Near Incident - Dive with a Divemaster, Instructor and Family of 4

[lobbolt]

Cast:


A family of four with father, mother and two teenage boys.


Myself, an instructor and a divemaster.


Set:


A dive from a shore, in about 20 meters of depth.

Background Information:

The family of four had just completed Advanced Open Water the day prior, today would just be some fun diving.

I was told and under the belief that the divemaster would be my designated dive buddy.


The Near-Miss:


The father and two teenage boys with the scooters head off in another direction with the instructor, disappearing from view in the misty low visibility.


The mother and the divemaster stay close to a reef to cruise and observe the marine life.


A near-incident unfolds as I remain close to the mother and divemaster.


I check my SPG, less than 100 BAR remaining in my aluminum 80, at approximately 20 meters of depth. Experience and familiarity with my own gas consumption rates tells me that I must begin the return swim, very soon, to surface with at least 50 BAR in reserve.


I show the divemaster my SPG. She reads it.


Message sent, but my intended message not 100% received.


“We should start ascending.” I write on my wrist slate and show it to the Divemaster, who is with the mother.


“OK” she signals, not meaning “OK, let’s ascend together” as I assume, but, “You’re OK, STAY.”

My mind tells me:


In a fortunate scenario I WILL be running below the 50 bar reserve pressure by the time of surfacing if I stay at the depth and continue the dive, with the divemaster and the mother.


In an unfortunate scenario, I will be going out of gas at depth, and then depending on the other divers to share gas with me to assist my return journey.


I signal the Divemaster again. The SPG. We should begin the return journey.


Nothing. I read that she intends to continue the dive and stay with the mother.


It hit me. Rock bottom. I must end the dive on my own and surface before running out of gas.

Beginning my ascent to the surface immediately, I lose depth at a low ascent rate while venting from my BCD.


I shake my underwater signaling device, attempting to get the attention of the Divemaster, still hoping she would make the ascent with me, who is still with the mother, and about 10 meters below. Her face is turned in my direction, thus I believe she notices my signaling.


Still with the mother, she fully does not intend to make the return journey with me.

I continue alone.


I continue my ascent to the surface, losing the divemaster and the mother in the misty visibility.


Deploying my SMB and surfacing after the safety stop, I see the Divemaster approximately 10 meters away, at the surface.

My SPG reads nearly exactly 50 BAR.


Swimming back to the entry point, walking back to the gearing-up location is uneventful.

The Talk:


I describe to the divemaster, what happened as I interpreted and experienced.

The Divemaster:


“80 bar is enough to make the rest of the dive and surface with the group.”


“From what I saw of you, with your arms flailing about, you panicked.”


“You panicked and shot to the surface.”


“You put me at risk, and everyone else in the group at risk.”


“In a situation like this, you should stay close to the group, where someone can much more likely assist you.”


“You didn’t even check your compass heading, instead of swimming back to the entry, you swam out into the bay.”

What's your perspective on this?

Thanks !!

 

[lowviz]

...//...
A family of four with father, mother and two teenage boys....//...

The family of four had just completed Advanced Open Water the day prior, ...//...

The father and two teenage boys with the scooters head off in another direction with the instructor, disappearing from view in the misty low visibility. ...//...

Yes, you put them at risk.

 

[supergaijin]

Funny for the DM to say that you panicked and shot to the surface... and yet you had the wits to deploy an SMB and saw the DM on the surface. The timing is not quite right on that one.

At the very least, I would not go diving with this DM again. It doesn't sound like she knows much about what she's doing and is quick to blame others to cover up her own mistakes as a guide.

During the briefing what was the agreed turn around pressure? 80bar?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

My take: You did it! You followed THE most important rule of all in diving.. made it to the surface with 50 bar...everything else doesn't matter.

 

[requin02]

Did you discuss the turnaround pressure before the dive? 100 bar should be the turnaround for about any dive, ascend a bit and swim back. Good decision making on your part though.

r.

 

[TSandM]

First off, you got to the surface with an adequate gas reserve. That's the #1 imperative, and you carried it out. Kudos to you.

It sounds as though this is a classic case of not doing enough communication and planning before getting in the water. Everyone should have known who their buddy or buddies were, and what the gas plan was, and what was going to happen when someone reached minimum gas. If it's all discussed ahead of time, then it's clear.

I can't say anything about whether you executed your ascent in good order or not -- only your profile can tell us that. But even if your ascent wasn't perfect, surfacing BEFORE you were dangerously low on gas was good judgment.

