Close call in Hawaii...what happened?

[devilvike]

I few weeks ago I had a close call in Hawaii that has made me reconsider my love for Scuba. Let me first say that I am not certified but I have taken intro courses on 3 seperate occasions and I am usually pretty cool under (water) pressure. I was just beginning the second of two dives and had hed descended to about 20 to 30 feet of water. I decided that I wanted to dive closer to the sea floor to examine some coral and proceeded to dive with my head slightly lower than the rest of my body when I felt and heard a loud pop or busting noise. I felt this explosion (for lack of a better word) and felt it vibrate my body. I immediately stopped and hovered but when I took my next breath, my regulator flooded with sea water with about a ration of 75 to 25 percent water to oxygen. Obviously, being still a relative beginner I nearly panicked. My dive instructor had traveled about 20 to 30 feet in front of me which seemed like a mile underwater. I knew that I couldn't shoot to the surface safely and yet I (miraculously) kept my cool and decided I to exhale and hope that the water would be flushed through the mouthpiece. I just prayed that once my lungs were empty that my next breath wouldn't bring more water. Well, my next breath brought more water, but fortunately it was 75 to 25 percent in favor of oxygen. I continued to expell the seawater but each successive breath brought more of the same. After a few breaths my instructor noticed that I was in distress. He came back to me and I didn't really no how to signal my problem to him while under water so I I gave the "thumb up" sign and started to slowly ascend to the surface. When at the surface I gave him the lowdown on my technical issue and he gave me the option to return to the boat to have a new regulator place on my gear and I agreed. The captain of the boat replaced the regulator and I stubbornly resumed my dive, although I was a bit shaken at what had preceeded me. My story doesn't end here, sadly. I soon discovered that whenever the angle of my body went past perpendicular to the seafloor (with my head lower than the rest of my body), I would get a nice sip of seawater gurgle into my regulator. I would flush it out and I could resume my dive as long I remained relatively upright in the water. Aside from the initial horror of thinking I was going to die in Hawaii, the rest of my dive was marred by my overall unease and lack of confidence that hung over my head the rest of the time I spent in the water.

To make a long story short, I felt like I was annoying the dive personnel with my accounts of the incident. The captain said he had never heard of anything like that happening before and that he would have to consult a technician, then went about his business as if it never happened. This was more concern than my dive instructor showed. He acted like it never even happened or that it was figment of my imagination. I know something went wrong that day, though I can't seem to pinpoint anything using the internet. Does anyone know what the heck happened here?

GS

 

[Teamcasa]

While equipment failures are rare, they do happen and with greater frequency in rental gear. Do yourself a huge favor and take a class, get certified and a competent instructor will train you how to react to most gear failures and just as important, how to signal your buddy that you need to share their air. They will also teach you how close you should remain to your buddy to help lessen that sense of dread.

Good for you in not panicking. It says a lot about your existing confidence and skills. You just need a little more training and your own gear.

 

[openmindOW]

GS, thank you for your account. Thank good ness you are okay. I do have some questions.
1) Were you taking an Open Water certification course?
2) Had you completed training in confined water (usually a pool)?
3) If so, which agency (PADI, YMCA, etc.) were you training with?
4)Did you ultimately receive a certification card from your instructor?
5) Has your Instructor expalined the difference between air and oxygen to you?

 

[Alexine M. Raineri]

My first question would be what kind of regulator because I was told that certain types of regulators might let water in. It happened to me when I first started diving and was told to just pick my head up. It worked for me.

 

[Teamcasa]

Your regulator failed, simple as that. In addition, A head down or horizontal position should have zero effect on your regulator.

 

[KarolinaKid]

Congratulations. You cheated death! You many not be so lucky next time. I would never dive or continue training with that outfit again if I were you.

 

[fisheyeview]

Some older regulators were known for breathing wet when you were upside down. This is not as common as it used to be, but the rental regulator could have been an older model that was prone to this.

I am glad that you did not panic. Take it as a lesson learned, and build from there as you take your certification class(es).

 

[Cacia]

Trash in the rental tank?

At 20-30 ft you should be okay with this unless you are very overwieghted (sounds like you did fine. let that heighten your awareness regarding CESA or buddy proximity) Also, as long as you practice breathing from a free flow and seperating the gas from the water in your mouth, you will usually be fairly confident in this situation.

I had a diaphram break on a night dive once at the Sea Tiger, so I know the bad feeling. getting used to dealing with salt water in your mouth is an aquired skill too, lol.

I always invert my tank before getting too deep in case there is sludge in the bottom, I'd like to be aware before inverting to crawl into a wreck or something, at depth.

My advice is to get your own gear (and scrutinize your rental tanks, hydro or O ring seals visially, or at least test them upside down a bit)

Be aware of the possible need to CESA at any time, under 100 ft, within no deco limits, stay close to buddy until ...whenever..your gear *passes your systems check*, you are deeper than you can CESA, or if you believe in being one breath away.

How to go forward is a personal risk management decision, but these are what I'd be addressing. It does take a while to get over what happened, psychologically.

The fact that it happened with two different regulators, almost rule out the regulators, in my mind. It is possible, but unlikely, so I would check the tank. Most operators in Hawaii have fairly new regulators but very old *dubious* cylinders, IMO. Many, many tanks have been sucked dry by tourist divers, and sea water allowed to enter, from what I see. Rust or debri can foul up the regulator.

 

[IceBergSlim]

when I took my next breath, my regulator flooded with sea water with about a ration of 75 to 25 percent water to oxygen.
GS

There is your problem. 75/25 H2O/O2 is a dangerous mix.

Check your tank for the water that should not be there and the Nitrogen that should.

 

[Scott M]

Two regulators failing on one dive to one diver has got to have some tremendous odds. If the only changed the second stage it could have been an issue with the first stage but having it happen only when in a head down position makes me think you could have been pulling the reg out of your mouth when head down. Just thinking out loud.

Don't give up diving if really enjoy it. Just get properly trained. In a way having this issue will make you much more aware that things can and will happen so much easier to understand when the instructor says things happen.

Best of Luck