Va. Beach Trip Report 4-11-10

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RAD Diver

Contributor
Messages
1,092
Reaction score
16
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia
# of dives
500 - 999
Well the forecast looked like it would be a great day out on the water, but it was wrong again.:shakehead:

But Will (Wil) & Andy (Drewski), Kevin Kramer (who I don't think is on this board) & I just had to give it a go.:cool2:

Right away the exit of the bay & into the great Atlantic proved to be bone jarring, but we thought this was about normal & pushed on. It didn't seem to get much better the further we got.

Our heading to take us to the "Carolina Breeze" seemed to run us abeam of the wave action. But we pushed on.

Once on site Will made a valiant attempt at hooking something, anything that was left on the bottom, but the sea conditions would leave us & the grapple empty.:depressed:

So the decision was made that the "Luckenbach" would be the lucky recipient of our dive presence.

Once there it seemed that the sea was on the mend, white caps were subsiding, how nice.

Will & Kevin would be the 1st to splash, normally Andy & I do, but Andy had brought his video & a speargun, he needed to know how the vis was as what he would do on this dive.

Will diving wet was ready 1st & made a quick exploration of the lead line to where it met the anchor line & reported very poor conditions.

With Kevin ready now they dropped out of view & we started to get into our drysuits.
When they got back & reported 20+ ft of vis on the bottom & not a lot of fish, Andy decided it was video time.:crafty:

We jump & the 1st 40ft the vis was at best 5 ft, but at 60ft we could see the top of the boilers 20+ ft below us. On the bottom we found very little current & an easy 25ft of vis, I hooked my reel & we were off. The Luckenbach is quite broken up & I feel much better knowing I can find our way back.

We made it to the bow & had a very nice dive, saw the biggest Sea Bass I have ever seen (so big I didn't believe it was a Sea Bass) & on the way back had an Angel Shark swim right under me. I signaled Andy, but it was too far & at a bad angle for him to get on video.

Max depth at 94ft, water temp a brisk 44 & a total run time of 43 minutes, no deco, but we did a 5 minute hang because, well that's just what Andy does.:popcorn:

Will & Kevin jumped for their 2nd dive & all seemed well, I decided to lay down for 30 minutes to wait for them. Seeing how I was diving doubles & didn't need to change nothing out. Andy was fidgeting with something, when we hear a call for help followed by "to the bow".

Will was holding Kevin who was struggling to breathe, we got a tow rope & got him to the stern & out of the water. He was alert & talking, but couldn't get enough air to satisfy his minds thirst, refusing to put his reg back into his mouth I'm sure he swallowed some water.

Something happened at 70 ft that caused this , what, I don't know & don't think Kevin knows either, but once we had him out of his gear he seemed fine.

Andy questioned him quite a bit to satisfy the EMT in him to where he felt OK for us to dive & leave him on the boat with Will.

So we ate lunch & geared back up to jump with the plan to head for the stern.

Once on the bottom we found vis down to maybe 20ft, probably a bit lower, but not that bad. I hooked a reel & we were off.

Nice easy dive, don't think we actually made the stern, but we were close, when I called the dive. We agreed to no deco with the water temps being what they were & conditions weren't worth it.

I also needed a bit of time to un-tie the anchor & swim it to the sand for an easy recovery. All went according to plan until the chain wrapped around part of the wreck & I had to swim back down to release it, really no problem.

Max depth 97ft water temp had somehow jumped to a balmy 46 & a total run time of 44 minutes

Once again we did a 5 minute hang, well you know why.:D & boarded the boat for a quick, albeit bumpy ride back. The white caps were back.:shakehead:

The weather forecast was wrong, we got it handed to us out & back, but was still a GREAT day of diving in our back yard & better than being home cutting the grass.:crafty:
 
Bobby,

Thanks for the Dive Report. I was viewing the short video I made on the second dive and it's clear hyperventilation was the demon.

A take-away for all; always be aware of your breathing, if you're stressed, messing around too much with gear or other distractions, take a minute to pause and RELAX. Once you've gotten yourself into a rapid breathing rhythm it's nearly impossible to calm yourself and prevent your body from reacting badly. I'm glad Andy & Bobby were on the boat and I was in the water with him. Everything turned out well. I'm ready to go diving again and with my dive buddy.

