Lost Gear

[lakeshorelady]

Gear found, thank you all and Richard for recovering it. Linda

 

[ONESPEED]

Had to ditch my gear at Pebble Beach 6/7. Yellow tank/ yelow sausage attached to BC. If anyone comes across it, Cape Ann Divers and Rockport police have my info. Would be grateful for any help retrieving. Linda

That sucks, I hope it is returned to you.

I mark all of my gear w/ my name and phone number in hopes that it will be found by someone honest in the event it is lost.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Someone grabbed your gear before could get back to it? That is awful and a major reduction in karma points. I couldn't think another diver would do that.

Please describe your gear. Brands etc in more detail. I hope someone notices it and helps you get it back. That gear can end up anywher in NE and we'll have it in mind.

Check EBAY and Craigslist frequently.

 

[adambisi]

Linda,

Was the gear floating when you ditched it or do you think it was or will be eventually submerged

 

[lakeshorelady]

submerged. Sand messed up the valve, couldn't keep air in bc on surface heading in. couldn't keep head above water and couldn't act fast enough to grab regulator to swim in submerged or ditch the integrated weights. dropped the gear.

 

[ScubaSarus]

So your gear should have sank to the bottom then if it couldn't stay positively bouyant ?

Did your group do a search for it on the bottom?

 

[RIOceanographer]

I hope you get it all back but most importantly, I am glad you're okay. Sounds like you had a bit of a scare to ditch all of your gear like that.

If you don't mind some constructive advice, unless there was more going on than you have told us, it shouldn't be faster to ditch your whole rig than to ditch your weights, or to recover your regulator in a situation like that.

If you couldn't ditch your weight easily, you should either change the weight configuration to make it easier for you, practice ditching or both. An easy way to practice is to stand on land with your rig on and then try dropping your weights with your eyes closed.

You should also be able to recover your regulator almost instantly. If you'd have been able to do that, you'd have had a lot more time to figure things out or ditch your weight because breathing wouldn't have been an issue. You should practice that until it is effortless. Personally, I also like wearing my backup on a necklace because then you always have a regulator right in front of your face if you need it in an emergency

Finally, if it was so difficult for you to stay afloat that you felt you didn't have time to get your reg or ditch your weights, then you may have been overweighted. Diving a single tank, you shouldn't be so heavy you can't keep your head up by treading water until you can get things under control.

I am not trying to give you a hard time, just trying to offer some suggestions to keep you safe in the future.

Good luck getting your gear back. Dive safe.

 

[DavidInNH]

RIOceanographer has made a lot of good points. As for ditching weight, you're better off if you are configured in a way as to allow ditching of only part of your weights. If you are properly weighted, almost any decrease in weight (even 2-4 pounds) should make you positively buoyant. Ditching all of it may contribute to an uncontrolled ascent.

 

[spectrum]

submerged. Sand messed up the valve, couldn't keep air in bc on surface heading in. couldn't keep head above water and couldn't act fast enough to grab regulator to swim in submerged or ditch the integrated weights. dropped the gear.

It looks like the original pst has been edited but after putting together the pieces I would like to add a few points.

1. Some opportunities for consideration have been noted

2. I don't know what the conditions were but it could have been a situation where surf bowled you over and regulator recover was easier said than done. A necklace may have helped but even some of those don't keep the mouthpiece in a surf defying death grip.

3. Way too may divers have been lost on the bottom in full gear and you did have the presence of mind to get your self buoyant and in those conditions it may have been a life saving move.

4. Turbid water and a rocky surf line can be daunting. I don't know if that applies to this site but it could make immediate gear recover difficult.

5. I define a good dive as Nobody was hurt, all of the gear came back and you learned something. While the gear was delayed to did OK!

I'm very happy to see it all worked out.
Pete

 

[usmarinekurt]

Gear found, thank you all and Richard for recovering it. Linda

good news
you learned a cheap valuable lesson