My First Night Dive Didn't Go Too Well

[AZjohn]

Thank you everyone for your replies!
This is a wonderful site
Great ideas regarding light position, how to decend, and all the little tricks of the trade. I especially appreciate knowing I'm not the first one who had this feeling on their first night dive
Thanks,
John

 

[rstofer]

I'm glad it worked out well. Keeping your head will usually work well for you but it might not work out so well for your buddy. Getting separated after making initial contact was a problem. Holding hands might not be PC but it is effective. I did it on my first night dive when my light failed. It wasn't 'manly' but I just wanted to survive. Actually, I held on to the back of my buddy's BCD. There are fingerprints permanently embedded in the fabric!

There's no way in the world that dive should have been planned without using the anchor line to descend. Particularly on a night dive, getting separated is a serious issue. You might as well be diving solo and not too many people want to do the first night dive by themselves. Nor should they...

Instead of focusing on your issues (in other words, don't flog yourself), look at the bigger picture. This dive was planned to be a disaster and you survived. Your actions are reasonable and predictable for a new diver. I can tell you for certain, if I could not find my buddy after about a minute, I would be heading to the surface.

There's a problem with this: even though we are taught to meet at the surface, we have, in effect, abandoned our buddy. Not a good strategy. Unfortunately, there might not be a better one on a no-viz night dive.

The take away is simple: poor planning produces poor performance, period! And this dive wasn't properly planned!

Another object lesson: don't rely on ANYBODY, EVER! Get more training, do more dives and, most important, work to become self-reliant. Although you should always dive with a buddy (well, so they say), be sufficiently capable that it is irrelevant. Listen carefully to the planning brief and think about it. What can go wrong? What was overlooked? It's hard to know these things when you first start out but don't accept that the dive leader has given them a moment's thought. You can see how leaders can fail.

Richard

 

[Diver0001]

This is a brilliant post John. There's so much good stuff to take from that.

I think your experience goes to show you how important it is to be able to make a descent under control at the same rate as your buddy. In bad viz situations, your buddy functions as your visual reference.

Using the anchor chain for a reference the second time was a great idea (maybe a lesson in this for the dive con to do that on the *first* attempt....) and I think getting back in the water and trying it again under more controlled circumstances was a good idea too.

R..

 

[jjhill]

Welcome to the world of night diving John. Night dives are some of my favorite dives. Not only do you see different creatures, for me the darkness gives gives a calm serene feeling.

The one bit of advice I would give is that on your next dives (whether day or night) try paying close attention to how your body feels in the water. The idea is to gather a feeling of orientation with no visual reference. You will find in time you can tell if you are ascending or descending and the approximate rate without having to look for bubbles or checking your gauges. This would have helped prevent your rocket descent and the feeling of not knowing which way is up or your body's orientation. Then you could have had a keener presence of mind to find and descend with your buddy and really cut down on the stress.

It can be a difficult skill to learn but on every dive just try to pay attention to how your body and ears feel as you move through the water column. In time you will be able to notice subtle differences which will play to your advantage on your next limited visibility dives.

 

[Ursus]

My first night dive was a bit of a challenge as well. I was diving with a new buddy who had mask flooding issues from the onset of the dive due to his lense seal. This was further compounded by him being unfamiliar with his gear. For safety reasons and courtesy to the group he should have voluntarily called off his dive at this point. After working with the divemaster to repair his mask in the water he decided to keep going. However, throughtout the dive he continued to have issues. He also had problems operating his light cannon. He was having issues seeing with a flooded mask so it decided to just turn off his light...for battery conervation??? If it weren't for the mimistrobe/beacon that I had attached onto him I would not have been able to keep track of him. On seveal occassions he dropped the light (not attached to his wrist or vest) while coping with his mask. I would suddenly notice a light shining from somewhere behind us and look over to see his signal strobe swimming near me, but no light cannon....swim back to retrieve his light cannon off the ocean floor where he had dropped it without realizing it.

