A shore dive to remember

[ScubaSarus]

Weights came to mind first. Dumping them would also reduce drag and make you lighter and reduce the effect of the back inflate BC to put you face down.

Also any possibilty of letting the surf push you in. Ive seen divers struggle here att he beavertail lighthouse in RI not realizing all they need to do is catch a wave and ride it in.

 

[stadevene]

just joined the board, I'm always interested in these dive stories as I always learn from them.

I'm guessing the diver doesn't carry a snorkel or thought of using it? I always dive with one as like the diver, I find I suck air faster than most. After I am in the water or after I make it out past the breaking waves on a shore dive, I switch to the snorkel until everyone is ready to go down. Same thing on the way up, once I'm at surface I switch to it.

Based on the description of the event it's not clear if there would have been too much wave action to make a snorkel useful when in close however it would have been an option had it been available. In this case when surfacing and trying to swim in had the diver been on snorkel the amount of air in the tank would not have been a concern and perhaps would have prevented a panic situation.

I'm always surprised at the number of divers I see who don't dive with a snorkel.

 

[sufur]

on my first and only shore dive after i surfaced and began to swim to shore i noticed how difficult it was to make any headway. conditions were really good so i rolld over on my back and took my reg out and just started kicking backwards to shore. it took a long time and a lot of work to get back...it could have easily been more than 20 minutes...dont know what the distance was

part of the problem is id close my eyes and kinda relax while i was kicking only to reliaze id somehow gotten turned into a direction that wasnt perpindicular to the beach.

i definetly didnt like how long it took to go a relatively short distance.

 

[ableadam2002]

Thanks for sharing the story. I learned a lot from it. I guess its the panic that kills a diver who is in jeopardy.

 

[AfterDark]

What no snorkle so you can swim on the surface face down? Also oral inflation of the BC is an option made eaiser by having a snorkle.

 

[mathauck0814]

part of the problem is id close my eyes and kinda relax while i was kicking only to reliaze id somehow gotten turned into a direction that wasnt perpindicular to the beach.

In another life I coached skiing and it was not uncommon at all for athletes to have a "strong side" - or to turn better/more powerfully in one direction than the other. I assume that this is true in divers as well. Could explain why you were suddenly (inexplicably?) turned parallel to shore - your stronger side kicked harder and spun you.

 

[Limoges Diver]

I have a question: if only 30 feet from shore with 500 psi of air, would it not have been easier to just descend, swim under the current pulling yourself along the bottom, and exit at a depth that you could walk?

 

[farsidefan1]

Or he was at the edge of the rip tideand got spun around. Clearly it was the rip tide impeading his progress. As an old surfer I learned how narrow the rip tide current might be. Sometimes merely cruising another few feet to one side or the other puts you out of it and you can body surf your way in. While in the rip tide you CANNOT ride the waves in. Just move parallel to shore till the rip is gone. Glad your friend made it in safely. Rip tides have taken far more swimmers than sharks ever will.

 

[18diver18]

Sounds like surface cover would have been very useful in this situation. Also if caught in a rip/current, aim for a point further down the beach, and kick towards the beach only, and not against the waters flow (and of course fully inflate BC or dump weight if needed).

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Certainly makes it clear that "shore diving" requires local knowledge and a different skill set from Boat diving.