near messes....?

[rebelrph]

I had this thought as I was reading the "Helpful Hints for new divers" thread.
Keep in mind the purpose of this is accident or problem prevention rather than re-hashing of bad or potentially harmful events.

Question is... What are some of the common diving errors and events you have personally seen or experienced that you would like to pass along with hopes of preventing others from doing the same thing(s)?

Example of near messes in my short diving "career"

1) While in Coz a couple of years ago another diver lagged behind on a drift dive at the Columbia Deep site. I happened to notice him descending far below the rest - obviously narced and unnoticed by DM - he was at 145 when I caught him to bring him up. No problems though.

2) As I reported elsewhere on my Thanksgiving trip to Cancun 2 "renegade divers" got swept away by the current on a drift dive and luckily we had an excellent and experienced captain who followed them and picked them up before coming to get the rest of us.

As I said my hope here is to forewarn newer divers
of the possibilities and ease of making mistakes.
Also, for the more seasoned divers to be reminded that when diving with less experienced divers to be on the look out for such things....

Thanks

todd

 

[Warhammer]

Be careful while scootering. My buddy had a little run-in with a scooter a while back. He was crusing along at 50ft, probably been down 20 minutes at the time, when all of a sudden he was headed up fast! So fast that there was no chance in me catching him. Thinking, he aimed the scooter down and reached for his BC deflator, but was unable to stop his ascent. The inflator hose had gotten tangled in the scooter and had inflated his BC. When he hit the surface, he came out of the water at least waist high, according to bystanders. Luckily he was unharmed, but it sure gave us a scare.

 

[Fishkiller]

always make sure your spare air is full BEFORE you get into the water..

 

[miked]

The tip:
If you feel like you are tangled, or caught on something , don't just try to force your way free.

The near mess:
While diving the Antilla in Aruba, my buddy's console caught at the bottom of a V-shaped break in the wreckage. Obviously unaware of the problem, he kept moving forward until the hose was stretched to full length, at which point he was stopped. Instead of backtracking to free himself, he -without even trying to turn around- began to yank on the HP hose. I was about 5' behind him at the time, caught up and pulled him towards the entanglement, then freed the console.
Back on the boat, he showed me the slice in the hose (thankfully not all the way through).
As the thread is titled, a near mess.
Miked

 

[peter]

A few years back a mate and I were diving a wreck, while doing so we keep a look out for fishing tackle, it keeps us supplied with sinkers and makes the dive site a little safer also. I watched as he was cutting off the fishing line and following it to the prized sinker. We were close to the sandy bottom and he was in a kneeling position and slowly sinking, as he did this I just happened to look down to where he was going to land and saw the worlds biggest stone fish. I pushed him out of the way and pointed out the killer beasty to him. The look on his face said it all. It does pay to keep a look out as to where you are going to place your hands or settle on the bottom.


PS as this is a very popular swimming area for people with small chillins, and the exposed wrecks we were diving on are used by snorklers from a local resort, unfortunately we decided to remove the stone fish for good, a decison we did not want to make.

 

[Bob3]

always make sure your spare air is full BEFORE you get into the water..

Why? Would it REALLY make that much difference?? :devilish: :tease:

 

[DEEP SEA]

Never enter a cave with just a dive light. I did and learned an exciting lesson. Took me about 15 minutes to find my way back out and I was beyond scared and close to panic. When I seen my tank pressure down to 500 psi and still looking for the way out, a cold sweat started to build in me. A line secured to the opening would have been nice and if I did not silt the entire cave up, I would have felt a little better. As it was, I am lucky to be typing this message!

 

[rebelrph]

I guess this wasn't a good topic after all!!

Oh well, maybe next time.


Todd

 

[Greg G.]

Make sure your "relief" zipper on your dry suit is closed before entering the water.

Originally posted by rebelrph
I had this thought as I was reading the "Helpful Hints for new divers" thread.
Keep in mind the purpose of this is accident or problem prevention rather than re-hashing of bad or potentially harmful events.

Question is... What are some of the common diving errors and events you have personally seen or experienced that you would like to pass along with hopes of preventing others from doing the same thing(s)?


Thanks

todd

 

[Scottri]

Always know where you are and what the current it doing.

I was diving with my wife on the Oregon coast using a finger jetty to shield us from the outgoing tide. She was behind me manning the game bag and I went swimming after a ling cod. I was focused on the fish and not the current. I got to the end of the jetty and the outgoing current caught me and took me for a thrill ride out to sea. I couldn't swim against it so I had to surface and work my way back and over the jetty to find me wife who was much smatter than me and stayed against the rock. I thought she got caught in the current as well. Scared the hell out of both of us. I now just let fish go if it's unsafe.


Scott