leaking power inflator and staying calm

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When Peter and I did the Manta dive off the Big Island, we were instructed to go to the bottom and sit there. The problem was that there was significant surge, and it was REALLY hard to sit still without being blown over. When I finally said to heck with this and got neutral and let myself sway back and forth with the surge, I was far more comfortable. It is sad that the dive operators don't expect divers to have the skill to do that, and tell them to sit -- it's worse to overweight them to make it possible, since that renders neutral buoyancy more difficult, in the event that they get skunked on mantas and just do a night dive, as we ended up doing.

Agree wholeheartedly. Wrong to deliberately overweight people IMO. Moving back and forth with surge is not only more pleasant it also is a good learning opportunity - it's how I learned micro ankle movements to be able to hold position and from there how to back fin.

I really hate ops that overweight people. It causes so many more problems than it solves - ESPECIALLY for newer divers.
 
I'm going to play devil's advocate. I didn't feel being overweighted was that big of a deal once I got my BC to work properly. I would have had an issue if they overweighted my rig without telling me but since it was part of the dive briefing we were all advised might have to play with our buoyancy a little bit. Technically makes it trickier to become neutrally buoyant but not impossible. What makes the manta ray dive so spectacular is that they swim just over the top of your head. Sometimes by only few inches. On one pass a manta ray came so close to the top of my head it actually hit me with it's wing as it swam past me. It would create more problems for a diver being a little light than a little heavy. And were not talking grossly overweighted, were all given about 6 lbs more than our previous dive.

The area where we went for the night dive was not the usual spot near the airport, we where little farther south at Keohou bay. The area where we found the Manta's was over a rocky outcropping. I had to grab hold of the rocks to help steady myself (being very careful not to grab an urchin at the same time). There was some surge still that kept pushing us around a little, and due to the rocks and potential for sea urchins the extra weight did help us stay in place.

While every diver is different, much of the convenience associated with many dive boats is they take care of your gear for you. When my daughter and I arrived at the boat they took our dive bags from us and set them up at our stations. After the dives the guides would change out our tanks for us. Being a little compulsive myself I still check the weight, straps, etc. myself. I confirmed with my guide what the weight was before the dives, and checked that the air was on myself before the dives. Personally I didn't mind the extra hospitality.
 
This statement is scary, it sounds like the boat crew modified your gear by adding weight for you. Maybe I am an anal SOB, but I never let anyone touch my gear once I set it up. It's too easy for someone to screw something up while tying to be "helpful". It might have nothing to do with your issue, but it's a thought.

Glad it all worked out for you in the end.
Exactly what I thought. If they want divers to stay under the mantas and not to have uncontrolled ascents, why on earth are they adding extra weight? Sounds like a bozo thought process to me.
1. Dont ever let anybody else yourself decide how much weight you need
2. Do a gear and buddy gear check everytime you get in water, even the wading end of the pool, really, I've learned the hard way!
3. Don't try to fix a problem like this before establishing neutral bouyancy or getting comfortable. Your buddy or the boat could have been an asset here. Your buddy could have added extra air to her BC (if she had enough lift) while you fixed the problem. Or, you could have swam back to the boat and fixed the problem. Or, you could have easily dumped the weights and had the idiot DM retrieve them for you.

---------- Post Merged at 06:23 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:22 PM ----------

When Peter and I did the Manta dive off the Big Island, we were instructed to go to the bottom and sit there. The problem was that there was significant surge, and it was REALLY hard to sit still without being blown over. When I finally said to heck with this and got neutral and let myself sway back and forth with the surge, I was far more comfortable. It is sad that the dive operators don't expect divers to have the skill to do that, and tell them to sit -- it's worse to overweight them to make it possible, since that renders neutral buoyancy more difficult, in the event that they get skunked on mantas and just do a night dive, as we ended up doing.
This is how I did this dive as well.

The problem with being overweighted is that you add more air to your BC, then you are much more likely to have an uncontrolled ascent than somebody who is properly weighted.
 
