Snoozing at the safety stop

[terrylowe]

Great conditions at Panama City this weekend. There is often a fairly hard surface current, so a bow line runs from the back to the anchor line to facilitate getting from the entry point to the anchor line. This bow line was attached to the anchor line with a carabiner. I had a normal dive profile to a max of 70 feet with a normal ascent. My buddy and I went back up the anchor line and settled in at 15 feet for our safety stop. At the stop I was relaxing just taking in the dive we had just done. I switched holding hands and continue to hold on to the anchor line and just chill. I did not have any air in my vest as I was weighted fairly well and normally just control buoyancy with my respirations. Well, while daydreaming on the anchor line, I did not realize that I had actually switched my hands to grab the bow line instead of the anchor line. I was a shade negatively buoyant at that point of the dive and wasn't paying attention to my depth of breathing since I was hanging on to the anchor line in smooth seas (the boat was not hopping up and down in waves. I was surprised to find myself at the surface about a minute into my safety stop hanging onto the <#@*% BOW line. I went back down and finished my safety stop.

Lesson learned: No naps under water!!

I realize that some say it's ok to skip the safety stop if a very slow ascent is employed, but I am a safety stop kinda guy....