles” when I should have. Pride played a role too…as did outright stubbornness.

The epilogue…
Back to the pool…and back to the quarry. I am simply not ready for these conditions and my skills must improve. Those of you familiar with the Atlantic’s Eastern Seaboard know full well that vis can drop from 20 to 2 feet pretty damn quick. Having the best equipment money can buy doesn’t stand up against conditions demanding skills…instead of tools.

The lesson…
You can pick apart each misstep and provide the proper path but that’s not where the learning will really sink in for me. I’ll learn (and re-learn) in the pool/quarry. And this final paragraph is really where the value of all these words comes to bear: if you can’t master the skills in a pool or a quarry…it’s damned unlikely you’ll master the skills in a more hostile environment.

Thanks for reading…hope this helps somebody
Dane

 

[Steve50]

Thanks for posting this Dane, I'm glad you survived.

 

[spectrum]

Good job on the postmortem.

My definition of a good dive:
1. Nobody got hurt
2. All the gear came back
3. Something was learned

It sounds like you hit the jackpot on #3 and that will be invaluable going forward. Good to hear all survived.

Pete

 

[Wildcard]

If it makes you feel any better, That sounds a lot like my first couple of dry suit dives. Why anyone would use one unless they had to is beyond me.
Im thinking the DM should have seen the problems and stoped you?
Good luck. Try it in clearer calmer water and you will get it.

 

[CrawfishDiver]

Wow so when are we going ice diving

 

[Jasonmh]

Thanks for the post. Sounds like you learned alot, and no permanent damage (always a bonus). The most important point I took from your post was:

"Having the best equipment money can buy doesn’t stand up against conditions demanding skills…instead of tools"

A very good way to put it.
Good luck, I'm sure you'll get your weighting and trim down with just alittle practice.

 

[scubanatic]

Good Lesson for all divers, "Know when to say When!"

 

[Crazy Fingers]

That sounds a lot like my first couple of dry suit dives. Why anyone would use one unless they had to is beyond me.

These were my thoughts exactly when I dove dry for the first (and thankfully only) time. I felt soooo bulky, slow, and unmanueverable. When I went back to my 3/2, I felt like a damn harbor seal zipping through the water. If you got to wear a drysuit, you got to. But if I can do it wet, I sure as hell will. I am considering trying a semidry as a compromise.

 

[Crazy Fingers]

- Water temp = 51 F°
- Visibility less than 2 feet (fine particulates stirred up from storm 2 days before…found this out after guide made the initial dive to tie off anchor and wreck reel line)
- Depth = 59 ft
- Current ~ 1 Knot

Dang dude, those are some crap conditions. I like to dive as much as the next guy, but that crap just ain't worth going out there. Don't feel bad though, I had to do lots of really crappy dives before I figured out that cold water, crap viz, pounding surf, ripping currents, and 5+ foot seas indicate that you should watch diving shows on TV instead. I hope summer comes soon because I'm gettin' fat waiting for good conditions though!!

 

[fisherdvm]

Thanks... I was first thinking about trying out my dive suit in my back yard pond. But I singned up for a formal class instead. It will be important for me to reread your thread.