Kona Agressor, Out of Air

[divekraz]

My wife and I were on the Kona Agressor over the 2008 Chritmas week. The procedure for diving is 5 days per day. After each dive you take you regulator off the tank, the deck hand fills the tank with one of several hoses, and then places the green cap on the tank valve to indicate it's been filled. I had asked on our first day on the live aboard, prior to the event, how they knew when the tanks were full. They showed me how the tanks were filled until the guage read approx. 3500psi on their bank and when they were cooled down it came to about 3100 psi on your tank. I checked my guage before each dive and always had over 3000psi. On our third day of diving after 14 dives we did a night dive which was our 15th dive. I went down with my wife and after 5-10 minutes ran out of air. I checked my air flow adjustment valve thinking it could've been turned and shut off my air flow, no problem, then looked at my guage to see all zeros flashing for air left. We keep our octos on holders around our necks and pulled my wifes off and started to breathe. She checked my valve to make sure it was turned on, which it was. We went back to the boat so I could get a fresh tank and continued with our night dive. When we we're done with the dive, the deck hand discovered one of the fill hoses was broken and no air came out. Since they fill multiple tanks at once the guage would read the average of all the tanks being filled and since they didn't check to make sure the air hose was working properly, they had no idea I didn't get any air. I saw them put the air hose on my tank before the night dive to make sure they filled my tank as I usually did after each dive and assumed I was getting a full tank of air just like they had done on the previous 14 dives. My mistake was I got complacent with the procedure and didn't bother looking at my guage to check how much air was in the tank before starting the dive which would've avoided the problem in the first place. I understand my mistake. Lesson learned, NEVER trust anyone else to make sure your equipment is good to go and always do a full pre dive check yourself.

 

[robint]

you are right, you should have checked before you got in the water. Stuff happens and it has happened at least once to every diver who has been diving for a few years.

I had it happen to me last year on a boat in Calif.... one DM switched the fill line over to my tank and was talking and working, the other DM came along and took it off my tank and hooked it up to the next tank without realizing what the other DM had done. I checked my computer as I was suiting up, caught the error and they immediately apologized and filled my tank.
It also happened to me on a liveaboard in Bahamas this past year... 2 DMs filling tanks and trying to go too fast, missed mine but I luckily checked it before I jumped into the water. So it happened to me twice in the past year, all from DMs trying to do too much at one time while filling tanks. They do their best but sometimes they miss things. Always always always check your tank fill before jumping into the water!!!

robin

 

[stu_in_fl]

as you stated - your responsibility to check your SPG
and for any newbies reading - when looking at your SPG, breathe through your reg a couple of times deeply - if the needle moves at all, it means your tank is either not on or only partially on....do this before you are in the water ..even if you don't do a full check - do this to check yourself ALWAYS. [it checks you tank is on, and how much gas you have to breath ]

 

[IceBergSlim]

We keep our octos on holders around our necks and pulled my wifes off and started to breathe.

You keep it on an octo holder around your neck and pull it off when you need it?

 

[fisheater]

Just got back from a week at Little Cayman Beach Resort, where the DMs' "valet" dive service includes changing out your tanks after each dive.

Nonetheless, they constantly instructed and reminded us to check out gauges before each dive.

Good service. Excellent advice.

 

[h90]

When I dive:
a) I check the air pressure
b) I check my computer which shows the air pressure
c) if required there I make a buddy check and the buddy checks the air pressure
d) on the descent I check the computer if it is activated and shows something which seems right
e) every few minutes I have a quick look on the computer or gauge....

how possible that someone can start diving with an empty tank????

 

[Pearldiver07]

When I dive:
a) I check the air pressure
b) I check my computer which shows the air pressure
c) if required there I make a buddy check and the buddy checks the air pressure
d) on the descent I check the computer if it is activated and shows something which seems right
e) every few minutes I have a quick look on the computer or gauge....

how possible that someone can start diving with an empty tank????

How's it possible? Just like the OP said!

I've had this happen once, and just like this thread, it was because I was so trusting of a good operation. I just rolled off the side to drop to 100+ to see some Coleman (sp?) shrimp. I got down to 50' or so and noticed that I had less than 1000 left.

I got razzed when I got back to the dock. Although I believe that my failure to check doesn't relieve the operator from their responsibility to provide full tanks (they had a spare on board - but the DM and group had already found and left the shrimp), it was still MY RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that the tank was full.

Anyway - everyone has a brain cramp once in a while. That's why I always tell my students to NEVER knowingly go on to dive with equipment failures, etc. Because you never know what else may be wrong or overlooked. Why shorten the chain to critical failure?

Good diving!

 

[divekraz]

You keep it on an octo holder around your neck and pull it off when you need it?

Yes we keep the octopus on a regulator necklace which sells for about $10. We've been doing this for a number of years. Tech divers will put their primary on one which gave me the idea. If someone is coming to me in a out of air situation they will most likely focus on my primary but hopefully will see the octo just below it. If they do grab my primary my octo is only 6 inches below my mouth.

I listed this event as a learning experience to illustrate how someone can get complacent when you get into a routine, which doesn't excuse me for not doing my full predive check.
When I'm on a regular dive boat I have never not checked my guages and done a full pre dive check which includes making sure I had a good fill. After 14 dives, 5 dives a day, a bit tired with a huge dinner and it being the last dive of day 3, after seeing the air hose was on my tank for over 30 min. so I knew I should've had a full tank, after asking them about their fill procedure so I knew what was happening, being rushed to get in the water with a video camera and cumbersome video lights, I got complacent and did not do my normal complete pre dive check routine. This is not an excuse on my part it was just the facts. I did make sure the air was all the way on and breathed in both regs before getting in the water so knew there was air in the tank. This does not in anyway excuse the crew for not filling my tank as they were suppose to and make sure their equipment was working properly. The problem would have been easily avoided if I had checked my gear properly as I stated earlier. This is just an example of what to be aware of. I thought the tank was full as I watched them fill it, the crew thought it was full according to their hooking it up and looking at their guages, but it wasn't. The boat has since this incident changed their procedure to insure a good fill.

 

[IceBergSlim]

Yes we keep the octopus on a regulator necklace which sells for about $10. We've been doing this for a number of years. Tech divers will put their primary on one which gave me the idea. If someone is coming to me in a out of air situation they will most likely focus on my primary but hopefully will see the octo just below it. If they do grab my primary my octo is only 6 inches below my mouth.

That's what I thought you meant by "holder". I see you are referring to a necklaced bungee.

But I think you have some of the details confused.

The primary is not on the necklace, it's in the diver's mouth. If you have to donate, the wisdom is the OOA diver will grab this working regulator and you can transfer to the octo that is secured around your neck with the bungee. This is also where the long hose comes into play.

You never want to be pulling the octo off of the necklace.

I see your point about the rest but as you said it's your own responsibility to verify before you splash.

And yeah, it sucks to be rushed. Most of the dumb stuff I have done has been when I was hurrying. Glad it all turned out well.

 

[BabyDuck]

i'm glad you caught it & were calm & came out ok! calm when facing an issue helps keep it from becoming a problem.

but just so you're clear, tech divers don't put their primary on the holder, but their secondary. the primary is on a long hose, ready to donate.