100' of viz and the scariest dive of my life?

[DocWong]

Yes, 100' of viz, but not here in Monterey, but in Cozumel. Water was calm, viz incredible, but I had my sister with me...

This was her 3rd dive after being certified over 20 years ago, even with me getting her into a pool to practice skills and then doing an official refresher course on our cruise ship, (which I thought was very good-PADI) I wanted her to do only very shallow dives, but no she "had" to dive Cozumel on a dive that was on the edge of a wall. Though only 60', the wall went a lot deeper than that.

So we get into the water, and boy, talk about no buoyancy skills. By now I'm deathly afraid of her sinking into the abyss, so I hang onto her the entire dive, working her BCD to keep her neurtral. Finally the dive master calls the dive and we start to ascend. On the way up, her weight belt slips off, I catch it and with one hand hold onto the belt and hang onto her and with the other hand work my wing and hers. We manage a 20' stop and ascend unscathed.

Man, I thought I've done some difficult dives before, but this ranks pretty high. You dive instructors probably do this kind of stuff all the time, but this is definitely new for me and hopefully I won't need to do this again.

Her next dive had a hard bottom of 40' and she did much better and I wasn't so freaked out, she may be over the hump. I can't help but think this kind of stuff happens all the time? Anyway she had a great experience and if she wants to do more diving locally, I'm definitely going to see if I can get her to do a fundamentals course otherwise I don't know if my heart will take it.

I wouldn't wish a stubborn sister on anyone, but I'm glad I was there to make sure it didn't go south.

 

[DennisW]

If you had not been very close and hanging on to her, she may have had an uncontrolled ascent and been injured. She is a lucky lady. She needs to take a real refresher course. I would recommend these folks SEI Diving Home Page

But of course it is her choice.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, man, I imagine you were glad for all those harassment drills you've been through in training! Glad the outcome was good.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

@DocWong: Thanks for sharing your story. It was a good thing that you were close by to help your sister out when she lost her weight belt. It's pretty clear that you were in protective-big-brother mode for the entire dive. I don't blame you considering the circumstances.

Is it possible that you hovering over your sister made her more nervous than she would have been otherwise? Perhaps with you taking such a hands-on role during the dive, she forgot to do something as simple as readjusting/tightening her weight belt at depth. Just a thought.

FWIW, if a weight belt is going to be lost by a novice diver, it will usually occur at the beginning of the ascent. This makes sense if you think about it. At surface, diver dons weight belt. After initial descent, he/she forgets to cinch up the weight belt which has become loose due to wetsuit compression. The dive proceeds without incident because the diver is in a relatively horizontal position (unknowingly the weight belt hangs loosely and will often rotate around into a dangerous position with the buckle lodging itself in the small of the back). When it's time to ascend, the novice diver gets completely vertical (unnecessarily) and begins to dump air (unnecessarily -- presumably to protect against an uncontrolled ascent). The weight belt slips off, and the diver heads toward the surface. Not good.

I've also seen the weight belt slip off of novice divers shortly after the initial descent. They usually descend in a vertical position due to trouble with ear equalization, and the wetsuit compression at depth loosens the belt just enough to wiggle past the hips. The nice thing about this happening near the beginning of the dive is that I can still become quite negatively buoyant, on account of the weight of my near-full tank and loss of buoyancy of a thick wetsuit, to help manage the situation.

If I'm diving with a novice diver, I'll watch him/her like a hawk particularly during these phases of the dive. In fact, I'll try to set a good example for him/her by readjusting my own weight belt after the initial descent. I'll exaggerate my motions to ensure that the other diver sees me and is reminded to make a similar adjustment.

It's great to hear that your sister wasn't scared off by the incident. I think you're right. She should gain some experience doing shallow shore dives for a while. Perhaps more training would be advisable, too. Have fun out there...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

No, sorry dive instructors do not grab a hold of divers and lead them around for the entire dive. If the diver can not function on a more or less independent basis, then the dive is aborted pretty quickly. If you had not been very close to her and hanging on her for the entire dive, she probably would have aborted the dive very early and may not have been subject to the potential injury from an uncontrolled ascent.

Q: What's worse than an inexperienced diver (who doesn't know any better) being lead around on a "tust me" dive?

A: An experienced (DIR, no less) diver (who shouuld know better) dragging around an unqualified diver on a "trust me" dive because he thinks he can handle any type of foreseeable problem.

 

[Gombessa]

No, sorry dive instructors do not grab a hold of divers and lead them around for the entire dive.

I don't have a huge number of destination dives under my belt, but I've seen this exact thing done three times. It certainly happens at resort locations.

 

[fdog]

DANG!

Well, that's task loading for ya. It's tough thinking for two.

Glad it worked out ok....how about coming back to some nice, safe, low vis, cold ocean water?


All the best, James

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I don't have a huge number of destination dives under my belt, but I've seen this exact thing done three times. It certainly happens at resort locations.

Once, I saw a guy strip naked on the way in from a night dive in Cozumel. He then proceeded to cut open his cyalume stick and utilized the contents to "accent" a solo, erotic dance performed under "lights out" conditions on the back deck of the dive boat.

Some of the stuff that can be seen in Cozumel is best forgotten. Wish I could.

 

[Gombessa]

Once, I saw a guy strip naked on the way in from a night dive in Cozumel. He then proceeded to cut open his cyalume stick and utilized the contents to "accent" a solo, erotic dance performed under "lights out" conditions on the back deck of the dive boat.

Some of the stuff that can be seen in Cozumel is best forgotten. Wish I could.

Leave DandyDon out of this.

 

[dannobee]

Doc, next time attach a spool or reel to her, so that when her weight belt comes off, you can use her as an SMB!:shocked2:

For some reason I've seen more weight belts fall off on the descent rather than the ascent. For some reason, people don't grasp the concept that the weight belt goes around the smallest part of your waist.

Glad everything turned out OK.