85 ft Dive on 13 ft Pony Almost Ends Badly

[Odiver]

A good lesson. Your buddies were incompetent. If you had a serious leak, they should have noticed it.

Also you should have been paying closer attention to your air consumption.

Few people are going to check the tightness of all regulator hoses before a dive, but it might be a good idea with a borrowed one or one which has been worked on recently.

Also, you should have noticed the bubbles, but with a thick hood and if you were actively swimming around and breathing pretty hard, it is understandable that you didn't notice the bubbles.

If you are really calm and paying attention, you will hear a leak, even a small one. If you suspect it, the first thing to do is take a big breath and then hold it in, do not exhale and then roll onto your back a little and look for bubbles coming up from the first stage or the back of the BC. It should only take about 10-12 seconds- then if you think you see bubbles, notify your buddy and begin an ascent.

so you screwed up, you were distracted, inattentive careless and were diving with similarly inattentive (and probably incompetent buddies)...that is not a reason to die - but I can definitely see how you have decided that the next $300 in the scuba budget is going to be a pony bottle.

I agree with everything stated. I would also include rushing. There's no room for rushing and being careless. Not only do I have my own gear I actually make sure the people I dive with aren't careless and check over there gear--completing buddy checks the right way. The leak should have been caught.

 

[Odiver]

Today we were snorkeling on some wrecks in 85 ft and my buddy accidentally drops his weightbelt.

So we yell for the boat, he comes close and the operator presses MOB on the GPS and I get in. We run up current a little and I grab my 13 cu-ft pony bottle and a reg and decide to swim down and try to find the lost belt on the bottom in 85 ft with around 2500 psi.

The other 4 freedivers are drifting off to the north and continuing to spearfish. There is one charter dive boat on site who we spoke to previously who has divers in the water and he sees us run up current and drop me in with the pony (at least I think he sees me).

I assume my boat will stay above me and follow my bubbles and “be there” for when I surface (hopefully wearing two weightbelts – and no BC of course).

Surprisingly, I quickly find the belt, put it on and begin a swimming ascent. I had intended to test the dive computer which was on the console, but I guess I forgot to push the start button.

I make it to the surface, but the other freedivers have shot a fish and our boat driver goes to help them (we had seen a large bullshark in the area). So I am kicking to stay on the surface and the scuba charter boat is really close to me and I just know he sees me there on this flat calm day.

Since my boat is down current and not coming for me, I decide to start the computer and drop down a little and check the computer and the depth calibration versus a freedive computer. That goes well also and I make a second uneventful ascent to the surface.

Now I see the charter boat coming toward me, I think “wow that is nice for him to come over and check if I am OK.. but he is kinda coming a little fast”, but then he continues to accelerate and I need to quickly swim to the side and away and the boat goes zipping by me. Pretty fast and pretty close. I’m surprised and pissed and yell - the captain comes off the wheel after he passes me and yells that he didn’t see me.

Can’t really blame him too much, but he should have been looking ahead when he operates the boat around a bunch of freedivers and scuba dives and he should probably stay at an idle speed too. And of course, if I had sent up an SMB and marked my position, I am sure he would have noticed me.

I ASSUMED my boat would follow above me and protect me and I ASSUMED the charter captain was seeing me on the surface. The captain apparently ASSUMED no divers were in the immediate area, so he could put the hammer down a little.

Three bad assumptions that almost had serious consequences.

Hey I got the weightbelt back!

I shared the video with a few people today. Again, I appreciate you sharing.

 

[CuzzA]

@Odiver I made a simple wrist strap to hold powerheads. There was a little extra real estate on this strap so I was trying to think of practical and useful tools I could add to it. And since I'm usually solo or semi solo, it hit me... A Mirror.

A simple 2 inch car blind spot mirror for $1.99 at Harbor Freight. It's the perfect design. The mirror part pops off allowing for the installation of a couple Chicago screws through the strap webbing and base and the mirror very securely pops right back in. Now, unfortunately for me I had to buy the mirror twice because the shiny mirror finish came off after a couple dives. So the trick is to gently pry the acrylic mirror out of the casing that is held together with some two sided 3M tape, carefully discard the tape without pulling off the mirror finish and liberally apply some 5200 marine sealant behind the mirror which will seal the mirror finish and put it back in the casing. Be sure to have some mineral spirits and paper towels ready to clean up the excess sealant that will ooze out.

Now with a simple look in the mirror you can see what's going on back there. "I" bubble check every dive. Self Reliance.

 

[Odiver]

Genius. The simple things are often overlooked. I will do this tomorrow. I have a harbor freight close by. It's funny you mention this. I was talking with a friend and he made the statement of not being able to see behind while diving. Jokingly I said carry a mirror.

