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Have fun blasting me if you wish. Not the first time, and I know well that some of my actions here violate text book courses. Eh, enough disclaimer...
Screw-up #1...
Diving with my home dive buddy, we have our usual routines of pre-dive gear & tank checks, stopping at 15 ft on descent for him to clear his ears and to double check our gear and tank valves as we like them all the way on - not 1/4 closed, and we communicate our half tanks, then closely watching our air after that. Traveling alone then diving with a Coz group, I generally just try to fit in, do my pic shooting without losing the group, and not get myself into anything I can't get out of easily.
I got to the hotel too late the night before to send my Pony bottle to the compressor and the guy now in charge didn't have the equipment to fill it from other tanks so dove without it first day. Sometimes I think I should be required to dive that baby rig...!
First dive is when I figure out what I forgot, what I wasn't totally prepared for, what I really screwed up, etc - and I covered that very well. It would have been nice to to have had that practice dive weekend in Santa Rosa NM last month, with the newly replaced BC and all, if only it hadn't snowed and my wussy home dive bud canceling, but I try to make a point of surviving even my worst screw ups, like this dive...
I don't know if one can actually simulate the exact drill without actually breathing tank down all the way, as it's different with a real, nearly empty tank than it would be pretending a tank is empty, or even turning the valve off since an open valve gives a little more air from the nearly depleted tank, but it's still a good drill to work on I suppose. How do other practice this? I know, don't get yourself in the position of needing it.
Yeah, ok.
Screw-up #2...
Next day, first dive, saddling up, and I suppose I just forgot to check my own air valve. So very wrong of me, but then I can't get the boat crews to stop sneaking up on me when I'm about to go in to play with them anyway so I guess I have come to accept that the crewman who helps me saddle up my BC & tank just brought from the back of the small boat also turns it own for me. Eh, even with the language challenges, I need to convey that I want to do that myself, then not touch it. I'll try to not forget that before my next trip down there...
I do test breath my regs even when I turn them on tho, as my reg tech once said he could tell from the looks of my reg - that I was doing hard deep breaths before going in, and I was just about to do so on the edge of the boat when the wave knocked me off balance and in early - then the boat on top of me as I tried to suck thru a closed valve. It was all I could do to suck the reg as I did not want to let it out of my mouth - a closed reg still beats seawater, but I kept it in and clawed my way out from under the boat long enough to ask the skipper to "turn my damn air one, please. TY."
Yeah, I know, we should all be able to reach and turn our valves with our BCs on. Maybe I need a shoulder replacement but I never can. My take away here is to take stronger responsibility on my valves no matter how many crewmen I have to ask to leave them alone, then do my test breathing on the bench, before I crawl up to the edge in advance of the back roll.
Screw-up #3...
This is really an extension of the second one in a way, but then - I was amazed to then learn that the skipper turned my valve all the way closed then open 1/4 turn, just assbackwards from normal. I've seen this once, read about it a few times, and now it's happened to me. Not having my regular buddy and routine that includes a all the way open check at 15 ft on descent, I didn't notice it until I was 40 ft down, sucking on a hard reg and watching my air pressure gauge wave at me at I exceeded supply against the water pressure. Used my pony to get down to the others and grabbed one to turn it on for me. Gawd!
Nah, that wasn't all. I'd got a little confused on which mask I applied defog to and which I didn't, but thinking it must have been the red lens that I treated since I didn't expect to go deep, I donned it and stuck the other in my pocket as back up - which meant I went thru the emergency with a badly fogging mask! After the emergency was resolved and I got down to the reef, I finally changed masks at 60 ft. How nice to see again.
I am really a careful diver with a partner, but solo in a loose group - I tend to revert to maverick. That's why I took the Rescue course, to better learn to save myself, but really - I learn more reading from others here, so I am sharing my screw ups to possible help others...
If there is any lessons to be learned here on what I did right thru this series of mistakes, they may be easily overlooked while shaking your head over my mistakes, but here are a couple I think...
Eh, yeah I guess I need to develop instant-boat pick buddy skills. As badly as I can screw up at times tho, I still feel better solo diving in a group than I do with a buddy I don't know.
Screw-up #1...
Diving with my home dive buddy, we have our usual routines of pre-dive gear & tank checks, stopping at 15 ft on descent for him to clear his ears and to double check our gear and tank valves as we like them all the way on - not 1/4 closed, and we communicate our half tanks, then closely watching our air after that. Traveling alone then diving with a Coz group, I generally just try to fit in, do my pic shooting without losing the group, and not get myself into anything I can't get out of easily.
I got to the hotel too late the night before to send my Pony bottle to the compressor and the guy now in charge didn't have the equipment to fill it from other tanks so dove without it first day. Sometimes I think I should be required to dive that baby rig...!
First dive is when I figure out what I forgot, what I wasn't totally prepared for, what I really screwed up, etc - and I covered that very well. It would have been nice to to have had that practice dive weekend in Santa Rosa NM last month, with the newly replaced BC and all, if only it hadn't snowed and my wussy home dive bud canceling, but I try to make a point of surviving even my worst screw ups, like this dive...
Not enough weight, since I wasn't carrying my usual Pony or slightly different BC model - not sure; back to the boat for more lead to drop in my pocket;
Mask strap kept coming loose; I thot I'd replaced that since last trip? Guess not;
Broke the link to my external camera flash; had to switch to internal flash for the rest of the trip
;
Started getting cold as I just didn't wear heavy enough suit; wow, with all the challenges - I am trying to shoot some pics. What else can go wrong?
