It pays not to panic

[robertarak]

It sounds like both divers did a good job, and took the correct action. I am very glad both divers are ok and doing well. Now with all that said, I am concerned that the OP went back in the water to retrieve weights..solo. Depending on the amount of weight, and assuming a lift bag was not used, using your bc to provide lift for additional weight could make for a very rapid ascent if you drop the weight. At very least it creates added workload...solo. Please remember, weights and other equipment are replaceable, divers are not.

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[Mitchell Teeters]

Good job! What happened to the BCD? LOL.


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[danr5160]

Thanks for the replies. The failure was in the inflator hose attachment, it was a screw-on and had come completely unscrewed. His BC was full of seawater. I mentioned to him afterward that even with a BC full of water he should not have been negative when we dropped weights, and he ended up losing about 4 pounds after that. And yes, you're right, I should not have gone in solo for the weights. I realized that as I was searching for them what a stupid thing that was. Up to that point I was feeling we had done things right. The weights were in about 8 FSW and I realized (again) that was enough to get into trouble. Just as I was ready to abort the attempt and go back to shore I found them. We had a gentle slope so I simply came up the slope with them to avoid any ascent problems.

One final point of note, and would love to hear if you think this was the right call because it was made submerged and on the spur of the moment. We were both in deflated dry suits and I chose on the spot to not use his dry suit as a makeshift BC. By the time we reached the surface my BC was enough to keep us both on the surface, so we kept them deflated.

 

[Rkelleyj]

Great job

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

In regards to the BCD... was it a rental piece of kit or personal?

Rental equipment should be checked thoroughly before leaving the shop.

 

[robertarak]

In regards to the BCD... was it a rental piece of kit or personal?

Rental equipment should be checked thoroughly before leaving the shop.

ALL equipment should be checked before each dive.

Just sayin'

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

ALL equipment should be checked before each dive.

Just sayin'

Absolutely....

But I've seen more lost dives due to people not checking rental gear then I have of personal gear (unless of course you count forgetting something at home).

 

[Crass3000]

One final point of note, and would love to hear if you think this was the right call because it was made submerged and on the spur of the moment. We were both in deflated dry suits and I chose on the spot to not use his dry suit as a makeshift BC. By the time we reached the surface my BC was enough to keep us both on the surface, so we kept them deflated.

I think you did the right thing. Using his drysuit and your BC leaves you with two things to control the ascent instead of one. Assuming BC has the lift to bring the other person up, I would always take all the air out of the other BC and drysuit. I would take the air out of my drysuit too so that there is only one adjustment to make to control the rate of ascent. Sounds like this wasn't too big of a deal if his weights were at 8 FSW but given a deeper rescue, having one adjustment for bouyancy is always easier to control if its possible.

 

[TSandM]

Diving the usual single tank (in other words, NOT an overfilled 130) a dry suit should be more than enough buoyancy to make you neutral, if you are correctly weighted. But if your buddy hadn't thought of using his suit to get neutral, it was probably a very good call on your part not to try it yourself. Controlling someone else's dry suit is VERY difficult. You guys were in pretty shallow water, and all you needed to do was get him to the surface in a controlled fashion, and you did that.

I don't think it was that awful to go look for the weights. Maybe that's because, as a DM, I do a lot of that kind of shallow solo diving, placing the float or looking for lost weight pouches. Yes, you can get into trouble in 8 feet of water, but you had already been over the area, so you knew there weren't horrible entanglement hazards, and you had a watcher on shore. In eight feet of water, if you had a freeflow or a first stage failure, you could darned near stand up . . .

 

[AfterDark]

Good deal! Job well done! I have a saying “panic is the last thing a diver does”