my first saltwater dive--oil rigs

[rachel0]

Hi, I've been lurking around on this thread and have decided to post. I'm excited about my first saltwater dive and upset about something that happened.

I was certified in early August at Twin Lakes. Didn't go below 25 feet.
Yesterday I went on trip organized through my LDS at some rigs about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Galveston. I don't know the names/numbers, I think the first was Apache something.

My first dive, I was a bit freaked out and had to be persuaded to jump. Once I got in, my mask came off and I really started sucking that air. Went to 89 feet. Shortly thereafter, I ran out of air had to go up and actually had to share air partway up. Second time, I did a better job monitoring my air and getting off the boat. But, There were 3-4 foot swells b/c of Ivan and I got pretty banged up trying to get back on the boat. Before my dive buddy could get on the boat, the line broke. Despite the running out of air and my apparent inability deal with getting off the boat, and all my other newbie mistakes (I'm fine once I'm under the waves), I didn't care, I didn't want to stop diving. I'm hooked.

I LOVE DIVING. :07: Saw a school of lings, juvenile squid or was it octopus, juvenile queen angelfish, tons of blennies, some thing that looked like a clam but had tentacles sticking out, several scorpion fish, an eel, dozens of schools of snapper and other "eating" fish, loggerhead turtles, and a beautiful barracuda--oh and saw methane bubbling up from the ground. I can't even name or recall all the other things I saw. I had no idea there was so much vibrantly colored marine life in the Gulf!

I'm trying to get my "land legs" back, I'm still swaying from the boat. Did i mention I"m hooked?

There was one really bad thing. On the way tp our first rig, we stopped to "talk" to a shrimp boat that had many dolphins frolicking around it. Then we saw the boat hauling a dolphin in their net. Then they beat the dolphin. :angry: Is this a common occurence? Is there anything I can do about this?

thanks for reading!

 

[Hawkeye Mark]

Good for you. As you notice conditions in Gulf can change quickly. I'm jealous. I would like to be able to hit an Apache rig as I work for them and have been promising fellow employees(accountants) I would have some below water pictures of the platforms to show at work. But the guys I go with, our destination is not based on who is the platform operator. Should have better chance soon as we are buying all of Anadarko's platforms in the gulf

Hi, I've been lurking around on this thread
and have decided to post. I'm excited about my first saltwater dive and upset about something that happened.

I was certified in early August at Twin Lakes. Didn't go below 25 feet.
Yesterday I went on trip organized through my LDS at some rigs about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Galveston. I don't know the names/numbers, I think the first was Apache something.

My first dive, I was a bit freaked out and had to be persuaded to jump. Once I got in, my mask came off and I really started sucking that air. Went to 89 feet. Shortly thereafter, I ran out of air had to go up and actually had to share air partway up. Second time, I did a better job monitoring my air and getting off the boat. But, There were 3-4 foot swells b/c of Ivan and I got pretty banged up trying to get back on the boat. Before my dive buddy could get on the boat, the line broke. Despite the running out of air and my apparent inability deal with getting off the boat, and all my other newbie mistakes (I'm fine once I'm under the waves), I didn't care, I didn't want to stop diving. I'm hooked.

I LOVE DIVING. :07: Saw a school of lings, juvenile squid or was it octopus, juvenile queen angelfish, tons of blennies, some thing that looked like a clam but had tentacles sticking out, several scorpion fish, an eel, dozens of schools of snapper and other "eating" fish, loggerhead turtles, and a beautiful barracuda--oh and saw methane bubbling up from the ground. I can't even name or recall all the other things I saw. I had no idea there was so much vibrantly colored marine life in the Gulf!

I'm trying to get my "land legs" back, I'm still swaying from the boat. Did i mention I"m hooked?

There was one really bad thing. On the way tp our first rig, we stopped to "talk" to a shrimp boat that had many dolphins frolicking around it. Then we saw the boat hauling a dolphin in their net. Then they beat the dolphin. :angry: Is this a common occurence? Is there anything I can do about this?

thanks for reading!

 

[hermosadive]

I was certified in early August at Twin Lakes. Didn't go below 25 feet.
Yesterday I went on trip organized through my LDS at some rigs about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Galveston. I don't know the names/numbers, I think the first was Apache something.

My first dive, I was a bit freaked out and had to be persuaded to jump. Once I got in, my mask came off and I really started sucking that air. Went to 89 feet. Shortly thereafter, I ran out of air had to go up and actually had to share air partway up. Second time, I did a better job monitoring my air and getting off the boat. But, There were 3-4 foot swells b/c of Ivan and I got pretty banged up trying to get back on the boat. Before my dive buddy could get on the boat, the line broke. Despite the running out of air and my apparent inability deal with getting off the boat, and all my other newbie mistakes (I'm fine once I'm under the waves), I didn't care, I didn't want to stop diving. I'm hooked.

