lermontov
Contributor
We had completed our dive and were now heading back to the mooring line. Still with a third of gas I indicated to go and have a look at a room I knew was close, it would only take a few minutes and was pretty easy one way in and out, through a hatch door down a staircase and then back. I headed down to the chain locker and into the inky blackness swimming to the back of the room not worrying about a line. Id been in there before it was a straight forward dive - I went in about 10 m and turned to see that my 'buddy' had bolted leaving a thick orange cloud of rusty silt billowing toward me. Leaving the torch on seemed to magnify the now zero visibility, and with no line I wasnt sure which way to go.
My third of gas now felt woefully small, I was at 25m clocking up deco- how could I have been so careless, stay calm, slow my breathing. I needed a plan, think think think. Are there any other doors? was there any cables or vinyl hanging down? getting tangled up was not an option I could afford.
I come up with a plan-I knew the general shape of the room so swam in one direction until I touched a wall, then keeping my left hand on the wall I followed the room around to a corner then along the next wall until my hand felt the handrail of the stairs and at that point I knew where I was. Id gone into a no light penetration dive with only a third of my starting gas, and without a line. As I exited the hatch door I vowed to myself to never let that happen again.
My third of gas now felt woefully small, I was at 25m clocking up deco- how could I have been so careless, stay calm, slow my breathing. I needed a plan, think think think. Are there any other doors? was there any cables or vinyl hanging down? getting tangled up was not an option I could afford.
I come up with a plan-I knew the general shape of the room so swam in one direction until I touched a wall, then keeping my left hand on the wall I followed the room around to a corner then along the next wall until my hand felt the handrail of the stairs and at that point I knew where I was. Id gone into a no light penetration dive with only a third of my starting gas, and without a line. As I exited the hatch door I vowed to myself to never let that happen again.