My first uncontrolled ascent! didn't even know I was moving?

[Ladyvalea]

Ok, it was only from 30ft.. I'm at a scuba park, standing on a sunken plane, so I try to fix this swivel snap on my BC, I'm lookin chin down at my right shoulder, tryin to unsnap this swivel and before I knew it!! "I'm at the top of the surface" I didn't even notice that I was moving, floatin...I thought I was still standing on top of the plane!!
HUH??? I swear I was negative on the plane so how did I end up at the surface with no clue?
Dang! I need more work!

Oh, again later I was doing a safe ascent with my gekko computer in front of my face! I'm so ingross on the numbers that I forget to deflate my hose and the computer starts beeping and beeping! and then I take a second to think? why is this computer beepin and it finallly I relize I'm goin up to fast! but its to late!!! I see Blue Sky!!

I guess I can't "chew gum and swim at the same time"

 

[Bratface]

How much air do you have in your BC when you're diving? Even from 30 feet you can get in trouble. Practice girl, don't have an accident. Thanks for sharing.

 

[almitywife]

a few weeks ago i noticed that as i was tasking with something underwater my breaths became more frequent (possibly bigger breathes also) and before i knew it i too was heading upwards also..... quickly dumped gear, stopped what i was doing to focus, relaxed and restarted. i wasnt stressed by what i was doing but it def changed my breath patterns to create an effect

thanks for sharing and hope you continue learning

cheers

 

[k ellis]

Well its all about the getting used to diving. I have done that before myself. I have found that my best buoyancy comes from running about 2 pounds heavy. If I go by the standards then I always end up on the surface.

In time you will get it though its just that since your so focused on one thing your tunnel visioned.

Hang in there and if I can help at all feel free to ask.

Happy diving!

 

[spectrum]

You may in fact have made yourself negative while standing but then you began to fuss with the snap. As you did you pumped up your lungs and became slightly positive. That quietly began your ascent while you were distracted. Your neoprene then began expanding along with any remaining air in your BC and voila, a runaway ascent.

You really need to pay attention to where you are at all times.

Same deal on the ascent while you were watching the computer. Practice, practice, practice. Venting should be second nature. You will eventually sense when you are tending to be positive. Many divers can detect an ascent by the sensation of their ears venting.

Stay in safe locations until this comes naturally.

Pete

 

[StreetDoctor]

Don't make an equipment change to bandaid a skills problem, there's no reason you should need to carry extra weight. More training and more diving. Why were you standing on the plane in the first place? How many dives do you have out of your open water course? What is the training level of your dive buddy? Sounds like you need to get with someone with some more experience.

 

[ianr33]

As you get more experienced you will develop a "sixth sense" for when you are changing depth (you just become aware of pressure changes on your ears)

The difficult thing is to recognize early that you are going up.Exhale soon enough and you will go down. Wait too long and its a lost cause as you rocket to the surface.

 

[tstormdiver]

Yes, with time, you'll be able to feel when pressure changes as you ascend/ descend. I have only had 1 uncontrolled ascent so far. It happened when I was slowly ascending from a fairly deep dive (about 100ft) going up an old haul road from the bottom of the quarry to the shallow part. I typically dive my drysuit with the exhaust valve set to automatically dump when the pressure inside the suit reaches a certain limit. On this particular dive, the valve must have moved to closed position while trying to get into my harness. As I came up, I became aware that I was getting light. I dumped the air from my wings, but continued to ascend (I was in doubles & am typically very negative). I was able to grab a hold of a horizontal tube used for overhead training. As I held on, my feet began to float up. Still not realizing that it is my suit that's the problem & not wanting to do a feet first ascent, I let go & flared out like an upside down sky diver, as per my training & exhaled all the way to the surface (about 25ft). As I got to the surface, it became obvious that my suit was the problem (though I still didn't know why at that moment) as I became the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. I checked the inflater valve,... that was fine. I then checked the exhaust valve & psssssssst, the expanded air escaped. I then went back down & performed my safety stop. At that time I had about 130- 150 dives in a drysuit, but never had the valve become closed before. Now that I know, that's the first thing I check when I have problems with getting a little to positively buoyant. An important lesson learned, but my training proved useful.

 

[Ben_ca]

You really need to pay attention to where you are at all times.

I agree...

Having your gauges on your wrist and your wrists in front of you body will help you keep you eye on your depth...

It's just like how having the speedometer right in front of you helps you keep you from speeding.... Uhmmm yeah

 

[don Francisco]

It happens to everyone the first time they get highly focused on a problem.

It's truly amazing how much energy thinking requires. Simply concentrating raises demand for more oxygen, making you breathe more, and increasing your bouyancy by a few pounds, and starting you floating upwards.

From a depth of only 30 feet it doesn't take lots of time to reach the surface, especially since you're at the most dynamic depth range, where every foot up makes you yet more bouyant accelerating the ascent.

Next time before concentrating on something, a problem, photo, etc, anticipate the increased breathing rate, & vent your BC to become slightly negative first.