textilet
Contributor
So here's a story about a recent set of dives during which i learned a great deal.
My sister and i were on a dive boat at a certain Caribbean island (i dont want to embarrass anyone by being too specific).
This was an "advanced diver" type boat and several of the divers appeared on the surface to have more experience than my sister and I; we each had logged approx. 70 dives at this time, I have my AOW and (PADI)EANx certs and my sister has her Master Diver.
The dive was to be a wall dive to a depth of about 65 in a fairly strong current (not sure how many knots but you could just barely manage to remain stationary at absolutely full-throttle kicking). The dive was phenomenal for me as I had never encountered the combination of current, scenery, wildlife and viz that we did on that dive. Toward the end of the approx. 35 min bottom phase, while we were all hanging in blue water on our safety stops, I noted that one woman ran out of air and signaled as much to her buddy, who gave her the reg from the pony bottle he had. She was able to complete her safety stop while breathing from his pony, but my sister and I hovered near by just instinctively incase the pony (13cuft?) ran out. After the dive I kind of whispered to my sister that it was odd that an Experienced diver hadn't watched her air supply a little better. Both my sister and I had surfaced with just short of 1000psi.
During the surface interval it was decided that the dive had been so fun that all involved would like to repeat the same dive. At this point the guy who had had the pony bottle began to mutter about his nitrogen load and how he'd "really loaded up" the day before and how his computer was "angry". After an hour and ten minute surface interval we headed back to the dive site. My sister and I realized it would be imperative to watch our nitrogen loading on this dive given that the profile pretty much maxed out the NDT from the PADI dive tables. All divers on the boat (including us) were using computers. We used the plan mode on our computers to confirm that we could repeat our profile again. The Pony Bottle Guy (henceforth PBG) continued to make statements to the effect that the surface interval should be longer to give him some more off-gassing time, and that our divemaster was incompetent, and that this was all a bunch of "B___ S___" --all while gearing up and preparing to dive. Several people (including me) said things like "well you know, you could like, not dive" But PBG kept on, acting as if a gun was to his head. He is cursing at the divemaster as he unslings his empty pony bottle and leaves it under the bench.
So we splash in, and again it's an amazing experience for me-- far cry from Diver's Cove or Scripps Canyon! At the end of the dive (after about 30 minutes down) my nitrogen bar graph is high but within the safe range as we begin safety stops. My sister and I again have quite a bit of air left and decide to do an ultra slow ascent from about 30 feet up to the safety stop just to extend the safety stop period. I am reflecting and enjoying the view when I see PBG Dash across my field of view, kicking at a 45 degree downward angle but moving basically horizontally, until he reaches one of the other divers--an older woman who had been diving with nitrox for both dives. He signals he is out of air; the older woman very calmly gives him her primary, switches to her octo and dumps the air from her bc when it becomes apparent that PBG is extremely buoyant. Everyone but PBG and nitrox lady complete their safety stops and surface; PBG and nitrox lady remain down for an additional 15-20 minutes, im assuming to clear his deco obligation on his computer. Later on the boat the guy says he's been diving with the pony for years and never had to use it, so when he went down for the senond dive without it he failed to add weight. At the end of the dive he found himself buoyant, kicking hard to stay down and apparently with a deco obligation to boot--then he ran out of air. I guess PBG was physically fine at the end of the day, and left the boat still cursing the DM for HIS incompetence. I sure had a lot to chew on and I believe seeing the events that occurred made me a better diver.
Some stuff I wrote in my log:
1. Pony bottles can come in handy. I should save up for one and get used to diving with it.
2. Checking your air supply can come in handy too. But I already knew that.
3. The dives we did would have been safest if I had used nitrox. Henceforth I will keep a better watch for dive profiles that are well suited for nitrox.
4. Nitro load is no joke--and not just because you could get the bends. The amount of frantic activity that resulted from PBG going into the water stressed out could have hurt someone else, not just him.
5. I will call off a dive if necessary not only for my own safety but for out of consideration for my buddy(s).
6. Every piece of gear weighs something. If I remove a flashlight from my pocket, I need to adjust my ballast accordingly.
7. You never know when Pony Bottle Guy, who told stories about his solo diving and dry suit diving and his hundreds of dives in exotic locations, is going to swim up to you wide eyed and grab for your reg.
Most of these things seem really obvious, even to a noob with only 75 dives. But to see things play out in front of me really helped burn them into my head. I'msure there are more things to learn here---point them out to me please!
