4/5/2010 Incident @ Avalon, Catalina

[krisf]

I believe there are a couple of lessons we can learn Rjoline's description of the incident:

1) It is important to practice the release of weights, with and without your heavy gloves on and with your eyes closed - many times and often. If you can't do it for any reason, don't do the dive; and

2) If you notice your BC is not holding air, don't assume it isn't a big deal - it is; and

3) You can get into trouble, even at shallow depths, so always plan to arrive at the surface with at least 500 pounds of air. Remember, when things go wrong, many divers actually do make it to the surface, but that doesn't mean they are out of danger yet.

K Girl - thank you. I hope that this information will prevent me or any of my buddies from ever being discussed on this board.

 

[drbill]

Certainly there is good wisdom to these suggestions.

I grew up in the era well before BCDs became commonplace. In fact, I dove for 28 years before I used my first BCD. This and other incidents make me wonder how many divers are trained well enough to dive without a BCD. On occasion I have had issues with my BCDs failing (two wings developed holes while diving, once at 200 ft). In these cases I had little trouble returning to the surface and being able to stay at the surface until I arrived back at the boat.

Of course many are over weighted and use the BCD to compensate for this. Therefore if the BCD should fail to hold air, the release of the weight belt can be very critical.

 

[K_girl]

Kris - you are very welcome. Glad to see a new diver reading this board and learning the important lessons early.