He didn't signal when there were issues...not a good buddy...and so you would be swimming and he would be there or wouldn't. Finally, I had to put myself behind him and above him to keep a constant eye on him throughout the remainder of the dive. All in all some valuable lessons on first time out.

For what it is worth, ther are two pieces of equipment that are a must other than the primary gear and light. A good backup flashlight in case something happens to the primary. Second, some form of personal signal light or small beacon is great help in identifying partners in the dark. Either the inexpensive luminescent stick (one-time use) or a $20 mini beacon/strobe. Before entering the water make a mental note of each person's light/beacon (color and whether continuous or flashing light source). If you have a dedicated partner then agree in advance on a light signal scheme. By luck of chance, I was in a group that had most of the pairs using the same signal color configuration. It was comforting and convenient to be able to identify divers at distance by the color or type of signal light dangling from the back of their tank or hanking from their BC.

Edward

 

[Pacific Taco]

Thanks for sharing that story - we're getting ready for our first night dives soon and reading these kind of 'real-world' accounts are helpful.

 

[Joe-Diver]

The only sane thought that I can gather at this moment is to try and slow down my breathing, start a slow accent to the surface, and don't get myself into a panic mode. I need to share this last point is easier said then done and really had to focus with all my will not to loose it because the result would be a real bad situation....

Probably the most valuable lesson you learned from this: "You can handle it"

Great job controlling yourself....and have fun with your future night dives!

 

[InTheDrink]

John,

I almost went totally off night dives because of feelings like this. Everyone else feeling elated about to begin; me being really anxious. After 4 or 5 night dives, not truly enjoying it. And these were very basic, unchallenging night dives. The last time I was thinking about sitting it out. Have a beer etc. (it was on a liveaboard).

I went down, and for the first time I felt really relaxed. There were sharks hunting, patrolling everywhere. It was amazing. I even lost my buddy (trying to get that shot of a shark). And even that didn't freak me (too much). I could not believe afterwards that the first night dive I felt comfy in was one where I had sharks practically swimming between my legs.

It comes with time. Persevere.

I found also getting my weighting right made a lot of difference. If you're weighted right there's a lot less faffing around putting air in or out of your BC to get your buoyancy right - a problem compounded by lack of visual reference.

Good on you for getting back in!

 

[TSandM]

You are certainly not the only person to have had these feelings!

The first night dives I did were shore dives, where there was no free "descent" per se. The first time I did a true descent at night, it was only in about 15 feet of water, and I got so disoriented it made me sick to my stomach. (That dive ended with getting completely disoriented in midwater on ascent, and having to be escorted to the surface by the instructor who was working with us. I still cringe at the memory.)

Maintaining stability in the absence of any visual reference isn't easy. One thing you can do is focus on the little particles in the water. Almost no water is so clear that it hasn't got any, and in the absence of significant up or down currents, those little particles tend to stay at the same depth. So if they are streaming up past you like crazy, you are sinking fast. There are other cues, like how often you have to clear your ears, and how much your drysuit is squeezing you (if you are diving dry) but the particles are an immediate VISUAL reference. Using an upline (anchor line, buoy or shot) is a very good way to stay oriented, but isn't always possible.

Anyway, especially at night in poor viz, I still end up touching the bottom occasionally before I get stopped. Of course, the dives where I can't see the bottom until I hit it are the ones where I think seriously about getting out of the water and going for dinner somewhere!

 

[bottomfeeder22]

Excellent post John, thanks for sharing with us! Stories like yours can be calming to those of us who've never had a night dive, and informative for those of us who maybe have had a night dive or 2, but haven't yet had those experiences. Welcome to the board!

My scariest experience night diving was self induced purposely, for fun. I was trekking along with the group (the last one, of course), then started thinking about Jaws behind me, mouth open like that shark on Nemo. Next thing I know, I'm whirling around b/c I could FEEL the water vacuum from an impending attack! Had a good little laugh to myself about that one.