UWSojourner
Contributor
Yeah, and don't give us that male macho stuff about losing it in a bar fight!Uncle Pug:
(15 APR 04) Have you ever been close to meeting your maker while diving
- Thread starter fgray1
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OP
The very first time I dove there.
I ain't found another one that big since.
Lucky the first try I guess.
Fred
I ain't found another one that big since.
Lucky the first try I guess.
Fred
FredT
Guest
fgray1:
Go over and lurk on spearboard.com for a while.
There are a bunch of fellows that hunt the gulf over by you and have things worked out pretty well as far as the large toothy boneless critters are concerned. You may even be able to bum a ride to go kibitz a trip of two.
BTW The Rig hunting over here and the ledge/wreck hunting off FL have only one thing in common. They are both wet! The same rules do NOT apply.
FT
Natasha
Contributor
fgray1:
Not much to learn from me I guess. I've never even come remotely close to meeting my maker on a dive, or in a car..or on my bike, or anywhere. And I thank him for that!
Dive safe!
This message is to Baitedstorm
I am so sorry that you have ben involed diving with the people you went with they are a bunch of $$$(&)_)((^&$^# diving is about enjoying yourself, never do it if you feel pressurised into doing it or even just dont feel comfortable with the dive, if you are ever in the caribbean contact me i will happily dive with you and i assure you you will have lots of fun with no pressure both you and your husband would both be welcome and i would love to show you diving is fun
I am so sorry that you have ben involed diving with the people you went with they are a bunch of $$$(&)_)((^&$^# diving is about enjoying yourself, never do it if you feel pressurised into doing it or even just dont feel comfortable with the dive, if you are ever in the caribbean contact me i will happily dive with you and i assure you you will have lots of fun with no pressure both you and your husband would both be welcome and i would love to show you diving is fun
ScubaFriend:
Thanks for the offer, next time we head out that way I'll get in touch with you... As for the accident, really and truely, I am the one to blame. I was the one who went even after the whole Nitrox thing happened. I was more worried about inconveniecing my dive buddy (we rode down there together) than my own safety. The dive shop may have acted reckless in some manner, but as a diver, I was taught not to give into circumstances that made me uncomfortable and I failed, not only that, but I knew I was failing when I did it. I am responsible for myself and the actions I may take while diving, theres tons of things that I could have done differently that day and I didn't. I Thank God I had such a good instructor he ultimately saved my life that day. His voice was all I heard in my mind.... "Don't panic Vickie" and somehow I managed not to.
I've been diving since the whole thing happened, and I love it just as much (maybe even more) as I did before. Rest assured, there's not a person alive now that could get me to dive (or anything else)if I feet uncomfortable.
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Virus]FSLR2[
Guest
Last year while doing a simple shore dive. I was backing into the ocean, about chest deep, and a small wave came over at the same time I turned my head to see where I was. Water spashed into my mouth and I systematically inhaled a huge mouthful. I had apparently just finished exhaling, and began to inhale, and BAM! There I was, stuck. I could not exhale, could not inhale. After trying to cough it out, and succesfully gurgling out my air, I found that I then could not inhale due to the amount of water blocking my airway. I turned to look at the nearest divers for some assist, as if they could help in any way possible. They were more than a hundred feet from me.
I tried as hard as I could to inhale, and slowly got a little air in, but not enough. I began walking my way back to shallower water to see if I could get to a place where I could bend over some to let gravity assist me. No dice. All I could think of to do was to insert my reg and purge, forcing air into my lungs. Of course, I thought... Well, there's water in the way, and this is going to force the water into my lungs, but it'll also force air into it, and maybe clear it so I can cough the water out...
I did exactly that. Purged, and it did in fact force the air past the water. Good, now my lungs are full (Air, water, whatever, they're full) Now I can't exhale. There's still alot of water in my lungs and airway. A few minutes have passed now, and I start to cough. It's the wierdest cough I could ever describe. More of a low gutteral scream than a cough. Sea water froths from my mouth, and ok... some came out. I try to inhale some more... nope... Purge the reg again, and yes... more air. I did this routine 4 times until I was able to breathe normally.
Well, that's as close as I hope to ever coming to "meet the maker". I've always said that in the battle of the elements, sea water wins everytime!
After that, I would like to let everyone know, that if I do die while diving, if any of you hears some say "Well, at least he died doing what he loved"... go and squarely punch them in the head. I do not love drowning. Never have, never will!
