Close call - flooded reg and DM at Blue Angel, Cozumel

[MikeSK]

It certainly appears that you handled things well. Failures happen and that is why you took a scuba class.....to learn how to handle them.

As to what you were expected as you "trusted" the Dive Master, I don't know. Even on dives that are guided by a Dive Master, you are still responsible. The Dive Master is responsible for oversight of the entire group and can't be expected to be there to respond to everyone's "trouble".

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

Isn't it a little different though when the DM SPECIFICALLY says "your my buddy" ? At that point, he's directly taking responsiblity for this one person, as well as the whole group.

From what Ive read here, clearly the DM was..wrong. Won't go so far as to say incompetant, but from the running to the boat, rushing to put regs on, and not even checking that the air was turned on....

Sure, its out resonsibilty to obviously..but this is his job

 

[jeckyll]

This is a tough call. Certainly sounds like the DM screwed up, but I think that if you have stick with your 'wingman'. If you both spotted someone with a problem, IMO you both go after them to get them out of trouble as otherwise you've just turned your 'buddy' into a solo diver.

You had a failure that you dealt with very well, i.e. you didn't panic when getting nothing but water while trying to breath. You also have an opportunity to talk to your buddy about what reasonable separation means to you.

 

[redacted]

Isn't it a little different though when the DM SPECIFICALLY says "your my buddy" ? At that point, he's directly taking responsiblity for this one person, as well as the whole group.

From what Ive read here, clearly the DM was..wrong. Won't go so far as to say incompetant, but from the running to the boat, rushing to put regs on, and not even checking that the air was turned on....

Sure, its out resonsibilty to obviously..but this is his job

When a Cozumel DM says "you are my buddy", that means you need to stay with him. He still has an entire group of divers he has to take care of. I would not be too quick to condemn the DM in this incident. The diver was on a hard bottom, breathing, and they had not yet dropped over the edge of the wall. While the OP and her buddy did a great job, I suspect the DM would have handled the situation in plenty of time had the diver not regained control or been aided by others.

 

[snowmaker]

A few observations and options.

First you and your boyfriend did great. You both surfaced without any injuries and brought out a diver without injuries who may have had major problems otherwise.

It's good that your looking back to find better ways to deal with such an incident again. This will make you a better and safer diver. Don't second guess everything though just look to improve on how you both handled the situation.

Situations like this happen quickly without time to think things through. Although always tell divers to slow down and think before continuing when the SHTF but sometimes you can't.

Taking an advanced and then rescue class will give you some good peace of mind and training.

Don't rely on a DM or anyone for your dive safety. Ever diver needs to take reasonability for their dive planning, execution and safety. Sure having them there is nice and a great help if they help but never rely on it. I don't think you did anyway.

It's time for your own reg. Rental gear gets abused and often not checked enough.

 

[rainmaker]

First, I'd like to say that I think you handled a potentially serious situation in a very cool-headed and efficient manner. Getting a mouthful of seawater from your reg is enough to elevate the pulse of just about any diver (I've been there, too). However, I have found that I learn far more from the bad dives than the good ones. You may have learned something that will really come in handy on a later dive. It makes me think of the old quote, "A calm sea never made a skillful sailor". Easy, unchallenging dives never made a skillful diver, either.

I wasn't there, and I won't suggest that your friend made a mistake in leaving your side to assist the other diver. However, I've tried to picture the situation and then decide what I would have done. In a similar situation, I don't think I would have left my girlfriend's side unless it was clear that another diver was clearly experiencing difficulty and was in danger. In other words, if I witnessed another diver doing something that was only POTENTIALLY dangerous, I wouldn't have left her side.

I have dived a total of 6 weeks in the last 3 years with Blue Angel in Cozumel, and I have made at least 12 - 14 dives with Jose, maybe more. He is my favorite DM at Blue Angel, and I have seen him go out of his way on numerous occasions to ensure the safety of the divers he leads. I have never seen him do anything that I would consider inconsiderate, incompetant or recklass. Hopefully, he just had an off-day, or perhaps something was lost in communication. His English is not all that good and he is sort of a quiet, laid-back guy who is not comfortable with lengthy conversations.

 

[Belmont]

I fumbled for what seemed like ages (but was only seconds) before freeing my second, clearing it and gasping.

I think everyone here before me covered the subject at hand.

I would just like to suggest, since you plan on buying your own set of regs, that you consider the advantages of a necklace suspended second. It's so much closer to your mouth and you don't have to deal with a clip or worse a free hanging second in your back.

