Heavy Current & Small # of Dives

[YPink]

My hubby and I just got back from Ft. Lauderdale. We dove the Towers and Barracuda Reef. We have about 15 dives each, about half in local quarries and half all around Aruba.

We hired a Divemaster and were very excited about the first dive. I was a bit nervous, our deepest dive was a 74' wreck (Antilla in Aruba) and now we were going on a 110' dive. I told the DM and she said there would be no difference. We have been diving a year, but I am still very much the novice and openly admit it to all I am diving with to make them aware.

We got in the water and held onto the descent line but I could not go down. I was fighting it the whole way and had only gotten about 8' down. I came back up because I thought I did not properly weight myself. It took me 3 mins to get back in the boat and then they would not let me go back, my hubby went with the group.

The DMs had said "go hand over fist" but never said...this is due to the heavy current, you need to fight it, yadda yadda yadda. They also did not say when I broke the surface that I was just swimming against the current and this was normal, once I got to a certain level it would be OK.

I was very upset. I missed a great dive, my husband actually saw a Bull Shark while he was there. But, he did come back with a very bad headache because of all the work going down.

I heard later the current was over 1/2 a knot.

I did do the second dive, which was great. And the DM came down with us there as well.

Here are my questions:

A) Should the DMs have given more info about the current/how to handle it for a relative newbie? Or did they do/say enough?
B) How do you descend going against a strong current like that?
C) How do you find out if a place has a strong current like that? What are places that traditionally don't?

Basically, I never felt that current in Aruba and I am mad at myself for not researching this enough prior to the dive. I am also upset that I missed seeing the Bull (Jay got video of it though) and a dive that would have upped my experience a bit...although maybe this is also a well-deserved learning lesson.

Thanks!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Based on your description, I don't (personally) think the DM gave you an adequate dive briefing. Particularly since you told her you were a novice diver and not experienced with current.

That, however, isn't what concerns me when reading your story.

Obviously they do things differently in Florida than where I'm used to diving ... but around here no DM in their right mind would take someone with 15 dives ... and no experience in the conditions in which they're diving ... to 110 feet. I would consider that a moderately dangerous thing to do.

Just curious ... how much air did your husband return with? And how long was the dive?

I would be more concerned that this DM was taking you on a dive that you weren't adequately prepared for.

FWIW - your husband's headache was most likely caused by an overload of carbon-dioxide. This is fairly common amongst new divers, because it takes some practice to learn how to breathe properly on scuba gear. Diving in heavy current, or stress induced by unfamiliar conditions, will cause you to breathe rapidly ... not giving your lungs time to exchange the carbon dioxide building up in your body with the good air you're breathing from your cylinder. It's not a serious thing, but it's rather unpleasant. You can prevent this in the future by practicing (in easier conditions) breathing slowly and deeply. It will also improve your overall air consumption.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[YPink]

Just curious ... how much air did your husband return with? And how long was the dive?

He started off with 3100. He gave her the half tanks signal at 1500. They went back. He came back up with 200 after his deco stop. The dive was 16 mins. Honestly, I just asked him that and I am shocked that it got so low. I am never comfortable having below 500.

FWIW - your husband's headache was most likely caused by an overload of carbon-dioxide. This is fairly common amongst new divers, because it takes some practice to learn how to breathe properly on scuba gear. Diving in heavy current, or stress induced by unfamiliar conditions, will cause you to breathe rapidly ... not giving your lungs time to exchange the carbon dioxide building up in your body with the good air you're breathing from your cylinder. It's not a serious thing, but it's rather unpleasant. You can prevent this in the future by practicing (in easier conditions) breathing slowly and deeply. It will also improve your overall air consumption.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Wow. I did not know that. He was chugging heavily. We both breathe too quickly in the best of conditions and try to slow down our breathing. He was just working so hard getting down the line, he could not slow down the breathing. His headache was very bad when he got back and remained for a good 20 mins (It was an hour between dives). Once he lied down on the boat, he was OK. When he got up, he felt nauseous, but that went away before the second dive.


Thanks for your input. I really appreciate the advice. You are in agreement with what I had thought too, we should not have agreed to a dive that deep and they should not have allowed it. They just kept saying it was OK and the same as any other dive we had done. I guess when I booked the DM I thought we would be going down solo with her, not within such a group, it wasn't until we were on the boat that I realized how many people she would be guiding.

Thanks again!

 

[DandyDon]

I'm agreeing with Bob here...

1. The DM took y'all on dives you were not prepared for. Hungry for business, perhaps?
2. You were poorly briefed for the conditions, especially since you told him y'all were new; and
3. The headache was probably from CO2 buildup with rapid breathing. Practice slow, deep breaths.

But don't be dismayed; it all gets better. Get your AOW & Nitrox cards as soon as you can...

 

[String]

A) Should the DMs have given more info about the current/how to handle it for a relative newbie? Or did they do/say enough?
B) How do you descend going against a strong current like that?
C) How do you find out if a place has a strong current like that? What are places that traditionally don't?

