Dive Goes Bad Fast

[diverrobs]

We had both been in 100ft deep water before and had done 4 dives in 40 degree water before just not 100' at 40F. Turns out the Proton had no enviro seal kit on the first stage. This is what likely froze up. He is going to keep it for a warm water reg or get the enviro-seal kit added.

 

[sporket]

Man great post! I as well as others have learned a ton on this thread. The only thing I have to contribute is take a long look at DIR's reg set-up with a longer hose. It could really help in task loading under those circumstances. I hope I'm not restating someones post, and very glad you guys came out OK.

 

[Aquawookie]

First of all let me say you both handled the situation well enough. And by handled the situation I mean survived it. Everything else is just gravy after that.

Several people have brought up the points I was going to raise, that diving in your area under normal conditions is gear intensive to begin with, that you should consider a large capacity pony bottle and/or doubles, that you get more than one regulator, that the regulators should be rated for cold water diving, that you must practise your skills so they become second nature and that you both were a little green for the dive you undertook.

But the one point I do not see anyone raise is what dose your buddy think about the day everything went sideways? How is he reacting to this event you overcame NOW? Has HE talked to anyone about this? What dose he feel what went wrong and what dose he think about what you did during the event?

I'm not saying he feels you did something wrong but I would like to know how he is dealing with his issues. You are using this board to deal with your issues and to gain additional knowledge and techniques and in so doing you are working out your issues related to the event. But how is he working out his issues.

If he is depending on you to come up with all the answers it could mean he is not facing the issues this event brought up. That could be a problem if something similar were to happen again. Or if another event were to stress him again on a dive.

I'm bringing this up because you have stated you are planning on diving together again. In my opinion that is a very good idea. But as an instructor I would be concerned if one of my students was actively trying to work out their issues after an event like this and the other student involved in the event was not.

I would also suggest you both add an experienced DM or Instructor to the mix for the next few dives. If one is not available then a well seasoned local diver would perhaps do as well. And by seasoned I mean a diver with 100+ local dives and one who is willing to give you the benefit of their experience.

My last point is to consider the information you are given by everyone and then make up your own mind on the subject. Following blindly without consideration of the relative merits is not learning, it is slavery and that includes this post also.

Thats all I have so I hope you have many safe and enjoyable dives and I'll see you in the wetverse.

 

[diverrobs]

Aquawookie;
You hit it on the nose. We did a quarry dive 2 weeks ago together to get back in the flow of things and to check out my buddies new reg. Limited to 28' deep and the water was relatively warm. Then we went our with our LDS and a couple of instructors. We went to 65' feet. My buddy was still a little anxious about the conditions and called the dive after 12min. The water was 43F and he was cold. We are going out again with the LDS this week to 65' again with instructors present to try and get him back into things. I personally am still not as confident as I was before the incidnet but feel I am now a much better diver for having had it. I know I can deal with stuff underwater now and my buddy and I both have alot more respect for cold water diving. My buddy and I have planned how to deal with emergencies (prefered emergency plan) and practiced it in the quarry. We don't plan on doing practice in the 65' of 43F water because neither of us are too keen to push either of our regulators with two people breating on them (we don't want free flows at 65'). I will post again to this thread in a couple of monts to let eveyone know how me and my buddy feel about cold water diving (I think I am still up for it but my buddy is still trying to decide). I actually have planned a dive trip to cuba in July. I can't wait for the relatively easy warm carribean waters.

 

[Oxy]

I just want to thank you for sharing the experience as I still have not taken a single breath underwater (dry that is). It's going to be a whole new way of living and easy to make mistakes.
It's good to see that you both walked away from this. And when you return the pony, let that diver know of his mistake so he can learn also.

 

[SCUBA_Phil]

Thanks for sharing the experience. A few comments (or my opinions):
1) 100' in 40F is a technical dive. Full redundancy is required.
2) Diving in a dry suit requires new skills and divers should stay shallow until comfortable with dumping gas while task loaded.
3) Have the right gear for the dive (regs, tanks, training)
4) Have the experience for the dive. Small deltas from previous dives to build on.

It is my opinion that you guys got lucky. You were diving over your head and did not realize it. A very common mistake for new divers. If this would have happened 15 min into the dive, the out come could have been much different.

Going forward:
1) Get some regs that are appropriate for the conditions.
2) Get some redundancy if you want to dive in these conditions (depth and temp). My vote is to do this dive in doubles or sling a 40 cu ft bottle - anything less won't cut it.
3) Get training on the new set up. Personally, I would wait until I had +100 dives under my belt before diving with that much gear.
4) Practice with the new gear.

Phil

 

[chad b]

Just my two cents. I've only logged 30-something dives, and only recently got my drysuit certification, so if anyone with more experience wants to correct me, please do!

Equipment:
Unless it's a regular foam neoprene drysuit, I was taught that you don't use the BC for buoyancy control at depth. The OP mentioned that the exhaust valve on his drysuit doesn't vent fast enough. Along with a new cold-compatible regulator for his buddy, shouldn't he be getting his drysuit exhaust valve serviced or replaced so that it's up to the task? It seems that the workload of managing two buoyancy control systems in addition to managing the OOA situation might have contributed to the rapid ascent.

Communication:
Your buddy signalled "I'm cold" when he was having an equipment problem. I know if it were me, I'd be making sure to let my buddy know about the equipment problem first! I think the response to the "I'm cold" signal was appropriate -- find the line for a controlled ascent -- but wouldn't your thought processes/reactions have been different if you had known what the more pressing problem was?

Why is your buddy always getting cold? It sounds like a step up in exposure protection is warranted as well as a cold-compatible reg.

I think the fact that you prepared as thoroughly as you did to dive with one another is really great. I have taken that lesson to heart for when I find a buddy to dive with (most of my diving has been with instructors for training or on LDS-sponsored fun dives).

Regards,

-- chad

 

[Ayisha]

1) 100' in 40F is a technical dive. Full redundancy is required.

To us, it's fairly normal in Ontario. Many of us go to about that depth and temp even in our Advanced O/W course, which could be around the 8th dive ever (agreed that's not a great idea). Certainly if you train in Tobermory as many of us do or if you do the deep diver specialty, it's common around here. I chose to dive for a few months before doing the AOW or those depths and temps until I felt ready to go there, but most jump right in.

I'm just saying that around the Great Lakes in Ontario, many people do not consider 100' or 40F technical and routinely use a single AL 80. I used to dive regularly to 130' at 38F with a single 63 cf AL tank. My air consumption is very good, so I would come back with at least half a tank. The NDL is my limiting factor, not the gas. Now, when I do those dives, I still use a 63 tank, but I have also started to carry a 19cf tank strictly for redundancy. Many people don't have any redundancy, however. A 63 and a pony may seem inadequate, but I believe it is more than sufficient for my petite size and gas consumption coupled with the equipment/consumption of my buddy to bring us both to the surface safely if necessary.

Most of us around here were trained to consider the conditions here to be pretty normal and the conditions you describe as within recreational limits. It's not until you do some research, read the Scubaboard or talk to technical or DIR divers that you begin to question what you were taught and how, and exactly what you're trained and ready for or not.