My dive incident

[Jim Lapenta]

You'll like this one, Jim:

I work on the crew of a local NJ dive boat. Here in NJ the boats are not "dive operators" in the traditional sense, but rather we are essentially "a ride to the wreck site and back." While we aren't responsible for your dive plan and we don't accompany passengers on their dives we do ask for run-times and record when everyone enters and exits the water.

So a few weeks ago we're out on a wreck laying in 140fsw. Once we're tied in, I start asking for run-times. I ask one of the passengers how long he'll be down for...

He: Just put me down for the same run-time as my buddy
Me: Who's your buddy?
He: Um, uh, I dunno...

Did you let him dive? And if so did he come back up?

 

[SeahorseDeb]

All of the postings above make really good points, but I have one more to add. I dive in cold water, been on 5 boat charters, all with the same company and highly rated. We don't have a DM, we buddy up. All of us are experienced divers, but we rely on the buddy system, not the DM. the charter does give us detailed briefs on the sites---they dive them, they know what we'll encounter. I wouldn't rely on a DM for my safety because that's not what's taught in our beginning open water class, no matter who the certifying agency is. Glad you are okay, and here to talk about it. Sharing our experiences in this forum is a great way to learn , gathering a diverse range of opionons and knowledge. We can learn in the water, and out. I really enjoy ScubaBoard.

 

[David_57]

IMHO I think he had the training but not the experienced so when he got out of his comfort zone 3 deep dives, and could not keep up with the DM as he was under weighted, he forgot to apply his training. The best option for any new divers with less than 50 or so dives should be to always dive with a more experienced buddy/mentor whom he is familiar with.

It always bothers me when some thing like this happens and first thing people put the blame on is the training, the Instructor, the curriculum and start suggesting this Dive org is better than that Dive org.

Azoger you are to be commended for having the b...s to share your dive mishap with us, like previously mentioned I dont think you were ever in any danger of getting a DCS hit due to your Nitrox, depth and dive time. I think the answer I would suggest to avoid something like this happening again would be to dive in a more familiar environment with a mentor and get a few more dive under you belt.

On another note something similiar to this happened to my wife when she under weighted herself on her 5th drysuit dive and shot to the surface from about 60 ft this was after being on a wreck at about 80ft for approx 20 mins, she suffered no ill effects so accidents can and will happen. she did realise she was under weighted at the beggining of the dive but decided to pull herself down on the down line figuring she could hang onto it on the way back for her safety stop but forgot about her plan and when she got on top of the wreck with less gas in her bottle she became possitive and lost control.

I guess the point I am trying to make here is she had close to 100 dives but got over confident, she had the training OW, AOW, Nitrox, SDI Solo diver etc ect, she should of asked for extra weight, but made the wrong choice and decided to continue the dive and had a serious mishap.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

Really? Your instructor didn't cover how to get another diver's attention, signal that you're out of air, and secure either their primary or secondary reg as appropriate?

Hee hee, well, as a contingency, of course you do what you have to do to get gas from whomever is within eye contact and/or OOG swimming range. Naturally. But no, my training as given is to have my assigned buddy be the dive in question and to plan the dive and dive the plan such that I am not trying to get gas from a stranger. Getting gas from a stranger ought to be a scenario where two failures have occurred, losing contact and then losing gas.

Since you have the experience, I sit at your feet and learn from you, not argue with you. But the kind of thing that worries me is something like this: I have no assigned buddy. I descend with the group towards something like the Henry Daryaw (90+feet in ripping current). At 70' or so I have problems clearing my ears and stop until I sort it out. The group continues without me to the wreck and moves around the back of it, out of visual contact with me.

I follow, and as I reach the wreck I see a few lights under the wreck. I am just about to follow them down to where we can at least make eye contact when my reg starts breathing funny. What do I do now?

 

[cos]

... but I am pretty clear on the fact that diving without an assigned buddy and without a specific plan to handle OOG at 90' is beyond my own training as OW/AOW/Nitrox/Rescue/Rec. Trimix.

