Hello SB.
I'm a Dive Master who, having dived for just over two years has accumulated 132 dives throughout the Red Sea (including Elphinstone Reef), off the Med coast of Cyprus and at Protea Banks, South Africa.
I'd consider myself an experienced diver, if not for the sites above then for some of the problems and near-misses I've experienced or witnessed. My third and final dive at Elphinstone was terrifying, for example. We entered negatively off the side of a rib and descended straight to 30 metres, constantly struggling against a ridiculous current. The Dive Master immediately had his hands full with the other diver (my buddy, who'd forgotten to take the buoyancy of her suit into account and dived under-weighted) and found himself occupied almost from the first minute. My maximum depth was 40m and I spent too long at this depth, and found myself at 90 Bar. I ascended to around 25 metres, all along trying desperately to stay close to the reef as the current tried to drag me to Saudi Arabia. I spent roughly five minutes at 25 metres and signalled to the DM (who still had my buddy by the arm, and was equally struggling against the current) that I was down to 30 Bar. I ascended, very scared, to 5 m. Another factor was that my inflator hose was defunct, and I had to breathe into my BCD to maintain my buoyancy. A relatively simple exercise for a relatively experienced diver, but just one of many things which accumulated and led to the stress. On the ascent, my computer beeped at me to tell me I was rising too quickly... I think it may have saved my life as I was too scared to worry about my ascent rate. I stayed inches from the reef, for as long as I could at 5m before surfacing. On the surface I was scared ****less and after getting the attention of a random rib, held on to the side until mine arrived. The DM and my buddy surfaced a few minutes later and didn't look as scared as I did. I think the fact that I was effectively alone made the difference.
Aside from that, which is by far the closest I've come to panic and disaster, I've been available for a few other divers in need of assistance. One buddy nearly got bitten by a Tiger Shark which I managed to scare off, the same guy had a bad mask squeeze whilst his tank simultaneously came loose from his band. I followed him to the surface and helped him onto the boat. I've saved the same guy from hitting his head on the bottom of the boat when he was an OW student struggling with his buoyancy. I've lent divers air from my octopus to allow them to continue dives up to the 5m safety stop, and I've held on to a guy who's fin fell into one of the cracks in the Thistlegorm, and who was now struggling in the current! I made the mistake of diving with a cold once and had troubles with my ascent, so I've learned a lesson there too!
With all this in mind, I've been reading a thread in the accidents forum in relation to a fatality in the Galapagos, and it's spooking me out. I'm due to undertake a military expedition to Cocos Island on 22nd June and I've seen many people refer to legendarily strong currents and difficult situations. I consider myself experienced, but this girl was also a DM and she still lost her life, which is worrying me. What worries me further is that for the first time, I've had to purchase all my own equipment and won't have dived with it before I make the trip to Cocos Island. All I'll be familiar with really is my split fins, mask and wetsuit. I've worn a Commando BCD before, just not my own one! Of course I'll perform a buoyancy check before diving and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to dive one of the easier sites before I dive in hell.
I'm struggling to imagine a current stronger than the one at Elphinstone, which I undertook with split fins. I've heard that these don't offer as much propulsion as standard fins. Is this accurate? I don't think I struggled any more than the other divers.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated, even if you're going to advise me against the trip. Call me stubborn, but I will be attending the exped'. Thanks.
I'm a Dive Master who, having dived for just over two years has accumulated 132 dives throughout the Red Sea (including Elphinstone Reef), off the Med coast of Cyprus and at Protea Banks, South Africa.
I'd consider myself an experienced diver, if not for the sites above then for some of the problems and near-misses I've experienced or witnessed. My third and final dive at Elphinstone was terrifying, for example. We entered negatively off the side of a rib and descended straight to 30 metres, constantly struggling against a ridiculous current. The Dive Master immediately had his hands full with the other diver (my buddy, who'd forgotten to take the buoyancy of her suit into account and dived under-weighted) and found himself occupied almost from the first minute. My maximum depth was 40m and I spent too long at this depth, and found myself at 90 Bar. I ascended to around 25 metres, all along trying desperately to stay close to the reef as the current tried to drag me to Saudi Arabia. I spent roughly five minutes at 25 metres and signalled to the DM (who still had my buddy by the arm, and was equally struggling against the current) that I was down to 30 Bar. I ascended, very scared, to 5 m. Another factor was that my inflator hose was defunct, and I had to breathe into my BCD to maintain my buoyancy. A relatively simple exercise for a relatively experienced diver, but just one of many things which accumulated and led to the stress. On the ascent, my computer beeped at me to tell me I was rising too quickly... I think it may have saved my life as I was too scared to worry about my ascent rate. I stayed inches from the reef, for as long as I could at 5m before surfacing. On the surface I was scared ****less and after getting the attention of a random rib, held on to the side until mine arrived. The DM and my buddy surfaced a few minutes later and didn't look as scared as I did. I think the fact that I was effectively alone made the difference.
Aside from that, which is by far the closest I've come to panic and disaster, I've been available for a few other divers in need of assistance. One buddy nearly got bitten by a Tiger Shark which I managed to scare off, the same guy had a bad mask squeeze whilst his tank simultaneously came loose from his band. I followed him to the surface and helped him onto the boat. I've saved the same guy from hitting his head on the bottom of the boat when he was an OW student struggling with his buoyancy. I've lent divers air from my octopus to allow them to continue dives up to the 5m safety stop, and I've held on to a guy who's fin fell into one of the cracks in the Thistlegorm, and who was now struggling in the current! I made the mistake of diving with a cold once and had troubles with my ascent, so I've learned a lesson there too!
With all this in mind, I've been reading a thread in the accidents forum in relation to a fatality in the Galapagos, and it's spooking me out. I'm due to undertake a military expedition to Cocos Island on 22nd June and I've seen many people refer to legendarily strong currents and difficult situations. I consider myself experienced, but this girl was also a DM and she still lost her life, which is worrying me. What worries me further is that for the first time, I've had to purchase all my own equipment and won't have dived with it before I make the trip to Cocos Island. All I'll be familiar with really is my split fins, mask and wetsuit. I've worn a Commando BCD before, just not my own one! Of course I'll perform a buoyancy check before diving and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to dive one of the easier sites before I dive in hell.
I'm struggling to imagine a current stronger than the one at Elphinstone, which I undertook with split fins. I've heard that these don't offer as much propulsion as standard fins. Is this accurate? I don't think I struggled any more than the other divers.
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated, even if you're going to advise me against the trip. Call me stubborn, but I will be attending the exped'. Thanks.
