disasters, negative presumptions, personal growth, observations and the search for enlightenment

[Antmany2k]

thanks for all the feedback, you have all made some really good points. i am definitely going to do the rescue course in the new year at my LDC. in regards to the comments about the tank, they were charging extra for 15l. i don't mind paying the extra if i need it but i didn't so it was a waste. definitely wish i had taken 2airishumans idea and given the captain a complex but friendly fairwell to make him feel sheepish.
and MusicGirl its a shame that you or anyone gets judged just for the color of their BCD or equipment but sadly it happens.

 

[Mumu82]

1. did i need to do a safety stop under the circumstances or should we have all gone to the surface straight away? we weren't deep but id say deep enough.

When there's an emergency, You have to go straight to the surface not faster than 18m per minutes no mater how deep you were. Of course, if you have exceeded you nodeco limit you have to do your deco stops.
According to PADI, you don't need to do a safety stop if you don't dive deeper than 18m for 51 minutes.
Although, the safety stop is never a bad thing.

2. i was pleased with how i kept calm under the circumstances as i have never been in that situation but i can't help but think could i have done more? did i do something wrong? at that depth danger was minimal but if he had shot to the surface from 18m or deeper it could be a different story. do i grab him and make sure he stays but risk him actually choking or worse lashing out and causing me injury or danger to get up?
3. it made me wonder if my next course should potentially be a rescue diver course so i could be a better buddy in these situations
4. how would you have reacted in this situation?

The rescue course will teach you how to react in those kinds of situations. It's a good course to do.

Concerning the tanks, 12 litres tanks are more comfortable to 5 litres tanks so if you don't need a 15 l, just tell them you want a 12 l tank. the custumer is the king. I never had to argue about it and i'm pretty fat.

For your tiny dives, you should definitely record those dives and write what happened. But the dive center can not charge you those dives. the PADI limit for a dive is:
During open water dives, have divers spend the
majority of time at 5 metres/15 feet or greater, and
breathe at least 1400 litres or 50 cubic feet of
compressed gas or remain submerged for at least 20
minutes.


And just one more thing, you should never rely on your divemaster for your depth and no deco time. He has absolutely no responsibility about your dive profile because you are a certified diver and therefore, the responsibility is yours.

 

[Antmany2k]

And just one more thing, you should never rely on your divemaster for your depth and no deco time. He has absolutely no responsibility about your dive profile because you are a certified diver and therefore, the responsibility is yours.

thanks, i agree that i should not rely on anyone else for my depth and deco. but in my earlier dives before my computer i went by the assumption that the divemaster wont want to go too deep/ into deco/ ascend too quickly etc so you have to kind of go by what they do.
getting my own dive computer made me feel a lot more independent and safe as i could see for myself my safety stop times and no deco time. and on my last trip i found it has an ascent rate indicator and alarm. being so early into my diving i feel its still a learning curve but i feel that the end goal is to be totally self reliant for myself and dependable for others. looking back at how i was after passing OW i don't think i was a good diver at all and there was so much to learn. I have learned a lot and come a long way but i still have a long way to go i believe.

 

[Mumu82]

thanks, i agree that i should not rely on anyone else for my depth and deco. but in my earlier dives before my computer i went by the assumption that the divemaster wont want to go too deep/ into deco/ ascend too quickly etc so you have to kind of go by what they do.
.

Must of the time you can have the same profile as your divemaster. But if your divemaster is on nitrox and you are on air, you will reach your no deco limit before him and he has no way of knowing it. Most of the divemasters take good care of freshly certified owd. But some divemaster are really bad. It's sometime scary when you see what they do.

 

[dbulmer]

Ant,
It was an interesting read and I think you did well under the circumstances.

Early in the Rescue class you learn that the primary cause of incidents is poor diver judgement, that circumstances can vary and that a diver has to make a judgement call to assist or not. The education you get from the class is well worth the effort so my advice would be go for it when you can.

Safety stop - I would have gone to the surface to offer additional assistance to the DM/casualty if required.
In general on a 10m dive I would do a safety stop - not because I needed to but for practice for when it is actually needed.

Here's a scenario for you:

A wreck dive to 30m a buddy pair consisting of Diver A and Diver B.
Same wreck with other divers on it (A Team).

Diver A messes up DSMB deployment and is trapped in DSMB line, Diver B calls in the A Team to assist.
A Team rescues Diver A and donate gas to Diver A - Diver A was stressed during entanglement and started breathing like a runaway train.
Team A + Divers A + B ascend slowly to 6m where Team A indicate mandatory deco required. Diver A was close to deco but not quite there but did the deco sharing air. All return to boat safely and Diver A ends up with a t shirt a few days later

I was Diver A.

You asked questions on buddy diving, good questions. Perhaps the best advice I could offer is this:

Be the diver that cares - you cannot always control what others do but you can try to control what you do.

 

[KenGordon]

OP, you live in Brighton. You have the best boat on the South Coast (Channel Diver), a bunch of other proper dive boats and a proper dive club (BSAC 007) on your doorstep.

Go along to the club, dive with them (they have a RIB too) and maybe do Sports Diver. But most of all take advantage of the local diving. It will move your comfort in the water on enormously.

In particular you will get used to being responsible for yourself and your buddy without any guide or DM or big bunch of other divers to get in the way of having a safe dive and a good time.

The training will cost you almost nothing and with the money saved you can buy a drysuit.