BettyRubble
Contributor
Good morning all,
In the scheme of things this is minor. But it may help another newbie.
First, I encourage you to blast me. For those of you who like to blast people just for the fun of it, go for it. I've got a thick skin. As you will see, as soon as it happened I flashed back to something I read on these boards and it helped me. So if your commentary helps someone else, it's worth it.
As you undoubtedly know by now, I'm a newbie -- barely out of cert. So yesterday, I was doing my 5th and 6th dives at a local quarry. Nice weather, ok vis (it had stormed the night before so vis was lower then usual). Second dive of the day had some excitement.
I was diving with a group and will use initials instead of names. Some are members here on the boads and are welcome to share their thoughts if they wish too, but I've not asked if they want their names posted so I'll refrain.
First dive of the day went well. Of the 4 of us there were 2 very experienced divers M & R, and 1 with more experience then I (C) but still new. It went well, we enjoyed it.
On second dive an additional person joined us - S. She was experienced as well. As before the two experienced divers flanked us newbies and we newbies stayed beside each other during the dive. M in front, Me and C, then R & S.
About 30 minutes in, at 46 ft (according to the computer) my weight belt fell off (more on that later). A horrible sight to watch your belt racing for the bottom and in the next 1/2 second realize you are being rushed to the surface.
I did what I read here: put my head towards the sand and kicked my ass off. At that point I was about 3 feet off of a line and managed to kick myself to the line and grab on - just as I got cramps in my leg. I kept chanting don't panic, think. Checked my wrist computer (so glad it wasn't a console as there was no way I was letting go to look!). 46ft. No way I was letting go! I did a little spin on the line to see where everyone else was - did they even know what was happening. I wanted to scream, but knew of course that was useless! LOL
I could see that the two rear divers R &S knew what had happened and that I made it to a line so they were headed for the belt. Then I felt a tug on my back and realized C (my buddy) pulled the dump valves on my BC (I was fully inverted at this point and no way was I dropping the line to pull any fricken valves). Did I mention I was holding on to a line. :blinking:
M, who had been in the lead, said later that when he turned around and saw the line pulled so taunt he knew something wasn't right and that the sight of me fins up was well, 'interesting".
He got to me just as R & S got to me with my belt. It seemed like forever, but I suspect it was about 90 seconds. My buddy stayed with me - the look in both our eyes was HOLY ***** but we were both fairly calm. Don't get me wrong, I was blowing through air like it was free and since the last check of my gauge just before this happened showed about 600 psi, I was more concerned about my air at that point. I also knew my buddy had slightly less then I did as we shared info at that last check. (VERY GOOD THING TO DO) The last thing I wanted was an OOA situation. But figured we had a time before that was an issue.
We managed to get the belt in my hands and since we were about 20 feet down the line from a submerged plane, that is where we headed. M grabbed my bc and I grabbed his and we headed there. Then we grabbed on (actually rammed my head between the split wing, tucked my fins under, and with them holding me down, I attempted to get my belt back on. No luck. M attempted to get my belt on. No luck. So we checked our air and decided to get to an up line and do our best at a ascent. M but the weight belt around my neck, which helped alot vs carrying the weight. C stayed with us, and R & S headed back on their own - under water! LOL M, C & I got to the surface fine, with not much of a safety stop and a long surface swim. But we did a decent ascent, so all was fine.
I was very glad none of us panicked. Equally glad I was with experienced divers. And glad my somewhat lame fins turned out to not be so lame. LOL Glad I make myself hike and workout 3 to 4 times a week so I could kick that hard and glad this incident didn't scare me out of the water for good. In fact, my first thought was, when can I get back in!!!
My analysis so far:
1. New buckle on belt. It was plastic, I stopped at the shop on the way home and bought a metal one. It was on the belt 10 minutes after I walked in the door.
2. Trimmed the strap with a U or V shape so it slides through buckle easier. For whatever reason, it would not 'feed' into the plastic buckle.
2. Have good fins. I'm going to KL next month and have decided to invest in a better pair. Any suggestions?
3. Buy ben gay. My calves are killing me today! LOL
4. Don't panic. Think. Nothing happens underwater that can't be fixed underwater. (Well, almost nothing).
5. Always follow the reserve air rules. We had turned to head back at 1000 psi. My incident happened at about 500 psi. I surfaced with just under 300. My buddy had 200 psi.
6. Thank veteran divers for helping newbies. I am so glad M, R, S, & C were with me. It was a team effort. And I know I am going to be grateful for your comments too.
Ok, let the ripping begin!
PS If C, M, R or S want to add to this, please do. I am sure there are aspects that are incomplete with all my adrenaline pumping!
