Before i explain the incident, i will share some of my background.
I got my PADI OW and AOW 2 years ago in blue waters. I started diving in green waters on summer 2020 and got a drysuit that i am learning on my own how to handle the air bubble. The depth here is on average 4-5m and the maximun i have been is 11m, so it is perfect for improving boyancy and testing gear as there is not much to see and it is not deep. On Saturday i did my 42nd dive.
The temperature is -5C and the water temperature is 0-1C. We are 3 divers. Diver 1 is an instructor for years and always our guide in the different divesites we go, he is diving in twins. Diver 2 is also an AOW with a bit more dives than me, diving with 15L tank. He is a bit incompetent in my opinion as he is still swimming with his hands, shoots up out of nowhere, constantly overweighted and easy to lose.
We start gearing up and once we are ready, i do the buddy check on Diver 2. His inflator hose is not connected to the BCD and his reply is "I don't need it, it is leaking air so that's why i have been shooting up. I am better without it". I let it go until we get our feet in the water and then i ask him again. He finally connects it and we start the dive.
The dive plan is 30-35 minutes dive. Go under the bridge and then turn as the current was going out and it could be dangerous if it was strong. We agreed that when we see the bridge, Diver 1 will go up to check and come down again.
It is freezing cold and after 8 minutes i realize my right dry glove has a small leak. I am ready to signal that i will go out when Diver 1 hands me the buoy line and goes up to check. Diver 2 has his primary reg free flowing but is calm enough to switch to his octo and try to fix it. He cannot so he signals me to go up the moment that Diver 1 lands on my head. I signal him that it is time to go up and i am ready to suggest that we go back as my hands are starting to feel really cold. Diver 2 has already surfaced and i follow him. He fixes his reg and i am looking at Diver 1 coming up slowly while gathering the line of the buoy.
He surfaces between us and while i am ready to inform them about my leak there is a big BOOM. His twins disappear, there is an air freeflowing from the back and he starts yelling something in Danish. I am the only non-Danish there so i ask for translation while i am looking in the water. The wing is on his back, the metal slate is hanging and next to it are the doubles. I get behind him while i get no translation and lift the doubles so that he doesn't go down and he is smart enough to hold the buoy. Diver 2 is just smiling. There comes the first problem, i never "played" with doubles so i didn't know how to switch them off. I switch one off, the same way i would do with my single but the other is not moving and i am afraid of breaking it. 20 seconds later is already empty so the freeflow stops.
I am holding the doubles with my frozen right hand and try to inflate my BCD to the max so that it keeps me up. Once i have done this i take his long hose away from his neck in order not to strangle him if the doubles fall and i am trying to give him my octo. It is hard to get it out so i pull it as hard as i can and it finally breaks free. I give him some time to relax (he is much calmer after the freeflow stopped) and then he is trying to get his BCD off. We get one hand out but then the other gets stuck under his compass and it is really hard to get it out. This is another problem as my trilobite is in my bag in the car.
I quickly decid to ask him to fin and start heading for the shore which is about 20m to the side. The current had already moved us under the bridge and i didn't want to risk getting into a stronger one. I am holding his twins and we are finning but my arm is really struggling more and more. Luckily i felt the doubles touching the bottom and we were safe.
A lot to learn from it.
1) I need the rescue diver in order to make better decisions. I had already booked it for next summer
2) Always bring your knife (already attached it after the dive). I have been lazy thinking that i have to take care of it after the dive for the rust. Diver 1 was pretty happy that i didn't have one though, since he didn't lose his gear.
3) Never accept to dive with divers that already have problems with their gear.
It is a bit hard to stop thinking about what i could have done. For example:
I could have moved to his right side so that he had more of my octo hose length.
I could switch to a primary donation hose setup and make it easier in these situations.
What if i didn't have weight pockets and i had a belt instead? I would have easily taken it out and lose it but feel 6kg lighter while trying to get him to the shore.
What if i took him to the bottom with my octo and take his bcd off much easier and then get him out?
I know it is a happy ending story and not as bad as other stories. But i have a lot of "what ifs" in my mind and i hope that by sharing it with more experienced divers and getting feedback and suggestions it will help.
