Hello,
I thought I would probably never write this, but I hope it might help one or two others, as well as being a cathartic excercise for me.
Some minor background: I consider myself an active and experienced diver - I qualified 3/4 years ago and have around 240 dives in Asia - in 2007 I racked up 100 dives split roughly equally between boats and shore dives. I have all my own gear and feel comfortable in the water.
So last week I went on my second diving holiday in the year, which I briefly recounted here
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/zen-divers/232243-tokara-nakanoshima-trip-photos.html#post3536564
What I neglected to mention is a nasty shore dive where I panicked and came much closer to leaving this beautiful planet than I dreamt in my worst nightmares. It was too choppy for our little boat, so we went down to a new dive site for a shore dive. I've dived in some rough conditions in Japan so the breakers didn't bother me in the slightest.
What I *should* have noticed on the entrance was there was only a 5-10m band of clear water than was safe to entry/exit through, bracketed by some shallow water, rocky outcrops and 3-4 foot wave/breakers.
Due to my complacency I didn't register this, so did the dive and coming back missed the entry point with the complex geological formations. The dive was max depth 20m and after about 30 mintes I was down to 50 bar. With all the splashing white water and surge on the shallow rocks I decided to ascend slowly and check out our location prior to exiting.
So I did this, and found myself in the wrong area, and buffetted by strong waves. Retrospectively, if I had assessed the dive site properly I would have descended, swam to the entry point and exited that way. Since I didn't, I decided to swim to shore (only 50 yards) and deal with the breakers.
I inflated my wing fully, and the first thing that happened is I arrived at some shallow water > heavy breakers and I got smashed into the rock, and lost my first fin. A little perturbed, I tried to catch my breath and bam, my mask was ripped off too. More perturbed, my breathing quicked and I continued towards shore only to have my other fin ripped off and got thrown around a bit more.
I will be completely honest and admit I totally panicked here, I was getting smashed around, lost locomotion and the ability to descend easily and lost the ability to think rationally. I didn't have my regulator in (despite 30-40 bar left), I didn't ride the breakers to shore, I didn't do anything right whatsoever.
From surfacing to getting into this state only took 2-3 minutes.
I yelled at my buddy in complete and utter panic, I thought I was going to die.... I actually pee'd myself, such was my loss of bodily control. Fortunately for me my buddy came and got me and it was all I could do to avoid jumping on him and pushing him down into the water to help me get further out [the survival instinct was just so strong]. That was the one part of my training (from Rescue diver) that kicked in during the panic and I managed to avoid doing that. He got me to a safe point (a ridiculously short 20-30 yards) and I struggled out of the water. It is no exaggeration to say I couldn't move for 20 minutes - my legs were jelly and I clung to that rock for dear life, heart pounding, head thumping and still utterly petrified.
After I calmed down, everything was fine, though I still managed to twist my ankle and remove my ability to walk for the next 3 days - whether that was in the water or on the beach I have no idea whatsoever.
Thinking back rationally I should have been in no danger at all and I realise I made a number of stupid mistakes, almost all through complacency. I probably could have rescued my
myself in under 60 seconds had I kept a clear head. Here they are, I just hope someone in a similar situation to me might find some use:
1. Always assess the entry/exit conditions on a beach dive properly and plan your exit throughly
2. Don't panic - it achieves nothing and puts you and your buddy in significantly more danger
3. Call the turn well before half tank pressure to give ample time to find the way back evenin tough nav. conditions.
4. Secure mask more tightly on rough beach exits!
5. My regulator is an air source below and above the surface (sounds stupid I know, but why didn't I put it in?
)
6. Consider using a weight-belt instead of tank strap weights for shore dives
7. Thumb the dive before starting if the conditions look bad.
Regards
Geoff.
PS. My life-saving buddy will be receiving a nice thankyou in the near future.
I thought I would probably never write this, but I hope it might help one or two others, as well as being a cathartic excercise for me.
Some minor background: I consider myself an active and experienced diver - I qualified 3/4 years ago and have around 240 dives in Asia - in 2007 I racked up 100 dives split roughly equally between boats and shore dives. I have all my own gear and feel comfortable in the water.
So last week I went on my second diving holiday in the year, which I briefly recounted here
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/zen-divers/232243-tokara-nakanoshima-trip-photos.html#post3536564
What I neglected to mention is a nasty shore dive where I panicked and came much closer to leaving this beautiful planet than I dreamt in my worst nightmares. It was too choppy for our little boat, so we went down to a new dive site for a shore dive. I've dived in some rough conditions in Japan so the breakers didn't bother me in the slightest.
What I *should* have noticed on the entrance was there was only a 5-10m band of clear water than was safe to entry/exit through, bracketed by some shallow water, rocky outcrops and 3-4 foot wave/breakers.
Due to my complacency I didn't register this, so did the dive and coming back missed the entry point with the complex geological formations. The dive was max depth 20m and after about 30 mintes I was down to 50 bar. With all the splashing white water and surge on the shallow rocks I decided to ascend slowly and check out our location prior to exiting.
So I did this, and found myself in the wrong area, and buffetted by strong waves. Retrospectively, if I had assessed the dive site properly I would have descended, swam to the entry point and exited that way. Since I didn't, I decided to swim to shore (only 50 yards) and deal with the breakers.
I inflated my wing fully, and the first thing that happened is I arrived at some shallow water > heavy breakers and I got smashed into the rock, and lost my first fin. A little perturbed, I tried to catch my breath and bam, my mask was ripped off too. More perturbed, my breathing quicked and I continued towards shore only to have my other fin ripped off and got thrown around a bit more.
I will be completely honest and admit I totally panicked here, I was getting smashed around, lost locomotion and the ability to descend easily and lost the ability to think rationally. I didn't have my regulator in (despite 30-40 bar left), I didn't ride the breakers to shore, I didn't do anything right whatsoever.
From surfacing to getting into this state only took 2-3 minutes.
I yelled at my buddy in complete and utter panic, I thought I was going to die.... I actually pee'd myself, such was my loss of bodily control. Fortunately for me my buddy came and got me and it was all I could do to avoid jumping on him and pushing him down into the water to help me get further out [the survival instinct was just so strong]. That was the one part of my training (from Rescue diver) that kicked in during the panic and I managed to avoid doing that. He got me to a safe point (a ridiculously short 20-30 yards) and I struggled out of the water. It is no exaggeration to say I couldn't move for 20 minutes - my legs were jelly and I clung to that rock for dear life, heart pounding, head thumping and still utterly petrified.
After I calmed down, everything was fine, though I still managed to twist my ankle and remove my ability to walk for the next 3 days - whether that was in the water or on the beach I have no idea whatsoever.
Thinking back rationally I should have been in no danger at all and I realise I made a number of stupid mistakes, almost all through complacency. I probably could have rescued my
myself in under 60 seconds had I kept a clear head. Here they are, I just hope someone in a similar situation to me might find some use:
1. Always assess the entry/exit conditions on a beach dive properly and plan your exit throughly
2. Don't panic - it achieves nothing and puts you and your buddy in significantly more danger
3. Call the turn well before half tank pressure to give ample time to find the way back evenin tough nav. conditions.
4. Secure mask more tightly on rough beach exits!
5. My regulator is an air source below and above the surface (sounds stupid I know, but why didn't I put it in?
)6. Consider using a weight-belt instead of tank strap weights for shore dives
7. Thumb the dive before starting if the conditions look bad.
Regards
Geoff.
PS. My life-saving buddy will be receiving a nice thankyou in the near future.
