First-hand account of down current, with video footage

[scurbyduck]

Post 2

---------- Post added April 20th, 2012 at 07:06 PM ----------

please look at the divers in the back ground up and down the wall as this was the time the missing woman should be on the wall.

 

[t4e]

aaaaaaargh told you i'm blind lol thanks


EDIT: after watching that video i am speechless, glad everyone was OK

 

[gypsyjim]

Video we took at Santa Rosa Wall 3/28/12 at 10:05a.m.

Santa Rosa Wall 3-28-12 @ 10:10 a.m. on Vimeo


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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Post 316

---------- Post added April 20th, 2012 at 07:06 PM ----------

please look at the divers in the back ground up and down the wall as this was the time the missing woman should be on the wall.

link above

 

[WSOPFAN]

To the poster of the video - As a diver who dives with my daughter I watched your video with terror as it really hit home. I hope you understand that it was very brave of you to post your video and that as an accident forum we are not MMQ but rather hoping to learn from mistakes that we all make so that we wont make them ourselves.

Craig

I remember some comments from a shop owner prior to a dive up north to see eagle rays about 10 years ago...the father was taking a nice camera along with his 13 year old for the first time.......he was told you have a choice......the camera or your daughter you are not taking both.

 

[gypsyjim]

I just watched that video again. Earlier it would not load on this laptop, so I had to watch it at work w/o sound. I just got a second chance to view it, but with the sound on this time.

Without the sound the true level of panic to the situation did not come through, except for the extreme breathing evidenced by the continual bubbles. Sure a lot more nerve wracking listening to the panic set in. Makes me so thankful for the good ending.

Not an easy video to watch, and I am sure not an easy one to share. Thanks

 

[frontiernurse]

I feel like an idiot. In the words of Denzel, "Explain it to me like I'm a six-year-old." I am not sure I understand what I'm seeing in this video so it is hard for me to learn from it. Someone mentioned "look at the bubbles at 4:35." OK. What do you see? What does it mean? What were the divers experiencing? I'm getting that they dropped down quickly, then the one with the camera was breathing fast and yelling. But why? What was he experiencing? How was that represented in the video? What was the father experiencing at that time? The video poster says, "spent the rest of the time trying to bleed both bcd's with one hand on the camera guy (my son) and one hand operating the bcds I couldn't keep up with bleeding the bcds down and was trying to flare but it seemed like all the bubbles were just pushing us up..." What does "bleed a BCD" mean? What does he mean by "trying to flare"? Was he trying to go up or down? If they were caught in a down current does that mean they inflated BCDs at some point then tried to empty them when they were in the video bubble storm? So at what point did they inflate to get out of the down current? Is that represented in the video? Or was it a horizontal current? I'm so confused! Was the video bubble storm created by the breathing of the 2 divers and the emptying of BCDs, or the currents? I'm a little frustrated because I want so badly to learn and understand and I think vagueness and lingo is getting in the way? No judgements on the actions of the divers... I just don't understand what happened. Sorry if I'm the only one with this issue. Feel free to ignore me.

 

[RubberDucky]

Someone mentioned "look at the bubbles at 4:35." OK. What do you see? What does it mean?

The bubbles the diver was breathing were not rising above him/her. This indicates a strong downward current.

What were the divers experiencing?

Ask a friend who is stronger than you to stand facing toward you. Have them put their hands on your shoulders and begin to push you backward. Tell them that the harder you resist, the harder they are to push you backwards. Remember, they are stronger than you, so you aren't able to do much to win this battle. That's what the divers were experiencing: the strongest force in the world (water) pushing them downward.

Note: to win this battle with your friend, simply step to the side (swim away from the wall). It may take some effort, but it seems that's the best advice. You're basically working your way out of being caught in an underwater waterfall. You need to move out of the way of the downward stream.

What does "bleed a BCD" mean?

He was trying to deflate the BCDs (using the dump valves, I presume).

What does he mean by "trying to flare"?

Imagine being in water 30 feet deep in a vertical position, as straight up and down as possible. Imagine you have so much air in your BCD that you begin to rise to the surface. If you were to become horizontal, and spread your arms and legs out, your body would create a greater resistance against the water, thus slowing down your rate of ascent. This is what is means to "flare" your body.

Was he trying to go up or down?

Up, ultimately. However, since he added air to his BCD in an attempt to fight the downcurrent, once they were out of the downcurrent they began to ascend more rapidly (possibly uncontrollably). They wanted to go up, but not at an unsafe rate.

So at what point did they inflate to get out of the down current? Is that represented in the video?

There's too much noise in the video for me to know, but earlier on you can hear the camera man pump a few shots of air into his BCD.

Or was it a horizontal current?

It was a downcurrent (vertical).

 

[WSOPFAN]

Ok now that I have had a chance to look again....Right around that time on the video you see the 2 divers stop at the wall and their bubbles look fine going up. Also at the same time the boy with the video, his bubbles are coming right at him and then down, he dropped right into an area that obviously surpassed his training. A couple bumps of air into his BC does nothing in that current, he needed alot and fast to stop his descent. A few things to point out......It is obvious to me he was not checking his depth gauge, at no time did I see him grab his gauge and pull it in front of him and check his depth. As I said before, it looks very much like the last minute before they surfaced they were in a whirlpool. You could see almost nothing but a wall of bubbles and if you look at the surface of the water after they come up, the entire area around them looks like a giant pot of boiling water. This situation was entirely manageable with a little bit more experience, training, and the proper dive briefing. Thanks for the video.....it just proves beyond a doubt what we have been saying about the accident of the missing diver. No divers should be near those walls without the 3 things I just listed, especially at certain times of the year, AND even more so when the Port Captain warns you of bad currents and to use extra caution with your tourists.

 

[Ayisha]

Ask a friend who is stronger than you to stand facing toward you. Have them put their hands on your shoulders and begin to push you backward. Tell them that the harder you resist, the harder they are to push you backwards. Remember, they are stronger than you, so you aren't able to do much to win this battle. That's what the divers were experiencing: the strongest force in the world (water) pushing them downward.

Note: to win this battle with your friend, simply step to the side (swim away from the wall). It may take some effort, but it seems that's the best advice. You're basically working your way out of being caught in an underwater waterfall. You need to move out of the way of the downward stream.

Thanks Rubber Ducky. I learned that in kung fu many years ago. It's a good analogy.

 

[DandyDon]

The video poster says, "spent the rest of the time trying to bleed both bcd's with one hand on the camera guy (my son) and one hand operating the bcds I couldn't keep up with bleeding the bcds down and was trying to flare but it seemed like all the bubbles were just pushing us up..." What does "bleed a BCD" mean? What does he mean by "trying to flare"? Was he trying to go up or down?

I think his son had panicked too much to work his BC so dad had taken over, holding the son with one hand (very important) and working the two BCs with the other. He'd inflated them enough to start an ascent, but as they ascended the air in both BCs expanded causing an accelerating ascent. He felt he could not gain control of the runaway ascent so flared to slow it down with resistance.

Going up too fast is bad but beats not going up in time as long as the airway is open. It happened to me on my first post-cert dive. After prematurely surfacing, I went back down to 20 ft for a longer SS - like they mentioned.

If ever caught in a downwelling, swimming away from the wall should get you out of it and back in safer control - but that may seem easier said than done at the time. Getting yourself out of harm's way is important, but saving a son is much more so.