My sister and i were on a dive boat at a certain Caribbean island (i dont want to embarrass anyone by being too specific).
This was an "advanced diver" type boat and several of the divers appeared on the surface to have more experience than my sister and I; we each had logged approx. 70 dives at this time, I have my AOW and (PADI)EANx certs and my sister has her Master Diver.
The dive was to be a wall dive to a depth of about 65 in a fairly strong current (not sure how many knots but you could just barely manage to remain stationary at absolutely full-throttle kicking). The dive was phenomenal for me as I had never encountered the combination of current, scenery, wildlife and viz that we did on that dive. Toward the end of the approx. 35 min bottom phase, while we were all hanging in blue water on our safety stops, I noted that one woman ran out of air and signaled as much to her buddy, who gave her the reg from the pony bottle he had. She was able to complete her safety stop while breathing from his pony, but my sister and I hovered near by just instinctively incase the pony (13cuft?) ran out. After the dive I kind of whispered to my sister that it was odd that an Experienced diver hadn't watched her air supply a little better. Both my sister and I had surfaced with just short of 1000psi.
During the surface interval it was decided that the dive had been so fun that all involved would like to repeat the same dive. At this point the guy who had had the pony bottle began to mutter about his nitrogen load and how he'd "really loaded up" the day before and how his computer was "angry". After an hour and ten minute surface interval we headed back to the dive site. My sister and I realized it would be imperative to watch our nitrogen loading on this dive given that the profile pretty much maxed out the NDT from the PADI dive tables. All divers on the boat (including us) were using computers. We used the plan mode on our computers to confirm that we could repeat our profile again. The Pony Bottle Guy (henceforth PBG) continued to make statements to the effect that the surface interval should be longer to give him some more off-gassing time, and that our divemaster was incompetent, and that this was all a bunch of "B___ S___" --all while gearing up and preparing to dive. Several people (including me) said things like "well you know, you could like, not dive" But PBG kept on, acting as if a gun was to his head. He is cursing at the divemaster as he unslings his empty pony bottle and leaves it under the bench.
So we splash in, and again it's an amazing experience for me-- far cry from Diver's Cove or Scripps Canyon! At the end of the dive (after about 30 minutes down) my nitrogen bar graph is high but within the safe range as we begin safety stops. My sister and I again have quite a bit of air left and decide to do an ultra slow ascent from about 30 feet up to the safety stop just to extend the safety stop period. I am reflecting and enjoying the view when I see PBG Dash across my field of view, kicking at a 45 degree downward angle but moving basically horizontally, until he reaches one of the other divers--an older woman who had been diving with nitrox for both dives. He signals he is out of air; the older woman very calmly gives him her primary, switches to her octo and dumps the air from her bc when it becomes apparent that PBG is extremely buoyant. Everyone but PBG and nitrox lady complete their safety stops and surface; PBG and nitrox lady remain down for an additional 15-20 minutes, im assuming to clear his deco obligation on his computer. Later on the boat the guy says he's been diving with the pony for years and never had to use it, so when he went down for the senond dive without it he failed to add weight. At the end of the dive he found himself buoyant, kicking hard to stay down and apparently with a deco obligation to boot--then he ran out of air. I guess PBG was physically fine at the end of the day, and left the boat still cursing the DM for HIS incompetence. I sure had a lot to chew on and I believe seeing the events that occurred made me a better diver.
Some stuff I wrote in my log:
1. Pony bottles can come in handy. I should save up for one and get used to diving with it.
2. Checking your air supply can come in handy too. But I already knew that.
3. The dives we did would have been safest if I had used nitrox. Henceforth I will keep a better watch for dive profiles that are well suited for nitrox.
4. Nitro load is no joke--and not just because you could get the bends. The amount of frantic activity that resulted from PBG going into the water stressed out could have hurt someone else, not just him.
5. I will call off a dive if necessary not only for my own safety but for out of consideration for my buddy(s).
6. Every piece of gear weighs something. If I remove a flashlight from my pocket, I need to adjust my ballast accordingly.
7. You never know when Pony Bottle Guy, who told stories about his solo diving and dry suit diving and his hundreds of dives in exotic locations, is going to swim up to you wide eyed and grab for your reg.
Most of these things seem really obvious, even to a noob with only 75 dives. But to see things play out in front of me really helped burn them into my head. I'msure there are more things to learn here---point them out to me please!
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