First penetration dive.....

[Genesis]

Ok, ok, it wasn't MUCH of a penetration.

But still was.

First, some background.

I'm pretty-newly-certified, but have about 30 dives under my belt. I get out a couple of times a week and have really pumped the numbers - and none of them are "cakewalks" either.... all to 80-90' or so, some sightseeing, some hunting. Have nitrox and just finished AOW.

Apparently my instructor thought that I was further along than some...

We officially did the "deep" dive today. It was just myself and the instructor; the other students got washed out due to the crappy weather this weekend, but since I'm local I could get over there today and go out on their boat to finish it up - and did. 93 feet to the sand, on a wreck about 10 miles out of here. We got down there, did the gas management checks that were on the agenda, then my instructor did something cool - she swam right into the wreck!

Needless to say I followed. It was cool... yes, it was an overhead environment, but we had clear view of the exits (multiple ones) at all times and I didn't feel in any way compromised in terms of safety. I was thinking during the whole time "how would I gas share if I had to in here suddenly", and it would have been doable, if not terribly pleasant.

I suddenly understood the logic of the long hose.....

I suspect my diving is going to take a turn to the tech sooner rather than later. Doubles (for redundancy, not necessarily duration) and a deco tank on the anchor line for potential violations of the NDL limits look to be in my future and possibly not all that far away either, and down the road I can see myself doing staged deco dives...

Oh man, I thought I was hooked on open water.

I wasn't.

 

[WreckWriter]

don't rush it. There's a big difference between the type of "overhead environment" that you describe and a real wreck penetration. 30 dives is not nearly enough to start pushing it. Get 100 then take some additional training.

Deco tanks on the anchor line were the standard 10 years ago. It's done differently now.

I don't want to temper your enthusiam, just don't want to read about you in the paper.

Slow is the key.

Tom

 

[Genesis]

and have no intention of going into a "real" overhead environment (penetration or cave) without both more experience and training.

In fact, I won't go back in THAT far without at minimum modifying my kit to be long-hose AND have a buddy both with more experience AND long hose. An OOA (or a serious problem with a reg, etc) in there would have been quite un-fun without it, and if I wasn't with someone who could keep their cool it could have gotten VERY ugly.

(The instructor in question is cave-certified - she's completely comfortable in full overhead environments and it shows in the water....)

But the "taste" was cool - it wasn't far in; this particular wreck didn't appear to have very far in you COULD go (it had been very well-prepped for diving, and its still in very good shape in terms of structural integrity)

I'm very aware of how easily you can fall on your sword down there and have no intention of becoming a footnote on page 5 of the local paper

(At the rate I'm going I'll probably have 100 logged around the turn of the year, depending on the weather and how often it allows me to get out...)

 

[Rick Murchison]

WreckWriter once bubbled...
Get 100 then take some additional training.

Even more than any precise number of dives, I echo additional training additional training additional training additional training....
Rick

 

[WreckWriter]

Yea, don't fall on your sword, or catch your Johnson in the door

Tom

 

[Genesis]

training - obviously.

I was with someone who does caves for fun - not caverns - and it was just the two of us...

But yes, there's no way I'm going to be pushing this. I recognized exactly what the limitations and potential "oh ohs" were even as close to an exit as we were - and why the training and gear requirements are there for any overhead environment.

Its one thing to hear and read about it. Its another to experience it at 100' - to be in there and know that you have some amount of maneuvering and swimming to get clear, even if you can see the exit at all times.

Free swimming ascent? Uh, no, not until you negotiate X and Y, and by then exactly how badly did you say you needed a breath?

That draws into sharp relief exactly what the issues are and how easily you can whack yourself if you're not prepared both in equipment and training for what you're doing....

Funny thing was that we did our night dive at a local spring due to the bad weather in the gulf - and there's a cave there. Big sign - "More than 300 divers have died in caves. Either be trained, get trained or STAY OUT."

That pretty much said it.... we stayed out

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I think that was horribly irresponsible of the instructor. There have been numerous discussions on this board about overhead environments. She lead you into an overhead environment for which you were not properly trained ( IS she? )

Everyone has their own definition of what constitutes a "real" overhead environment. In my opinion she put you at unnecessary risk.

TwoBit

 

[Genesis]

Fully cave certified (and an active caver herself - did you read my previous posts in this thread?)

I don't believe she put me at unnecessary risk - but that's my view of it. I also don't feel she was irresponsible in the least.

Yes, I did not have the option of a direct ascent (without swimming out first - within easy sight of an exit at all times) during that period, but I was (1) with someone fully trained in overhead environments, and (2) comfortable being in the environment I was in. Finally, it was obvious that this particular environment is very diver-friendly - no real entanglement risks and no discernable silt inside. It has been pretty clearly prepped for diving with (relative) safety.

Second, do you REALLY have the option of a "direct ascent" - safely - from 100' in any event? Probably not. Yes, you CAN do that ascent, but you (1) may not make it as a swimming ascent, and (2) might pay for an emergency ascent (buoyant or otherwise) with a DCS hit, possibly even a fatal DCS hit, even well within the NDLs. If you're 5' from your buddy, and your buddy has both gas and training, you're not going to be making a direct ascent if you have an equipment failure (or simply run out of gas) - you're going to get gas from them.

What she did was encourage me to dive a lot more and then get proper overhead environment and deco training for myself.

This is bad?

(No, I have no intention of going back and doing it again without at minimum someone of equal experience and training with me, and probably not until I have received that training myself. But that day will come....)

 

[Aquamaniac]

Maybe your instructor is related to a dive gear OEM, or in the IT industry, and she took you into the wreck for a reason, but backed off on the idea at the last minute.......

j/k

Dave

 

[Genesis]

Too funny...