I do not recall any of my instructors going over the "OOG when chasing a herd of coral tourists" scenario in my courses.

I suggest that if one is not able or trained to handle an OOG diver at 90' one shouldn't be at 90'. If a diver is not able to deal with an OOG diver at a more shallow , or at any depth, they shouldn't be in the water. This is, or should be, taught at the most basic levels. The differences in depth complicate things like volume limits and decompression but essentially the procedure is the same.

 

[RJP]

Did you let him dive? And if so did he come back up?

Forgot to also mention that...

• It was November in NJ so water temps in low 50s
• The guy was wearing a 3mm suit and no gloves
• Pretty sure he didn't have a light (140' off NJ on an overcast day is basically a NIGHT dive)

Oh yeah, he was also diving a rebreather he recently bought on Craig's List and "repaired" himself.

 

[AfterDark]

Forgot to also mention that...

• It was November in NJ so water temps in low 50s
• The guy was wearing a 3mm suit and no gloves
• Pretty sure he didn't have a light (140' off NJ on an overcast day is basically a NIGHT dive)

Oh yeah, he was also diving a rebreather he recently bought on Craig's List and "repaired" himself.

Sounds like a guy we'll be reading and posting about someday.

 

[RJP]

I follow, and as I reach the wreck I see a few lights under the wreck. I am just about to follow them down to where we can at least make eye contact when my reg starts breathing funny. What do I do now?

Not sure what "breathing funny" means specifically, but I would suggest that you switch to your backup reg and abort the dive.

:cool2:

Of course circumstances as you describe above are why I said "depends on the diver and the situation." A high-current drift-dive onto a cold-water wreck at 95' in the Seaway is a completely different situation than slowly finning along a reef at 45' in Bonaire. For the former I'd want to dive with a specific, known buddy that I'm comfortable doing a tech dive with, and would stay as a well-disciplined buddy pair. On the latter, I'd be fine jumping in with anyone, everyone, or no-one as my buddy.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

I suggest that if one is not able or trained to handle an OOG diver at 90' one shouldn't be at 90'. If a diver is not able to deal with an OOG diver at a more shallow , or at any depth, they shouldn't be in the water. This is, or should be, taught at the most basic levels. The differences in depth complicate things like volume limits and decompression but essentially the procedure is the same.

I wonder if we're talking about the same thing? I was explaining that I was not taught to do 90' dives without a buddy, and using being out of gas at 90' while the entire group has its back to me as an example of what I'd prefer to avoid.

That's not the same thing as handling a situation where I am part of a buddy team and my buddy are OOG at 90'.

 

[drdaddy]

Thanks a lot for the responses. To clarify, I am Nitrox and AOW certified. I had also been to 80 ft. before for my AOW class. I think I expected too much from the DM as my previous DM on my first ocean dive was totally different, along with the boat captain. In fact, they were so thorough both with the check and underwater that I kept thinking I was in my first pool dive class.

I also did not know we were going to 90ft as their website advertised the dives to be 60-80ft dives.

Gombessa:

I did not want to push myself for the 3 dives being so inexperienced. I had always done 2 tank dives in one day and decided to stick to my comfort zone. Also as you said, being past 1.4 was a huge reason for my confusion, too. I still have a hard time believing these people were deeper than me.

Go back to the previous captain and Divemaster. Hire the divemaster as your partner and enjoy! With some more dives under your belt you will begin developing more confidence and really begin enjoying diving.

Also, you have less than 20 dives and have taken both Advanced Open Water and Nitrox???????!!!!! I have heard of this before and I must say that is an inexcusable practice by instructors who know better. It is so much better to take your beginning class and dive at that level as you practice, enjoy, and work out the bugs and details of diving (such as proper weighting/buoyancy). Then go onto AOW and after a while start on the specialties. It does no good to rush through the classes and really absorb or learn very little because your experience is so shallow.

Anyways, don't give up - enjoy diving at the level you are and advanced with your experience. Enjoy!!!