Is this a message or what!!!!!

[mksmith713]

Ok, so I'm gearing up to do a shore dive at Anglin Pier in Ft Lauderdale.
The conditions were pretty decent on the first two dives and I'm finishing up my surface interval when I notice the surf is getting rough.
I figure I still have 2 tanks to burn, so.......
I get geared up and head down the beach and into the surf.
The surf is kicked the living hell out of me, I'm sucking water through my snorkel like a straw.
I make my way out to where I can get my fine unstrapped from my BC and out them on, the whole time fighting the surf.
I figure, once I get down, I'll be OK.
I grab my reg, put it into my mouth and NOTHING.......NOTHING!!!!
When the hell did I turn the air off?
I know I turned it on because I was thinking how generous Force-E dive shop was with the air...I had 3500 psi or more...my guage is old school and stops at 3500.
So I know I turned it on.
I try to reach behind to turn the knob on and I just can't get it.
The surf is too rough and it's not happening.
Realizing I'm going to have to go back in to turn my air on, I orally inflate my BCD.
Mind you...the surf is kicking my @ss this whole time.....
Did I mention the surf was an @ss kicker.....
Ok, so I get back into shallow enough water, and start fighting with the fins.
I manage to get my BC unstrapped and off .
The surf yanks if from my hands and takes it to shore.
I pull off my fins and follow after it.
I get to shore, beach my gear and try to get myself adjusted so I can make another comical attempt to get out and photograph the pretty fishies.
I get my weight belt and BC back on, gather up my flag, camera and am reaching down to gather my fins when a huge wave comes in,knocks me head over heels, snatches one of my fins and takes it back out with it.
I ditch the camera,and flag and bolt for the surf to fine the stolen fin.
NOTHING!!!
I pop my reg in my mouth and swim in looking everywhere for it.
It has vanished.
I spend a good 45 minutes looking for that damnned fin to no avail.

I really think God was trying to tell me not to go back into that water.
Has anyone else ever had messages given to them like this?

 

[mksmith713]

So, first messge come in the form of my air not being turned on.
When I try to tempt fate, one of my fins is taken from me so I can't dive.

Hmmmmmmmm....

 

[cdreamer]

That's a message all right - loud and clear. Glad you are OK and only
lost a fin.

 

[SteveAD]

Been there done that. The first message was the rough conditions. The air off was a tap on the shoulder. The lost fin was a smack upside the head for not listening to the first two.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I too am glad you are all right. Were you still wearing your weight belt when you "lost your BC to the waves"? If you were, perhaps a good message is to leave all your gear in tact and assembled on your being until you are safely on shore or out of the surf. In surf like than I can see it easily keeping you down once you get there making it tough to maintain comfortable breathing. At least an inflated BCD will keep you on the surface and out of the water (in theory). I am sure people will have situations where it makes sense to not do this, but generally speaking it is safer on the surface than on the bottom with no air.

 

[Cave Diver]

I grab my reg, put it into my mouth and NOTHING.......NOTHING!!!!
When the hell did I turn the air off?
I know I turned it on because I was thinking how generous Force-E dive shop was with the air...I had 3500 psi or more...my guage is old school and stops at 3500.
So I know I turned it on.
I try to reach behind to turn the knob on and I just can't get it.
The surf is too rough and it's not happening.
Realizing I'm going to have to go back in to turn my air on, I orally inflate my BCD.
Mind you...the surf is kicking my @ss this whole time.....
Did I mention the surf was an @ss kicker.....
Ok, so I get back into shallow enough water, and start fighting with the fins.

Did you ever figure when you turned your air back off and why?

It seems like somewhere along the line your routine got upset. Might be important to figure that part out.

The message here might be that if your pre-dive sequence isn't yet automatic, that if you get interrupted, you should start over from the beginning to make sure you havent skipped anything.

I also make a point to breathe off of both regs as I enter the water, even if I plan to swim out on the surface without them. It's a lot easier to find and fix a problem then.

Just some thoughts for you to consider. Dive safe!

 

[mksmith713]

I can't say for sure when the air got turned off but while moving everything from the car o the staging area at the beach, I met a family that was local to me.
They were earing Ravens football shirts and hats...........
I got to chatting while I was working and that's probably when I did.
I bet I turned it off to transport it from the car to where you gear up.

Either way, it happened and there's nothing that can change that.
I learned from it and I'll take that lesson with me everywhere I go FOREVER.

The conditions were rough enough that I think, had I not already read the Rescue Divers manual....I might have panicked.......OK, maybe not.
But it was a pretty hairy situations.
I had a difficult time orally inflating the BCD while sucking down saltwater....wave after wave.

I still think,if I could have gotten down fast, it would have been a nice dive..
Not supposed to happen...
Anyway, gotta run, 2 boats dives await.
They leave in 10 minutes..........

Lost fin= $80.00
Rental Fins= $8.00
Diving with
pretty fishies=Priceless

 

[Rileybri]

A devout man is stranded in a coastal city when a big storm come in. An evacuation is ordered of all residents. When the police come to check on the residents and find him still in his house they ask him if he needs help. The man replies "No I am ok I am putting my self in Gods hands, he will look after me."
As the storm rages on, the city around his home is flooded making travel by road impossible. Knowing there is still a trapped man in the city the authorities send out a rescue boat to get the man. When the get there the man tells them the same thing. "I am fine, I have God to protect me."
Finally many hours later when the full force of the storm is about to be upon him, they send out a rescue helicopter for him. Again he declines help telling them that he is in gods hands and he will be protected.
Well sure enough the man drowns when the flood waters over take his house. When the man makes it to heaven and gets to meet God he asks why someone with as much faith as him was taken and not protected??? God replies I sent you an evacuation order, a boat and a helicopter, what more did you want?????

 

[robint]

I always take 2 deep breaths off my reg before I get in the water.... I learned this from my daughter's attempt at a dive only to discover her air was off. She didn't notice until she was down 30' and I was already much deeper. She ended headed back up to surface (a very well trained girl of 14, I might add) after signaling me about the problem. Now we always always always take a few breaths before descending.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Well...hate to say I told you so (well not really) but you were so sure that Lauderdale beach dives would be a cake walk and I kept telling you that you should always have a buddy in an unfamiliar area (and in my personal opinion even IN an familiar area). I'm glad you listened to me at least somewhat (don't know if you had a buddy during this incident) but it sounds like you met up with a group from Tampa to do some shore dives earlier this week.

Take this as a lesson to always have a buddy incase things go wrong. Use ScubaBoard to meet people so you're not diving alone.