INQuarryDiver
Registered
This month I took a dive charter in the FL panhandle. The first site was wreck at about 65-70 ft.
This was dive 19 for me. About half of my dives have been in MidWest quarries, and the other half been dives in the Gulf. I've been diving for about a year. I also have AOW and Nitrox certs.
This was the first dive of three planned for the trip. I decided to experiment and to go with less weight than I used I used on a dive trip the prior week. From 18 to 14 lbs. I thought 15 might be ideal. I was diving in just a rash guard with an AL 80, and rental regs and BC.
The DM me paired with two divers of who were far more experienced than me. We did not go over any formal buddy procedures. I was just going to remain close to them.
The DM reported the visibility on the wreck as 10-15' with a mild current.
As I descended down the line, I noticed I was not using enough weight. I had to put some effort in descending to the wreck. While on the wreck, I was having some issues maintaining the same depth as my dive buddies.
I also noticed the visibility seemed to be getting worse. My SPG hit 1100 psi so decided to head back to the anchor line. My dive buddies were moving much faster than me, and I using much more gas than they were. (I am usually one of the first guys back on the boat from the dives. I try to always be back on the boat with at least 500 psi.)
I didn't want to be "that guy" , and cut their dives short. Also, they were so far ahead of me that I didn't want to burn the extra gas to catch up with them just to let them know I was going to the anchor line. So I turned around, and I made back to the anchor line.
I still had 1000 psi at the anchor line so I decided to swim down to bottom to look for shells for just a second. Well I got my shell, but as tried to return to the anchor line I couldn't find the wreck.
Visibility was a lot worse than I thought. I thought to myself how the world do you lose a shipwreck? I didn't think I had swam that far from the wreck. I'm still not sure how I got separated from the wreck I thought it was right next to me!
I decided to ascend. I struggled to maintain my depth for my safety stop due to my tank getting more buoyant, and having no visible references.
I surfaced about 50 yards from the charter boat. I blew my whistle to let the boat know where I was, and started the swim back to the boat. The DM swam out to me with the tow line. I made it back on board very embarrassed and flustered. The DM chided me for swimming off the wreck, although I didn't intentionally swim off the wreck. The DM also stated I shouldn't have made the safety stop, and I should have surfaced as soon as I was lost. I return aboard with about 600 psi.
On the next two dives of the charter, the advanced divers buddies did keep a much closer eye on me which I appreciate since they are vacation to enjoy themselves not to babysit me.
I really need to work on knowing the lay out of dive sites I dive. Although, this is difficult because the charters pick the sites off the cuff depending on if the site is being fished or dived on by another company.
Renting gear and diving on vacation is a bit frustrating. I didn't really have an opportunity to get my weighting dialed in.
I'm glad I brought a whistle. I also had a mirror and smb. I always feel like pack too much stuff on my bc compared to other divers on charters.
On the three dive charters I have been on so far, I have found the buddy system to be pretty non-existent except for spouses, and friends diving together. Everyone else seems to just do their own thing. The insta-buddy system is not reliable for me. It's hard to develop a team mentality with a stranger in 30 minutes.
A reel would be useful for tying of to the wreck in low viz conditions.
Any thoughts, criticisms, etc. are welcome.
This was dive 19 for me. About half of my dives have been in MidWest quarries, and the other half been dives in the Gulf. I've been diving for about a year. I also have AOW and Nitrox certs.
This was the first dive of three planned for the trip. I decided to experiment and to go with less weight than I used I used on a dive trip the prior week. From 18 to 14 lbs. I thought 15 might be ideal. I was diving in just a rash guard with an AL 80, and rental regs and BC.
The DM me paired with two divers of who were far more experienced than me. We did not go over any formal buddy procedures. I was just going to remain close to them.
The DM reported the visibility on the wreck as 10-15' with a mild current.
As I descended down the line, I noticed I was not using enough weight. I had to put some effort in descending to the wreck. While on the wreck, I was having some issues maintaining the same depth as my dive buddies.
I also noticed the visibility seemed to be getting worse. My SPG hit 1100 psi so decided to head back to the anchor line. My dive buddies were moving much faster than me, and I using much more gas than they were. (I am usually one of the first guys back on the boat from the dives. I try to always be back on the boat with at least 500 psi.)
I didn't want to be "that guy" , and cut their dives short. Also, they were so far ahead of me that I didn't want to burn the extra gas to catch up with them just to let them know I was going to the anchor line. So I turned around, and I made back to the anchor line.
I still had 1000 psi at the anchor line so I decided to swim down to bottom to look for shells for just a second. Well I got my shell, but as tried to return to the anchor line I couldn't find the wreck.
Visibility was a lot worse than I thought. I thought to myself how the world do you lose a shipwreck? I didn't think I had swam that far from the wreck. I'm still not sure how I got separated from the wreck I thought it was right next to me!
I decided to ascend. I struggled to maintain my depth for my safety stop due to my tank getting more buoyant, and having no visible references.
I surfaced about 50 yards from the charter boat. I blew my whistle to let the boat know where I was, and started the swim back to the boat. The DM swam out to me with the tow line. I made it back on board very embarrassed and flustered. The DM chided me for swimming off the wreck, although I didn't intentionally swim off the wreck. The DM also stated I shouldn't have made the safety stop, and I should have surfaced as soon as I was lost. I return aboard with about 600 psi.
On the next two dives of the charter, the advanced divers buddies did keep a much closer eye on me which I appreciate since they are vacation to enjoy themselves not to babysit me.
I really need to work on knowing the lay out of dive sites I dive. Although, this is difficult because the charters pick the sites off the cuff depending on if the site is being fished or dived on by another company.
Renting gear and diving on vacation is a bit frustrating. I didn't really have an opportunity to get my weighting dialed in.
I'm glad I brought a whistle. I also had a mirror and smb. I always feel like pack too much stuff on my bc compared to other divers on charters.
On the three dive charters I have been on so far, I have found the buddy system to be pretty non-existent except for spouses, and friends diving together. Everyone else seems to just do their own thing. The insta-buddy system is not reliable for me. It's hard to develop a team mentality with a stranger in 30 minutes.
A reel would be useful for tying of to the wreck in low viz conditions.
Any thoughts, criticisms, etc. are welcome.
Last edited: