Peer Pressure in Chuuk

[AmyDelyla]

Well I found out at dinner last night that this guy actually ran out of air on the Nippo dive as well. He blew off some of his deco time because of this and then did his safety stop on the hang tank that was at 15ft...Oh dear.

He is okay. I guess he was mostly on oxygen do to a complaint of a massive headache afterwards. He was up and about yesterday evening and is flying out today. All is well that ends well, I guess.

So...If you do the Fujikawa at night, you will see all sorts of strange, unbelievable creatures that don't seem like they should exist in reality. I felt like I was in some psychologically damaged 13-year-old's technicolor, syfy cartoon. It was great.

Funny how one little decision can lead to really great or really bad things. Because I didn't do the SF Maru, I got three dives that day instead of 1 and 1/2 like everyone else. They were all awesome and all private tours. Can't beat that!

Thanks to everyone for your imput and advice. I'm going to do Shark Island this afternoon to close out my diving experience here with something a little different and then back to Pohnpei tomorrow. I think I will need to return to this lovely diving paradise soon.

 

[RJP]

Well I found out at dinner last night that this guy actually ran out of air on the Nippo dive as well. He blew off some of his deco time because of this and then did his safety stop on the hang tank that was at 15ft...Oh dear.

I typically hate to be the "I-told-you-so" type - and this is obviously not aimed at you - but as was pointed out last night...

So, with the choices being "bent" or "drowned" I think your decision to "pass" was the right one.

If this guy's poor dive planning skills and lack of situational awareness are causing him to go OOA and blow off stops he has no business doing ANY dive in Truk, much less deco dives to 165fsw.

I hope he's OK of course, but I also hope he has the courage to tell everyone and anyone who will listen how s**t-awful stupid he was...but I rather suspect he'll simply brag about how deep he went.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

....I also hope he has the courage to tell everyone and anyone who will listen how s**t-awful stupid he was...but I rather suspect he'll simply brag about how deep he went.

There are not enough people who will step up to the plate to admit stupidity....He'll end up telling others about the kind of dive he did (and omit the bad part).....and might actually get someone else to disregard the training needed to do that kind of dive safely....

 

[Van Isle]

AmyDelyla: I really hope you've realized how your instincts in this instance caused you to seriously dodge what would have been a very bad bullet.

When I travel I really have to be in the mindset that this trip is *not* that last time I'll visit a place, otherwise I'll only ever be upset at having to miss some of the good stuff. Celebrate the great stuff you did/are doing (congrats!) and keep a bucket list of to-dos for the next time. The first trip somewhere for me is always a recce, even if I know I'll never in a coon's age be back again. Sounds like you're learning/already have a good attitude.

VI

 

[Kevrumbo]

Nippo Maru for 15min bottom time at 140'; SAC rate 0.5cf/min; Air backgas; Ratio Deco 1:1 . . .:

Dpth'/Time(min):
140 15
130 0.3
120 0.3
110 0.3
100 0.5 [75% Deep Stop]
90 0.5
80 1.0
70 2.0 [Eanx 50 switch]
60 1.0
50 1.0
40 1.0
30 2.0
20 3.0
10 3.0
-> 3.0 surface

Total Time: 34min
Double AL80's plus AL40 deco bottle of eanx50
Eanx 50 needed: 16cf
Backgas needed for deco (loss of Eanx50 bottle): 77cf

No wonder your friend, on only a single AL80 cylinder ran out of air. . .

 

[Bogie]

Good decision and thanks for sharing your story.

We are responsible for taking care of ourselves. No one can make a stupid or smart decision on your life but you. I have read " Diver Down" and learned a lot. It seems stupid decisions, for whatever reason, is the cause of most diver deaths.

You made an incredible smart decision.

 

[scubafanatic]

If this guy's poor dive planning skills and lack of situational awareness are causing him to go OOA and blow off stops he has no business doing ANY dive in Truk, much less deco dives to 165fsw.

.....or better yet, I'd broaden that statement to not not just diving in Truk, but pretty much any diving anywhere! It's also wierd that someone who can afford to go to Truk wouldn't have a fancy air-integrated dive computer with all sorts of fancy 'approaching deco/approaching out-of-gas limits' audible/flashing alarms to help keep one somewhat situationally aware....which is pretty much standard issue gear for the typical 'financially blessed' recreational diver...

 

[ScubaInChicago]

All the fancy bells and whistles of dive computers mean nothing if the computer wired between your ears isn't smart enough to know what's wrong.



If you are new to something (or just plain ignorant) and all this information is flying at you, but have no experience to comprehend what's happening.....where does it leave you?????

 

[Katamuki]

Or your too narced to care...

 

[NCadiver]

AmyDelyla you did the right thing. It a great dive and I had to do it because I live in San Francisco and I do have some tech training and I sat out the next dive. Two of my friends pass on that dive and they have a lot of experience but they were not confortabe with the depths, which is fine.
Now you have a reason to go back and get some more training a good diver is always learning.