Dealing with it

[MATTBIN]

My 'moment', eralier this year at the Farnes. Previous night I noticed the d/s hose was bulging at the 1st stage union so I swapped it over for a spare I had. On the way to the dive I kitted up and checked inflation of suit and wing, all was fine. Dropped off the Rib and descended to 10 mtrs, forgot to hold the shot as well as I was told not to by the skipper (not THE Skipper - Dave). Dropped modrately quickly and squirted gas into the suit, one squirt then nothing, hmm. A few metres later I started to gas up the wing but it didnt arrest my descent and the suit started to squeeze bits that didnt want to be squeezed, more gas into the wing, still nothing but more squeeze. By now I was at 20m and the bottom was at 28m. Finally at 22m the wing brought it all under control and I started to ascend again. I'm glad to say its only a minor moment and during it all I stayed 'calm', I contemplated dropping the weight belt but decided against it. Calm is a relative term and when I got back on the boat having aborted the dive I checked my contents gauge as I couldnt believe the amount of air I had consumed in suchg a short time and all the while I thought I was far away from panic.
It appears that my d/s and my wing have different fittings which are similar but not identical, the valve didnt let any air through after the initial pulse. I had used an 'old' wing hose that I had replaced when I inverted my tanks and needed a longer one.
Moral - give your kit a damn good check and stay with your Buddy.

Matt

[Juz]

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

On the floor was a nice, shiney UK SL4 someone else had dropped

Someone was on your side that day!!

Juz

[Dinger]

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

It was dimming quickly as I went and I knew that if it did there was no way I'd find my stages -- and knew there wasn't enough in my twinset to reach the exit never mind do the deco, especially if following a line in the dark. If the light went out before I got there then I was pretty much dead. So I'm swimming and the light is fading and must admit I was a little, er, concerned! Just before it went out I saw this flash of green on the floor, I swam flat out for it, praying it was what I thought. On the floor was a nice, shiney UK SL4 someone else had dropped, I flicked the switch and when the light came on I can't describe how happy I was. I swear I never saw it on the way in, but it was there when I needed it and it was enough to find my bottles.

Stuart mate you had my sphinter tighten up just reading that - you'd have to strip Andrea Corr naked and throw her into the back of the cave before I would get into one - the idea of cave diving makes me shudder
Dinger

[beanie]

Originally Posted by Dinger

Stuart mate you had my sphinter tighten up just reading that - you'd have to strip Andrea Corr naked and throw her into the back of the cave before I would get into one - the idea of cave diving makes me shudder
Dinger

cave divings fine so long as you've got all your gas with you

it's leaving your stages lying around which makes me shudder - read the Last dive which ready makes you think I'll leave them bolted on

[Janos]

I had a 'five clang' dive in low viz earlier this year.

Clang 1: Can't go forward
Clang 2: Can't go left
Clang 3: Can't go right
Clang 4: Can't go up
Clang 5: Crap me pants

I'd accidentally gone inside when I didn't mean to. Now I always reel of in low viz and am a lot more cautious when under the water.

Laters,
Janos

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by Dinger

Stuart mate you had my sphinter tighten up just reading that - you'd have to strip Andrea Corr naked and throw her into the back of the cave before I would get into one - the idea of cave diving makes me shudder
Dinger

Chuck in her sisters and I might follow

[narked at 90]

I've had a couple that have given me the heeby geebys,and as it happens both have been in Thailand!
the first was the last but one dive on a liver-board, we had a really nice dive apart from the currant was running really hard so we spent the last part of the dive hiding,just before we start to asend...70bar left i got my self the wrong side of nowhere and cought a massive down currant.before i know whats going on I'm hitting 50m with 50 bar with no back up no bail out and no buddy.....my buddy was the dive guide who just turned away, as i was franticly trying to signal help,i manage to get back to the surface alone by luck and was given a dressing down for surfacing alone..at this point i was mad at my self and my so called buddy/guide. to me if are my buddy you need to be my buddy when the shit hits the fan,not say you have a group of 5 people.
sorry but they are all Q divers in buddy pairs on ascent,and I'm the one on the way to the bottom........
the second was a cave dive,i was reluctant to do the dive as I've never thought of cave diving, but a buddy wanted to do the dive but the instructors wouldn't do the dive with just one, so i felt pressured to do the dive,
it wasn't deep and i don't want to go into the do's and dont's but we dropped down to 18m then proceeded into a cave,about 70m my torch was playing up so i gave it a few slaps but it continued to flicker,then next thing i remember was being wrenched back wards,i have at this point no idea what had happened apart from I'm now looking at the cave roof and I'm court......
i didn't go into full panic but was very close(i think if i didn't keep my relative cool i would be dead)what had happened was there was very old line that was placed in the cave but it was a floater! and was covered in bits of life,so just didn't see it above me until it had caught around my pillor valve,i had taken in any slack then it pulled me over onto my back as i watched to lights of the others go on...i nearly siht a bicrk!
it turned out to be easy just a loop that came undone with no problem,i caute up with every one and it turned out to be the best dive i have ever done,
after surfacing inside a massive cavern and talking for a wile about what had just happened,the return was amazing coming from the black-ness the cave entrance was the most amazing jagged vivid blue and just as i was thinking this was the most but was very close(i think if i didn't keep my relative cool i would be dead)what had happened was there was very old line that was placed in the cave but it was a floater! and was covered in bits of life,so just didn't see it above me until it had caute around my pillor valve,i had taken in any slack then it pulled me over onto my back as i watched to lights of the others go on...i nearly siht a bicrk!
it turned out to be easy just a loop that came undone with no problem,i caute up with every one and it turned out to be the best dive i have ever done,
after surfacing inside a massive cavern and talking for a wile about what had just happened,the return was amazing coming from the black-ness the cave entrance was the most amazing jagged vivid blue and just as i was thinking this was the most beautiful thing in had ever seen a leopard shark came silhouetted thought the entrance toward me, as i watched this black beautiful shape come toward me framed in this amazing blue picture.it took my breath away.i guess the Adrenalin + relief + beauty added up to the most amazing dive but the most scary
best narked at 90