Current conditions should have been briefed, if you specifically asked for more information it should have been given.

B) Usually dump all the air and brute force pulling down a line, it can be hard work.

C) Local knowledge.


That said, i wouldnt classs 1/2 knot as very strong at all.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

That said, i wouldnt classs 1/2 knot as very strong at all.

Perhaps you've forgotten what it felt like when you were a new diver.

If you dive in current all the time, and have your weighting, buoyancy, and finning techniques pretty well squared away, it's no big whoop.

But if you haven't experienced it before ... and keep in mind this diver has very little experience, and mostly in quarries ... then a half-knot of current can be almost overwhelming.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver0001]

....snip....

and a dive that would have upped my experience a bit...although maybe this is also a well-deserved learning lesson.

Thanks!

Some of my most "educational" dives ended in messy aborts like this. Mr. Murphy and his buddies "fate" and "consequence" and good teachers too (although sometimes a little sharp with their lessons). I can understand you being upset about missing the dive but either way you learned something very valuable.

As for your dive. I would have needed to be there to say for sure but I would certainly agree with Bob that you were over your head in terms of the combinatoin of depth and conditions. It sounds like your briefing was lacking but it also sounds like the DM (or whoever made this decision) made a poor choice of locations.

As for your questions:

A) Should the DMs have given more info about the current/how to handle it for a relative newbie? Or did they do/say enough?

I think this has been covered. It sounds like the briefing was too brief

B) How do you descend going against a strong current like that?

Vent everything and get under it. Surface currents in many locatoins can be much stronger than currents at depth. Often this involves pulling yourself head-down along a line.

C) How do you find out if a place has a strong current like that? What are places that traditionally don't?

Communicate with the natives....

R..

 

[String]

Perhaps you've forgotten what it felt like when you were a new diver.

If you dive in current all the time, and have your weighting, buoyancy, and finning techniques pretty well squared away, it's no big whoop.

But if you haven't experienced it before ... and keep in mind this diver has very little experience, and mostly in quarries ... then a half-knot of current can be almost overwhelming.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Not quite but maybe im lucky(?) to have been forced to train in those sort of currents. My 2nd dive was in a current slightly more than that and took considerable effort to hit the wreck and a few dives early on after that were in currents or even full blown deliberate drifts of 2-3kts.

After re-reading the initial post about previous experience it does seem the poster was certified in a low/no current area.

 

[scuba-sass]

(I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet, but I'll jump in. I'll also note that I practiced poor buddy habits before I knew better.)

I assume your husband was your buddy for these dives. When you had trouble fighting the current and descending, where was he? Did he acknowlege your difficulties? Did you give him "the thumb" to indicate your need to surface? Did the two of you "converse" underwater and come to a mutual understanding that he would continue the dive without you? And was this possibility part of your pre-dive planning?

Please - I don't mean to flame you here. I'll share some of the things my buddy and I did wrong early on, which the caring and experienced members of this board have helped me to understand.

On our first few dives after OWC, we discovered that Lydia (my partner) is much more of an "air hog" than I. We were doing some "cattleboat" dives in the carribean off a cruise ship. On a couple of dives, after some hasty underwater communication, Lyd surfaced with another unattached buddy who was also low on air, while I blythely continued with other buddies. I shudder to think of this now, having learned how critical buddies are, especially during descents and ascents. (WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING????) Lyd is not only my dive buddy, but my life partner of more than 22 years. To put it mildly, I would be lost without her. (Not that ANY buddy you dive with should be more or less important to you.) Well, hindsight is 20/20.

So, as many much more experience divers on this board have advised, repeatedly - Plan Your Dive, and Dive Your Plan. You certainly can't plan for every eventuality, but some basic rules will cover most situations. For me, the first one is - buddies stick together.

I'm glad you and you husband had some enjoyable dives, and wish you a lifetime of happy and safe dives in the future.

Good Luck!
Scuba-sass

 

[YPink]

I assume your husband was your buddy for these dives. When you had trouble fighting the current and descending, where was he? Did he acknowlege your difficulties? Did you give him "the thumb" to indicate your need to surface? Did the two of you "converse" underwater and come to a mutual understanding that he would continue the dive without you? And was this possibility part of your pre-dive planning?

Yes, he was. He surfaced with me when I surfaced. He always follows behind me on ascent and descent, so he can see if I am having issues. We talked at the surface about what was wrong and when it seemed that nothing was getting accomplished, I told him to go down with the DM as his buddy, the DM was also at the surface with us and she did not have a buddy on this dive so it was ok. We had all planned the dive together, so him finishing the dive with her was the same structure. He did not go down till I was on board the boat.

But thank you for the words. I do know how important it is to stay with your buddy and plan your dives properly. As you said, we would be lost if anything happened to one of us. I should have stressed that in my original post.

Thanks!