I guess that this post really is for those of you who have been unfortunate enough to have had a real problem underwater, and then fortunate enough to be able to read this now.
I've got 200+ ocean dives in some pretty good spots and think that I am a decent, but not expert, diver. I recently was in a dive on a severely-sloping-and-then-vertical wall when, after about 25 minutes and at about 60 feet, I ran into a severe downcurrent. I latched onto the slopy part of the wall for a bit (cannot remember how long -- do remember thinking "This is NOT good!" --but the total dive time was 37 minutes), but was knocked off. I then turned and headed into the blue to try to escape the current (don't remember making that decision but knew before the dive that doing so is a solution to the downcurrent problem). I was finning like hell out-and-up, my computer tells me that I bottomed out at 144 feet, I could not read my gauges (bubbles seemingly everywhere), and must have inflated my BC at some point (don't remember doing it) because it was fully inflated when I reached the surface with the vast sum of 150PSI (not surprising, because I do remember very very heavy breathing, and I'm usually okay on air consumption). No, I never gave the least consideration to a safety stop. No, I never gave a thought to dropping weights. Yes, I was scared -- really scared -- during the escape process.
My comment-and-question for those of you who have experienced similar close calls is: I have virtually no memory of the events after being swept from the wall, other than some vague images of being unable to read gauges (but must have seen something because I knew I was low on air), concentrating on swimming as hard as I could, thinking that I wasn't going up fast enough to avoid OOA, and thoughts of being determined not to drown. Did you have a similar memory block(?) after your crisis?
And for all of us, including those fortunate enough to NOT have such interesting experiences, a few comments:
1. My pre-crisis-dive personal opinion always has been that no one who hasn't been in a very tight spot can have any idea how he/she will react to being in one. My dive confirms that opinion. Theory is great, but until you've been there, you just have no clue, and had better hope that good training somehow finds its way into your brain when it is on overload.
2. There's a lot of merit in not draining a tank during the "normal" part of a dive, because you just never know when you'll need that air to escape from a bad spot. That's pretty basic, but I point this out because I've met a lot of divers who think that coming up with anything more than 500PSI is a waste of dive time. Obviously, the amount of reserve "needed" depends on the dive location.
I've got 200+ ocean dives in some pretty good spots and think that I am a decent, but not expert, diver. I recently was in a dive on a severely-sloping-and-then-vertical wall when, after about 25 minutes and at about 60 feet, I ran into a severe downcurrent. I latched onto the slopy part of the wall for a bit (cannot remember how long -- do remember thinking "This is NOT good!" --but the total dive time was 37 minutes), but was knocked off. I then turned and headed into the blue to try to escape the current (don't remember making that decision but knew before the dive that doing so is a solution to the downcurrent problem). I was finning like hell out-and-up, my computer tells me that I bottomed out at 144 feet, I could not read my gauges (bubbles seemingly everywhere), and must have inflated my BC at some point (don't remember doing it) because it was fully inflated when I reached the surface with the vast sum of 150PSI (not surprising, because I do remember very very heavy breathing, and I'm usually okay on air consumption). No, I never gave the least consideration to a safety stop. No, I never gave a thought to dropping weights. Yes, I was scared -- really scared -- during the escape process.
My comment-and-question for those of you who have experienced similar close calls is: I have virtually no memory of the events after being swept from the wall, other than some vague images of being unable to read gauges (but must have seen something because I knew I was low on air), concentrating on swimming as hard as I could, thinking that I wasn't going up fast enough to avoid OOA, and thoughts of being determined not to drown. Did you have a similar memory block(?) after your crisis?
And for all of us, including those fortunate enough to NOT have such interesting experiences, a few comments:
1. My pre-crisis-dive personal opinion always has been that no one who hasn't been in a very tight spot can have any idea how he/she will react to being in one. My dive confirms that opinion. Theory is great, but until you've been there, you just have no clue, and had better hope that good training somehow finds its way into your brain when it is on overload.
2. There's a lot of merit in not draining a tank during the "normal" part of a dive, because you just never know when you'll need that air to escape from a bad spot. That's pretty basic, but I point this out because I've met a lot of divers who think that coming up with anything more than 500PSI is a waste of dive time. Obviously, the amount of reserve "needed" depends on the dive location.
Last edited:
