Nathalie .. sending strength, healing, and success to you ... you already have the courage part handled 
Propeller accident after diving at Galápagos Islands
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robertcoelen
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Extremely worthwhile and very brave of Nathalie to put this story on the board! I have been reading comments relating to this and I want to add my two pennies worth as I have not seen this comment (apologies if it has already been said). There was one aspect of Nathalie's story that worried me about the safety-stop and ascention procedure. Nathalie was distracted by a friendly fish. I know it is every diver's wish to make a dive last as long as we can, but.....the safety stop and subsequent ascent is not actually part of the 'fun' of diving. It is a procedure that has elements from which you cannot be distracted. So please, friendly fish notwithstanding, you should only be checking whether it is OK to surface by which ever technique you prefer and with whatever senses you can muster. Even displaying a SMB for 3 or so minutes may not be enough for an unattentful driver of a boat to avoid running over the spot where you are. When this happens, how quickly will the rope attached to the SMB and you (if you have it clipped on at that moment) wind up around the propellor shaft and cause you to be drawn towards that horrible thing.
Good luck with your recuperation and I hope you can take to the water again to dive into, what I think is the world's best hobby!!
Regards,
Robert
Good luck with your recuperation and I hope you can take to the water again to dive into, what I think is the world's best hobby!!
Regards,
Robert
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Nathalie_nl
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Hi Robert,
Thank you for your comment. Procedures for surfacing have been mentioned in previous posts, but I believe not as specific as you do in yours.
The part where you say that the safety-stop can't be part of the fun, I disagree on. The main purpose of the safety stop is to loose nitrogen and avoid larger bubbles to form. As long as you manage stay at a certain depth (5 meters/ 15 feet as I've been thaught) you can do whatever you want. I've heard stories of longer deco-stops where divers read a book, play chess of even brace themselves and fall asleep.
When you talk about the ascention procedure I fully agree with you. This is where I should have listened more carefully and will do so in the future. This would not have saved me in this case, because - as the incident report states - the engine was turned on just a mere couple of seconds before my leg got sucked into it.
You should never, never, NEVER clip your smb onto your gear for the exact reason you state in your post.
Kind regards, Nathalie.
Thank you for your comment. Procedures for surfacing have been mentioned in previous posts, but I believe not as specific as you do in yours.
The part where you say that the safety-stop can't be part of the fun, I disagree on. The main purpose of the safety stop is to loose nitrogen and avoid larger bubbles to form. As long as you manage stay at a certain depth (5 meters/ 15 feet as I've been thaught) you can do whatever you want. I've heard stories of longer deco-stops where divers read a book, play chess of even brace themselves and fall asleep.
When you talk about the ascention procedure I fully agree with you. This is where I should have listened more carefully and will do so in the future. This would not have saved me in this case, because - as the incident report states - the engine was turned on just a mere couple of seconds before my leg got sucked into it.
You should never, never, NEVER clip your smb onto your gear for the exact reason you state in your post.
Kind regards, Nathalie.
So for really long deco stops is it best to reel out the smb only towards the end of a safety stop? I can't imagine people holding on to the reel with one's thumb and fingers for longer than 5 to 10 mins... (I am not a tech diver so I am not certain the deco stop at 5 metres lasts longer than 5. Kindly correct me if I am wrong.)
Besides that is the rope tethered to an smb so strong as to not snap when caught in a propeller and yanked?
Pearlman
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Precisely why I and most British divers (who tend to have many long deco stops) don't use those finger reels for an SMB. We use various types of ratchet reel - I use the AP Valves Buddy Reel, which I have found to be virtually faultless over more than 10 years. I do use finger reels, and other sorts of reels, where the circumstances dictate.
As to whether the line will snap, I suspect it probably would, but long before that happened I would have let go the reel. This highlights how dangerous it is to clip a reel to yourself during a deco stop, unless that is you have a quick release attachment that you can release when it is under extreme strain (most can't be so released).
Carlos Danger
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I am so sorry to hear about your accident Nathalie. Thank you for sharing. I wish you all the best and that you make a full recovery.
Hickdive
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Use a double-ended boltsnap to clip off your finger spool and there's no need to hold it during your stops.
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What has that got to do with using a bolt-snap to prevent a reel from unraveling? Hickdive doesn't say to clip the other end to yourself.
Using the boltsnap still requires you to hold the reel, just not with the thumb/finger to prevent the reel from unraveling as was mentioned by Pearlman.
Using the boltsnap still requires you to hold the reel, just not with the thumb/finger to prevent the reel from unraveling as was mentioned by Pearlman.
Nathalie,
It shows a lot of character that you're turning this accident into a way to teach people about safety around boats. Sharing your lessons learned is going to save someone else from having a similar experience and you can be proud of that! Good luck with your recovery.
You know, propellers are the only thing about diving that scares me. I'm glad that they changed the standards so that all OW students now need to know how to use and deploy a (D)SMB. Hopefully it will help in avoiding more of these horrible accidents in the future.
R..
It shows a lot of character that you're turning this accident into a way to teach people about safety around boats. Sharing your lessons learned is going to save someone else from having a similar experience and you can be proud of that! Good luck with your recovery.
You know, propellers are the only thing about diving that scares me. I'm glad that they changed the standards so that all OW students now need to know how to use and deploy a (D)SMB. Hopefully it will help in avoiding more of these horrible accidents in the future.
R..
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