Very well described, Bren. Indeed !!!This is what struck me most ----
"How far am I from the surface and as much air as I can get down my neck, and how long will it take me to get there?" - fatal!!! Need to get a grip.
Exactly <<need to get a grip>> How does one survive that? It is not easy at that point and I think it is purely mental training and lots of discipline.
This is exactly what I went trough about 3 years ago. Down around 30m in cold murky water about 10 km out on lake Erie. When I tried going up (or so I taught), the up line broke. Dive boat was tied right to a mooring block. The skipper didn't want to damage the wreck with the anchor. When I was trying to pull my self up (my mistake, I should try to ascend up), I got the end of the line in my hand. OOPS, looked at the depth gauge and saw that I was still at the same depth. I felt the beating of my hearth like the some one going at it with a sludge hammer and increasing by the second. I managed to start an ascent, but by the time I was at 20 or 18 meters, I started hyperventilating and the pulse must have been up there. I confess that although I had the urge to go up I managed to calm my self and get under control. That's when your phrase "get a grip" came in handy Bren. I was sucking on that DV so bad that another diver offered his octo. I managed without and refused to take it. I still remember him being puzzled by all the bubbles coming out of my reg. I figured if this isn't enough how is it that his DV is going to be better? I managed to carry on with my own equipment and even managed to calm myself well before the safety stop (6 meters).
To this day I don't know what it was that got the hearth rate going. That was the fuse that triggered the rest. May be fear of not having enough gas; may be concern of not making it back up to the surface or a combination?
I doubt that at that depth narcosis is a factor. I know that the urge to go up quickly was "almost" overwhelming. This is great that people share these experiences because others can learn and evaluate the problems to avoid future crises.
Save diving to all
Lawrence