Analysis of a bad dive.

[fisherdvm]

I was invited to go and dive with the local DIR group. First, they said shed the snorkel. No problem. Problems - using new Diverite backplate (abs plastic), drysuit (my 3rd openwater with a drysuit), night dive, flash lite (they told me to carry it in my left hand - the one I customarily use to control my buoyancy with the BC), shallow depth of the dive (20 ft) where 4 other members were practicing their drills.

Anyhow, the first 5 minutes went fine, then I started to mess with my suit and added more air. Boiiiing, I am floating up. Then down. Then I tried to use the BC for buoyancy control. Up and down. Then I was too embarrassed, so I dumped all the air, and sat on the bottom kicking up silt.

Then I got tangled up in their line, and was worried I was going to die. Forgot that the darn BC didn't have pockets - that's where I kept scissor and knife in my other BC. Fortunately, I got lose before they had to come and rescue me. But the anxiety - dying popped in my mind.

All the messing around got so much water in my drysuit, I might as well have doved wet! Then, I forgot, I dove with steel tank during my other dives... Now my own AL 80 had a wicked buoyancy issue at the end. So I was underweighted. I floated to the top when the tank was about 800, and can not get back down.

I had about 18 lbs of weight on my belt, and it sagged below my hip. I think it was kept in place by my crotch strap. I was too anxious to correct it, as one of my hand was on the light and the inflator hose, and the other was playing with the drysuit.

When I floated to the top, I probably over inflated the rec wing, and it forced me face down in the water. NO SNORKLE! Kick and squirmed to be on my back, and it was uncomfortable.

So the analysis is: Don't do a night dive when you are not comfortable with a drysuit yet (I was fine in the pool and on the 2 day dives). Don't dive with a back plate BC until you have got the weight issue balanced out. Don't dive with an AL80 when you last dove with steel. Don't over inflate your wings, it will tip you in the water at the surface....

Please analyse the many errors here, I am not ashame to admit it. I was the best rototiller by the silt I kicked up last night. And it was funny, non of the DIR guys made fun of me....

 

[TSandM]

Oh, fisherdvm, your post reminded me SO strongly of my horrible night training dive after Fundies. I've written about it before -- It began with screwing up S-drills to the point where I made a tech diver with 350 dives flip completely over backwards. It went on to losses of buoyancy control, and ended with midwater disorientation and having to be rescued by my GUE instructor, who was leading the dive. At the surface, my weight belt fell off, and Steve had to crawl between my legs to retrieve it from my crotch strap (as though I had not already been humiliated enough).

And you know what? Nobody was rude, or made fun of me, and several of those people have dived with me since. (I've never been brave enough to dive with my buddy of that night again.)

We all start somewhere, and at least you're trying. That counts for a lot, and in my experience, the DIR folks go way out of their way to help anybody who's making an effort to learn to do this better.

 

[Cacia]

too funny!

You make a strong case for the old "change one variable at a time".

Glad you are diving with a class group...how can you go wrong?

 

[b1gcountry]

I agree with catherine. I think there were just too many new things you were doing all at the same time. I don't want to open a can of worms, but that is one downside to DIR that I've never really considered (BTW, no, I'm not "saved" by DIR:angel: ). That is possibly having to switch to all new equipment once you start adopting DIR. I've heard people refer to divers who only adopt part of the DIR approach as strokes, but maybe some of these "strokes" are just people who are trying to learn one part of the system at a time. Please no flames, and please I'm not trying to get off topic from the OP. The DIR stuff is just off the cuff, and yes, I know DIR is a system, and can't be adopted piecemeal...I'm just saying you can learn techniques better if you learn one at a time.
Tom

 

[TSandM]

b1gcountry, you have a good point about not changing too many things at once, whether you're pursuing DIR diving or not. It sounds as though the OP's biggest problem was managing his drysuit and weighting with a different tank, though, and that doesn't have much, if anything, to do with DIR.

My husband was angry with me when I signed up for Fundies, because I borrowed a BP/W and long hose setup and floundered with it for a few dives. But most (at least inexperienced) divers are going to flounder a bit when they change something, and using that as an argument for never making a change seems to be going a bit far to me.

 

[b1gcountry]

No, that wasn't my point at all, I was just saying if you want to make major changes, break them up into minor changes. It sounds like the OP had a new drysuit, new BC, different tank (although it sounds like he just forgot to account for this), and he changed his technique by putting the light in a different hand. He was also shallow, which made buoyancy a bit harder.

There probably would have been no issue had there only been one or two of the above issues, but there were four or five, and that's what screwed him up. I went to DUI days last year to try a drysuit for the first time. They didn't have a properly fitting suit for me at first (i'm 6'6", sz 15 shoes), and I had to wear these weird force fins. That was only three things (first time in drysuit, poorly fitting drysuit, new fins) and it made my dive really stink. Anyway, gotta go to work...

Tom

 

[Soggy]

Sorry you had a tough dive. I think we've all had those type of experiences (or will, if we haven't yet).

The big thing to take home from this is not to change too many things at once. You changed several variables and it lead to a bad problem. Learning to dive in a drysuit at night was probably the biggest culprit. I wouldn't worry about the al vs steel thing. The mistake you made was not diving an al80 -- it was not researching the buoyancy characteristics of the tank you were going to be diving and adjusting your weighting appropriately. As long as you know what the empty buoyancy is between two tanks, you can always adjust your weighting appropriately ahead of time.

I would suggest getting rid of that ABS backplate for a steel one...it'll just end up breaking on you and it doesn't take any weight off your belt.

And, kudos for posting this in a public forum for others to learn from.

 

[fisherdvm]

Other anxiety issue, as I floated on top, near the dock, I remembered the lone fisherman who unloaded his motorboat just at dusk. Then I made sure I pointed the light up. But it just add the the anxiety of things.

You are right, one thing at a time. Next time, I would have the light in my right hand. Next time, I would not go on a night dive. Next time, I might dive wet. Next time, I will get the weight issue down better. I am sure these folks are pretty easy going, I can also wear my other BC (back inflate) with the cumberbund that has pockets scattered throughout for weight and allow good weight distribution.

 

[Soggy]

Oh, another point. With regard to being pushed face down...

With a BP/Wing it's better to stay on your back on the surface. Also, if you are being actively forced down, it indicates you have too much gas in the wing. Since you were already light, you shouldn't have needed more than a couple squirts in it.

 

[ianr33]

Then I got tangled up in their line, and was worried I was going to die. Forgot that the darn BC didn't have pockets - that's where I kept scissor and knife in my other BC.

Get some pockets put on your drysuit !