better? paranoid or too comfortable?

[TheOnlyRae]

I learned to swim, before I learned to walk.
Being in the water makes me happy...and I'm pretty comfortable in it.
I absolutely consider myself a noob and dive with my pressure gauge/computer in my hand, because I'm constantly monitoring it. I also have to fight my natural instinct to swim with my arms....just because I always have.

My noob question is - which is worse? to dive with a paranoid noob or a comfortable noob?

Case in point - this past weekend I went on a shallow shore (15/20ft) dive. My first shore dive (boat dives under my belt), but as stated, am comfortable in the water. I had computer issues, but my pressure gauge was fully functional and I knew the dive was max approx 20 ft. At this depth, I would run out of air (still consume it quickly) before I maxed out dive tables. I did let another diver know that my computer was not functioning properly and he indicated as I felt, that at that depth, I would be OK as long as I monitored time.

I ascended after a leg cramp not long into the dive (with the intent to descend again after cramp abated). On the surface I identified a strap issue on BC and decided to abort the dive and stay on surface with BC inflated until the group went back to shore. I was lucky, there was a kayak, so I swam to it and stayed with it until the group went back in.

My buddy was diving with another person, we were a group of 3, she had a dive flag and also her regular buddy was snorkeling above us.

In retrospect, I did not let my buddies clearly know that I was having equipment issues. I'm kicking my own butt for that, so please don't mercilessly flame me. I did stay close to the dive flag on the surface, swimming behind it, and it was shallow enough with about 40 feet vis, with the thought process being, the 2 divers below could see me.

As a new diver, I could have panicked. I didn't.
In retrospect, as I read the incidents threads, I wonder, did I, by my lack of panic totally eff up? At deeper depth, or less visibility, or boat diving I would have aborted dive immediately, (Clearly). Did the shallow/visibility/shore combo make me too complacent?

In the moment, I thought I was making the best decisions based on information at hand. (I also had a watch on, and immediately checked the time when I saw computer wasn't working - so I knew approx. how long I had been under). The dive group I was with was pretty fantastic, a shore dive clinic, and there were lots of experienced divers in the group, whose intent was for beginners to gain experience/comfort in the water and learn the basics of shore diving.

By remaining calm and mostly quiet (on surface I spent a lot of time being irritated at myself for not having a banana at breakfast and enjoying the peace the water brings me) - was I a menace to my dive group?

I try very hard to prep before every dive...to the point of being OCD about re-reading OW book regarding hand signals and BWRAF.

I know I'm a noob, and look to more experienced divers for guidance. I don't want to be a noob that puts others safety at risk or is a menace. So my posting here has multiple goals. Identify additional mistakes (other than crappy buddy communication) and verify if my actions (keeping calm and quiet) were a good choice or a bad choice.

I want to learn. I want to dive safe. I need your experienced suggestions, so that I can improve as a diver and hopefully someday be able to help a noob diver myself. In my experience, a brand new diver is easily clueless, and with each dive I become more aware of potential worst case scenarios.

These boards are great, thanks for your time.

 

[gcbryan]

At that depth as long as you properly monitor your air nothing is going to happen no matter how long you stay down so a computer/depth gauge/timer is not even necessary.

If you had a buddy and aborted the dive and communicated that to your buddy then your buddy should have gone up with you unless you decided otherwise and for a new diver deciding otherwise is not wise.

As far as I can see there is no more to this incident than that.

 

[Codiak]

So first thing is you need to relax!
Take a breath, let it out, now take another.
There feel better?

If the group was for new divers to get experience, it worked eh?
Your buddy kept on diving so no worries.

Your just in information overload still, not knowing how to prioritize all the inputs. One day After enough dives you will start noticing all the mistakes everyone makes and just be flabbergasted.

