How do you guys do it?

[Whale Whisperer]

A few days ago, I was working as a volunteer at my dive shop filling tanks. While I was unloading a cart of tanks, one slipped out of my hands and *SPLASH!* a tank goes into the Hawaii Kai Harbor!!! Needless to say I felt really bad about my boneheaded mistake and decided to jump in to pick it up. So wearing nothing but shorts and rental gear and armed with a broom stick I jumped in. I wasn't very concerned about getting sick afterwards because the harbor was reletively clean and many have dived there to inspect their boats with no incident of sickness. Going back to the story, the site was decent, visibility looked about 2' and was about 15' deep or less with no current. I jumped in while my tender stood by on the dock and started my area search and then a grid search. What I realized immediatly was visibility was near zero. I couldn't see a frickin thing! it was extremely silty and muddy, I tried to feel the bottom out with my broom stick but after 40 minutes of searching I had to to stop due to exhaustion.

First of all, this was the first time I ever had to dive and didn't want to (I didn't tell anyone how I felt). I went because I felt that it was my personal responsibility due to my bone headed mistake. Second I was wearing shorts and basic rental gear, no wetsuit, gloves, hood or compass. When I was down there I was very nervous, couldn't see anything, and didn't want to touch anything besides the broomstick and hopefully the tank I dropped. I also came up to the surface often so I could reference my position and take a mental break from being blind.

After all of this, I wondered how Public Safety divers could work under such conditions? I would have felt abit more comfortable if I had the proper gear, but if I had to seach for something that could be worse than a simple item like a tank I don't know if I could do it. :shakehead

My hats off to you all

 

[leam]

I think you already hit on the first big reason; a sense of mission. You felt a duty to get the tank and that's one of the biggest motivators.

There are some technical things we do differently for a rescue or recovery:

1. A safety diver is ready to go in after us immediately.
2. We're normally current on immunizations.
3. Full body suits are best, but gloves are mandatory. Too much sharp junk in there.
4. The resting place of a sinking object in still water is generally within ( depth * 1.5 ), so you have a 22.5 foot radius circle to search. Pick your pattern to fully enclose that.
5. Close your eyes, use your hands. In zero viz things either look like what you want to see or what you don't want to see.
6. Any recovery effort requires a debriefing afterwards, generally at a Mexican resturant. Sounds silly but the camaraderie, festive atmosphere, and nourishment help restore a sense of normalcy. You also talk more freely and and thus hold in less if you're eating.

You crossed a line that a lot of divers won't face. Congratualtions!

leam

 

[Jorbar1551]

wouldnt the tank float?

 

[Sharky1948]

wouldnt the tank float?

No, assuming it was full. All tanks are negatively buoyant when full. Some, like AL80s are slightly positive when empty. Others, like many ST100s are negative when empty.

 

[WVDiver]

You get used to it, not being able to see that is. I do a lot of low and no vis diving in not so great conditions with current ect.

The fact that you didn't completely freak out is good. Believe me that kind of diving isn't for everyone.

You really should have had a safety diver ready to assist but I would say you can log that as a solo dive.

 

[Whale Whisperer]

Thanks for the complement Leam. It took some time for me get the nerve to jump in. I'm not a strong swimmer and I just taught myself to swim 10 months ago because I wanted to learn SCUBA, if you were at the pool the first week when I was teaching myself to swim, you would have seen me clinging on the side of the pool, I was terrified of the water Ha ha.

Hey Jorbar, Well... Right when I saw the tank sliding off the top row of the cart I said "Sh**!" and when it splashed I thought "Please be empty!!!!!!!!!" because we rent out Standard 80's. I guess whomever used it had a very good SAC rate because it sunk like a rock!

Hey WV, I did have, I guess what you would call a safety swimmer/observer. He is a first rate free diver so if he had to he could maybe reach around to see if he could bring me up the surface and no I didn't have a tending line around me which would have been a great idea looking back. At least someone was there to confirm if I should have been back up the surface after an hour!

 

[Wildbill]

I find myself closing my eyes all together and it's easier. Using my eyes to try and distinguish what is what in low viz is sometimes distracting and more taxing on the brain. If I close my eyes and use my other senses (Feel) to get a mental picture of object it's sometimes easier to conduct the search.

Wildbill :cop_2: