Major Freak Out - What should I have done differently?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Good call wetb4igetinthewater,

I have read Six Skills many times over and it is indeed a book applicable to all divers. Another must have on every diver's book shelf. Haven't had a chance to check out Staying Alive yet but itching to get a hold of that as well. I'm a big fan of Steve Lewis' writing and regularly follow his blogs. We're very fortunate to have him here on SB (known as Doppler).

He's in the Seattle right now teaching rebreathers to a couple instructors at Bellevue Divers this weekend. He has some interesting views. One of the things he is actually against clipping on backup lights onto one's BCD straps. I'm curious to read further in books about this and whole lot more.

 

[Divetech99]

One of the things he is actually against clipping on backup lights onto one's BCD straps.

Huh? Why?

 

[Curt Bowen]

This is your standard cave diving back=up light configuration. I always have two small Light Monkey lights strapped to my harness in this exact configuration, even if I am diving in the ocean.

NEVER DIVE WITHOUT A LIGHT!

TRUE STORY: Many years ago we were doing a cave expedition on Andros Island, located in the Bahamas aboard the Ocean Explorer. (Owner Dan Malone at that time)
I had to fly out of Nassau, so we left Andros for the 5 hour motor over to Nassau.
About 3 hours into the trip, everyone was bunked up resting, when suddenly the motors shut down. (this is never a good sign on a 5 hour ride)
Wondering up deck, Capt. Gene Flipse motioned to 5 divers floating in the middle of nothing.

How he crossed their direct path was a miracle. A quarter mile in either direction and they would had been gone for good.
The divers said that they were diving off Nassau and when they came back to the line, there was no boat to be found. The line had broken and thus they drifted out to sea.
We radioed the Bahamas coast guard and they sent out search boats for the missing dive vessel as according to the divers we picked up, there was 4 more divers and a captain aboard. (still missing)

Problem is when the sun goes down, they call off any search till the next day, or you run the chance of running over them in the darkness.

One of the missing 4 divers, split from the group and attempted to swim to shore. The only thing that saved his ass was his small dive light that he was able to signal a boat with after dark.

The rest is a long story...........


ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS carry a dive light with you NO MATTER if you NEVER plan on EVER using it. (check the batteries before every dive)

People have mentioned always having a flashlight. I always have two, but they never get in the way so I don't mind always having them. I keep them on my shoulder strap. They are bolt snapped to my shoulder d ring and then I use a bicycle inner tube to keep them from flopping around. Was shown this by a good friend. Here's a picture in case anyone else wants to copy. When you are diving you never feel them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PhatD1ver]

So, do yall think recreational divers should even be taken to this dive site? While I understand I am responsible for my own safety, I still think the DM has a responsibility to stay within recreational limits. That being said, for those of you who know Devils Throat, do you consider it to be within recreational limits? Is it really considered just a swim through even though a. There is no real exit for long stretches b. There is no light at all in places c. It is an overhead environment at 130 feet d. There are places where two divers could not fit side by side?

If there is one thing I have learned in the past 15 month I've been certified and dove 120 times in a lot of places... it's that dive shops exist to make a profit (or at least make a living and break even after paying for their overhead)... to do that, they have to make daily decisions about customers based on simple numbers and acronyms... how many dives do you have total? in the last year? Are you OW, AOW? DM?

In June, I visited Coron, in our group was a girl who was a 12 dive OW working on her AOW but had the worst fllutter kick ever, a couple who were both AOW, a DM from Italy who hadn't work in diving in two years... and a girl who had about 30 dives..

The dive op split us up according to the training program for our LDS instructor along on the trip, and we went out and dove the Coron wrecks... What that means is that there were non-wreck qualified people doing out of light diving on 70 year old wrecks just following DMs and their light in the darkness... and trust me, inside a wreck? it's INKY black... and people with these skills, they can raise some silt and rust...

Now that's not the final point... to add to the complexity, 8 of the 12 dives we did were DEEP (by definition being over 18m), but in this case, they were all over 26m, and 5 of those, started with entering the ship at 30-35m....

Can you see where I am going with this? These people make money giving divers what they want, and praying everyday before they start that they can keep them all safe. It's a business, they are going to take you on that dive if they think you can get thru it....

I came home having loved the experience (I got my wreck and sidemount specialties while there)... but as I sat back and thought about where I had been, the spaces I'd squeezed thru, the couple times I got narc'd and had to work it out, and the one time I saw blue light above me and thought about bolting instead of going into that dark hole in front of me.... I realized that some bad things could have happened inside those ships... very humbling, but that reflection I think will make me a better wreck diver...

