Gear packing for NJ wreck diving
- Thread starter mje113
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OP
Yes I agree! I cannot emphasize this enough. My main impression of NJ diving was coming from Chatterton related books which made it sounds like a pretty "rough around the edges" sort of experience. However, that was not my experience at all. When I was approaching the boat with my gear, Marty (crew) clearly picked up on my "deer in headlights" vibe and pulled me aside and ran through details with me and ensured any questions I had were answered. Later before, during, and after dives Marty would check in with me to see how I was doing and if there was anything he could help with.
Incidentally my first dive did not go great. I ran myself into an out of air situation, following my buddies' reel line. I had some mild anxiety around having to follow the line back (by myself--they were continuing and this is something we had agreed to while planning), head up the anchor line, safety stop, then follow the Carolina rig over to the final up line. I sucked down so much air in just a few minutes. Glad I had the pony bottle as I had to switch to it. Then I got air in my feet and ascended from my planned safety stop to the surface, but was able to get back down and finish the stop. I was a hot mess, but glad for every minute of that dive. I learned so much.
My second dive was a lot more conservative, relaxed, and enjoyable. Looking forward to getting back out there this summer!
Oh and one big takeaway is I'm going to have to learn doubles--I was literally the only one on the boat without CCR or doubles and my bottom time really suffered.
@tridacna ^
Yup! Definitely a different vibe! I did my tech training with John Chatterton, he has some great stories. But Shadow Divers is from a different era - some things are similar, but a lot has changed since then.
We were all where you are, once upon a time. Most people are genuinely glad to help new divers get into the sport.
OK - and I say this to help you improve, not to be critical for the sake of beating you up - that wasn't good. And the main thing is that you learn from this. It sounds like you are committed to doing just that!
This is one of the points that I make in the article. It's a really bad idea to have the plan be that the new diver surfaces alone - this easily could have ended tragically, given that you didn't turn your dive early enough and were low on gas. The only reason for using a pony should be a catastrophic gear failure, not because you run low. You should make all decisions assuming that the pony isn't there, and plan to be back at the anchor line with (depending on depth) at least 1000 PSI in a single tank. So the problem you had was with the dive plan. It doesn't take much for a new diver in a challenging environment with unfamiliar gear and limited gas reserves to enter into a panic spiral. Glad you kept your head and were able to surface! Dry suits can be lethal - it's one thing to have an uncontrolled feet first ascent from the safety stop. It's very different if that happens from the bottom.
Now of course, it's also not fair to expect an experienced dive team to cut their dive short to escort you to the surface if you are planning a shorter dive than them. Especially if this wasn't something worked out in advance. So this particular issue actually arose long before the dive, by not having an appropriate team. Did you ask to join an existing team or a solo diver at the last minute? Again, not trying to be rude, just trying to help you learn from the experience.
One reason to join a dive club is that they can help you set up a buddy team in advance, so everyone is happier!
Hooray!
The reason that most people go to doubles is because they are doing deco. I went to doubles before I did deco, and I ended up getting bent. Not sure about how much diving you have overall, but if you aren't ready to do deco training, it's probably better to just work on your gas consumption and get some dive experience first. You could also just get a bigger single tank.
OP
Hey I completely agree and don't take anything critical out of this. I screwed up and for the wrong reasons. But yes I will learn from this and grow as a diver.
A bit more explanation while not trying to make excuses: There were two dive shops on the charter. The one closer to me was sold out so I bought a ticket with the other one. A couple weeks out I was getting concerned I'd be with only technical divers so I called the shop I was diving with. They looked at their roster and said no problem you should be fine with teaming up with a buddy when you get there. I'm still not sure what happened but not a single diver (other than myself) showed up from the shop. Well after talking to some people from the other shop I was able to find two very experienced divers who agreed to buddy up with me. I felt kinda bad being the novice but they were really nice and helpful.
I did get one thing confused with my account--I did not ascend alone on the first dive. One of my buddies did come with me when I thumbed my dive--but I was already pretty low and it took us a while to get back to the anchor line. As we were ascending I didn't really know if I was expected to call OOA to my buddy and accept his primary or just start breathing off the pony. I opted for the pony but now realize that was probably incorrect.
It was on my second dive that I ascended alone. As I said I was intentionally conservative and we stayed close enough to the anchor line, so when I hit 1500 psi, I thumbed my dive and followed the reel line and was able to locate the strobes pretty quickly.
