Cap't Dan

[showboat]

My GF and and I went out Sat afternoon and went to Cap't Dan in Pompano, the wreck sits at 110 feet, waves were about 5 foot and the current was pretty strong.

The dive started out well going down the decent line, once we got down to the boat, we started swimming into the current towards the front and was going nowhere pretty fast. Not even 10 minutes into the dive I started hyperventilating from the hard kicking.

I signaled to my partner to head up after a momment of trying to get my breath back. I started to drift away from the boat and I did freak out a few seconds But I did a "Stop, Thank and Act" as I could not get to the accent line back to the boat and drifted even further away.

My partner went to back to the accent line and back up to the boat to tell the crew that she lost me and that I should be up on the surface somewhere. I did a controlled accent and even did a safety stop. When I hit the surface I went looking for the boat that was about 300 yards away, Yikes

The crew found me about 2 minutes later as I signaled for help to get me. and when the boat came close I signaled that I was ok.

I am very grateful that my partner did her best to stay calm and reacted the way she did, She was still worried about me when we did our 2nd dive which was a reef drift for an hour at 50 feet
to do some photography, but all was ok and had a much better 2nd dive.

 

[Walter]

This is, unfortunately, fairly common. The Dan isn't all that difficult a dive, yet it has claimed lives before. You are OK, which is the important thing. There are several lessons to be learned from your dive. I hope you learned them and hopefully others can learn from them too.

Lessons:

"waves were about 5 foot"

Only extremely experienced divers should be out in 5 ft seas, unless they are easy rollers.

"we started swimming into the current towards the front and was going nowhere pretty fast. Not even 10 minutes into the dive I started hyperventilating from the hard kicking."

Use your hands to pull yourself along the wreck. You'll move faster and easier. Hypoventilation is not good, slow your breathing down when you first notice it speeding up.

"I started to drift away from the boat "

Plan your route. I often will let go of the wreck and let the current carry me back to the up line, but you have to plan your route carefully so you end up on the line. As you drift to the line, stay within grabbing distance of the wreck.

"My partner went to back to the accent line and back up to the boat to tell the crew that she lost me and that I should be up on the surface somewhere."

Tough call. At this point you have a choice of 2 lost divers or 2 solo divers. I think she made the right decision. A professional (diving a a 2 man buddy team) would most likely stay with you.

"When I hit the surface I went looking for the boat that was about 300 yards away, Yikes"

Always dive with a safety sausage.

 

[showboat]

I totally agree with you about Cap't Dan and what happend to me. I have dive this site a few times with no problems before and doing a night dive on it as well once.

I had a great time when I have dove this site before and have no problems and going back real soon.

I just want to let everyone know about what has happend and to be careful out there when the waters and weather conditions are rough as it has been the last week. ( I am sure we all prefer calm and clear waters).

Also I do agree that my dive partner made the correct decision to get back to the accent line to tell the crew whats going on. I would rather have 1 life lost then 2 divers.

As for the safety safety sausage, I do urge anyone to get one when you dive from a boat. It is not expensive at all and does not take up space on your BC.

 

[MikeJacobs]

Walter once bubbled... I often will let go of the wreck and let the current carry me back to the up line, but you have to plan your route carefully so you end up on the line. As you drift to the line, stay within grabbing distance of the wreck.[/B]

Florida diving is so easy it's easy to make a silly mistake... I recently let go to clear my mask on the way up and drifted a good 75' down current before I realized I was lost. With all the dive boats in the area I couldn't figure out which was mine and ended up on the wrong one lol. No danger this time, except to my EGO lol...

And be sure it's the right line. In three trips to the Spiegel Grove I've seen divers come up on the wrong line twice and have to 'swim the gauntlet' in current to get to the right boat.

 

[Walter]

"Florida diving is so easy it's easy to make a silly mistake..."

There are lots of easy dives in Florida, but classifying Florida diving as easy is a silly mistake.

 

[Spectre]

I had some serious current on the captain dan a few weeks ago.

We ended up hiding inside the whole dive!

 

[pdoege]

I wanted to add that you can also "hide" from the current if you can get into the lee of the wreck.

The wreck will have an area of slower water on the side away from the current. If one can drop down into that area, one can often make it back to the wreck.

Of course, bombing down to the bottom at 120' whilst hyperventilating may not be the best thing to do

I think the free ascent was the best approach and you did fine.

Peter

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Spectre once bubbled...
I had some serious current on the captain dan a few weeks ago.

You were here and didn't let us know?

Marc

 

[deepstops]

Spectre once bubbled...
I had some serious current on the captain dan a few weeks ago. We ended up hiding inside the whole dive!

We had about 5'/second (2.5 knots) on the Duane yesterday. I got to see a Gavin in reverse I tried to convince the captain to drop us on the bow and p/u off the stern. He ended up picking us up off the stern anyway.

 

[MikeJacobs]

Walter once bubbled... There are lots of easy dives in Florida, but classifying Florida diving as easy is a silly mistake.

Can't disagree, but there are plenty of easy dives that suit me just fine. I just heard from somebody at work that they had the very same experience Dan had. Said the same thing, too - he was glad his training kicked in when he felt a little panic creeping in.