Its about the money my friend, you were paying, they figured you wanted to play... I'm glad you are okay... get an SMB and a light for you dive kit... and recognize it was a lesson learned....

 

[Iralub]

I'll put in my two cents, please feel free to give me change

I have about the same number of dives as OP (just short of 100). I would expect that prior to the dive or as part of the dive briefing the DM would inform the divers that the dive is at about 40m depth (ok...), there are overhead environments (errrrr....), the overhead environments are not simple swimthroughs but a system where you can't access the surface for about 15-20min (this would be the point I'm calling the dive), some of that system comprises dark and narrow tunnels and requires a light (if I hadn't called the dive before, I'm calling it now).

Generally, when entering swimthroughs I expect the DM/guide to make sure that everyone in the group is ok and to do the same thing if entering a more challenging/scarier part of the swimthrough. Looking at the OP's video, I would expect the DM to make sure everyone is ok before entering that dark/narrow tunnel at about 2 minutes in, not just assume that everyone is fine because they were fine in the wide/light part of the overhead.

I've seen a couple of times where people in my dive group indicated they did not want to enter a swimthrough and so we all swam around (perfectly fine, no one had a problem), I have on one occasion entered a swimthrough and then indicated that I was not ok to enter a narrower part of it (the DM asked before going in) and we took a different way out. I dove with one DM who did not ask the group whether they were ok going into a swimthrough, but I had an excellent instabuddy and we'd signal to each other if we were ok going in (including on one occasion when I would not enter a narrow, dark swimthrough 30m down and we both swam over it).

Personally, I'm horrified that the DM took unqualified divers (one of whom just certified!) into a serious overhead environment, at 40m depth, without warning as to the nature of the dive, without necessary equipment such as torches and didn't check that they were ok before proceeding with the challenging part of the dive. I'd be much more p-ed off about it than the OP seems to be. For all it's worth, I think managing to avoid panic and finishing the dive safely is an achievement of itself.

 

[scoobajay]

In the DM's defense, he did turn back and check to see if I was ok, but since I didn't have a flashlight, I hadn't seen how restricted the opening was (all I could see was black). I've done plenty of swimthroughs where the entrance is dark and after a kick or two, you see the exit. As he was swimming in, I saw his light shine on the edges and realized how small the opening was. Based on my enthusiasm for swimthroughs in the previous days, he had every reason to think I was perfectly fine and super excited!

You bring up a topic that I've been tossing around in my mind after all of this feedback from other divers...I'm going to move it to another thread as I feel this one has served it's purpose! I'll edit this reply with the link once I post.

Edited for link:http://2sb.us/513461

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Huh? Why?

Don't know, would have said why. Haven't had a chance to find out. Hopefully it is in one of his books.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

He's in the Seattle right now teaching rebreathers to a couple instructors at Bellevue Divers this weekend. He has some interesting views. One of the things he is actually against clipping on backup lights onto one's BCD straps. I'm curious to read further in books about this and whole lot more.

I'd really like to hear where he thinks these lights should be stowed, then.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Not TapaTalk. Really.

 

[JarrodS]

I read the original post but not all 15 pages of replies. A few things come to mind.

First is that your DM was a poor guide. There should have been a briefing that clarified the plan, including the need for a light, a *detailed* explanation of the swim through itself (sounds more like a cave from your description), and at a site like this, a plan B for people uncomfortable with plan A.

Second is that your DM was a poor buddy. The next time he turned and didn't see you following, he should have come back for you. If anybody ever did that to me (someone did once) I would never dive with them again (I haven't).

Third, there is no way that freshly certified OW divers should have been at that depth *or* doing a swim through. That's inviting disaster IMO. Your DM used poor judgement.

Fourth, you should carry a light, and a SMB. I was never taught or told to use an SMB and reel but I have one just in case. I do need to practice how and learn when to deploy it!

Finally, you did the right thing by turning back. If you aren't comfortable, you have to abort. Nobody but you is responsible for your own well-being underwater.

 

[Nasser]

He's in the Seattle right now teaching rebreathers to a couple instructors at Bellevue Divers this weekend. He has some interesting views. One of the things he is actually against clipping on backup lights onto one's BCD straps. I'm curious to read further in books about this and whole lot more.

Interesting... I don't recall reading anything like that in Six Skills (haven't read Staying Alive yet), but are you sure you understood him correctly? perhaps he's making a distinction between a traditional BCD and 2 inch harness webbing used in a BP/Wing ? As Curt's photo shows, clipping one or two backup lights onto the harness D-rings is a fairly standard approach.

Perhaps Doppler will read this and chime in.