 

[TSandM]

I think this is a situation where there is no good answer. Your buddy's primary responsibility and commitment is to you, and not to anyone else in the group. But it's hard to say that and stick to it and watch someone else get into trouble, or get hurt. In a somewhat similar situation a couple of years ago, I watched the DM for our group (to whom nobody else was paying any attention) appearing to have some kind of problem that ended up with him removing his BC underwater. I looked at my husband, who appeared fine, and made a decision to swim rapidly toward the DM, in case he required assistance. In doing so, I left my husband behind, and without any communication to him, as there wasn't really time. He could have followed me, but he didn't. The DM turned out to handle his issue, and I returned to my husband. But had he had something like what happened to you occur while I was swimming away, with my back to him, it could have had a bad outcome. Had I stayed with him, and it turned out the DM was in serious trouble, I would have felt awful. There isn't a good answer.

Your reg may have breathed wet from a folded exhaust diaphragm, or from a loose or lost mouthpiece. It is not a good feeling to breathe water, but that's one of the reasons we have two regulators on us. Good for you that you thought of switching.

This kind of issue is one of the reasons I don't really like diving with a random group off a boat.

 

[Doubler]

BGG,
You and your Boyfriend did great.
1. The only regulator failure I have ever had was with rental gear. Sucking nothing but ocean at 60 ft does "Push the panic button". In your case you had a second, in my case it was a CESA from 60. Overcoming your panic is a sign of a good diver.
2. Going after a NEWB in trouble is also a good thing, your buddy had no idea you had a problem and pre-problem communications between you two I.E. You going down first after the Newb, indicated to him that that was the course of action that the "Team" had decided on.
3. The Newb should have stayed with the DM, his failure not the DM (IMO). Look at it from the DM's side. He looks down sees the Newb bottomed, Sees you and your buddy, who appear to him to be competent divers going to assist, he looks around for his other charges, looks back at you guys and sees the situation being handled. Never saw your issue, things appear normal. Carries on with dive.
4. I am a geezer. I thought I could get away without a prescription mask because, "Things underwater are magnified 25%" Yeah right, I could not see a darn thing on my gauges. Fortunately I did this in a swimming pool. Got a new mask and "The Brick" because it has a large display.
5. Be proud of your self and your dive buddy.

 

[steve70638]

My view is somewhat in opposition to the other comments here: If I was on a rented reg and the primary second stage was bad and I was breathing on the octo, I think it is time to thumb the dive. Consider that you are diving without a backup air source for your buddy and that you have already been shown that the reg you are using hasn't been well maintained. Furthermore, we all know the standards of maintenance on octos is even lower than on the primary second stage. Many people (and I assume this is even more true in a rental environment) do not maintain their octos on the same schedule (if at all) that they maintain their primaries. My view is that an octo is like the mini-spare tire in the car. Its purpose is to get you to a dealer/garage to get a new tire, not to finish the journey.

 

[sffrenchman]

BGG,
You and your Boyfriend did great.
1. The only regulator failure I have ever had was with rental gear. Sucking nothing but ocean at 60 ft does "Push the panic button". In your case you had a second, in my case it was a CESA from 60. Overcoming your panic is a sign of a good diver.
2. Going after a NEWB in trouble is also a good thing, your buddy had no idea you had a problem and pre-problem communications between you two I.E. You going down first after the Newb, indicated to him that that was the course of action that the "Team" had decided on.
3. The Newb should have stayed with the DM, his failure not the DM (IMO). Look at it from the DM's side. He looks down sees the Newb bottomed, Sees you and your buddy, who appear to him to be competent divers going to assist, he looks around for his other charges, looks back at you guys and sees the situation being handled. Never saw your issue, things appear normal. Carries on with dive.
4. I am a geezer. I thought I could get away without a prescription mask because, "Things underwater are magnified 25%" Yeah right, I could not see a darn thing on my gauges. Fortunately I did this in a swimming pool. Got a new mask and "The Brick" because it has a large display.
5. Be proud of your self and your dive buddy.

I have to respectfully disagree with point #3. When the DM said "your my buddy", he took the responsibility to be the novice's buddy, which includes waiting for him if the novice was having trouble staying with his DM buddy. If not willing to do so, or could not do it because of his responsibility to the other divers in the group, then the novice should not have been allowed to get on the boat and dive since he did not have a dive buddy. IMO