 

[Divejones]

just curious

What was their individual pressures on the surface ? was it 50 (give or take a couple)? if yes then probably i tend to see some point in the DM's opinion, a point to ponder for you.

 

[lowviz]

...//...It hit me. Rock bottom. I must end the dive on my own and surface before running out of gas. ...//...

I owe you a better answer than you got in my first post. First of all, both dive professionals were playing "trust-me" tour guides in your scenario. Avoid them in the future unless you want to go on "trust-me" dives.

Rock-bottom is pretty much what it sounds like. It is the absolute minimum amount of gas in your tank(s) to get you and your buddy safely to the surface while completing all required stops and one safety stop. If you turn a dive (with an OOA buddy) at rock bottom, you and your buddy hit the surface with nothing in reserve. Rock-bottom, the end. 'Rock Bottom' is not some comfortable safety factor that more than a few poorly informed people seem to believe. It is the last exit on the road to hell. You need to know this number before you descend so that you don't have to figure it out 'on the fly' if something goes wrong.

You were not at rock bottom when you ended the dive. However, you responded completely appropriately as you signaled then surfaced when you felt that you had entered an unacceptable 'low gas' situation.

Nicely done.

As you become more skilled in calculating required gas loads, you will see why the DM did not share your concern. However, when you thumbed the dive due to a valid concern, the DM was totally wrong to let you ascend alone.

Sounds like you were the only one thinking on that dive...

 

[agilis]

Sounds like a disorganized dive with no real planning. All basic arrangements and plans should have been made and clearly understood before anyone entered the water. One thing that was not clear is the sequence leading to your 50 bar status. I'm assuming you started somewhere over 200 bar, and that you noticed the spg reading dropping gradually. As it dropped closer to the 50 bar level I'd expect that the dive's progress should be heading back toward shore. Certainly not still heading out into the bay. The instructor is absolutely wrong in suggesting that you stay with the group expecting someone to help you. That is an assumption that will get you killed. I suggest in future dives you watch your spg like a hawk. It is your primary responsibility.

 

[lobbolt]

During the briefing what was the agreed turn around pressure? 80bar?

There was no mentioned turnaround pressure during the briefing.

It sounds as though this is a classic case of not doing enough communication and planning before getting in the water. Everyone should have known who their buddy or buddies were, and what the gas plan was, and what was going to happen when someone reached minimum gas. If it's all discussed ahead of time, then it's clear.


I can't say anything about whether you executed your ascent in good order or not -- only your profile can tell us that. But even if your ascent wasn't perfect, surfacing BEFORE you were dangerously low on gas was good judgment.

What was really shocking to me was that the dive professionals who were involved were very experienced, yet this near-miss due to lack of communication still occurred.

I owe you a better answer than you got in my first post. First of all, both dive professionals were playing "trust-me" tour guides in your scenario. Avoid them in the future unless you want to go on "trust-me" dives.


Rock-bottom is pretty much what it sounds like. It is the absolute minimum amount of gas in your tank(s) to get you and your buddy safely to the surface while completing all required stops and one safety stop. If you turn a dive (with an OOA buddy) at rock bottom, you and your buddy hit the surface with nothing in reserve. Rock-bottom, the end. 'Rock Bottom' is not some comfortable safety factor that more than a few poorly informed people seem to believe. It is the last exit on the road to hell. You need to know this number before you descend so that you don't have to figure it out 'on the fly' if something goes wrong.


You were not at rock bottom when you ended the dive. However, you responded completely appropriately as you signaled then surfaced when you felt that you had entered an unacceptable 'low gas' situation.


Nicely done.


As you become more skilled in calculating required gas loads, you will see why the DM did not share your concern. However, when you thumbed the dive due to a valid concern, the DM was totally wrong to let you ascend alone.


Sounds like you were the only one thinking on that dive...

Thank you


What shocked me was that these were experienced and not newly certified dive professionals.


Yet, the "trust me" dive still lives on.


I dived under the belief that the dive pros in this situation implicitly understood that "Any diver can call any dive at any time, for any reason."


A major incorrect assumption, as proven.


My major impression learned from this situation is that dive pros may place commercial concerns, in this case, not willing to abort the dive "early" (probably due to the paying clients: the family of 4) at a higher priority than the potential safety of a single diver out of the group.


After the incident the divemaster's husband, who is at the very highest levels in the PADI hierarchy and a technical dive instructor and I shared a long discussion about the incident. I have the idea to seek technical dive training from this instructor, but perhaps it may not be a prudent idea? What are your thoughts on this?