I'm going to play devil's advocate. I didn't feel being overweighted was that big of a deal once I got my BC to work properly. I would have had an issue if they overweighted my rig without telling me but since it was part of the dive briefing we were all advised might have to play with our buoyancy a little bit. Technically makes it trickier to become neutrally buoyant but not impossible. What makes the manta ray dive so spectacular is that they swim just over the top of your head. Sometimes by only few inches. On one pass a manta ray came so close to the top of my head it actually hit me with it's wing as it swam past me. It would create more problems for a diver being a little light than a little heavy. And were not talking grossly overweighted, were all given about 6 lbs more than our previous dive.

The area where we went for the night dive was not the usual spot near the airport, we where little farther south at Keohou bay. The area where we found the Manta's was over a rocky outcropping. I had to grab hold of the rocks to help steady myself (being very careful not to grab an urchin at the same time). There was some surge still that kept pushing us around a little, and due to the rocks and potential for sea urchins the extra weight did help us stay in place.

While every diver is different, much of the convenience associated with many dive boats is they take care of your gear for you. When my daughter and I arrived at the boat they took our dive bags from us and set them up at our stations. After the dives the guides would change out our tanks for us. Being a little compulsive myself I still check the weight, straps, etc. myself. I confirmed with my guide what the weight was before the dives, and checked that the air was on myself before the dives. Personally I didn't mind the extra hospitality.

so what do you think was the cause of your near miss and what did you learn?
 
I'm going to play devil's advocate. I didn't feel being overweighted was that big of a deal once I got my BC to work properly.....................

Being over-weighted is a relative term, so I am leaving that one alone.

What I was pointing out is if someone touches / modifies your gear setup, you don't know what they did. The may have intended to add 6lbs extra, but on a boat with many set of gear and multiple people, they might skip your gear or even added the weight 2x. A crew member handling multiple sets of gear can get mixed up. They might see something "wrong" and fix it for you, they might unfasten something to get the weight in and not refasten it properly, all sorts of possibilities. While you should always check you gear before you splash, you might not notice something small, like you loose cap or a weight pouch not clicked into position, etc.....
 
My contribution is this post affirms my decision to own and carry my gear wherever I go. I maintain it, am familiar with it, yet still check all working parts before every dive- 1st stage, low pressure inflator, reg, alternate reg, and anything else that turns on and off, or clips on and off. It is really easy to get complacent and not do a predive check before every dive, but gear gets jostled being put off and back on, and placed or laid on the boat between dives. All's well that ends well, freewillie, and we are all glad you resolved the issue. Check that gear before every dive, not just he first dive of the day, or first dive of the trip.
DivemasterDennis
 
so what do you think was the cause of your near miss and what did you learn?
The first part of the dive when my power inflator was leaking was the biggest problem I've had since I started diving. I was really working hard to stay at the surface. What I learned was to stay calm, think through the situation, and surprised myself a little by fixing the problem on my own. I don't think I would have been as calm if I was new, and I don't think I would have handled it as well. Experience helps, and the only way to gain experience is to keep diving.
 
Well yea, you did learn a lot but I was hoping to hear this:

"I learned to thoroughly check my gear prior to jumping."

Luck favors the prepared. Don't be that diver that has to deal with an emergency just because they skipped a simple check before jumping.

-Charles
 
one lesson is that all screw in connections on your regs and bcd should be checked periodically. those that are torqued should be checked that they can not be loosened by hand. those that are normally finger tight [your connection problem] should not move under reasonable force.
 
one lesson is that all screw in connections on your regs and bcd should be checked periodically. those that are torqued should be checked that they can not be loosened by hand. those that are normally finger tight [your connection problem] should not move under reasonable force.
Under normal circumstances I remove the power inflator after each dive to wash my BC, then keep it off for a few hours to help the drying process. I will then reattach the inflator and partially inflate the BC for storage. The screw and threads are usually tightened before I leave the house. In the future I'll make sure the inflator is better secured if someone else changes my rig.
 

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