I'm not familar with the oil rigs in your area, but here they are usually considered an advanced dive. Was this your first boat dive since certification? If so, why would you choose a rig for your first dive (or even a 5th)? Did you go to 89' by choice or due to an uncontrollable decend? 60' is the recommended limit for OW recreational diving. It sounds like you got a bit over your head and really didn't follow a dive plan. You really should assess your comfort and skill level and plan your dives around them. You don't need to go deep to have fun. Keep safe.

Roland

 

[bradb21]

Once I got in, my mask came off and I really started sucking that air.

I ran out of air had to go up and actually had to share air partway up.

Nice! Sounds pretty safe.

 

[SCUBAMedicBill]

The bad thing is that I think you might bit off too much on that first dive. A little too rough, a little too deep and a little too soon. The good part is that you faced some real difficult situations, came out of it ok, and weren't scared off.

You should though take it easy on the next dives. Do some shallower dives in some calmer water, maybe shore dives or quarry dives. Get your breathing, bouyancy control, a little evened out. Find your comfort level before taking on any difficult or deep dives.

Your get there, your on the right track. As far as the Dolphins, I've heard of these occurences in the past but never witnessed them. I hope what you saw wasn't the norm.

Bill :happywave

 

[NDH]

Glad you had a great time. I would encourage more training, AOW and my favorite, Rescue diving. Being safe is part of being a good diver.
On the dolphins I would like to know what boats are doing these terrible things. If people would start writting the names of these boats down, I might start a hobby of trying to stop them. By legal means only. Yes I love our oceans and animals. And since I have started diving I've become more of a environmentalist.

 

[rachel0]

Thank you all for your responses. I really do appreciate the advice. I had a good time and can't wait to go diving again so I didn't think the rig dives were abnormal-- I thought was happened was par for the course for a newbie, but your comments seem to indicate it wasn't normal.​

I didn't chose the particular rig or the depth. I chose the rig trip b/c my LDS suggested the rig trip as a good practice in saltwater before my cruise this week. I read on the internet that rig diving can be safe b/c you stay within the legs and you know how deep you are going b/c of the cross beams. Also, the currents around a rig are supposed to be less. So is that wrong and it's actually an advanced dive?​

My buddy was one of the dive masters and he took us (the whole group which was 6 divers and 2 dive masters) down to the bottom which was 89. I was planning to hang out at 40 and see what I could see. When we went further down, I was okay with it. I was actually pretty comfortable under water, it was getting in the water that I had trouble with. This was true at the lakes as well. I don't like the waves coming over me but if I stay below them, in the water, I'm okay. Maybe it's crazy, but I feel safer underwater (as long as I have air).​

Although I've heard at least three different numbers for the max depth for recreational diving--100, 120 and 130--I've never heard 60 feet being the max. The only time I've heard 60 feet was ascent is 60 feet per minute. Am I wrong? Of the 6 of group, for 4 of us it was our first saltwater dive. Was this bad dive for us then?​

The running out of air--that was sheer stupidity on my part being too busy looking around rather than monitoring my air. What happened was, after we were at the bottom for a while, the other dive master and I came up, at 50 feet, to watch some lings and then I noticed that I was running out of air. At 30, we shared air to the safety stop and then surfaced. That did not happen the second dive. Nor did I use as much air the second time b/c I knew I was going to get tossed about going into the water and maintained even breathing (I've been doing yoga for 7 years now, and I think that really helped).​

As far as my mask coming off when I hit the water, what i can do about that? I secured it on my head--I had it on my face and was holding with my hand like they taught us and it came off anyway and that freaked me out. Was I being unsafe there--was there something else I could do?​

Regarding the dolphin incident, I'd be happy to email or private message anyone the boat name if you think you can help. I have emailed various authorities and hope to be getting responses soon.

 

[Satshark]

You are correct on the ascent rate. But 60 ft is max depth for your OW certification, 130 ft is considered absolute max and 100 ft is the recommended max for recreational diving. If the others in your party are OW divers then they should not have gone below 60 ft either. If they are AOW certified, then it was OK for them to go deeper even if this was their first salt water dive. If the DMs knew of your OW certification, I am surprised they let you go that deep. I have heard similar stories from newly minted divers going to Cancun and Cozumel. Your honesty in all of this is very impressive. I wish you many more enjoyable SAFE dives.

 

[Cudabait]

RachelO,

What you witnessed is probably a federal violation and could have been readily reported by the captain of the boat you were diving on. Additionally, the shrimper may very well have been fishing without turtle excluders, a devise on the nets which allows turtles and other large sea creatures to escape, while preserving the shrimp catch. Unfortunate. Glad you overcame your difficlties. Your honesty is refreshing and I'm certain you'll do just fine. Get a little more experience, it'll go a long way.

Regards,

 

[TwoBitTxn]

What Satshark said about depth limits is true, but unlike him, I am not suprised that the DM took you to the bottom even though he knew your cert level.

Encouragements...

Be careful about "trust me dives". This is where the DM says "trust me" and you blindly follow him (her). Not always a good idea. Learn your personal limits and stick to them.

Its hard to know why your mask came off. Did the strap slip off the back of your head? Or did it just come off the front? Good job not panicking when it did.

Glad you had a fun trip.

TwoBit