[KimH]

I've done this one before so don't really want to go into major detail again but it was a few years ago now and had to drag the missus out after she suffered a pulmonary odoema, at the time it could have been anything.

It could easily have been the worst experience but was probably one of the best in a strange sort of way. Thankfully the training kicked in and all was well, eventually, and I realised that I could perform in crisis, even when the "victim" is someone close.

I also learnt there is no susbstitute for experience, all the training in the world never prepares you for when it goes truly pear shaped.

[MattS]

Stuart howd ya fancy picking my lottery numbers ;-)

1. Second open water dive ever one january in Portland harbour. Instructors buddy line snapped during descent leaving me on the bottom in 0 vis, no torch, no depth gauge and no idea of what I should do. Ascending seemed a good idea at the time.

2. Nine months later now a Sport Diver, some island off Oban. The wall was 43m deep and I had only dived to 30m max by this time - once in excellent conditions. I carefully agreed a plan with the Sport Diver buddying me. He wanted to go deep so I agreed to go to 35m but only if I was happy at 25 and 30m. We swam into the wall signalled Ok and he descended like a brick. I went with the training mantra 'do not lose your buddy' So swimming down into his bubble trail trying to catch him, it is getting darker and colder. I remember looking at my gauge and seeing 25m. Next thing I am at 21m, ascending with my gauge saying 36m max and the rapid alarm blinking. I have no recollection of anything between 25m - 36m - 21m, I have no memory of inflating my stab or suit. I was convinced I was going to get bent and the swim up to 6m was the worse experience of my life. I very nearly gave up diving for good. I sat at 6m breathing down my gas convinced this was all my fault. Luckily a couple of other divers saw it happen and the Dive Marchal on the boat was very supportive so I climbed back on the horse the next day.

Lessons a plenty but the main one was that the buddy system only works when both divers are using it. I was pretty much self sufficient by the start of the next summer and have been pursueing that ever since. I don't think it lets you off being a good buddy though. I never want someone diving with me to have to feel as bad as I did swimming up to that stop. I pretty much have two modes of diving now, buddy diver and in the vicinity diver. I also memorise my dive plan and stick to it rigidly, I tend to think that knowing the plan is what saved me whilst I was non compus mentis. I looked into how narcossis interacts with stress, reading more psychology books than is probably healthy. I still think that Sport Diver is about the most dangerous qualification you can have, you are exploring your limits and it is very easy to explore a llittle too far. I do my best to help Sport divers get past the danger zone safely - pretty much the reason I stay in a club.

3. Seven years later, Tec qualified to the hilt and not afraid to use it. Truk lagoon. There is a wreck (name escapes me) with a compressor that looks like R2D2 on it. It sits in a workshop off the engine room and is a must see attraction. So I get the directions from the DM and jump in on the bow heading for the engine room. Found the engine, turn left, down a couple steps...hmm not the open room the DM talked about...some more stairs to the left lets see what is down there then. I come out on a catwalk in a room with plenty of light coming in and some dirt big bits of machinery so decided to have a look - as you do. It was abit tight following the catwalk but I kept checking behind to make sure I had kept the water clear. Happy I had seen what there was to see I truned around and started following the catwalk back. I went through a silt cloud where a couple of other divers had poked their heads in and stirred thinngs up. The next thing I know I am on the opposite wall having missed my exit. No problem I will just swim up to where the light is coming in. I found lots of holes but no way a diver was going to get through one. At this point, realising I did not knwo where the exit was, I lost it! I swam back and forth like a headless chicken for about 30 seconds doing nothing more than destroying the vis. It was not until after I had completely disoriented myself that the training kicked in. Right I have twin 12s and about an hour of air. The best way to get out is search methodically, so pick a wall and work from there. By the time I got back to the catwalk a few minutes later the silt cloud had subsided and I found the exit I had swam past earlier. I sat on the deco stop kicking myself for both losing it and not using a line. I had done plenty of penetrations in the UK and no way would I have gone in without a line if the water had been green rather than blue. Back on the surface it turns out the DM always does R2D2 on his way back from the stern, I had gone from the bow and ended up in a room marked in the guide book with a skull and cross-bones!

Lessons - The difference between being calm, collected, in full control of your destiny and transforming into a gibbering idiot is about 1 micro second. I already knew the risks are the same even when the water is warm and blue - I just chose to forget it on this dive and it almost killed me. I have the complete event on video tape so hopefully I will not forget again.

Dive safe.