Dangerous OR Lesson Learned?

[dumpsterDiver]

Question: Dangerous or Lesson Learned?

Answer: Dangerous.... If you don't know that loosing control of bouyancy from a 95 foot deep dive is very dangerous, then you have NOT been reading your text book and your instructor is NOT doing a good job.

Hopefully you understand the good tips people made above.

If I were you, I would be doing a number of shallow dives and also practicing ascents without a visual reference. As a minimum, to start, you should practice ascending while looking at some reference but not touching it at all. What will happen if you do another deep, cold, scary dive and you have to ascend without a rope or wall? You need to feel confident that you can get yourself safely to the surface even if you "get lost", otherwise you are an accident waiting to happen.

Sorry this sounds so harsh, but people can easily get killed doing this stuff.

 

[MEDICJOJO]

I don't mean to hijack, but; whereabout in Tn. are you located and where was you diving?

I live in Clarksville Tennessee 45min west of nashville we actually dive in Hopkinsville Ky at Pennyroyal Scuba it a quarry 30min. north.

 

[MEDICJOJO]

Thanks for the good information and your thoughts. I know I have a long way to go to be a proficiant diver, but having fun learning and just getting in the water. I think my biggest mistake was letting the excitement over take what I learned. But I think I'll hold off on this deep diving for awhile longer as some have suggested and hopefully be more perpared the next time. and check into that bouyancy pesk class some one also suggested. After this incident I really could'nt wait to post my experiance on here and get the feed back, I've really found some interesting things here on the board. I thank all for your advice and imput.

 

[Lucy's Diver]

30 lbs might be about right for a 7mm farmer john. I wear something like 26 or 28 with a regular BC (as opposed to BP/W) with an AL80. That much neoprene really swings bouyancy in the last 30 feet. I find it pretty dramatic. You really have to stay on top of it.

 

[openmindOW]

Medicjojo, thank you for your posting. By sharing your experience with ScubaBoard you are helping others to be better divers and better dive professionals.

You handled yourself well, Medicjojo. And you are showing good judgment by discussing your experience with others. And you learned a lot. Kudos to you for that.

I empathize, Medicjojo, because I remember the first time that I went "deep" in a quarry as an Advanced Student. We were going below the thermocline, and I was a bit scared.

I suspect that 30 lbs of lead is too much.

Your 7mil wetsuit compressed at depth. (Was it one piece of a 2-piece wetsuit?) The compression made you more negative.

Were you wearing a weightbelt or was your BCD weight-integrated? If iswas a weightbelt, do you remembebr if you had to tighten-up the weightbelt when you got to depth?

I saw something similar to what you experienced, Medicjojo.

Here it is. Years ago I went diving with a dive buddy (I'll call her Mary) who had a similar experience. She bought a new 7 mil wetsuit and felt she needed more lead. Unbeknownst to me and another buddy (who I'll call Carl), Mary had 28 lbs of lead. We three dive buddies got down to 80 feet in a quarry, and Mary could not get neutral even with a full BCD.

Craig and I helped Mary to slowly ascend until the wetsuit compression decreased and Mary could get neutral..

Mary is an Instructor now and a great diver. We still laugh about the experience.

Keep diving, Medicjojo.

 

[bigken462]

Always good to see a fellow medic.

I don't think I can add much to what's already been said, other than maybe just concentrate on getting to know ALL your equipment and how it reacts with depth. You will soon learn the behavior of your BC with how quickly it inflates, dumps etc at depth. This will give you an idea with how long to depress any of the valves and what to expect each time. Of course you just learned the behavior of neoprene when compressed. Sometimes experience only comes shortly after you need it. Lol.

Go dive and have fun. Just take it a lil at a time and try not to get caught up in the number game. Remember to jot down notes in your logbook about new things you try and how those changes effect your diving.

Dive safe,

Kenny

 

[tstormdiver]

I live in Clarksville Tennessee 45min west of nashville we actually dive in Hopkinsville Ky at Pennyroyal Scuba it a quarry 30min. north.

I was at Pennyroyal yesterday (Sat.) & wound up calling the dive before we even got chest deep. My inflater valve on my wings started sticking & then froze open. I had planned on getting in some practice for finishing my cave course. Even after a hour drive down there, I decided I wasn't going to dive in water that cold if my equipment wasn't 100%. I've put up with small inconveniences before until I had my mask's strap locking mechanism fail in a cave during my cave course (I had been putting up with it flooding a bit & clearing it all week). After that lesson, unless my equipment is in good order (not saying it can't fail during the dive, though), I'm not going to make a dive if something is wrong. Especially a more advanced dive (cold, deep, or a technical dive within my training). I learned the hard way that the cold waters in that quarry must be respected. I had more than 170 deep dives in that quarry & never had a problem before. I was in my Adv. Nitrox course when I had to do a primary regulator shutdown drill (I was in double 85's), when my secondary regulator started free flowing. Long story short, I got through it, but it was a real wake up call to how quickly things can go from bad to worse. The redundant bottle is an excellent idea, especially if diving a single tank. You are correct, there are massive changes in buoyancy while descending & ascending. You must always be ready to compensate for them. Glad things came out OK in the end. Perhaps I'll see you at Pennyroyal later this year.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Boat diving: When starting an assent, and during an assent, keep your inflator in your hand. Constantly be on guard against lift. Maintain neutral bouyancy (at all times) by constantly discharging air from your BC as you assend (I typically pull myself up the rope, one arm length at a time). Something to watch out for is an uplifting current. If you inadvertantly become positively bouyant and at the same time assend into an uplifting current, you will quickly become out of control. Rectify it and pick up where you left off.

 

[GDI]

What many have stated here you should take as a lesson towards your develoment as a diver.

Here is a note for you to read and think about and practise and I will add a few things that you can practise which will help develop your skill:

Genesis Dive Institute of Florida presents: Scuba Diving Tips

Once you get the weighting thing under control you can work your BC control by getting into a shallow spot and practise by ascending and descending only a foot or two at a time.. Start by looking at an object to focus on then work yourself to get the sensation of lifting and dropping. Important thing here is that you will feel the balance of all your equipment, your body composition and very importantly your breathing. Once you get stable in the water column then test your position holding by doing some rolls, flat spins, and somersaults. You should be able to maintain your depth regardless of your pitch, roll or yaw (to use some aeronautical terms). Hey Good Luck

 

[Apecks]

Try doing a bouyancy check (which will give you a better idea of the correct weight for you):-

At the surface in shallow water with all your usual gear on & a full tank, regulator in your mouth, let all the air from your BC, hold a 'normal' breath and you should float with the water at eye level. If you drop further you are too heavy, drop some weight until you float at eye level.

Once you are happy with your weight on the surface add 2kg / 5llbs to compensate for your tank getting more bouyant when used up and you should be there or abouts.

You will be suprised how much weight you can drop if you use this correctly. I started diving with 12kg in a 3mm wets suit and have get it down to 5kg as time went on