A Critical Error Leads To A Dicey Situation And An Education For This New Diver...

[The Chairman]

NetDoc, I would be genuinely interested in your take on what aspects of this dive in particular put it in the "too fast" category, and how much or what kind of experience and training would be necessary to reach the point where those things were no longer "too soon."

First, I don't think he's been diving that long. Somehow, I'm thinking less than year and fewer than a 100 dives. So, how much experience can he really have? You may have the rudiments of buoyancy and trim down by the end of your OW class, but there's a lot of stuff that can happen. Lots of time underwater is the best teacher in that regard. There is no substitute.

Then, just reading his blog, it's apparent that he wasn't ready. He admits it himself. He should approach these new skills one at a time, not en masse. Well, not just Cuzza: everyone. Fer instance... I just learned how to dive a new rebreather. I haven't even taken a camera with me yet. I'll wait until I hit twenty hours or so and add one thing. There's no rush. I've got lots of time to get all this down. Why push it?

Here's the thing. We all Scuba Dive for fun. These white knuckle incidences are anything but fun. They can easily scare a person out of diving altogether. Take your time to have lots of fun while you build up your skills gradually.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I wonder whether a Dive Alert would have helped. Yes, they're loud, but I'm not sure that the useful signalling range would be enough in that environment.

To reassure you that they are worth while. In the Philippines myself, 3 others and the guide got caught in a fabulous current and swept far off the site. When we surfaced the pick up boat was way way in the distance (almost a dot). I held up my DSMB but it only when I fired off my dive alert horn did they see my DSMB and come to get us. They do work and I can't recommend them enough. Of course like anything it's not until you need it that you're grateful you carry it or wish you did

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have been following this thread, and my first thought was that is a whole lot of stuff for a new diver. Kudos! And yet ... yikes! Diving from a private boat. No divemaster/guide. No buddy. Spearfishing. GoPro. We're all different, but for me--being a risk-averse wuss--any one of those things would have been something I wanted to take a while to get comfortable with. I am just now, after several hundred dives, GUE Fundies, etc., cautiously adding a GoPro to my repertoire. I have never dived with anything in my hands before except a light. My first dive with the GoPro will be in 20 feet of water.

 

[Storker]

yikes! Diving from a private boat. No divemaster/guide. No buddy. Spearfishing. GoPro.

Some of this is SOP in certain parts of the world.

Come to UK or the Nordics. Are you certified? OK, we'll assume that you're capable to plan and conduct a dive within your limits. If you go on a commercial boat, you'll get a taxi ride and a site briefing, but no guide or DM in the water. We'll keep track of when you and your buddy submerge and notify emergency services if you don't surface within the reported time limit, but you won't get a DM or a guide in the water. And that's club diving; quite a few people dive privately. I assume most of them have a buddy, but there's no way to get any statistics about that. Shore dives and private boats, that's the game. I'd guess that at least 50% of my dives have been from my own boat. No guide, no DM, we find the sites ourselves or learn about them by word of mouth. Me, I always have a tender topside unless we're diving as a threesome. If I'm diving from my boat, I'll always have a boat tender. But no guide, no DM. Where would I find them?

And both spearfishing and photo/video can be done reasonably safely without several hundred logged dives. Provided the diver is willing to prioritize what's important: Situational awareness and getting out alive. The second you focus (pun intended) more on your footage - or your catch - than your buddy, I'm thumbing the dive and I won't buddy with you again.

 

[CuzzA]

Thanks for all the replies and I'm glad the discussion is evolving and hopefully it will help others who read it. That's why we're here, right?

I'll address a couple things that have been brought up.

After some research, I've found the Dive Alerts are really well reviewed and while they do have there limitations, as does anything, they are far more effective than any other audible signaling device available. Plus they're relatively inexpensive. I believe the primary benefit is that you can get the attention of the boat if they are carelessly not looking for you when you surface. Of course, this assuming the boat isn't blasting music, which would be unacceptable.

During this incident, I probably blew my whistle 50 times... Nothing. They didn't hear it. It just added to the exertion.

Here is an older review which unfortunately they didn't provide the details of their findings. Just a summary. Dive Training: Do Surface Signaling Devices Work?

As far as would a buddy have made a difference? In this incident I think it would have for two reasons. If one person can keep the sharks at bay while the other correctly signals the boat it would reduce the amount of tasks I had to juggle. Secondly, and this addresses a little bit of the "too much too soon" issue, if my buddy was more experienced he or she could have prevented the mistake in the first place. He could of said something during the dive like, "Hey dummy, where the hell do you think you're going! This way to the buoy line!"

Of course, there is the possibility that you surface in this situation with a buddy and they freak out and drown you. But, diving with buddies with more experience should hopefully eliminate that possibility.

As far as the too much too soon, I think solo diving is where I crossed the line. I need to spend some time hammering drills. I put a call into my instructor to see if we can go out on my boat and put in some work. I may also just shadow some guys for the next several dives while they shoot and I perform all of the navigation, DSMB deployments, etc. as far the GoPro, it's attached to my mask. I turn it on when I defog and turn it off when I'm on the boat so there is not a dive task involved. It's just there, no different than the valve on your tank.

As far as DumpsterDiver, we are talking privately about this. In DumpsterDiver fashion he called me out on some things I need to improve on, especially while spearfishing. "FREE DD!!! NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!!!" I'm kidding. He has a lot of experience and saw things I was doing that many would not pick up on. He probably would have kept that stringer of fish.

 

[Steve_C]

If you are hanging shark bait next to your body you are attracting sharks. Did some wade fishing along the texas coast. We kept the fish on a 20 ft stringer. If a bull came along and wanted the fish, it was theirs.

 

[DiverDownD3]

Glad you're ok.

I completely understand where NetDoc is coming from. One of the reasons I got into diving was to eventually spearfish. Got to say I'm too nervous to take one down right now. I'm humble enough to realize I still have much to learn and the only way to get better is to dive, dive, dive. I'm sure one day I'll start with a sling and then eventually a gun, but I cannot see that happening within the next year or 2.

I'm not saying CuzzA has this issue, just my personal experience.

 

[mmmbelows]

After some research, I've found the Dive Alerts are really well reviewed and while they do have there limitations, as does anything, they are far more effective than any other audible signaling device available. Plus they're relatively inexpensive. I believe the primary benefit is that you can get the attention of the boat if they are carelessly not looking for you when you surface. Of course, this assuming the boat isn't blasting music, which would be unacceptable.

During this incident, I probably blew my whistle 50 times... Nothing. They didn't hear it. It just added to the exertion.

One thing I always dive with is a small signaling mirror, during the day with any sun that mirror flash will show up for a long distance and will be hard to miss if anybody is even looking glancingly in your direction. You can get little plastic ones at REI.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@Storker, yes, all of those things are "SOP in many parts of the world" (Florida included). I just meant that for some of us, taking on all of them within a short time after learning to dive would be a lot to handle. I am an advocate of making one small change to my gear or procedure at a time and spending many dives getting familiar with it. Spearfishing is on my list somewhere. We all learn at different speeds. CuzzA sounds like a faster learner than me.

 

[CuzzA]

@mmmbelows If you notice in the video on my right wrist I have a mirror on a strap I made. I use it for bubble checks. I think it would be a valuable signaling tool for air rescue, however, I also think it's hard to "really" depend on it to signal a boat depending on wave height and if you're directly in the Sun's reflection off the water toward the boat. That sun reflection can be damn near blinding.