Accident Avoided!

[theskull]

Good story. The fatalities often seem to happen when small mistakes start piling up on top of each other. You and your buddies dealt with them one at a time and solved them before they could start compounding.

Safe diving to you,
theskull

 

[MikeFerrara]

Good report. I like happy endings.

People take wrong turns once in a while. Exiting with 300 psi? Reserve gas is meant to be used if you need it and you needed it.

I'd prefer to shoot a bag in a situation like that though. With luck it might keep boats away (I know...wishful thinking) and my spool hanging there would provide a visual reference. while you should be able to get by without it (as ou did) why do it if you don't have to? Practice it the hard way but when it's real do it the easy way.

 

[s7595]

pt40fathoms
your dive location ,lake winnipeg ?. with all the boat traffic .
I live a few years in winnerpeg. glad to hear all went well

 

[Mako Mark]

good rules, it is when people spit up that things tend to go horribly wrong.

think of it as a back up brain..

80% of divers die alone in the water.

 

[Jeddah Aquanaut]

I had a SMB and an orange lift bag, and both buddies also had SMB's. So if an abort to surface was chosen we would have deployed the lift bag first on a line, and used the SMB's just before surfacing.

Fortunately bouyancy control was not much of an issue for the three of us, so a return swim at 15 was the logical route in dealing with the remaining air we had. But you are correct in pointing out that a SMB is a tool not exclusively used in the open ocean or on boat dives. They are small, cheap, and easily carried, and can be used to signal to shore as well as to boats.

Your comment about an SMB not only being for boat dives is a good one, and I will start taking mine whilst shore diving as well. Just because I'm diving from the shore doesn't mean I might not need to signal anyone at the surface.

 

[jawfish]

Buddies rule - literally. I agree with all or nothing. When I head out with anyone, it is agreed before the dive, if something is amiss, all in the buddy team abort the dive. Better to come back another day...

 

[00scuba]

I start and end the dive with my buddy...everytime...no exception. We take responsibility for each other. Good rules.

 

[wetwilly]

pt40fathoms
your dive location ,lake winnipeg ?. with all the boat traffic .
I live a few years in winnerpeg. glad to hear all went well

Hello , just reading some old threads , found this , from pt40fathoms description of the depth it sounds like West Hawk lake , i could be wrong ? just a guess from a winterpegger

 

[lostinspace]

hmmmm

this is why I dislike threesomes, no pun intended .:shakehead
if one of a pair has to abort then they both know it is not safe to continue.
if one of a threesome has to abort then the temptation to dive alone is so much stronger when you see a pair remaining.

 

[pt40fathoms]

Hello , just reading some old threads , found this , from pt40fathoms description of the depth it sounds like West Hawk lake , i could be wrong ? just a guess from a winterpegger

West Hawk Lake it is.