Navigation error in a cave

[Hiszpan]

3 of us went diving in a cave. Only 1 of us has been there before (numerous times) and that was not me. We were all on OC.

What went wrong:

1) I was the 3rd diver. At the first T, I took the wrong turn and went on a different line than my two buddies ahead of me.
2) I have followed the wrong line until it finished with a blind jump to another line. I saw my buddies' lights at the far end of the blind jump line and, knowing they are far ahead and being mad thinking they were on my line and did a blind jump and are not waiting for me, I decided to blind jump on it to catch them up without losing precious time.
3) The blind jump line finished with another blind jump to get to the mainline where my buddies recently were seen and where they left canceling arrows (as there was another exit closer to that point than the entrance we came from).

Contributing factors:

1) I took my new video lights and 2 cameras: GoPro on a helmet and DJI on my hand to film. This was supposed to be an easy recon dive after many years of not being in that cave.
2) We built a lot of distance between us as the 2nd diver and myself took oxy tanks to drop them off on the mainline just after the entrance, at 6m, just in case we need them for deco. Took me long enough for diver number 2 to pedal ahead following diver 1 who was not leaving the oxy tank.
3) At the T my buddies did not wait for me to confirm the exit direction before proceeding (as I was taught). I only saw their lights flashing for a second when I got to the T and being preoccupied with a camera on my hand I took the line which I thought best represents the direction they followed.
4) On previous dives it happened that the buddies went much ahead of me and did not wait. This time they lost me for a good few minutes and did not realize I am not behind them until I caught up with them.
5) On previous dives diver number 1 who is the most experienced of all in terms of dives and diving caves here sometimes suggested the plan to do a blind jump on small gaps that we previously traveled to on a dive. I objected each time and we never did it, but this made me believe he was capable of doing a blind jump on this dive and I was convinced I am on the same line they have just traveled (until we surfaced and debriefed - a lot of arguing happened then.)
6) I hit my head of the stalactite before the dive when carrying tanks to the cave opening. I took nothing of it but my head hurt for a few days after the dive which means I must have affected my thinking at the dive without me realizing it (too much excitement of going cave diving!)

Lessons:

1) Do not take camera/video lights on your first time in a new cave, no matter how benign the dive is planned.
2) Do not ever suggest doing blind jumps to your buddies as it might make them think you actually did it and confuse them.
3) Do wait at the T's for other buddies behind you to confirm exit direction - this will make sure they turn to the correct line.
4) Do check behind at your buddies and wait if you lost their lights. Do a lost diver drill when you realize you lost a buddy.
5) Do not dive with buddies who do not adhere to points 2,3 and 4?
6) Training is for a reason.

The good thing about having had cameras is that I have recorded the whole thing. I am also attaching a map that I drew for better reference of the videos.

Helmet camera from before the oxygen tank to getting back to the mainline.

Hand camera of turning onto the wrong line at the T

Blind jumping on the blind jump line with buddies' lights flashing in the distance.

 

[Miyaru]

Did you discuss the planned route up front?
If you do, you could stack cookies and arrows on your pigtail in the needed order. Just an extra check to see if you are diving the planned route.

Anyway, team communication can be improved in this case.
Sounds like there was no agreement on staging tanks.
Nobody double checked if you had staged the correct tank.
Anything beyond 6m depth.....well, you get the picture.

 

[rjack321]

These buddies are an accident waiting to happen. I would not dive with people who fail to 1) discuss the dive plan ahead of time - which way were you planning on turning at the T! 2) confirm navigation and put down personal markers at each navigation decision together.

I don't often say this, but if you keep diving with these people and not following established navigational training guidelines - you are going to die. It's only a matter of when.

Thank you for sharing, hope you find some better buddies and can get back to cave diving in a safer way

 

[tbone1004]

Contributing factors:

1) I took my new video lights and 2 cameras: GoPro on a helmet and DJI on my hand to film. This was supposed to be an easy recon dive after many years of not being in that cave.
2) We built a lot of distance between us as the 2nd diver and myself took oxy tanks to drop them off on the mainline just after the entrance, at 6m, just in case we need them for deco. Took me long enough for diver number 2 to pedal ahead following diver 1 who was not leaving the oxy tank.
3) At the T my buddies did not wait for me to confirm the exit direction before proceeding (as I was taught). I only saw their lights flashing for a second when I got to the T and being preoccupied with a camera on my hand I took the line which I thought best represents the direction they followed.
4) On previous dives it happened that the buddies went much ahead of me and did not wait. This time they lost me for a good few minutes and did not realize I am not behind them until I caught up with them.
5) On previous dives diver number 1 who is the most experienced of all in terms of dives and diving caves here sometimes suggested the plan to do a blind jump on small gaps that we previously traveled to on a dive. I objected each time and we never did it, but this made me believe he was capable of doing a blind jump on this dive and I was convinced I am on the same line they have just traveled (until we surfaced and debriefed - a lot of arguing happened then.)