Disclaimer: Before I get blasted by comments of what I did wrong, let me tell you that I already know that I should have had my reg in my mouth. I only tell this story to let others know why they should have their reg in their mouth while doing a shore entry. Maybe not at ankle deep water, but at some point, they should. I also know that some will ask where my buddy was at this time. I hope you'll understand that there was not much a buddy could have done here, except drag my unconcious body up the the shore after it was all over and perform M2M. Yes, I'm a solo diver. I carry four regulators if you include my power inflator, I dive H-Valves, and I do not dive deep if I'm solo. It's just the way it works out for me. I'm not asking you to dive solo, and I'm certainly not asking you to criticize me for doing so.
I tried as hard as I could to inhale, and slowly got a little air in, but not enough. I began walking my way back to shallower water to see if I could get to a place where I could bend over some to let gravity assist me. No dice. All I could think of to do was to insert my reg and purge, forcing air into my lungs. Of course, I thought... Well, there's water in the way, and this is going to force the water into my lungs, but it'll also force air into it, and maybe clear it so I can cough the water out...
I did exactly that. Purged, and it did in fact force the air past the water. Good, now my lungs are full (Air, water, whatever, they're full) Now I can't exhale. There's still alot of water in my lungs and airway. A few minutes have passed now, and I start to cough. It's the wierdest cough I could ever describe. More of a low gutteral scream than a cough. Sea water froths from my mouth, and ok... some came out. I try to inhale some more... nope... Purge the reg again, and yes... more air. I did this routine 4 times until I was able to breathe normally.
Well, that's as close as I hope to ever coming to "meet the maker". I've always said that in the battle of the elements, sea water wins everytime!
After that, I would like to let everyone know, that if I do die while diving, if any of you hears some say "Well, at least he died doing what he loved"... go and squarely punch them in the head. I do not love drowning. Never have, never will!
Disclaimer: Before I get blasted by comments of what I did wrong, let me tell you that I already know that I should have had my reg in my mouth. I only tell this story to let others know why they should have their reg in their mouth while doing a shore entry. Maybe not at ankle deep water, but at some point, they should. I also know that some will ask where my buddy was at this time. I hope you'll understand that there was not much a buddy could have done here, except drag my unconcious body up the the shore after it was all over and perform M2M. Yes, I'm a solo diver. I carry four regulators if you include my power inflator, I dive H-Valves, and I do not dive deep if I'm solo. It's just the way it works out for me. I'm not asking you to dive solo, and I'm certainly not asking you to criticize me for doing so.
Displaced Yooper
Registered
I have also had a too close encounter, the quick version is:
About 10 years ago 5 of us were doing a shore dive in Keweenaw county, MI (Lake Superior). This strectch of shore was a solid rock wall anywhere from 8 to 15 feet high. The only entry/exit point for a 1/4 mile each direction was a large "crack" in the rock which opens to a small beach. You swim from the beach out through the "crack" into Lake Superior. The crack creates deep channels which you can follow out from shore and they lead you back to the exit point. If the currents are strong, you need to stay down in the channels, or else you will get swept up into the shallow waters and the breaking waves.
The waves that day were ave. of 3 to 4 feet (an occasional wave being much bigger) and we all had dove this site many times before. As the five of us swam out, the problems started right away. One diver was weighted too light for these conditions and the surge from the waves dragged diver#1 up and out the protective channel as soon as we swam beyond the entrance. Diver#1 buddy immediately swam up to help pull the diver back into the channel and I followed. All three of us were now caught in about 6 feet of water with 3 to 4 foot waves breaking over us and pounding us into the rock bottom and the vertical rock wall/shoreline. We turned to head back to the exit point, but the currents and waves kept pushing us further down the shore and because of the surge, could not swim out away from shore, we were stuck in this shallow water washing machine. I managed to crawl up a small rock outcropping and was able to help diver 1 and 2 get a hand hold on the same rock. It was now a short climb over the rock (the rock was about 4 feet above the water) and down the other side back into the protective "crack" and an easy swim back to the beach. As I reached the top of this rock I saw a set of large waves rolling toward us. When the biggest wave hit, it tore my mask off my head, my tank out of my BC and ripped a fin off my foot (I'm not sure how I managed to hold onto the rock, but I did). I was the lucky one, divers 1 and 2 were pulled off the rock back into the water. At this point, diver#4 surfaced just outside the surf zone and saw divers 1 and 2 roll down the rock into the white wash and swam in to try and help. I managed to crawl close to the opening point, slid back into the water and swam back to our entry/exit point. Swimming back through the surge with no mask and only one fin was very difficult (I swallowed a lot of water).
