We had tied up to the Eagle wreck buoy down in the Keys. Another boat had pulled up and we allowed them to tie off to the stern of our boat. They only planned on making 1 dive, and our boat was diving 2 groups of 3 so we knew we would be there long after they were gone.
Our first 3 went into the water, and I watched as the guys on the boat behind us geared up. We had deployed a tag line because of a brisk current and we told them they could use it to pull themselves down to the buoy. I didn't think much of it until I saw 2 of them enter the water on the opposite side of the boat from the line. They were using scooters and since I had never really seen one of these, I watched as they scooted over to the buoy and disappeared.
Thought it was sort of strange when the third guy on their boat jumped in and started towards us. NO ONE was left on their boat! The next thing you know, he has tangled his scooter in the tag line. He gets to the bow of their boat, and is holding onto the winch bracket trying to untangle the scooter. First thing he does is spit his reg out, and over the next minute or so, he first untangles, retangles, untangles again that scooter. He is swallowing water because he spit out the reg, and finally he decides to put it back in his mouth except now he is having a hard time holding onto the boat, hold onto his scooter, sweep for his lost reg, breath air and not water. You get the picture? All this time the boat is pitching up and down, and he is getting beat up the whole time.
My friend on our boat comments that his gear looks a little funny, and thats when I notice that his tank is completely out of its strap. No wonder he is having a hard time finding his reg. You know how frustrating it is when you can see someone trying to do a task, and they just cant manage it? Splash, in I went. Swam over to the guy, and now I realize that he is definitely in trouble.
I can see he is tired, coughing from all the inhaled water, no control over his gear. I grabbed his tank and told him to just drift back to the back of the boat, and I would help him get back in. Of course, we get to the back of the boat, and the boat has no really easy access for divers and no line deployed to grab onto in the current. I scrambled in though, and got him to hand me the stuff up. When he finally got onboard, we looked over his gear and the tank strap was setup incorrectly. The tank never really was secure in it, and thank goodness he just decided to abort the dive (although it took a minute of convincing him that staying on the surface was better than going under to look for his buddies).
I guess MY lessons learned (and hopefully his):
NEVER EVER leave the boat unattended. Hey, we could have been pirates! Wouldn't that have been a sea story if they made it home.
So much for his buddy team, they hit that buoy and straight to the bottom. Never even came back wondering why he hadn't joined them. Everyone should go down at the same time!
I had never even considered that the tag line would have been an issue for those guys...and obviously neither had he. Scooters and entanglement hazards should not be in the same area.
Under the bow of a pitching boat, and in a current is probably not the best place to rest and try to recover your wits.
Keep the reg in your mouth. Its "guaranteed" air. I couldn't believe he spit it out after he got it back in his mouth.
Ask for help if you need it. I actually think I waited TOO long to help out. All it would have taken was one breathe of water at the wrong time, and we would have had MAJOR problems.
Know your gear. He talked like he was not too familiar with the equipment he was using although it all looked k3wl. Nitrox, scooters...
Abort the dive when you are losing control. That guy was out of control about 15 seconds after he parked under the bow. Two hands, 4 tasks (hold onto the boat, the scooter, untangle, and find your regulator) means you have lost control. STAR is good, but do it in a safer place than under the boats bow waiting to get smacked on the head
Hopefully he learned something, I know I did.
Our first 3 went into the water, and I watched as the guys on the boat behind us geared up. We had deployed a tag line because of a brisk current and we told them they could use it to pull themselves down to the buoy. I didn't think much of it until I saw 2 of them enter the water on the opposite side of the boat from the line. They were using scooters and since I had never really seen one of these, I watched as they scooted over to the buoy and disappeared.
Thought it was sort of strange when the third guy on their boat jumped in and started towards us. NO ONE was left on their boat! The next thing you know, he has tangled his scooter in the tag line. He gets to the bow of their boat, and is holding onto the winch bracket trying to untangle the scooter. First thing he does is spit his reg out, and over the next minute or so, he first untangles, retangles, untangles again that scooter. He is swallowing water because he spit out the reg, and finally he decides to put it back in his mouth except now he is having a hard time holding onto the boat, hold onto his scooter, sweep for his lost reg, breath air and not water. You get the picture? All this time the boat is pitching up and down, and he is getting beat up the whole time.
My friend on our boat comments that his gear looks a little funny, and thats when I notice that his tank is completely out of its strap. No wonder he is having a hard time finding his reg. You know how frustrating it is when you can see someone trying to do a task, and they just cant manage it? Splash, in I went. Swam over to the guy, and now I realize that he is definitely in trouble.
I can see he is tired, coughing from all the inhaled water, no control over his gear. I grabbed his tank and told him to just drift back to the back of the boat, and I would help him get back in. Of course, we get to the back of the boat, and the boat has no really easy access for divers and no line deployed to grab onto in the current. I scrambled in though, and got him to hand me the stuff up. When he finally got onboard, we looked over his gear and the tank strap was setup incorrectly. The tank never really was secure in it, and thank goodness he just decided to abort the dive (although it took a minute of convincing him that staying on the surface was better than going under to look for his buddies).
I guess MY lessons learned (and hopefully his):
NEVER EVER leave the boat unattended. Hey, we could have been pirates! Wouldn't that have been a sea story if they made it home.
So much for his buddy team, they hit that buoy and straight to the bottom. Never even came back wondering why he hadn't joined them. Everyone should go down at the same time!
I had never even considered that the tag line would have been an issue for those guys...and obviously neither had he. Scooters and entanglement hazards should not be in the same area.
Under the bow of a pitching boat, and in a current is probably not the best place to rest and try to recover your wits.
Keep the reg in your mouth. Its "guaranteed" air. I couldn't believe he spit it out after he got it back in his mouth.
Ask for help if you need it. I actually think I waited TOO long to help out. All it would have taken was one breathe of water at the wrong time, and we would have had MAJOR problems.
Know your gear. He talked like he was not too familiar with the equipment he was using although it all looked k3wl. Nitrox, scooters...
Abort the dive when you are losing control. That guy was out of control about 15 seconds after he parked under the bow. Two hands, 4 tasks (hold onto the boat, the scooter, untangle, and find your regulator) means you have lost control. STAR is good, but do it in a safer place than under the boats bow waiting to get smacked on the head
Hopefully he learned something, I know I did.
