Hostage
Contributor
Had a scare this weekend, two buddies all three of us were "Rescue Divers", we took the class last last fall together. While we were on a small charter tied next to a larger dive boat. The first diver went in the water vanished for close to half an hour. We checked the "meet point" on the wreck and he was not there. I felt completely useless, I thought people would go into high gear. Even though we didn't have a DM with us, there was a boat full of them next to us, but it was frustrating as they seemed more interested in eating their hotdogs. Our charter didn't have a long enough rope to do a search in the lower visibility and moderate current. We eventually got one from the larger boat next to us, though that is when our buddy finally surfaced with a SMB. TBH, I think even for taking a rescue class our response was poor IMHO. I think I will take a rope with me in my dive bag for a situation if it ever occurs again. Also I will take the initiative quicker as I seemed to think that being around more experienced people gave me a false sense that they would actually do something. It also didn't help that we didn't mention to the charter that we were rescue divers. I think he was rightfully concerned about putting us in danger looking for the lost diver.
The problem the diver had was being over weighted, he has been having issues with his Whites Drysuit, which I will call nothing more than a lemon and that was the thing I was cursing the most at during this accident. He has never had a dry dive in it before and was renting one from the dive shop as his was being repaired again... We gave him a larger tank 100+ CU tank so he could stay down longer with us. He didn't make weight adjustments for the change from a 80AL to a 100+ steel. He sank rapidly and had some issues leveling out, he went to 102ft the bottom. He did not panic, but he did finally took control and made sure to gain control and do a safety stop. We learned a few things, he will make sure to properly account for weight changes and carry a thumb reel as will I for using the SMB at depth. Next I will take a rope for Search and Rescue for places with lower visibility and with currents. Lastly I will not count on others and will take lead if I don't see anyone more experienced stepping up to the plate.
The problem the diver had was being over weighted, he has been having issues with his Whites Drysuit, which I will call nothing more than a lemon and that was the thing I was cursing the most at during this accident. He has never had a dry dive in it before and was renting one from the dive shop as his was being repaired again... We gave him a larger tank 100+ CU tank so he could stay down longer with us. He didn't make weight adjustments for the change from a 80AL to a 100+ steel. He sank rapidly and had some issues leveling out, he went to 102ft the bottom. He did not panic, but he did finally took control and made sure to gain control and do a safety stop. We learned a few things, he will make sure to properly account for weight changes and carry a thumb reel as will I for using the SMB at depth. Next I will take a rope for Search and Rescue for places with lower visibility and with currents. Lastly I will not count on others and will take lead if I don't see anyone more experienced stepping up to the plate.