As gc notes at 20feet NDL isn't a real concern, as long as you keep breathing it'll be fine. However, my guess is the computer failure seriously effected your mental state before the dive began and you convinced your self for whatever other reasons to push on! Next time just call the dive. We all do at some point

 

[W8less]

Although not a direct answer to your question, in my experience the most difficult is diving with a noob or anyone that thinks they have it all figured out. We are all on a learning curve. What you described in your post will lay the foundation to building your future experience level.

You certainly have the right to abort the dive for ANY reason but it is imperative that you communicate that fact to your buddy.

I applaud you for looking inward and evaluating your own actions and not placing fault with others.

You become a better diver with continuing training and by analyzing past situations in search of better solutions and by continually playing the mental "what if" game so that you have options available in the event a problem arises.

You are on the right track. keep gettin wet.

 

[knowone]

All noobs if they realise they are noobs and relish the moulding of their potential are great to dive with.
There is a satisfaction for a non noob in passing on tips that come as second nature remembering that they once may not have been and watching goodness as it all falls into place.

So my tip today is that if you spend time in A&I you could read more closely and realise that divers have a difficult enough time seeing each other under there let alone watching you on the surface.

Personally I avoid like the plague the with no information and less facts theorising of A&I and prefer to watch these things unfold during a dive and prevent their further progression.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I'm confused. If you are so comfortable in the water, then why would you go to the surface to deal with a leg cramp, especially one which you expected to be resolvable.

Your training should have taught you to try to solve problems underwater.

 

[TSandM]

First off, in evaluating any problem underwater, you need to understand the ramifications of the problem. In the case of your computer malfunction, you needed to know the depth contour of the site (how much trouble can I get into?) and your gas supply and proposed dive time (will I be forced out of the water by cold, gas, or buddies before decompression is an issue?) It sounds as though you had the appropriate information and made the right decision.

I agree that a cramp is something you should have been able to deal with at depth. What would you have done at 100 feet, if the same thing had happened? But if you decided to surface to deal with it, you should have let your buddy know you were going, and your buddy should have gone with you. And if you didn't communicate, but just went up, your buddy SURE as shooting should have come up to look for you!

Overly comfortable is ignoring issues or minimizing them. It doesn't sound as though you did those things. It does sound as though you need to think harder about buddy team process, though.

 

[DevonDiver]

It is quite possible to be comfortable in the water, and yet not comfortable to deal with issues that arise there. I feel that capacity to deal with issues only comes with training and experience. This is why novice divers are repeatedly advised to dive conservatively, at depths where the surface is an option...and where the buddy system can help them.

Just make sure that you learn from this lesson. What is important is that you identify weaknesses in your diving and strive to iron them out. Everyone has a breaking point, at which the surface seems the only possible option...and people will stop thinking and head that way out of instinct. If you are aware of that... then you will be better prepared to stop and attempt to deal with the problem underwater, when it arises.

From an instructor's perspective, I would rather see novice divers have an appreciation of their limitations. That in itself will do a lot to keep them safe whilst they gain capability along with confidence. Confidence without capability is what gets divers in big trouble...and there are plenty of illustrations of that here in Scubaboard.

Make sure you have a buddy that you trust... and get used to working with them underwater to deal with problems. At your stage in diving, a reliable buddy..and a conservative diving attitude will keep you safe and sound.

 

[TheOnlyRae]

I'm confused. If you are so comfortable in the water, then why would you go to the surface to deal with a leg cramp, especially one which you expected to be resolvable.

Your training should have taught you to try to solve problems underwater.

My mask fogged as well, forgot to mention last night. I flooded mask, in attempt to clear it out, but it didn't work. I had defog in my pocket, so decided it would be easier to deal w/everything at surface. Since surface was abt 10 feet above me, it seemed simpler. Once I got up there, with my BC inflated, I noticed it was feeling funny/uncomfortable. Broken strap, so nothing holding jacket sides around waist.

That was the last straw, so I called the dive.

 

[DevonDiver]

That was the last straw, so I called the dive.

Good call.

Sometimes, knowing when to abort is the best safety measure there is...