Now's a good time for all to think about your skills, the what if's, and what you'd do when the unexpected happens?

Safe Diving,
Will
 
I had a similar episode last year, on a 60' dive. My instabuddy disappeared in poor vis just as I was trying to clear my mask. I went after him, but could not locate him, and then realized that I had lost contact with the wreck as well. So I did a free ascent, and swam back to the boat, probably about 50 yards. By the time I got to the boat, I was breathing hard and could not catch my breath. With assistance, I got back aboard the boat, and after getting out of my wetsuit, I felt better. After reviewing it all in my mind, I finally figured out what was wrong: my wetsuit was too tight around my fat belly! The suit was a new off-the-shelf 7/6 fullsuit, and I was also wearing a 7mm hooded overvest. They were both the right size for my chest and hips, but the size chart showed that the waist is smaller than either the chest or hips. I am not built that way! My "waist" is the same size as my chest, and my hips are smaller. The suit and vest did not feel uncomfortable when I was not exercising, but they were preventing me from breathing with my diaphragm, so once I started breathing hard, I could not catch my breath. For now, my solution is to not use the overvest. The fullsuit is really stretchy, so it allows me to breath. I just won't dive in really cold water, and everything will be fine. Later, the final solution will be a drysuit for the cold water.

I don't know if this is the same problem that was described in this thread, but the symptoms sure sound the same.
 
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Long stretch of time since his last dive trip, cold water, excess gear, sea conditions, confined deck space when gearing up, were all factors in his hyperventilation/stress attack. Will is correct in just relax, that means stop until you get your breathing under control which may take a few long minutes. Coming back up to surface which was bumpy and got beat up was provably the worst thing he could have done. Add in the fact that all of us put on a pound or two during the winter if we become inactive and the gear will seem tighter than we remember causing the short breath and uncomfortable feelings. Just mark it up as as a leaning experience. I know Kevin he will work it out.
 
Great dive report Bobbie. I tell Kate everyday, I wish we could go diving. Sooooo I am living vicariously through you brotha.

Add in the fact that all of us put on a pound or two during the winter if we become inactive.

Try 15lbs thanks to Bobbies mother in laws cakes!:D
 
Bobby,

Thanks for the Dive Report. I was viewing the short video I made on the second dive and it's clear hyperventilation was the demon.

A take-away for all; always be aware of your breathing, if you're stressed, messing around too much with gear or other distractions, take a minute to pause and RELAX. Once you've gotten yourself into a rapid breathing rhythm it's nearly impossible to calm yourself and prevent your body from reacting badly. I'm glad Andy & Bobby were on the boat and I was in the water with him. Everything turned out well. I'm ready to go diving again and with my dive buddy.

Now's a good time for all to think about your skills, the what if's, and what you'd do when the unexpected happens?

Safe Diving,
Will
You nailed it Will. I'm glad you were there. Knowing you have an experienced diver with you makes all the difference. Bobby and Andy are now the " Dynamic Duo". Glad there were there as well. I'm ready to get back to it with lessons learned. Thanks to all of you.
 
Long stretch of time since his last dive trip, cold water, excess gear, sea conditions, confined deck space when gearing up, were all factors in his hyperventilation/stress attack. Will is correct in just relax, that means stop until you get your breathing under control which may take a few long minutes. Coming back up to surface which was bumpy and got beat up was provably the worst thing he could have done. Add in the fact that all of us put on a pound or two during the winter if we become inactive and the gear will seem tighter than we remember causing the short breath and uncomfortable feelings. Just mark it up as as a leaning experience. I know Kevin he will work it out.
Thanks JT. See ya in June.
 
Kevin,

I'm ready to go again anytime. There's always room on the boat for you. We'll pick a nice weekend and hit the wrecks. I still want to video Clark, Kurn, and the Schooner. I always appreciate someone backing me up in the water.

Safe Diving,
Will
 
Wil,
Sounds good to me. I appreciate all the feedback form everyone and I've thought alot about every minute up to the point where I lost it and I have learned some valuable lessons. I plan on hitting the lake this Sunday to work out some issues. Look forward to diving with you again soon.

KK
 

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