Dream Dive Day All Goes Wrong (pt. Lobos)

[Dermochelys]

I will strongly suggest getting yourself a wrist mount compass. It is not expansive. Diving in open water without a compass is a big NO to me.

I now have my own Suunto SK7

 

[Dermochelys]

1) Make sure you're matched correctly with a buddy that shares your dive plan goals....

3) If its any consolation, it could have been a lot worse. I didn't read mention of any kelp crawling. Imagine your first surface swim having to take place over a continuous mat of tangled kelp. If it was late summer, you may have had that added bonus. Speaking from unfortunate experience, it sucks big time (altho I doubt I was as far away as you were).

On the buddy, yeah, I trusted in this guys "experience" and being a newbie at the time I took it for granted. One of my lessons learned. On the surface swim, I'm thankful it wasn't much worse than it was. I was diving in San Diego and a guy on the boat we were on (not my buddy though) surfaced way far away from the boat in the middle of a huge mat of kelp. It took the boat 30 minutes just to reach him and get him untangled. For the life of me I don't know why he surfaced there.

So yeah, no kelp crawl for me on this day.

Anyway, this happened several years ago, and I've become a better diver since then and taken what I learned this particular day to heart. Also, because this was awhile ago, perhaps the experience has become magnified in my mind a bit since I have had such excellent dives every other time I've gone diving. Have 2 bad dives so far seems like a pretty good hit rate for me.

 

[BarbP]

I was really conflicted about posting my story here. However, after reading many of the accidents and incidents, I'm willing to take some potential criticism in hopes that my story helps others....so please be gentle, I've learned much more since this happened several years ago.

I was a fairly newly minted diver and I was able to book a spot with a dive club to Whaler's Cove in Monterey, CA at Pt. Lobos. For those of you who aren't familiar with the site, it's basically the crown jewel of the area. Anyway, my certification dives were in Monterey and we had about 2 foot viz during those dives, so I was really looking forward to calm water and great conditions. The dive club had gotten all of the openings for the site for the day, and I was really looking forward to diving there, though I didn't know anyone in the club and would be paired with a random buddy.

We arrive on site and the dive club leader has a small inflatable boat. He runs through the general features of the dive site and tells everyone that he will give them a ride out on the boat from the boat ramp where we will drop in, take a few minutes to look around at the reef, and then go out to the sand channel to follow it South back to the boat ramp where we would walk out of the water. Simple plan that made sense to me. I approached the dive club leader and I let him know that I would need a buddy for the day and that I was still a newbie diver. He paired me up with a guy who was "very experienced" (hundreds of dives he said). Great, and as a bonus my buddy has dove Whaler's Cove before, so extra bonus, and I felt really comfortable with him and no longer nervous about having a random buddy.

So, we gear up, get on the boat and jump in. The dive is going great with 30-40' viz, lots of fish and kelp and everything I was looking for. We went around the reef for a bit per the plan and came out in the sand channel. My buddy takes a reading from his compass and we begin to head off.

**Side note*** When renting my gear the shop I used didn't have compasses on the consoles. I asked why, and they said they break too often when rented out. I informed my buddy of this before our dives, and we agreed that he would lead and I would follow.****

Back to the story, my buddy starts heading off, but I know...I JUST KNOW, he's going the wrong way, heading North instead of South. I grab him and signal that we should go the other way. He looks at his compass, points to it, and points to his head and nods. I took this to mean, trust the compass and he knows what he's doing. The then points to his heart, and shakes his head in "no". So basically, "follow the compass and not your heart". I fully agree with this, I figure I must be wrong and of course the compass is right, and we head off again. However, I'm noticing that we're getting deeper and deeper. I grab him again and point in the direction we are going and signaling that it's down. I then point the way I think we should go and basically conveying that it's shallower the other way. Again, from our briefing I know we should be getting shallower. My buddy this time just ignores me and heads off again in the wrong direction.

At this point I have a choice. Follow my buddy like a good buddy should, even though I'm 99% sure he's going the wrong direction and out to sea, or, do I leave him and head back the way I think is correct.

I choose to stick with him and follow him for a couple of more minutes. I then notice the kelp thinning out, and I remembered from one of my biology courses that kelp doesn't grow in deep water. I check my gauge and we're at about 95' on a dive that wasn't supposed to be more than 50'. I grab my buddy and signal that we need to surface because I can't communicate with this guy and I'm running low on air to boot.

We pop up on the surface and we are shockingly far from the boat ramp. I say to him, "You were going the wrong way but I didn't want to leave you". He says, "Oh......sorry, I was reading my compass wrong I guess, I did the same thing the last time I was here"....SERIOUSLY, you must be kidding me!!!! Here I thought he was the experienced diver who knew the site, but apparently he can't read a compass.

We then spent what felt like a good 45 minutes surface swimming back to shore. Looking at Google maps now, think we were a good 750 - 1000 feet out from the boat ramp. It was horrible...simply horrible.

While we are doing the surface interval I tell some other people about what happened desperately hoping they'll pick me a new buddy, but no dice. It was a foggy day and I happened to take the top of my 7mm wetsuit off to cool down, forgetting about sunburn even through fog...more on that later.

