I f*** up and I am ashamed

[Catito]

Since the first day I started diving, I have always said that no one but me would be responsible for my safety. I stuck to that rule even when my wife who loves playing the mermaid buddy is going too far.
I dive with 4kg of lead. I struggle a bit to go down but once I reach 2m with a full tank, it is fine. I hold my 5 m safety stop at the end of the dive with no issue however if I reach 2 meters at the end of the dive, I will surface and will not be able to go down after. Some tell me that I should dive with 5 kg but I refuse.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to a boat dive with a DM. At the end of the dive, we went into a big cave with no visibility. The briefing did not mention this cave. The DM entered, my wife entered. I was at the back and I followed even though I would not have if my wife was not in front of me. I could not see anything, could not see my DC because of the poor vis and did not see my wife. Then, I realized that I was moving up. Purging air did not do anything and I ended up stuck at the cave ceiling at 2m (I checked my DC later) with my head knocking on rocks.
Summary: I am stuck at a cave ceiling with 0 visibility, so shallow that I can't go down and I have lost sight of my wife and the DM.
To make a long story short, I used all my strength (Exhaling, down kicks and arms) to go down, in an upside down position and swallowing sea water ( I understood what wet breathing means) and went for the cave exit light. One minute afterwards, I was at the surface on my own. Ashamed becaused I did not know where my wife was. 5 minutes later, she surfaced with the DM. They had looked for me before surfacing.
I am ashamed. I should not have entered this cave. I should not have let my wife enter this cave. At the end, I was a crap buddy.

I am glad you survived. What Country were you in?

 

[Dan]

I am glad you survived. What Country were you in?

From what he mentioned up thread, Carpe Verde is on eastern Atlantic Ocean, west off Central African coast.

 

[Blackcrusader]

It would be interesting to know how many divers review their training course material? On a regular basis? Ever?

When I haven't dived for awhile I go and re-read my BSAC course training manuals. I also re-read my Shearwater manuals and do dive planning on my Shearwater using different sac rates and tank sizes and pressures with different amounts of liters per tank.

 

[chillyinCanada]

In the way back days, I even reviewed the instruction materials that came with my bcd and my reg set.

 

[Centrals]

I’m a geek so I actually review my OW and AOW books before a drive trip.

YES, but only on tec dive for the initial few yrs after certification.

 

[TMHeimer]

It would be interesting to know how many divers review their training course material? On a regular basis? Ever?

A common reply theme seems to be "how could you not know that?"

Maybe:
- the concept was not taught (bad instructor)
- the concept was not learned (bad student)
- the concept was learned but then forgotten
- the concept was learned but then replaced by incorrect old wives tales content...

Maybe a regular review of training material would be beneficial? What say you?

I have many PADI paper manuals and review a page or two from one daily, then I rotate to a different manual when through one. I read a page or two from one of my ERF manuals daily. Not relevant, but I do an air table problem one day, a nitrox table one the next. All of this takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on what I'm watching on T.V. Of course that's all very easy being retired.

 

[yle]

I am ashamed. I should not have entered this cave. I should not have let my wife enter this cave. At the end, I was a crap buddy.

Nothing to be ashamed of. You're beating yourself up because you hold yourself to a standard of making perfect decisions all the time. But if you recognize this as a learning experience, you'll be much better off.

Lesson #1: some dive professionals, like your DM, exercise poor judgment and do not communicate well. Having a DM card doesn't automatically make them good divers or good dive leaders. This is a lesson all divers should learn as soon as possible.

Lesson #2: you made a decision that had unintended consequences. You're upset because you feel you made the wrong decision because of those consequences. But what if everything in the cave had gone smoothly... what if you had followed your wife, done a brief look around, and exited? Your decision to enter the cave would have been the same, but would you still feel the same way?

Lesson #3: following from Lesson #2, you should pick apart (and I think you already have... poor dive briefing, your role as your wife's buddy, etc...) the reasons that you made the decision that you did. Be sure to understand what the good reasons are, and what should be changed for next time... so that you're not in a position where you have to make this kind of decision (the dive briefing certainly stands out.)

This is an opportunity to improve your experience, examine your decisions, and be better prepared for diving in the future. It's a good thing, so don't beat yourself up over it.

 

[Dody]

Don't know if your using sarcasm or not, but deflating a BCD and having proper trim and weight should have been covered on day one...<TG>

I might not have been clear enough. What I meant is that everyone knows that 1) Air flows up, 2) We have 4 ways to deflate the BCD. However, some people imply that even using LPI button, LPI hose extension or the two valves, you might still have air in the BCD. How can you make sure that you don't? That was my question.

 

[Dody]

My DM course through PADI took a couple months. I have taught DM courses. I cannot imagine getting through one in a week unless maybe it was 7 full days of work.

I have asked my intructor and he told me that because I am diving every week and sometimes 5 days a week, he made a 3 weeks custom training including Rescue and DM.

 

[Dody]

In the case I cited, the altitude of the dive was extremely high, and the dive frankly should not have been attempted. There is a good chance you will never be at that elevation, let alone dive it.

But I will help you look into it.

I assume that your DM course included training in Boyle's Law, mathematically represented by V1P1=V2P2. At sea level (surface P = 1 ATA), a 1 liter (or whatever) volume of air at 10 meters depth (2ATA) that is taken to the surface will double in size (1*2=V2*1=2). If the atmospheric pressure is 0.8 because of altitude (about 1,800 meters), then the equation is 1*1.8=V2*0.8=2.25.

I understand that but I underestimated the impact of the altitude because I did not care about it.