Lessons:

1) Do not take camera/video lights on your first time in a new cave, no matter how benign the dive is planned.
2) Do not ever suggest doing blind jumps to your buddies as it might make them think you actually did it and confuse them.
3) Do wait at the T's for other buddies behind you to confirm exit direction - this will make sure they turn to the correct line.
4) Do check behind at your buddies and wait if you lost their lights. Do a lost diver drill when you realize you lost a buddy.
5) Do not dive with buddies who do not adhere to points 2,3 and 4?
6) Training is for a reason.

first off, glad you are back and it was only a near miss and the swiss cheese did not let the light through!

I trimmed you original post and have a couple comments.

I do not believe the discussion of blind jumps was a contributing factor nor would it be something that I would exclude a dive buddy for. Personal choice though.
That said, the two big problems that I see are as follows
1. Team positioning. If you were supposed to be filming, you should have been in the middle in the team because you were going to be highly distracted by the cave. Sure you probably shouldn't be filming on your first dive in a cave, but sometimes it is unavoidable and in that case you should be setting yourself up for the most amount of safety which is to have someone behind you at all times.
2. Team awareness. It is painfully obvious that your buddies do not believe in team style of diving or the first one would have waited until you dropped your bottles and then the two of them would have waited at the navigational decision. It's painfully obvious that this near miss was largely a breakdown in the team working properly together and that is where I would point the discussion with your buddies.

 

[Manatee Diver]

2. Team awareness. It is painfully obvious that your buddies do not believe in team style of diving or the first one would have waited until you dropped your bottles and then the two of them would have waited at the navigational decision. It's painfully obvious that this near miss was largely a breakdown in the team working properly together and that is where I would point the discussion with your buddies.

That is what I read out of this.

The leader is responsible for keeping the team together, and instead of waiting at the bottle drop and confirming that the team was together he rushed forward. And did the same at the T.

 

[huwporter]

Thanks for posting - no roast intended here; we can all learn.

Up to the point where you did the blind jump, I'd say the cause of the situation lies 90% with your "buddies" for rushing ahead without you, and 10% with you for rushing to try and keep up and distracting yourself with the camera.

At the point where you did the blind jump, personally I'd say you start to gain more share of the cause as you, yourself, do not now have a continuous line to your exit, so in your haste you have now come to the point of you, yourself, breaking a cardinal rule. Your safety is far more important than trying to catch up to people that don't care whether you are there or not, and other people talking reckless risks (even apparently) is no reason for you to do the same. This is normalisation of deviance at work.

Your lessons are good but I'll echo what everyone else has said, you need a different team. Leaving you behind on multiple occasions - not even realising you weren't there - including at navigational decisions; these guys are not actually your buddies: you may have been trying to dive with them but they certainly weren't diving with you. Lesson 0) should have been; don't dive with these people.

 

[lermontov]

After having a had a scary dive recently ive come to the conclusion its the 'easy' dives that catch us out. The ones that we've done 20 times before or that we are not focussed enough because we've got familiar with the route or maybe we've developed bad habits of normalisation and its just a matter of time or luck.

On a bad day this could have been in another forum. @huwporter is too kind -the responsibility lies with us, you and your buddies made cumulative errors that could have resulted in a far worse outcome. It seems you werent diving as a team, just a bunch of experienced guys soloing together each assuming the other is able to look after themselves.

 

[cerich]

Lessons:

1) Do not take camera/video lights on your first time in a new cave, no matter how benign the dive is planned.
2) Do not ever suggest doing blind jumps to your buddies as it might make them think you actually did it and confuse them. Just don't do "blind" jumps, use a line and mark it with a non directional marker.
3) Do wait at the T's for other buddies behind you to confirm exit direction - this will make sure they turn to the correct line. USE non directional markers
4) Do check behind at your buddies and wait if you lost their lights. Do a lost diver drill when you realize you lost a buddy. Ya Think?
5) Do not dive with buddies who do not adhere to points 2,3 and 4? No kidding
6) Training is for a reason. YES

The good thing about having had cameras is that I have recorded the whole thing. I am also attaching a map that I drew for better reference of the videos.

Glad it ended ok, It could have been horrible. Find better buddies, assert yourself more

 

[hedonist222]

Does "blind jump" mean what I think it means ?

Leaving, a known line, and guessing there may be another one....

* shudders *

 

[tbone1004]

Does "blind jump" mean what I think it means ?

Leaving, a known line, and guessing there may be another one....

* shudders *

not quite. It means when you make a jump from one line to another without connecting the two lines. It's not blind when you make it, but it may well be blind if the cave gets silted out when you're coming out.