bclancey
Registered
Finally, after six weeks, my son and I went on our own to dive since completing our OW course. We went to Porteau Cove, B.C., Canada on Sunday. We were both using rental gear and wet suits. The dive site is excellent for first timers because it is a flat bottom and much of the site is between 30 and 45 feet at high tide. There are a few small wrecks to explore, artificial reefs made of small pilons and tires, and some large concrete blocks and massive industrial equipment to swim around, over and peer into.
The two dives were full of learning experiences.
Before diving, a guy came by looking for a ratchet to deal with a messed up piece of equipment. I do not have a "save a dive" kit and toolbox. I will now start assembling one.
On reaching our descent location on the first time, we were approached by a fellow -- Terry from Calgary, Alberta -- who asked to dive with us. We told him we were newly certified and that this was our first dive and told him where we planned to go on this dive. It was good by him, so we all descended.
For the first time, the descent was easy. I have been reading the AOW course material -- I plan to take the course in the spring -- and using that information, plus what I have learned here, I deflating my bcd, exhaled slowly and steadily, and dropped down. Once we settled on the bottom, my son and I worked on becoming neutrally buoyant. And off we went.
Fifteen or twenty minutes into the dive I needed to dump some air from my BC to stop an ascent. I plopped back down to the bottom and tried adding air. It did not seem to be having any effect. But, by then my son and Terry were moving off and I plodded behind. As long as I was swimming I could maintain enough buoyancy, using momentum and breathing control, to stay off the bottom and navigate over obstacles, but the BC was not working. Feeling back it seemed like something was wrong with the connection to the jacket. Several minutes later the group stopped and I indicated I had a problem with the BC. Terry looked it over and indicated that the inflator hose was pulled apart. He motioned for us to ascend. We discussed the problem on the surface and began the tough swim back in -- which is harder with a BC full of water rather than air.
After getting back, Terry asked if we could just get the BC fixed. I rented at Ocean Pro in South Surrey/White Rock and they are not only closed on Sunday but two hours away. He then said his daughter was not diving and offered to let me use her BC. I said if it fits, I would. Now, that is a "save a dive" kit moment! I am a skier and a runner and I have never experienced anything like this. I realized in that moment that not being to help the first diver I encountered was not something I wanted to repeat at a dive site in the future. In some measure, that is part of the reason I took the Emergency First Response course before an more diving courses.
After a lengthy rest, we three headed back out. Terry aimed for the buoy for a sunken sail boat where divers had seen an octopus earlier in the day. We forgot to mention this dive objective to my son -- who did not appreciate finding out enroute that that was what was happening. Remember -- plan you dive and dive your plan!
After resting at the buoy we descended. A stabbing pain in my right ear got my attention. I kicked up. Equalized. And continued to descend. I reached the bottom and quickly realized I was alone. Since I had bought myself a light, I turned it on and moved it quickly up and down and I turned a slow circle. A light flashed back and I held my position, keeping my light on and visible to the approaching divers. I was surpsied to see three divers instead of two. After checking them out, I found my son and realized that all was well.
We tried to find the octopus but failed. The stuff that was down here was really interesting. Three foot long fish (ling cod?) swimming up to you, plumose anenome, some smaller, very colorful fish, and small schools. I used the light to investigate inside and around things. And buoyancy -- we actually felt in control -- using breathing to control depth.
After some time, my son indicated he had 1000 psi left. I looked at my SPG and had 2000. Since I suffer from "post 40, needs glasses" syndrome, I asked him to verify my reading. Suddenly, we realized the place was brighter and that we had risen a lot while we were looking at each other's SPGs.
Unfortunately, when we re-descended, Terry was not around. I tried the light flashing thing and got no response. We looked for bubbles. None. It seemed like we may have waited for a couple of minutes before we looked at each other, shrugged, signalled to ascend, and swam up. He was not on the surface. But after a couple of minutes he came up exactly where we were. Visibility on this dive was around 10 feet. The closest part of him was probably 12 feet away and invisible.
Since Terry was at 1200 PSI, the decision was made to drop down and navigate back to shore -- which was easy because swimming east takes you to shore and SSE to the stairs leading up to parking lot.
I cannot thank Terry enough for saving the dive for us. Ironically, yesterday was supposed to be his daughter's first dive since getting her OW certification. Going with us meant that Terry actually dove his plan.
We did dive our plan -- it was to go into a safe location. Stay under 50 feet. Work on being buddies, buoyancy and basic navigation. The experiences over the two dives helped reinforce what is means to be buddies and what to do when things go awry. We greatly improved our ability to maintain buoyancy. And we actually reached the general area of our navigational targets.
