Almost got lost in the Current - long read

[DiverBizz]

Jim Kerr Thanks for the information. I watched a friend's video of a current dive and it was so fast. At first I swear I thought the film was sped up for effect. I plan on getting trained.

Pilot fish I would have just stayed with the other boat and pretend to belong instead of struggling with the current.

 

[drbill]

Hey, I'm a "heavy breather" too... but only when I make those "special" telephone calls to the ladies.

 

[pilot fish]

I don't seem to have much trouble with surface swimming with a snorkel? What do you suggest?

Try it against a 2 knot current and 3/5 ft swells and you might have a bit more trouble.

 

[pilot fish]

on getting trained.

Pilot fish, I would have just stayed with the other boat and pretend to belong instead of struggling with the current.

After I made no headway at all, I drifted back to the wrong boat, something windwalker did not have the luxury of doing. They were kind enough to allow me onboard to catch my breath. Moments later 4 more divers from my boat came up that same wrong line and had the same problem. Our boat threw out a long line and the DM from our boat jumped in and swam the line over to us. I jumped back in and grabbed the line, which went real taut in the current and put my reg back in my mouth and swam to my boat. Windwalker had it worse because he had no option but his own boat, or out to sea.

Diverbizz, if I had stayed with that wrong boat I would have gone back to a place that was probably 8 miles from the dock I was supposed to be at- no money for a cab and lots of wet gear to lug. Nah, back in the water to the right boat

 

[Jim Kerr]

A similar thing happend to me on the Spiegel Grove. I came up the wrong line and reached the wrong boat - my boat was 100 yrds or so away.

Well don't feel bad because apparently that seems to happen quite alot on the Grove. Because it's such a long boat they have several mooring lines on it, one at each end and 1 or more in between. When I dove it this last Nov the dive op I was diving with, Ocean Divers, DIVE KEY LARGO WITH OCEAN DIVERS - SCUBA diving, snorkeling, PADI diver training, IDC & CDC - Instructor & Career Development Center specifically warned us to look and note the location of the line we came down so that we don't come up the wrong one. If someone surfaced using the wrong line and ended up too far away they would not be able to come and get you until all the other divers had made it back.

 

[pilot fish]

That's the dive op I use in Key Largo too. yes, I was distracted when I went down the line and didn't take proper note of the exact spot, as I should have. I had a wandering insta- buddy who abandoned me at the bow so I swam back alone and thought I was going up the right line. It was a bit crowded that day so some divers did I as I did. It all worked out though, I'm happy to say.

Windwalker's situation sounded more serious though. I'm glad he made it back to his boat.

Well don't feel bad because apparently that seems to happen quite alot on the Grove. Because it's such a long boat they have several moring lines on it, one at each end and 1 or more in between. When I dove it this last Nov the dive op I was diving with, Ocean Divers, DIVE KEY LARGO WITH OCEAN DIVERS - SCUBA diving, snorkeling, PADI diver training, IDC & CDC - Instructor & Career Development Center specifically warned us to look and note the location of the line we came down so that we don't come up the wrong one. If someone surfaced using the wrong line and ended up too far away they would not be able to come and get you until all the other divers had made it back.

 

[Hank49]

Hey, I'm a "heavy breather" too... but only when I make those "special" telephone calls to the ladies.

drbill, you need to get off that island a little more frequently.

 

[Windwalker]

I had a wandering insta- buddy who abandoned me at the bow so I swam back alone and thought I was going up the right line. It was a bit crowded that day so some divers did I as I did. It all worked out though, I'm happy to say.

I have never been unfortunate enough to have a insta-buddie like you had. I hope you bit his head off when you saw him again(or at leased growled loudly)

Windwalker's situation sounded more serious though. I'm glad he made it back to his boat.

Me too, before I go back, I am going to have a little "Extended stay" packet in the water which is going to include a GPS Emergency reporting beacon, and some active signaling device besides my strobe, sausage and whistle. This is the second time I have gotten lost in the current. The first time was a rock island in the San Juan's in December and the current was so fast, we lost sight of land before the boat found us. (we were on a 600foot rock wall) Of course the big waves were not helping either.

 

[Windwalker]

Hey, I'm a "heavy breather" too... but only when I make those "special" telephone calls to the ladies.

Thats bad!! Imagine the lineup. Okay number 5 breath heavy!

 

[pilot fish]

I have never been unfortunate enough to have a insta-buddie like you had. I hope you bit his head off when you saw him again(or at leased growled loudly)

When I saw him later I asked what happend, [we agreed pre dive to max at 85 ft. he left me and went down below 100 ft -he was hard to find several times on that dive ] and he said something about the merits of solo diving. The DM said, why the blank didn't you tell him that BEFORE you dove? I just shook my head. If I'm lucky, I will never have to dive with him again.

I really see this incident of yours as the dive crew's fault. If they know currents there can change rapidly, and are that strong, they should have been prepared for that. All somone had to do is look around and find bubbles and throw a line in that direction. You need to post who they are so other divers will not find themselves in a similar predictament.