Sperbonzo
Contributor
I was in Durban South Africa last December, and traveled north to Sodwana Bay about 400KM north along the coast. I hadn't brought any gear along for this trip so I rented everything. (This would turn out to be a BIG mistake). We were in a 30foot Zodiac launched from the beach in huge swells... Lots of fun!
We dive down to a beautiful reef about 55 to 60 feet down and proceeded to wander around the reef. Everyone else was a couple on the dive, so I buddied up with the dive master.
The rental regulator was pretty rough to pull on, and the BC wasn't balancing quite right... all kind of distracting, but the most annoying part was that I wasn't as relaxed as normal and so I used up air pretty fast for a drift dive.
I look at my SPG and realize that I need to go up... I'm well above the red, but I want plenty of air for both my safety stop and getting to the boat in rough seas, so I get the DMs attention, show my pressure dial, and signal that I'm going up. He nods and turns away, and so do I. I take the first couple of strokes away and up the flag line when my air just stops.
I had let my breath out, and then pulled for the next breath and it was like a hand clamped on my mouth.
Boy will THAT get your attention!! I wasn't frightened but definitely perturbed and suddenly VERY alert! I spin around and swim back to the DM, grab his shoulder and make the "Out of Air" signal. He grabs his Octo, and hands it to me, and after a minute we go up to the surface (with the safety stop). Once there I inflate my BC by mouth and the DM goes back down while I head for the boat.
The gauge STILL showed plenty of air left, even though there wasn't any.
I will NEVER use rented gear after this. I always bring everything but weights and tanks, and pay no attention to the lost luggage space.
We dive down to a beautiful reef about 55 to 60 feet down and proceeded to wander around the reef. Everyone else was a couple on the dive, so I buddied up with the dive master.
The rental regulator was pretty rough to pull on, and the BC wasn't balancing quite right... all kind of distracting, but the most annoying part was that I wasn't as relaxed as normal and so I used up air pretty fast for a drift dive.
I look at my SPG and realize that I need to go up... I'm well above the red, but I want plenty of air for both my safety stop and getting to the boat in rough seas, so I get the DMs attention, show my pressure dial, and signal that I'm going up. He nods and turns away, and so do I. I take the first couple of strokes away and up the flag line when my air just stops.
I had let my breath out, and then pulled for the next breath and it was like a hand clamped on my mouth.
Boy will THAT get your attention!! I wasn't frightened but definitely perturbed and suddenly VERY alert! I spin around and swim back to the DM, grab his shoulder and make the "Out of Air" signal. He grabs his Octo, and hands it to me, and after a minute we go up to the surface (with the safety stop). Once there I inflate my BC by mouth and the DM goes back down while I head for the boat.
The gauge STILL showed plenty of air left, even though there wasn't any.
I will NEVER use rented gear after this. I always bring everything but weights and tanks, and pay no attention to the lost luggage space.
