I've never been on a boat far from shore in Monterey. What's the SOP for descending/ascending in a current? Hands on the line? Descending together with you buddy/team? It seems like it would be tough to do both at the same time.
Monterey on Saturday (3/7)
- Thread starter mikemill
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mikeguerrero
Guest
Ken,
This was my first actual boat trip out of the Bay. I've been on a Zodiak out to Ballbuster twice and there was current those times but I dove wet and there was less to worry about.
I was clearly out of my comfort zone with both dives I did on the Sactuary. First when I arrived at Firerock I suited up against being sicker than a sailor lost at sea. Upon fully geared up I threw up like a hose over the boat until my insides came out.
The Captain was so awesome, he brought me water and helped me enter the water. I should've called the dive there but I didn't. I got into the water and then did another mistake by reaching for my camera.
I have only dove my drysuit twice and should've gotten more practice on this dive without my camera. I felt I was adding air to my suit, BC and then trying to take video and pics. I was out of my comfort zone.
Lucky Ken, Fire rock was a lot calmer than Aumentos and the anchor line went straight down and I had no trouble descending and it was super clear as you can see from the video.
I followed the chain and circled around and came back up the anchor line when the dive was over, no chance on getting lost on this one. I also made a mistake in that I didn't mark my anchor with my compass, bad move on my end.
It was super easy to ascend and watch all my parameters for making safe ascent.
Dive #2 was the mistake I made by not ascending with my group. They waited for me at the anchor on top, when I arrived Mike Mill and his buddy went straight down. Greg was my parnter on this one and he started the descent.
The current was strong and as I started going down I reached over to clear my ears and I lost hold of the anchor line, once again I had my camera and was messing with that.
Ken, I saw my group at the bottom of Aumentos but I was drifting away from them. I should've immediately ascended and re-attached myself back on the anchor line, I didn't.
I decided to float down to the group without the anchor line. I only kept them at sight by their bubbles. However, as I finally descended the group was gone.
The current kicked up west bound pulling on me away from the boat. I pushed hard to move forward and was desparately looking for my group. I looked and looked and finally bumped into two divers from our boat.
Well the rest you should know if you read my earlier post. I asked for the compass heading on the anchor and both divers told me, they don't know. I needed to ascend and as I did the current pulled me further and further away from my boat.
When I surfaced I could see the boat really far away and I was not able to swim against that current.
Many mistakes were made on my end, and I blame nobody but myself. I was very scared and frightened and I'll be sure to never make those mistakes again. I'm learning and this serves me as a good indication of what can happen in a current out in the middle of the ocean.
Things could've have gotten from bad to worse, but thanks to the crew Matt and Captain Mike on the Sanctuary, I was plucked out of the water in about 10 minutes. Those 10 minutes seemed like an hour, I kid you not Ken it doesn't feel good floating in deep water, especially when we saw whales and a large pod of Dolphins that ranged about 20 just 10 minutes prior to entering Aumentos.
I knew there were large mammals in these waters and I thought what else could be out here while I float on this expansive ocean.
MG
Wow, you've had quite a day Mike! Thanks for posting up such a detailed account. I'm glad you kept your wits about you and came away unscathed. I'm a bit disappointed to hear that the divers you ran into just left you on your own though, I like to think that I'd be happy to cut my dive short to accompany a lost diver back to the surface/boat (but maybe they thought you were just solo'ing?)
My longest buddy separation was about a minute, and I was already apprehensive enough at that point, so I have an inkling about what you were feeling, though I imagine it really must have been an order of magnitude worse!
My longest buddy separation was about a minute, and I was already apprehensive enough at that point, so I have an inkling about what you were feeling, though I imagine it really must have been an order of magnitude worse!
KMD
Contributor
Mike,
First off I am glad you are okay. Being far from the boat on the open ocean is no fun.
One of the stressors that can lead to panic is unfamiliarity with equipment and conditions. We can actively mitigate these stressors by first being aware of them and reducing or managing them. I.e. Change only one piece of gear at a time. or working with gear in known conditions (breakwater) to gain familiarity.
Secondly, while I won't bring right or wrong into it. Consider that there are certain area's where you could have managed the situation better.
1) When you knew there was current during the dive and that you might not make it back to the anchor, then shooting a SMB from depth would have been a better solution. I.e. you have a fixed point of reference that you know is close to the boat. If you get your bag to the surface, it will be extremely visible to the boat and they can track your heading and course while you ascend. This also can allow you the luxury of not having to blow through your safety stops. It also helps protects you from other boats. A propeller strike will guarantee to ruin anybodies day.
2) Once at the surface and trying to swim back, always remember that the Ocean is always more powerful than you. Don't exhaust yourself needlessly to the point where you can't do anything else. A steady pace is usually better than a sprint. Even if you aren’t making headway against the current, you can keep yourself close.
3) When the boat acknowledged that they see you, that might be the time to take a breather. They know you are there, it is obvious to them that you can't make it back to the boat. Rest assured (if you have a good boat captain & crew) that they are looking out for you. While you might have to wait a bit. They will get around to you. Inflate your BC, put a bit more gas in your drysuit and maintain vigilance on the boat. If you have a larger SMB, now is a good time to deploy it.
4) When you blew on your whistle and indicated diver in distress, you force the boat to leave his anchor and come get you. Consider what that did for all the other divers still in the water. Their risk of propeller strike or being run over by the boat was greatly increased. Once again a prop will ruin anybodies day.