I could find myself in the terrifying position of sucking a stubborn reg 50 ft down to get air from an nearly empty tank I've neglected to check - and I did!
The Bible says "pride commeth before a fall," somewhere, I'm pretty sure, don't remember where, but when you find it - look for my picture. Not having my usual Pony or regular dive bud, but needing air now, and wasn't sure I could get to another diver quickly enough anyway, I started the CESA I've been meaning to practice from depth at Santa Rosa; practice would have helped, but beginners luck was gratefully appreciated. Just like I've read others share here, as I ascended just fast enough to make my dive computer sound the too-fast alarm, I got more breaths as the residual air in the tank expanded, and I was ascending slow enough that I got ahead exhaling the expanding air in my lungs so I took some shallow ones. Not sure how many, but enough - even had enough to fill my BC on the surface and blow my air whistle once so in retro, I suppose I was dangerously close to out but not totally even at 50 ft to have had that much left. Mask strap kept coming loose; I thot I'd replaced that since last trip? Guess not;
Broke the link to my external camera flash; had to switch to internal flash for the rest of the trip
;Started getting cold as I just didn't wear heavy enough suit; wow, with all the challenges - I am trying to shoot some pics. What else can go wrong?
I could find myself in the terrifying position of sucking a stubborn reg 50 ft down to get air from an nearly empty tank I've neglected to check - and I did!
I don't know if one can actually simulate the exact drill without actually breathing tank down all the way, as it's different with a real, nearly empty tank than it would be pretending a tank is empty, or even turning the valve off since an open valve gives a little more air from the nearly depleted tank, but it's still a good drill to work on I suppose. How do other practice this? I know, don't get yourself in the position of needing it.
Yeah, ok.Screw-up #2...
Next day, first dive, saddling up, and I suppose I just forgot to check my own air valve. So very wrong of me, but then I can't get the boat crews to stop sneaking up on me when I'm about to go in to play with them anyway so I guess I have come to accept that the crewman who helps me saddle up my BC & tank just brought from the back of the small boat also turns it own for me. Eh, even with the language challenges, I need to convey that I want to do that myself, then not touch it. I'll try to not forget that before my next trip down there...
I do test breath my regs even when I turn them on tho, as my reg tech once said he could tell from the looks of my reg - that I was doing hard deep breaths before going in, and I was just about to do so on the edge of the boat when the wave knocked me off balance and in early - then the boat on top of me as I tried to suck thru a closed valve. It was all I could do to suck the reg as I did not want to let it out of my mouth - a closed reg still beats seawater, but I kept it in and clawed my way out from under the boat long enough to ask the skipper to "turn my damn air one, please. TY."
Yeah, I know, we should all be able to reach and turn our valves with our BCs on. Maybe I need a shoulder replacement but I never can. My take away here is to take stronger responsibility on my valves no matter how many crewmen I have to ask to leave them alone, then do my test breathing on the bench, before I crawl up to the edge in advance of the back roll.
Screw-up #3...
This is really an extension of the second one in a way, but then - I was amazed to then learn that the skipper turned my valve all the way closed then open 1/4 turn, just assbackwards from normal. I've seen this once, read about it a few times, and now it's happened to me. Not having my regular buddy and routine that includes a all the way open check at 15 ft on descent, I didn't notice it until I was 40 ft down, sucking on a hard reg and watching my air pressure gauge wave at me at I exceeded supply against the water pressure. Used my pony to get down to the others and grabbed one to turn it on for me. Gawd!
Nah, that wasn't all. I'd got a little confused on which mask I applied defog to and which I didn't, but thinking it must have been the red lens that I treated since I didn't expect to go deep, I donned it and stuck the other in my pocket as back up - which meant I went thru the emergency with a badly fogging mask! After the emergency was resolved and I got down to the reef, I finally changed masks at 60 ft. How nice to see again.
I am really a careful diver with a partner, but solo in a loose group - I tend to revert to maverick. That's why I took the Rescue course, to better learn to save myself, but really - I learn more reading from others here, so I am sharing my screw ups to possible help others...
If there is any lessons to be learned here on what I did right thru this series of mistakes, they may be easily overlooked while shaking your head over my mistakes, but here are a couple I think...
Don't let the reg leave your mouth! I was originally taught to blow a tiny stream of bubbles out on a CESA, but for my money - screw that! Yeah, if you're ascending fast be sure you're exhaling, but do it thru the reg in case you have an uncontrollable urge to inhale. I was indeed in control of my faster than usual ascent, but there was a time or two that my exhaling got ahead of the air expanding in my lungs and I was glad I was able to take those little inhales. And under that boat, I suppose I could have held my mouth shut if I'd lost my reg while clawing out, but I feel better with it in.
Don't panic; just do the next right thing. I'm sure I'll find other ways to screw up as I continue diving, but never give up finding solutions.
Don't panic; just do the next right thing. I'm sure I'll find other ways to screw up as I continue diving, but never give up finding solutions.
Eh, yeah I guess I need to develop instant-boat pick buddy skills. As badly as I can screw up at times tho, I still feel better solo diving in a group than I do with a buddy I don't know.