 

[sunnyboy]

brilliant!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

@Odiver I made a simple wrist strap to hold powerheads. There was a little extra real estate on this strap so I was trying to think of practical and useful tools I could add to it. And since I'm usually solo or semi solo, it hit me... A Mirror.

A simple 2 inch car blind spot mirror for $1.99 at Harbor Freight. It's the perfect design. The mirror part pops off allowing for the installation of a couple Chicago screws through the strap webbing and base and the mirror very securely pops right back in. Now, unfortunately for me I had to buy the mirror twice because the shiny mirror finish came off after a couple dives. So the trick is to gently pry the acrylic mirror out of the casing that is held together with some two sided 3M tape, carefully discard the tape without pulling off the mirror finish and liberally apply some 5200 marine sealant behind the mirror which will seal the mirror finish and put it back in the casing. Be sure to have some mineral spirits and paper towels ready to clean up the excess sealant that will ooze out.

Now with a simple look in the mirror you can see what's going on back there. "I" bubble check every dive. Self Reliance.
View attachment 386607

The discussion about a leak causing problems reminded me of a video I shot about 4 years ago. For the first dive, we had 4 divers on a wreck in about 140 ft. Three divers were buddies and I was solo and just sorta hanging out by myself. They were wearing the proper tech gear for that kind of diving, i was weaing my normal single tank and pony bottle.

If you skip to about 35 seconds, you can see what I saw and what a slight to moderate leak might look like. Not exactly sure what the problem was, but they seemed to have addressed it and continued the dive.

It is often a good idea (in clear water) to be aware of the bubble pattern above a diver, it can tell you the breathing cycle rate and if you notice a steady bubble pattern that is not a "good thing".

 

[Odiver]

The discussion about a leak causing problems reminded me of a video I shot about 4 years ago. For the first dive, we had 4 divers on a wreck in about 140 ft. Three divers were buddies and I was solo and just sorta hanging out by myself. They were wearing the proper tech gear for that kind of diving, i was weaing my normal single tank and pony bottle.

If you skip to about 35 seconds, you can see what I saw and what a slight to moderate leak might look like. Not exactly sure what the problem was, but they seemed to have addressed it and continued the dive.

It is often a good idea (in clear water) to be aware of the bubble pattern above a diver, it can tell you the breathing cycle rate and if you notice a steady bubble pattern that is not a "good thing".

Thanks for the video and words based on experience. No stone can go unturned when it comes to checking gear and surrounding yourself with good people that believe in returning from the dive. I can only imagine how different things could have been if no one had noticed the leak at the valve.

 

[Odiver]

The discussion about a leak causing problems reminded me of a video I shot about 4 years ago. For the first dive, we had 4 divers on a wreck in about 140 ft. Three divers were buddies and I was solo and just sorta hanging out by myself. They were wearing the proper tech gear for that kind of diving, i was weaing my normal single tank and pony bottle.

If you skip to about 35 seconds, you can see what I saw and what a slight to moderate leak might look like. Not exactly sure what the problem was, but they seemed to have addressed it and continued the dive.

It is often a good idea (in clear water) to be aware of the bubble pattern above a diver, it can tell you the breathing cycle rate and if you notice a steady bubble pattern that is not a "good thing".

[/QUOTE
As I continue to perfect my skills I've thought about spear fishing. Is that something you do often.

 

[Neilwood]

@Odiver I made a simple wrist strap to hold powerheads. There was a little extra real estate on this strap so I was trying to think of practical and useful tools I could add to it. And since I'm usually solo or semi solo, it hit me... A Mirror.

A simple 2 inch car blind spot mirror for $1.99 at Harbor Freight. It's the perfect design. The mirror part pops off allowing for the installation of a couple Chicago screws through the strap webbing and base and the mirror very securely pops right back in. Now, unfortunately for me I had to buy the mirror twice because the shiny mirror finish came off after a couple dives. So the trick is to gently pry the acrylic mirror out of the casing that is held together with some two sided 3M tape, carefully discard the tape without pulling off the mirror finish and liberally apply some 5200 marine sealant behind the mirror which will seal the mirror finish and put it back in the casing. Be sure to have some mineral spirits and paper towels ready to clean up the excess sealant that will ooze out.

Now with a simple look in the mirror you can see what's going on back there. "I" bubble check every dive. Self Reliance.
View attachment 386607

I think I might "borrow" the idea for that mirror. My normal buddy has the habit of hanging right at the back and top of a group (behind me even if I hang back as well) so it would make it easier to do a proper situational check than always having to rotate in the water.

 

[archer1960]

I think I might "borrow" the idea for that mirror. My normal buddy has the habit of hanging right at the back and top of a group (behind me even if I hang back as well) so it would make it easier to do a proper situational check than always having to rotate in the water.

I was thinking the same thing...