Free flow disaster! Help!

[chloe_blackman]

I am new to diving and today I attempted open water dives 1 & 2 of my PADI open water diver course. Living in England the lake water was a rather fresh 4 degrees celsius. Although I was a little apprehensive, dive 1 went really well for me. After the initial shock of the cold water on my face I relaxed and had a pretty good experience. However my dry suit leaked an insane amount and when I got changed between dives I found my thermals were completely sodden through with freezing water and had to literally pour a fair amount of the stuff out of my dry suit. At the site there are no heated buildings in which to take shelter between dives so despite changing into some dry clothes (lots of them) and a having couple of hot drinks I found it near impossible to warm up.

For dive 2 I put on some dry thermals, gloves and a hood (luckily I had spare) but found myself instantly shivering in the water. I descended down to a platform with my two instructors and dive buddy around 7m deep and knelt down. The cold water on my head felt incredibly painful. Pretty much straight away I found my regulator went into free flow. I instantly panicked. I attempted to sip air from it like I had learnt previously in the pool but instead just took on a load of lake water. I then took the alternate air source from one of my instructors but had trouble clearing it and proceeded to frantically choke on lake water until I finally purged it successfully and managed to catch my breath and calm down.

My instructors then fixed the free flow and handed me my primary regulator which I put into my mouth and purged which then almost instantly went back into free flow. This time I didn't even try to sip the air and just went for my instructor's alternate straight away. I fumbled a little but just about managed to purge it okay and again my instructors dealt with the free flow.

For a second time my primary regulator was handed back to me which I purged. Then to my disbelief again it went into free flow. This time my transition to the alternate air source was somewhat smoother but I was still pretty terrified. As the instructors realised that trying to stop the free flow was a lost cause and they could see I was violently shaking with the cold they got me to ascend and exit the water.

I got changed, went home, had a hot bath and got into bed but I still had trouble completely warming up. I now feel completely physically exhausted and my chest feels tight and uncomfortable. I'm going back to the lake tomorrow to retry dive 2 and hopefully get through dives 3 and 4 however if I'm completely honest I'm dreading it. This triple free flow incident has really spooked me as I can't shake the overwhelming feeling of panic and choking I felt when it happened. Also as you can probably tell from reading this far I really struggled with the cold. I've wanted to scuba dive for years and in two weeks I'm going to Mexico to spend three months diving in the Caribbean. Not only this but I am studying Marine Biology at university starting in september so being a confident diver will be vital to my career. Giving up now is simply not an option. Any advice on how to overcome these anxieties and problems would help me a great deal as at the moment I'm feeling pretty awful!

 

[crosshairs]

I for one think you did pretty well for a beginner...a leaky drysuit in a freezing cold lake and 3 free flows in a row, and not once did you dart for the surface...that right there is an accomplishment

first thing I would do is make sure you get a good dry suit this time....if your not dry, you will be cold again and nothing will be easy.

another option is to just wait till it warms up a little ..if your not comfortable ( as in not cold) , you will have trouble staying focused on the task at hand

 

[Aquabot]

I'm not a cold water diver but practice practice practice. Try to stay calm and breath. When your reg went into free flow did you turn it upside down (mouth piece down)?


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[chloe_blackman]

honestly I don't remember what i did with my regulator when it went into free flow, the whole thing is a watery blur (':

 

[kimbalabala]

Good grief! It sounds like you faced a pretty big fear and made it through the day very well! I got OW certified in dry suit as well - and had some leakage issues (my husbands suit leaked like yours - terrible). Seriously, I think for an OW student you managed this situation really well. I wouldn't go back in the water until you're warmed up again - tonight should do the trick. When you get to Mexico the diving will seem SO easy in comparison. Less weight, no instant brain freeze, and everything will look so beautiful underwater. Stay safe and continue to keep your cool (pun intended).

 

[chloe_blackman]

yeah, I'm starting to think rather than doing multiple dives in one day I may spread the four over two weekends so it's just one a day and I can sufficiently warm up between them

 

[Aquabot]

honestly I don't remember what i did with my regulator when it went into free flow, the whole thing is a watery blur (':

I would try to get some pool dives and practice free flow scenarios over and over so that stoping the flow becomes instinctive instead of jolting for your buddy. Placing your thumb over the mouth piece or inverting the reg are the two method by which this is achieved. Mad props on your determination too btw. Also talk to your instructor(s) and get some of there criticism, it very well may prove to be a priceless piece of info to you.


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[chloe_blackman]

I'll try and get some pool dives mid week to practise, I agree it's not a good idea to rely just on my buddy's alternate if a free flow occurs as I realise they may not always be close enough. Thank you for the advice, I will speak to my instructor tomorrow before we dive!

 

[Aquabot]

I'll try and get some pool dives mid week to practise, I agree it's not a good idea to rely just on my buddy's alternate if a free flow occurs as I realise they may not always be close enough. Thank you for the advice, I will speak to my instructor tomorrow before we dive!

Your welcome , please keep us up to date and let us know how it goes.


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[Scubanoobi]

Sounds like my OW dives, 4 degrees, wetsuit, my buddy had a free flow the first 2 dives and I had a free flows the second 2 dives. The only 2 free flows I've had and in a way it was good to have it happen with an instructor there.