First off I am glad you are okay. Being far from the boat on the open ocean is no fun.
One of the stressors that can lead to panic is unfamiliarity with equipment and conditions. We can actively mitigate these stressors by first being aware of them and reducing or managing them. I.e. Change only one piece of gear at a time. or working with gear in known conditions (breakwater) to gain familiarity.
Secondly, while I won't bring right or wrong into it. Consider that there are certain area's where you could have managed the situation better.
1) When you knew there was current during the dive and that you might not make it back to the anchor, then shooting a SMB from depth would have been a better solution. I.e. you have a fixed point of reference that you know is close to the boat. If you get your bag to the surface, it will be extremely visible to the boat and they can track your heading and course while you ascend. This also can allow you the luxury of not having to blow through your safety stops. It also helps protects you from other boats. A propeller strike will guarantee to ruin anybodies day.
2) Once at the surface and trying to swim back, always remember that the Ocean is always more powerful than you. Don't exhaust yourself needlessly to the point where you can't do anything else. A steady pace is usually better than a sprint. Even if you aren’t making headway against the current, you can keep yourself close.
3) When the boat acknowledged that they see you, that might be the time to take a breather. They know you are there, it is obvious to them that you can't make it back to the boat. Rest assured (if you have a good boat captain & crew) that they are looking out for you. While you might have to wait a bit. They will get around to you. Inflate your BC, put a bit more gas in your drysuit and maintain vigilance on the boat. If you have a larger SMB, now is a good time to deploy it.
4) When you blew on your whistle and indicated diver in distress, you force the boat to leave his anchor and come get you. Consider what that did for all the other divers still in the water. Their risk of propeller strike or being run over by the boat was greatly increased. Once again a prop will ruin anybodies day.
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Well I went with a camera that I feel I'll be growing into for awhile as I still have a lot to learn about photography (and scuba) in general.
I'm learning, I'm learningThe question is do I take the UW Photography specialty or not? I could use a new card
I was joking buddy, Though I do teach that specialty and would be more then happy to teach you!
OP
mikemill
Contributor
IIRC those two divers were doing limited decon dives. So it is very likely that they couldn't come back up by the time mike was ready to come up. I don't know for sure though.
Heh maybe later. Right now I'm having too much fun just taking pictures and fiddling with settings. There will probably come a time where I'll want to seek more formal training.
Edit: Forgot to mention that after seeing Mike deploy his sausage and seeing how much easier it was to spot him I went and got one myself.
Sounds like everybody had a good time this weekend, in spite of some difficulties.
My girlfriend an I were at the Breakwater Saturday afternoon for two dives, including one awesome night dive along the wall. Immediately after descending, a female sea lion came shooting down in front of us and starting digging around like crazy in one of the dug out little pits in the sandy bottom (no doubt looking for something delicious). She could care less about our lights, so we got to watch her for a couple of minutes straight. It was pretty awesome... Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me since it was her first night dive and I wanted to make sure I was attentive.
My girlfriend an I were at the Breakwater Saturday afternoon for two dives, including one awesome night dive along the wall. Immediately after descending, a female sea lion came shooting down in front of us and starting digging around like crazy in one of the dug out little pits in the sandy bottom (no doubt looking for something delicious). She could care less about our lights, so we got to watch her for a couple of minutes straight. It was pretty awesome... Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me since it was her first night dive and I wanted to make sure I was attentive.
mikeguerrero
Guest
I'm glad my experience helped Mike Mill go down to the LDS and get himself a safety sasauge. That was one of our requirements when I finished Advanced Open Waters with my instructor. I never thought I'd have to deploy it, but I'm so happy I had it with me that day.
I'm thinking about investing in a surface marker I can deploy from depth. I want to get one with a reel and a heavy duty one.
I took a look at some that Halcyon makes and they have quite a few. Some say DAM only, while others are semi-circuit. Can anyone tell me the differences in them? Can anyone make a suggestion on how long I should get one?
They also have lift capacity and I was wondering what for? Aren't they just suppose to go up and not lift anything other than itself?
Any comments are most greatly appreciated.
MG
I'm thinking about investing in a surface marker I can deploy from depth. I want to get one with a reel and a heavy duty one.
I took a look at some that Halcyon makes and they have quite a few. Some say DAM only, while others are semi-circuit. Can anyone tell me the differences in them? Can anyone make a suggestion on how long I should get one?
They also have lift capacity and I was wondering what for? Aren't they just suppose to go up and not lift anything other than itself?
Any comments are most greatly appreciated.
MG
Well, if I have my timeline right, these guys were on the same boat, so they couldn't have been down much longer than anyone else. Further, they were on Nitrox, which would afford them a longer NDL time than someone diving air. Also, it seemed like Mike stayed with them for pretty much most of the dive (until gas supply forced him to ascend) so they would have had similar depth profiles...it doesn't seem likely that they'd have built a decompression obligation by that time.
I'm just speculating from my armchair here of course, and have no idea what the other divers saw/thought. I still believe that if it were me and my buddy, and we knew the diver who approached us was lost or buddyless or getting low on air, we would thumb the dive with him and stay together as a group.
OP
mikemill
Contributor
Yeah, I can only speculate about what happened under the surface. I did get a nice crew perspective now that it was someone else they were getting instead of me
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