So, for the second dive I'm still pretty shaken from our first dive and I suggest we just swim from the boat ramp and "play in the shallow end of the pool". He agrees and we start the second dive. I'm in the more murky water (5-10' viz) about 10 minutes into the dive at about 15-20' depth when I notice that I'm beginning to float slowly to the surface. No matter what I tried, I couldn't stay on the bottom, but I was going up very slowly. Before I know it I feel my fins on the surface. I keep trying to go down, but nothing is working. Finally I give up, surface about 300' from the boat ramp. My buddy and I agreed that if one of us lost sight of the other, we would do a quick 1 minute search and then surface if we couldn't find the other person.

Well, my buddy didn't surface until 10 minutes after I had. Turns out I had lost a weight pouch (integrated system) from my BCD, so my dives were over as I need about 45 lbs (edit: looking back at my log it says I had 38 lbs. that day). to stay down, and losing 15 of that didn't do me any favors. My buddy then said that he didn't want to waste a trip to Monterey and proceeded to finish the dive on his own...needless to say I wasn't surprised that he would continue to dive solo despite, in my humble opinion, that being a horrible idea.

I had another lovely surface swim back to the ramp. I did have a nice harbor seal pop his head up next to me to say hello about 3' from me while I was swimming, so that was a highlight.

Anyway, so two dives ruined after making a special trip to Monterey to what some consider the best diving spot in the area. Oh, and that surface interval, because we had gone deep I wanted a long interval, so it ended up being close to 2 hours. Because I had stripped my wetsuit off, and wasn't too concerned about sun burn (it was a foggy day remember) I got COOKED. Worst sunburn of my life, I was literally lobster red that night and super dehydrated.

So, I'm posting here for two reasons. One, to post my lessons learned, and two to ask some questions.

Lessons first....
1) Make sure your buddy knows how to read his compass.
2) Make sure you have your own compass (I do now, I bought one immediately after this trip).
3) If you know your right, be stubborn. Surface and talk it out, don't go on faith. I let my trust in my buddy's "experience" lead me into what could have been a bad situation.
4) ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN!
5) Make sure your weight pouches are very secure, I thought mine were, but one fell out none the less. As a side note, someone did find my pouch the next day.
6) Drink lots of water when diving

So question, did I do the right thing in sticking with my buddy? Should I have left him knowing he wasn't going the right way? That doesn't seem like the right thing to do, but I could see a situation where a buddy is leading you into danger, so what do you do if they won't listen?

I'm sad to say this experience set me back many years in my diving. I've become distrustful of unknown buddies in general, and being single without diving friends in my area, it means I don't dive much. That was until 2 years ago where I got a good random buddy one on a boat dive (though there were three of us and I had been diving with one of the guys before, so just 1 random buddy and 1 I trusted), and had another good experience just last month with random people (though that was a guided dive). I also now have a strong aversion to surface swims, which means my shore diving has stopped (this was my last one). I really want to get back into diving, and shore diving is common around here, so any tips on how to make surface swims easier would be great.

Anyway, any tips / advice would be great. Sorry for the very long story.

P.S. I'm actually planning another trip to Whaler's Cove to face my demons there...after-all it is my "white whale"!!

Stick to boat diving and go to CATALINA or the Channel Islands!!! That way you DRIVE to the dive boat and there WON'T be any surface swims or a dinghy dropping you off!!!

 

[cavedivingwoman]

'Sorry you had a crappy experience but you're still in the game. Diving with an unknown buddy is always a shot in the dark. I've noticed that there is often an inverse correlation between a diver's bragging and his or her skills. Confident divers know their limits and don't need to thump their own chests. It sounds as if you had a bad buddy.

 

[flyboy08]

What's missing is...plan your dive and dive your plan? You seem to be familiar with the area so a pre dive briefing may have alleviated some of the confusion. Lastly, I agree with aborting the dive at the very first hint of a problem.....thanks for sharing, you'll be a better diver just for sharing your experience here.

 

[Zorab]

I ran into the same problem when I first started diving...it's really hard to trust another buddy after an event. What helped me the most was taking the Rescue Diver course. This class has allowed me to build my confidence in the water, especially when diving with people I really didn't know. I've learned to ask a lot of questions about the other person's dive history. I watch their awareness of their surroundings, gear assembly, buddy checks, interactions with me & others, & even their over health or mental focus. If I'm observant, I can see many red flags in these areas before we descend. Some divers can get a little complacent over time and sometimes take small things for granted. Also a lot can change once you hit the water. There are people who will always be mavericks and those who only focus on their own agenda. But I'm okay with all that because I've know my limits, I trust my own decision making & stay within my zone. Now, I have no problems communicating to my buddy that I'm ending the dive and resurfacing to dive another day. I feel prepared now and don't feel compelled to make what I believe are risky decisions. We all dive for our own reasons but for me safety plus fun equals a great dive!!!

I hope this is helpful information and that you continue on your dive journey!!

 

[3D diver]

Yikes! Didn't see this post 'til today. Bummer way to see Lobos.

 

[sea_otter]

I have only been diving in Monterey for a short time, but what I've learned is that it can be unforgiving and that conservative plans are a good thing. When you add cold water, low visibility, and managing a dry suit, my limits of what I'm willing to dive go way down. It is a very different experience from jumping off a boat in the tropics to do a 100' wall dive with a random buddy who hasn't been in the water for a year (something which I've done often).

There's plenty to see at the beginner sites. Middle Reef is a great one and a short swim. It's easy to hype up a site and want to see it all your first time there, but you're probably end up having more fun taking it slow.

 

[sea_otter]

Oops I just realized that I replied to a very old thread! It sounds like your recent experience at Point Lobos was a much better one.

 

[3D diver]

D'oh! Me too...