My next three scheduled trips are with yet another 3rd dive shop where I did dry suit class and rent from a lot. I will make sure I get paired up with a buddy well before the trip.
While I'm not glad the first dive went that way I certainly learned a lot and really want to keep on improving.
I was going to suggest this but then you mentioned it yourself. Also, it really really helps to plan with a much higher SAC / RMV (I hope you're planning??). So for myself, I'm around a .5-.6 during the dive, but for planning purposes I'll use a .8 or even a 1.0 (if it's more technical). The plus side is I look at my spg and I always have way more gas than I'll ever need. Very relaxing without the stress.
I just feel like a single or even a single with a pony is just cutting it too close. Conditions can always turn, viz can be crap, regs can free flow, etc. etc. You could switch to a larger tank and the pony, but you see what everyone else uses... there's a reason. Total and absolute redundancy with the entire source of gas available at all times. It just makes sense even on the recreational level.
Sorry you got bent. No Sir I didn't switch to doubles for deco (that came later), I started doubles in the quarry so I had redundancy and ample air (and to get used to them). Agree 100% that NJ / Atlantic is not the place to learn, but I think they make the overall experience better and much safer when you do. Sometimes you don't even have to mess with changing tanks (which can be huge on a rocking boat). There's some dives that I never go into deco, it's still really nice knowing I have tons of gas on my back for those "shtf" moments that could happen. Not to mention, if I'm on a single (like op) and run out of air or close to it and then my buddy has a sh!tty day things could go to hell really fast. It has never happened to me, but we'd be fine if it did. With doubles it just wasn't a perfect day... but I wouldn't even call it an incident or a close call when you're carrying that much gas.
Plenty of ways, just my 2 psi.
@doctormike really liked your article... plan to share that with anyone asking about NJ from here on out.
OP
I already went to a 100hp on this dive but I don't even have the budget this year to go to doubles, so I think I'll try 120s next trip! Thanks for all the great advice!
Hooray!
Don't think of this as excuses. Think of it as analysis and figuring out how to improve the process. One resource that you might be interested in is Gareth Lock's "Human Diver" program. He is brilliant and really helps bring just culture and safety to the world of diving. It's usually not one thing that causes an accident, it's a series of things that may start far before the dive.
Don't like that.
Yes, most experienced divers are. Just remember that by asking them on the day of the boat, you are putting them in a bit of an awkward position. They want to help, but they also want to do the dive that they planned and paid for. So always better to try to work that out ahead of time. Again, not really your fault, being new to the world of local diving. Very brave of you to sign up on your own!
Excellent! That's much better...
Not at all. Pony was a better choice than donated gas. I was just saying that your backup gas - your pony or your buddy's donated second stage - should really ONLY be deployed if you have a catastrophic failure (blown LP hose, unrecoverable free flow, etc..). It should not be part of the "running low on gas" plan. That is to say, you should plan your dive and your ascent AS IF you had no access to extra gas, yours or someone else's. You should be telling yourself that you absolutely HAVE to be on the ascent line with 1000 PSI. Not that you SHOULD be there withy 1000 PSI but if not you will go to your pony. Make sense?
Nice work!
Yup! Not sure. where you are located, but you might want to consider joining a club - they are made for situations like this.
Nice!
Hah! That's EXACTLY how I got bent. Recreational diver new to doubles at Dutch Springs...
Yeah, and I'm not 100% sure that it's a bad idea to go to doubles before you do deco. That's what I did too. It's just a lot more weight for a new diver, and the risk of unplanned, untrained deco is higher. But you can certainly make a good case for the OP going to doubles now. It IS nice not to have to change tanks on the boat.
One option is "tiny doubles" (Chatterton does this), double 50s. That way you have redundancy but it's a light package, and you don't need to mess around with your regs when you go from shallow dives to big dives.
Right now I'm diving single tank and slinging an AL80 as a pony. Still recovering from rotator cuff surgery, and I can't reach the O2 valve on my rebreather or the right post on my doubles... Not a bad system. Hardest part is getting into the dry suit!
Thanks! Glad you like it...
JoeTPhilly
Contributor
That is on the OP (as has been said).
NJ is a magical place, but not for the faint of heart. You are responsible for everything that happens underwater, including having a buddy (if you want one). There isn't any hand holding unless you set that up with a shop beforehand. And thank goodness they treat us like adults, it wouldn't be magical if they didn't.
Honestly sometimes the viz is bad enough that you might have the best intentions to have a buddy.... seeing / finding him is a whole other story!
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