Chewed up and spit out

[MaxBottomtime]

LMAO, I find it's really obvious right after you do the dive that you really shouldn't have.

Or as I like to put it, "Experience is what you gain, right after you needed it!"

I always tell myself I won't get in if the waves are three feet...and I seem to still do it every now and then. I've had more bad dives than I wish to ever have, but I know there will be a few more. The trick is to minimize the number of bad ones.

 

[lionfish-eater]

You need to soak that scooter in some Crystal clear salt water ASAP. Coz preferably.
If you want you can come visit and my buddy will hire you to dive for six to eight hours a day. The pay isn't great, but you get to pull lake weeds all day in shallow water

 

[northernone]

You need to soak that scooter in some Crystal clear salt water ASAP. Coz preferably.
If you want you can come visit and my buddy will hire you to dive for six to eight hours a day. The pay isn't great, but you get to pull lake weeds all day in shallow water

While I'm not sure if I want to reduce my bottom times that significantly, does sound like enough pond salad to make it feel like home!

 

[Altamira]

I mentally thumbed your dive at the 1ft viz comment.

 

[lowviz]

@northernone, Thanks for this detailed write-up!

I do have a question. My rotator cuff tear is keeping me shallow and my gills damp so I'm most interested in those unspoken issues that might have started the snowball effect. When things go bad, I toss Grace under the bus and go into survival mode. One needs to be highly focussed and effective but I find myself overly limited by my dominant arm.

Would you consider this to be a factor in your incident?

 

[Tecomah]

Glad you weren't hurt. I struggle a lot with calling dives myself and it's something I'm trying to be more conscientious of

 

[Frontpointer1000]

I think would have been more manageable without dragging around a bloody minded finger eater.

Agree here. Perhaps clip off the finger eater during entry. Get to deeper, clean/clear area then start up the scooter where it won’t get fouled up.

Also - just wondering about that mask. Was it loose at all?

 

[northernone]

@northernone, Thanks for this detailed write-up!

I do have a question. My rotator cuff tear is keeping me shallow and my gills damp so I'm most interested in those unspoken issues that might have started the snowball effect. When things go bad, I toss Grace under the bus and go into survival mode. One needs to be highly focussed and effective but I find myself overly limited by my dominant arm.

Would you consider this to be a factor in your incident?

-edit-
In summarization, I think it was primarily a lack of skill (applying appropriately what I can do) rather than a lack of ability in this situation. But I've had both before.
---

Ouch, I missed your cuff issue, hopefully you're moving towards recovery nicely (never as quickly as we want)

Thinking it over. Those unspoken factors can be significant.

I had a bad time a few years ago with a closed valve on a single backmounted tank after doing a negative entry. It motivated me in my physio, worked to regain that range of motion. (And embarrassingly enough as a visually fit guy, also my grip strength.)

For this dive I think with a less achy body I would have stayed on the bottom (with gloves) and comfortably dragged myself out past the surf... One hand holding a mask and the other doing the hauling.

---rambly unofficial medical bit---

My structural issues (compacted spine and busted up knees, wrists and ankles from old breaks/injuries plus reduced range of motion from poor physio after 9 months mainly bedridden 5 years ago) are pretty manageable, it's just a matter of how much I'll hurt the follow day/ month. I can still go into bull low and push through, like you mentioned, as long as not too much gear is involved.

The midwinter thread about patching up the body with exercises I've taken to heart with a fairly constant daily routine of stretching and the like.

-----

Honest self assessment is hard, particularly facing (or supplementing) weaknesses. Maybe I'll get the hang of it eventually.

I'm too young for this!
Cameron

 

[northernone]

Agree here. Perhaps clip off the finger eater during entry. Get to deeper, clean/clear area then start up the scooter where it won’t get fouled up.

Also - just wondering about that mask. Was it loose at all?

Sounds wise, I need to set up another tether point (sling it like stage bottle maybe so it doesn't flap around in the surf, any ideas welcome)

Mask does stick rather far from my face (the one in my profile pic) so the water pulls at it significantly but is rightly tightened with a neoprene strap. Caught the breakers wrong a couple times.

 

[lowviz]

Honest self assessment is hard, particularly facing (or supplementing) weaknesses. Maybe I'll get the hang of it eventually.

That is the part that I struggle with too.

It isn't anything macho, it is something about the fact that one's brain is not compromised in direct relation to the machine. Brain knows pretty much exactly what to do and when and issues the commands, but gets surprised when the gears don't do as told. This can be a bad thing in times of stress.

I do all the PT torture routines. The choice is simple, either convince people you are working on getting better or just go about getting better.

Thanks again.