To shorten the story, I was the only one of five to return the the entry/exit beach. Divers 1, 2 and 3 were pushed downcurrrent and found a small crack about 3 feet wide and used it to climb out of the water. I found them jammed into this crack and helped pull them all the way up. Diver# 5 actually made it to a new exit point about a 1/4 mile down the shore from where we started. In all the excitment, I had lost a mask and a fin. Diver 1 had lost a mask, both fins and had the first stage broken off the air tank from an impact with the rocks (the yoke was still partially attached to the tank, but the first stage had broken off the yoke). Diver# 2 was missing fins and weight belt, diver# 3 was only missing one fin and diver# 5 avoided all this and returned with all his gear.
We had some explaning to do when we returned one the dive shops rental tanks and it was half full of water (from the diver with the broken 1st stage). All in all, we were lucky that day.
About 10 years ago 5 of us were doing a shore dive in Keweenaw county, MI (Lake Superior). This strectch of shore was a solid rock wall anywhere from 8 to 15 feet high. The only entry/exit point for a 1/4 mile each direction was a large "crack" in the rock which opens to a small beach. You swim from the beach out through the "crack" into Lake Superior. The crack creates deep channels which you can follow out from shore and they lead you back to the exit point. If the currents are strong, you need to stay down in the channels, or else you will get swept up into the shallow waters and the breaking waves.
The waves that day were ave. of 3 to 4 feet (an occasional wave being much bigger) and we all had dove this site many times before. As the five of us swam out, the problems started right away. One diver was weighted too light for these conditions and the surge from the waves dragged diver#1 up and out the protective channel as soon as we swam beyond the entrance. Diver#1 buddy immediately swam up to help pull the diver back into the channel and I followed. All three of us were now caught in about 6 feet of water with 3 to 4 foot waves breaking over us and pounding us into the rock bottom and the vertical rock wall/shoreline. We turned to head back to the exit point, but the currents and waves kept pushing us further down the shore and because of the surge, could not swim out away from shore, we were stuck in this shallow water washing machine. I managed to crawl up a small rock outcropping and was able to help diver 1 and 2 get a hand hold on the same rock. It was now a short climb over the rock (the rock was about 4 feet above the water) and down the other side back into the protective "crack" and an easy swim back to the beach. As I reached the top of this rock I saw a set of large waves rolling toward us. When the biggest wave hit, it tore my mask off my head, my tank out of my BC and ripped a fin off my foot (I'm not sure how I managed to hold onto the rock, but I did). I was the lucky one, divers 1 and 2 were pulled off the rock back into the water. At this point, diver#4 surfaced just outside the surf zone and saw divers 1 and 2 roll down the rock into the white wash and swam in to try and help. I managed to crawl close to the opening point, slid back into the water and swam back to our entry/exit point. Swimming back through the surge with no mask and only one fin was very difficult (I swallowed a lot of water).
To shorten the story, I was the only one of five to return the the entry/exit beach. Divers 1, 2 and 3 were pushed downcurrrent and found a small crack about 3 feet wide and used it to climb out of the water. I found them jammed into this crack and helped pull them all the way up. Diver# 5 actually made it to a new exit point about a 1/4 mile down the shore from where we started. In all the excitment, I had lost a mask and a fin. Diver 1 had lost a mask, both fins and had the first stage broken off the air tank from an impact with the rocks (the yoke was still partially attached to the tank, but the first stage had broken off the yoke). Diver# 2 was missing fins and weight belt, diver# 3 was only missing one fin and diver# 5 avoided all this and returned with all his gear.
We had some explaning to do when we returned one the dive shops rental tanks and it was half full of water (from the diver with the broken 1st stage). All in all, we were lucky that day.
Hi to the above
Well i am a fairly experienced diver with about 5500 dives i am really sorry to say but it really sounds like very bad planning and inexprience for this to happen to divers is inexcuseable i have done many shore dives in my time if there is any worries about current, surge etc cancel the dive i am sorry this sounds like inexperience
Well i am a fairly experienced diver with about 5500 dives i am really sorry to say but it really sounds like very bad planning and inexprience for this to happen to divers is inexcuseable i have done many shore dives in my time if there is any worries about current, surge etc cancel the dive i am sorry this sounds like inexperience
Displaced Yooper
Registered
You are 100% correct, inexperience and poor planning due to our inexperience caused us to get into trouble. Since that day I have cancelled many dives due to conditions being too rough. I have first hand experience to judge what is "too rough" for me.
I heard the following quote from pilots in training, but it could also apply to diving:
"when you begin diving, you have an empty bag of experience and a full bag of luck. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."
I heard the following quote from pilots in training, but it could also apply to diving:
"when you begin diving, you have an empty bag of experience and a full bag of luck. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."
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