Greatest Fear?

[Diver0001]

I'm afraid of updrafts and downdrafts. I've been in both (thank Heaven, no downdrafts that were really serious). I can't figure out how to predict them, and I'm way too slow to recognize what is happening to me. Both my husband and I had bad experiences yesterday with little microbursts along a wall in current that blew us up some 20 feet before we got stopped. I dive walls in current with great trepidation.

Worst one I've had so far dragged me down about 15 metres to a depth of about 23-24 before I had myself stabilized. I was TRYING to drift along at 8 metres just under the top of the reef.... And the current was heavy, I estimate 5-6 knots. It was a real rollercoaster ride. LOL

You can see them coming, Lynne. If you look ahead and watch the little fishes then you'll see where the downwelling starts because the little fishes will have their heads up and tails down swimming straight up to maintain station.....

My personal nightmare scenario would be to have a wreck cave in on me. I don't think I'd get too stressed about anything else I could see myself getting into.

Another nightmare scenario would be to lose a diver I was responsible for on a dive..... That would almost be worse than dying myself, I think.

R..

 

[Dan Weidert]

More of a nagging worry than a major fear. Can I stop, breathe, think, then act when more than one thing is happening at the same time? I actually enjoyed the old NASDS harassment test. But that was in a swimming pool and you knew (in general terms) what was coming.

Guess I need to dive, dive, dive and practice contingencies.

Dan

 

[ScubaTeen]

Getting stuck in a wreck's shell and dying. Just like what happened on the show, Beach Patrol. A diver was in a wreck and got startled, got stuck in the pipes, and died.

 

[jvevea]

Okay, I'll confess: I'm replying primarily to shut up the obnoxious message about how I haven't posted in several weeks. I usually prefer to lurk.

I mostly dive solo. When I'm not diving, I spend time imagining scenarios in which things go wrong, and visualizing how I would deal with them. The one thing I can't handle in those scenarios is a serious (e.g., gill net) entanglement. So I guess that would be my greatest fear. Fortunately, I mostly dive in marine sanctuaries where the probability of encountering this problem is vanishingly small.