Fins Are A Divers Best Friend!

[thekoz]

FINS ARE A DIVERS BEST FRIEND

This is a true story that happened to me, and made me learn a most valuable lesson that I will never forget.

It was a Sunday morning and we looked forward to some great diving with spear fishing and lobstering. The seas were calm and the ocean had a blue color so clear that we knew that the visibility was close to the 100 feet mark. It was a picture perfect day for diving. As we all geared up for the dive things were in perfect order. For the past few weeks I had been practicing entry’s with my fins off only because the dive platform was to narrow to accommodate the length of my Cressi Master Frogs and had been placing my fins on in the water. This seemed to be a good thing until today’s first dive.

All my buddies were in the water and I was the last to enter only because I had to put the boat on the dive site which by the way was the Princess Anne in 98 feet of water.
We all had run through the buddy check system, which we are trained to do from the first class of open water certification and all checked out good and proper. As I put on my Buoyancy control device [Seaquest Pro QD] on and strapped in for a great dive I over looked one thing. My quick dump pull cord was tucked under and around my shoulder strap with the knob thing under the shoulder strap quick release buckle This went un-noticed because when I added air to my BCD just a little to be positive before I entered the water I felt the air go in the BCD and snug up against my body, My first thought was that all was all right. And proceeded to gather the rest of my gear, spear gun, catch bag, etc.

I continued to get ready and after a final check did a back plunge into the water with spear gun and fins in hand. This was the start of my troubles. When I entered the water I had one hand holding my mask and regulator in place however I entered the water a little rougher than normal and soon as I hit the water my mask flipped off my face and out of my hand. Freaked out I tried to gain my wits and recover my mask but at the same time I noticed that I was not positive at all and started sinking. The air in my BCD was exhausted out the quick dump valve as soon as I had hit the water due to the release pull being tucked under my shoulder strap. Why wasn’t air going into my BCD? I had the inflator button pressed but still I was sinking and you guessed it I had no fins on my feet and my booties just weren’t cutting the mustard to keep me at the surface with 14 lbs of lead. Boy I sure felt stupid in 98 feet of water with no mask on my face no fins on my feet and no air in my BCD. So I gave my spear gun, fins, and mask to the sea gods and struggled to remove my sinking rig. It sure was a bad idea to hook my pressure gauge console around the front and hooked on the other side of my BCD I was trapped unable to release the clip that kept it in place quickly. Needless to say I had to be rescued. My special thanks to my buddies who were watching this stunt unfold and retrieved my mask and fins……..
I had learned a valuable lesson and have since changed my gear configuration and will never enter the water again without my fins on my feet EVER!

PS Look for a 48” Magnum JBL Spear gun at the Princess Anne It’s a nice one.
:bonk:

 

[DameDykker]

Your one lucky guy.

However, you need to improve your body checks if something like this can happen!

And I also wonder why you couln't just dump your weights? It is a bad idea to dump your rig - especially before you dump your weights!

What else did you learn from this eksperience?

PS. repost this in the general scuba section and you'll get a stream of answers.

 

[dotyj]

Two item:

1) I'm happy to read that you're uninjured. That's aways good.

2) I'm also happy you posted about your experience.

I haven't done any OW dives yet, but I'm traing hard and reading everything I can get my hands on.

Reading about your mishap and others that I've found have been invaluable to me in learning the risks related to diving. Between my written tests, my pool sessions, and experiences of other divers, I'm really learning a lot.

 

[nickjb]

Glad you are OK. Could have been worse. A good buddy check would definitely have saved you.

In my buddy check, in the buoyancy section I demonstrate air in and all the dumps on my BCD and drysuit. Its important that your buddy knows where all of these are in case you need rescuing. Easy to forget your fins though. These often get put on after the buddy check and you are certainly not the first person to jump in barefoot.

Hope I'm not preaching. I have been known to skim through the odd buddy check but I try to be more careful these days.

 

[maccajim]

A similiar thing happened to a commercial pearl diver here in Aust.
Normally they don't where fins so can walk easily heavily weighted on the bottom, He was breathing with a surface hose which cut out on the way to the bottom.

He kept sinking quickly with no air grabbed his pony bottle which saved his life. Had to drop all weights and equipment slowly swim up with no fins.

The end result burst eardrums and now unable to work in his chosen career.