Unfortunately, our depths were backwards. The first dive was to 35 feet for 35 minutes, without a safety stop because of the abort. The second was to a maximum depth of 40 feet for 45 minutes ABT and 54 minutes TBT, based on the RPG, with a safety stop around 20 feet.
The two dives were full of learning experiences.
Before diving, a guy came by looking for a ratchet to deal with a messed up piece of equipment. I do not have a "save a dive" kit and toolbox. I will now start assembling one.
On reaching our descent location on the first time, we were approached by a fellow -- Terry from Calgary, Alberta -- who asked to dive with us. We told him we were newly certified and that this was our first dive and told him where we planned to go on this dive. It was good by him, so we all descended.
For the first time, the descent was easy. I have been reading the AOW course material -- I plan to take the course in the spring -- and using that information, plus what I have learned here, I deflating my bcd, exhaled slowly and steadily, and dropped down. Once we settled on the bottom, my son and I worked on becoming neutrally buoyant. And off we went.
Fifteen or twenty minutes into the dive I needed to dump some air from my BC to stop an ascent. I plopped back down to the bottom and tried adding air. It did not seem to be having any effect. But, by then my son and Terry were moving off and I plodded behind. As long as I was swimming I could maintain enough buoyancy, using momentum and breathing control, to stay off the bottom and navigate over obstacles, but the BC was not working. Feeling back it seemed like something was wrong with the connection to the jacket. Several minutes later the group stopped and I indicated I had a problem with the BC. Terry looked it over and indicated that the inflator hose was pulled apart. He motioned for us to ascend. We discussed the problem on the surface and began the tough swim back in -- which is harder with a BC full of water rather than air.
After getting back, Terry asked if we could just get the BC fixed. I rented at Ocean Pro in South Surrey/White Rock and they are not only closed on Sunday but two hours away. He then said his daughter was not diving and offered to let me use her BC. I said if it fits, I would. Now, that is a "save a dive" kit moment! I am a skier and a runner and I have never experienced anything like this. I realized in that moment that not being to help the first diver I encountered was not something I wanted to repeat at a dive site in the future. In some measure, that is part of the reason I took the Emergency First Response course before an more diving courses.
After a lengthy rest, we three headed back out. Terry aimed for the buoy for a sunken sail boat where divers had seen an octopus earlier in the day. We forgot to mention this dive objective to my son -- who did not appreciate finding out enroute that that was what was happening. Remember -- plan you dive and dive your plan!
After resting at the buoy we descended. A stabbing pain in my right ear got my attention. I kicked up. Equalized. And continued to descend. I reached the bottom and quickly realized I was alone. Since I had bought myself a light, I turned it on and moved it quickly up and down and I turned a slow circle. A light flashed back and I held my position, keeping my light on and visible to the approaching divers. I was surpsied to see three divers instead of two. After checking them out, I found my son and realized that all was well.
We tried to find the octopus but failed. The stuff that was down here was really interesting. Three foot long fish (ling cod?) swimming up to you, plumose anenome, some smaller, very colorful fish, and small schools. I used the light to investigate inside and around things. And buoyancy -- we actually felt in control -- using breathing to control depth.
After some time, my son indicated he had 1000 psi left. I looked at my SPG and had 2000. Since I suffer from "post 40, needs glasses" syndrome, I asked him to verify my reading. Suddenly, we realized the place was brighter and that we had risen a lot while we were looking at each other's SPGs.
Unfortunately, when we re-descended, Terry was not around. I tried the light flashing thing and got no response. We looked for bubbles. None. It seemed like we may have waited for a couple of minutes before we looked at each other, shrugged, signalled to ascend, and swam up. He was not on the surface. But after a couple of minutes he came up exactly where we were. Visibility on this dive was around 10 feet. The closest part of him was probably 12 feet away and invisible.
Since Terry was at 1200 PSI, the decision was made to drop down and navigate back to shore -- which was easy because swimming east takes you to shore and SSE to the stairs leading up to parking lot.
I cannot thank Terry enough for saving the dive for us. Ironically, yesterday was supposed to be his daughter's first dive since getting her OW certification. Going with us meant that Terry actually dove his plan.
We did dive our plan -- it was to go into a safe location. Stay under 50 feet. Work on being buddies, buoyancy and basic navigation. The experiences over the two dives helped reinforce what is means to be buddies and what to do when things go awry. We greatly improved our ability to maintain buoyancy. And we actually reached the general area of our navigational targets.
Unfortunately, our depths were backwards. The first dive was to 35 feet for 35 minutes, without a safety stop because of the abort. The second was to a maximum depth of 40 feet for 45 minutes ABT and 54 minutes TBT, based on the RPG, with a safety stop around 20 feet.
