Almost died today--Any captains out there???

[smellzlikefish]

May I add to remember that diving is considered an extreme sport. That means that everything doesn't always go as planned and you may find yourself in a uniquely uncomfortable position. In some cases, there is no one to blame but the weather and yourself, but blaming the weather won't improve your chances of staying happy next time. Clear, logical thinking is the best defense against most bad situations. Save the death thoughts for when you are dead.

 

[vladimir]

One last question, on a drift dive, with possible storm weather, with a raw dive buddy, Why was your boyfriend carrying his speargun? And don't feel sorry for him "protecting" you during the surface wait. It was not necessary. He was amping your fear levels, but doing nothing to protect you.

Yes, the shark watch was totally unnecessary, distracted both buddies from the real risk, which was the boat, or other boats, and no doubt abetted the panic spiral. I guess they've seen "Open Water."

May I add to remember that diving is considered an extreme sport.

Not by anybody who actually does it. I don't think we'll be seeing my safety stop on the X-games anytime soon.

 

[ONESPEED]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dave. There are situations where have a buddy line is paramount to the safety of the dive.

Perhaps, but this definitely was not one of them.

 

[ONESPEED]

One last question, on a drift dive, with possible storm weather, with a raw dive buddy, Why was your boyfriend carrying his speargun? And don't feel sorry for him "protecting" you during the surface wait. It was not necessary. He was amping your fear levels, but doing nothing to protect you.

I was wondering about that too, exactly what was he protecting her from?:headscratch:

 

[roughwater]

Hi Blueanchor,

In regards to your original question as to what to do - my suggestion wouldn't be to complain about the captains negligence, but to consider going back to the captain and discuss what happened with an attitude to learn instead.

For insance, it may be helpful to find out why he wasn't there in the first place, and what his advise is for you if this situation ever happens again. What was he expecting from you, and what were the circumstances that happened to make him move away? (So you can look for similar circumstances in the future and choose not to dive off the boat if you think it may happen again).

Who knows, once you know his side of the story too, and the reasons he made the decisions he did - you may even agree with the captains decision.

Any captain worth his weight will probably be willing to talk to a diver that has had a bad situation on his/her boat - especially if that person comes with an attitude to learn from their experience.

And congratulations! You've entered a group of divers who have been in a situation that was way outside of their comfort zone, and you have dealt with it. Many divers can have ample dives under their belt and be quite confident, but have never ran into a situation where they're out of their comfort zone. IMO, It's the situations where you're outside of your comfort zone and how you deal with them that makes you experienced - not how many dives you've done!

You stated in your original post:

We were in a panic. I blew up my safety sausage and waved it like a madman.

I question whether you were in a panic as opposed to being extremely frightened. The difference is that someone in a panic pretty much loses all control. (You may remember what a panicked diver looks like from your O.W. course).

According to your story, you were able to blow up your own safety sausage and think through the situation -even though you were really scared and feared for your life. Your buddy thought to watch out for sharks. Whilst looking for sharks is pretty much unneccisary - you or he didn't know at the time. You worked together and thought things through to the best of your knowledge - and it shows to me that you were thinking. Panicked people don't think. You did well - congratulations!

I recon there are now two paths you can take from here. You can let this create more problems (looking to blame someone, get more worried, quit diving, etc) or you can look at this as an opportunity to learn more about boat diving and what to do in different situations. There are some good informative replies to your post (if you can take the time to sift them out from the others) that may also help you learn from this experience.

Hope this helps...

Roughwater

 

[letterboy]

I was wondering about that too, exactly what was he protecting her from?:headscratch:

one of these vicious creatures!!!

The fish not the old guy

 

[I Dive]

People, you don't understabd I wrote that post only hours after I was thinking my life would end and I would face my master. And today it hasn't been only twenty-four hours that I was about to get struck by lightning, eaten by a shark, or swalled by the ocean.


It wasn't until I got to my house that I realized what really almost happened and I had a nervous break down. I know there are worst near-death experiences we have all heard, but this one is mine

I have to ask-do you have much, if any, experience on the ocean? Your comments indicate to me that you are essentially terrified of the ocean. I can kind of see a diver getting nervous when they surface in the middle of a thunderstorm without a boat nearby to grab them. I can kind of see that in a new diver. But, for a SCUBA diver to be concerned about being "eaten by a shark" or "swalled by the ocean" is not normal. Those comments have nothing whatsoever to do with the storm or the distance of the boat from you. At least to me (and no, I am not Dr. Phil!) they show a very real fear of the ocean. I strongly suggest you figure out why you have such an enormous fear of the ocean and then work on resolving that before you dive in the ocean again. Maybe springs, lakes, and rivers are better for you for awhile. There is nothing wrong with that at all. Many divers choose to not dive in certain environments. For me, I don't dive anywhere there is overhead. I just don't do it, end of story. Your saying you nearly had a nervous breakdown as a result of this and refer to it as a near-death experience when it wasn't even close to one. That tells me this dive environment is placing way too much stress on you for now.

 

[cdiver2]

IF the boat had to leave the area of the main party and the two divers that surfaced early WHY. IF it was due to inclement weather should the Capt have not considered a diver recall and not just left.

 

[Slonda828]

IF the boat had to leave the area of the main party and the two divers that surfaced early WHY. IF it was due to inclement weather should the Capt have not considered a diver recall and not just left.

I think you should re-read this post and try to phrase it in a way that does not sound like jibberish.

Respectfully,

A teacher.

Also, she said that the weather was bad by the time she surfaced. If the weather is already bad, and you fly the papa flag (recall for the layperson), then how is everyone going to swim back to the boat? At that point motoring over to get them is more dangerous than leaving them there. Also, are we sure the captain actually left?

 

[Hoomi]

One thing that is probably good to remember while in the water:

Diving, like flying, may be inherently unforgiving of mistakes, but for real danger, we're all far more likely to get killed driving to the airport or the dive site than we are to die while diving.

Even the Great White shark is of far less danger to me than the idiot red light runners here in Tucson...