In the scheme of things this is minor. But it may help another newbie.
First, I encourage you to blast me. For those of you who like to blast people just for the fun of it, go for it. I've got a thick skin. As you will see, as soon as it happened I flashed back to something I read on these boards and it helped me. So if your commentary helps someone else, it's worth it.
As you undoubtedly know by now, I'm a newbie -- barely out of cert. So yesterday, I was doing my 5th and 6th dives at a local quarry. Nice weather, ok vis (it had stormed the night before so vis was lower then usual). Second dive of the day had some excitement.
I was diving with a group and will use initials instead of names. Some are members here on the boads and are welcome to share their thoughts if they wish too, but I've not asked if they want their names posted so I'll refrain.
First dive of the day went well. Of the 4 of us there were 2 very experienced divers M & R, and 1 with more experience then I (C) but still new. It went well, we enjoyed it.
On second dive an additional person joined us - S. She was experienced as well. As before the two experienced divers flanked us newbies and we newbies stayed beside each other during the dive. M in front, Me and C, then R & S.
About 30 minutes in, at 46 ft (according to the computer) my weight belt fell off (more on that later). A horrible sight to watch your belt racing for the bottom and in the next 1/2 second realize you are being rushed to the surface.
I did what I read here: put my head towards the sand and kicked my ass off. At that point I was about 3 feet off of a line and managed to kick myself to the line and grab on - just as I got cramps in my leg. I kept chanting don't panic, think. Checked my wrist computer (so glad it wasn't a console as there was no way I was letting go to look!). 46ft. No way I was letting go! I did a little spin on the line to see where everyone else was - did they even know what was happening. I wanted to scream, but knew of course that was useless! LOL
I could see that the two rear divers R &S knew what had happened and that I made it to a line so they were headed for the belt. Then I felt a tug on my back and realized C (my buddy) pulled the dump valves on my BC (I was fully inverted at this point and no way was I dropping the line to pull any fricken valves). Did I mention I was holding on to a line. :blinking:
M, who had been in the lead, said later that when he turned around and saw the line pulled so taunt he knew something wasn't right and that the sight of me fins up was well, 'interesting".
He got to me just as R & S got to me with my belt. It seemed like forever, but I suspect it was about 90 seconds. My buddy stayed with me - the look in both our eyes was HOLY ***** but we were both fairly calm. Don't get me wrong, I was blowing through air like it was free and since the last check of my gauge just before this happened showed about 600 psi, I was more concerned about my air at that point. I also knew my buddy had slightly less then I did as we shared info at that last check. (VERY GOOD THING TO DO) The last thing I wanted was an OOA situation. But figured we had a time before that was an issue.
We managed to get the belt in my hands and since we were about 20 feet down the line from a submerged plane, that is where we headed. M grabbed my bc and I grabbed his and we headed there. Then we grabbed on (actually rammed my head between the split wing, tucked my fins under, and with them holding me down, I attempted to get my belt back on. No luck. M attempted to get my belt on. No luck. So we checked our air and decided to get to an up line and do our best at a ascent. M but the weight belt around my neck, which helped alot vs carrying the weight. C stayed with us, and R & S headed back on their own - under water! LOL M, C & I got to the surface fine, with not much of a safety stop and a long surface swim. But we did a decent ascent, so all was fine.
I was very glad none of us panicked. Equally glad I was with experienced divers. And glad my somewhat lame fins turned out to not be so lame. LOL Glad I make myself hike and workout 3 to 4 times a week so I could kick that hard and glad this incident didn't scare me out of the water for good. In fact, my first thought was, when can I get back in!!!
My analysis so far:
1. New buckle on belt. It was plastic, I stopped at the shop on the way home and bought a metal one. It was on the belt 10 minutes after I walked in the door.
2. Trimmed the strap with a U or V shape so it slides through buckle easier. For whatever reason, it would not 'feed' into the plastic buckle.
2. Have good fins. I'm going to KL next month and have decided to invest in a better pair. Any suggestions?
3. Buy ben gay. My calves are killing me today! LOL
4. Don't panic. Think. Nothing happens underwater that can't be fixed underwater. (Well, almost nothing).
5. Always follow the reserve air rules. We had turned to head back at 1000 psi. My incident happened at about 500 psi. I surfaced with just under 300. My buddy had 200 psi.
6. Thank veteran divers for helping newbies. I am so glad M, R, S, & C were with me. It was a team effort. And I know I am going to be grateful for your comments too.
Ok, let the ripping begin!
PS If C, M, R or S want to add to this, please do. I am sure there are aspects that are incomplete with all my adrenaline pumping!
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