Littorally Diving
Registered
I am a newly certified OW diver with only 2 certified dives under my belt. I had a bit of a scary experience on Sunday which I'll put out here to seek advice and in case that advice is useful for others. I am sorry if this is a bit long.
I was doing a nice easy beach dive on a wreck at 15' in decent visibility with a little current in 69 degree water. The wreck wasn't much more than a loose pile of old rust, being mostly buried by sand, so there were no issues with the environment. It really was more like a rock pile than a wreck. The leader was my former instructor and there was a certified divemaster and a wreck course trainee with us. This dive was very similar to my training dives, and there were no other stressors. I weigh 165lbs, was wearing a 7mm one piece, and was carrying 20lbs of weight with an LP85 tank.
About 30m into the dive I was at 15' and we rounded the stern of the wreck where the trainee was to tie off a reel. Being new I'm still having a little trouble controlling my movements and I came up behind them a bit fast. I didn't want to crash into them or the wreck, so I ascended about a foot to get over them. And kept ascending. I tried pointing down head first and finning down, but by the time I'd reached this orientation I was getting further away, probably at about 10' though I didn't check. Now I was feet up. I couldn't find the butt dump valve in time, but I was able to twist in the water and dump a _lot_ of air from the hose valve while still finning. I felt my fins break the surface which must have amused the fishermen on the beach. Then I descended rapidly. I managed to equalize on the way back down and got some air in the BCD before only just stopping short of crashing into the bottom. Computer log said I topped out at 4' depth. I was stressed after this; luckily the wreck trainee was taking a long time tying off so I was able to pause and recover for a minute before the group moved off. Nobody noticed, which I was happy about.
Things I did right (or got lucky on):
1. Didn't panic.
2. Re-oriented and vented from the hose as soon as I found I couldn't find the butt valve.
3. Kept breathing during the ascent (actually exhaling the entire way, in an attempt to get less positively buoyant).
4. Controlled (to a degree) the subsequent descent.
Things I think I did wrong:
1. Let it happen.
2. Try to fin first instead of dumping air.
3. Failed to find the butt valve instantly when I was pointing downwards.
Despite the OK outcome the entire thing shook me a bit. It seemed that my buoyancy was on a hair trigger. I was ascending and descending throughout the dive up to that point to clear rocks and the like, but without this kind of issue. Then I crossed some line and suddenly I was on the elevator. In general my buoyancy control is still bad, though I can get neutral at some points. I was having to do a lot with the BC earlier in the dive to try to keep neutral. Maybe I am overweighted? Over-using the BC? Is it partly because the pressure gradient at that shallow depth is so steep, every small change in depth has a big effect on the air in the bladder?
Thanks for reading.
I was doing a nice easy beach dive on a wreck at 15' in decent visibility with a little current in 69 degree water. The wreck wasn't much more than a loose pile of old rust, being mostly buried by sand, so there were no issues with the environment. It really was more like a rock pile than a wreck. The leader was my former instructor and there was a certified divemaster and a wreck course trainee with us. This dive was very similar to my training dives, and there were no other stressors. I weigh 165lbs, was wearing a 7mm one piece, and was carrying 20lbs of weight with an LP85 tank.
About 30m into the dive I was at 15' and we rounded the stern of the wreck where the trainee was to tie off a reel. Being new I'm still having a little trouble controlling my movements and I came up behind them a bit fast. I didn't want to crash into them or the wreck, so I ascended about a foot to get over them. And kept ascending. I tried pointing down head first and finning down, but by the time I'd reached this orientation I was getting further away, probably at about 10' though I didn't check. Now I was feet up. I couldn't find the butt dump valve in time, but I was able to twist in the water and dump a _lot_ of air from the hose valve while still finning. I felt my fins break the surface which must have amused the fishermen on the beach. Then I descended rapidly. I managed to equalize on the way back down and got some air in the BCD before only just stopping short of crashing into the bottom. Computer log said I topped out at 4' depth. I was stressed after this; luckily the wreck trainee was taking a long time tying off so I was able to pause and recover for a minute before the group moved off. Nobody noticed, which I was happy about.
Things I did right (or got lucky on):
1. Didn't panic.
2. Re-oriented and vented from the hose as soon as I found I couldn't find the butt valve.
3. Kept breathing during the ascent (actually exhaling the entire way, in an attempt to get less positively buoyant).
4. Controlled (to a degree) the subsequent descent.
Things I think I did wrong:
1. Let it happen.
2. Try to fin first instead of dumping air.
3. Failed to find the butt valve instantly when I was pointing downwards.
Despite the OK outcome the entire thing shook me a bit. It seemed that my buoyancy was on a hair trigger. I was ascending and descending throughout the dive up to that point to clear rocks and the like, but without this kind of issue. Then I crossed some line and suddenly I was on the elevator. In general my buoyancy control is still bad, though I can get neutral at some points. I was having to do a lot with the BC earlier in the dive to try to keep neutral. Maybe I am overweighted? Over-using the BC? Is it partly because the pressure gradient at that shallow depth is so steep, every small change in depth has a big effect on the air in the bladder?
Thanks for reading.