I got my PADI OW and AOW 2 years ago in blue waters. I started diving in green waters on summer 2020 and got a drysuit that i am learning on my own how to handle the air bubble. The depth here is on average 4-5m and the maximun i have been is 11m, so it is perfect for improving boyancy and testing gear as there is not much to see and it is not deep. On Saturday i did my 42nd dive.
The temperature is -5C and the water temperature is 0-1C. We are 3 divers. Diver 1 is an instructor for years and always our guide in the different divesites we go, he is diving in twins. Diver 2 is also an AOW with a bit more dives than me, diving with 15L tank. He is a bit incompetent in my opinion as he is still swimming with his hands, shoots up out of nowhere, constantly overweighted and easy to lose.
We start gearing up and once we are ready, i do the buddy check on Diver 2. His inflator hose is not connected to the BCD and his reply is "I don't need it, it is leaking air so that's why i have been shooting up. I am better without it". I let it go until we get our feet in the water and then i ask him again. He finally connects it and we start the dive.
The dive plan is 30-35 minutes dive. Go under the bridge and then turn as the current was going out and it could be dangerous if it was strong. We agreed that when we see the bridge, Diver 1 will go up to check and come down again.
It is freezing cold and after 8 minutes i realize my right dry glove has a small leak. I am ready to signal that i will go out when Diver 1 hands me the buoy line and goes up to check. Diver 2 has his primary reg free flowing but is calm enough to switch to his octo and try to fix it. He cannot so he signals me to go up the moment that Diver 1 lands on my head. I signal him that it is time to go up and i am ready to suggest that we go back as my hands are starting to feel really cold. Diver 2 has already surfaced and i follow him. He fixes his reg and i am looking at Diver 1 coming up slowly while gathering the line of the buoy.
He surfaces between us and while i am ready to inform them about my leak there is a big BOOM. His twins disappear, there is an air freeflowing from the back and he starts yelling something in Danish. I am the only non-Danish there so i ask for translation while i am looking in the water. The wing is on his back, the metal slate is hanging and next to it are the doubles. I get behind him while i get no translation and lift the doubles so that he doesn't go down and he is smart enough to hold the buoy. Diver 2 is just smiling. There comes the first problem, i never "played" with doubles so i didn't know how to switch them off. I switch one off, the same way i would do with my single but the other is not moving and i am afraid of breaking it. 20 seconds later is already empty so the freeflow stops.
I am holding the doubles with my frozen right hand and try to inflate my BCD to the max so that it keeps me up. Once i have done this i take his long hose away from his neck in order not to strangle him if the doubles fall and i am trying to give him my octo. It is hard to get it out so i pull it as hard as i can and it finally breaks free. I give him some time to relax (he is much calmer after the freeflow stopped) and then he is trying to get his BCD off. We get one hand out but then the other gets stuck under his compass and it is really hard to get it out. This is another problem as my trilobite is in my bag in the car.
I quickly decid to ask him to fin and start heading for the shore which is about 20m to the side. The current had already moved us under the bridge and i didn't want to risk getting into a stronger one. I am holding his twins and we are finning but my arm is really struggling more and more. Luckily i felt the doubles touching the bottom and we were safe.
A lot to learn from it.
1) I need the rescue diver in order to make better decisions. I had already booked it for next summer
2) Always bring your knife (already attached it after the dive). I have been lazy thinking that i have to take care of it after the dive for the rust. Diver 1 was pretty happy that i didn't have one though, since he didn't lose his gear.
3) Never accept to dive with divers that already have problems with their gear.
It is a bit hard to stop thinking about what i could have done. For example:
I could have moved to his right side so that he had more of my octo hose length.
I could switch to a primary donation hose setup and make it easier in these situations.
What if i didn't have weight pockets and i had a belt instead? I would have easily taken it out and lose it but feel 6kg lighter while trying to get him to the shore.
What if i took him to the bottom with my octo and take his bcd off much easier and then get him out?
I know it is a happy ending story and not as bad as other stories. But i have a lot of "what ifs" in my mind and i hope that by sharing it with more experienced divers and getting feedback and suggestions it will help.
