Near miss opening night of lobster season

[PerroneFord]

Given the challenges involved (night dive, fin lost, leaky inflator) I would not have waited until I burned 2/3 of my air to begin my ascent. Again, just a personal preference, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

I think this thread also highlights the need for practice of emergency procedures in FULL gear. I know a lot of people like to make fun of the Borg divers for doing air share drills on every dive, and other drills. But scenarios like this really highlight why it's so valuable.

Sadly, it also highlights why some of us are so against weight integrated BCs. A simple pull of a waistbelt would have gotten you buoyant WITH your BC at the surface.

Also it highlights the benefit of an alternate reg work around the neck. No fumblnig for an octo. Very reassuring when the **** is hitting the fan.

Just my thoughts. But again, glad you made it out safely to tell your story.

 

[jagfish]

Thanks for still being around to post this. It's full of great lessonsfor all who read it and I am sure you will benefit from the lessons learned for the rest of your long scuba life.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Glad you are still among us. Now you know why we say that the California spiny lobster is the most dangerous animal in our waters.
A few things I'd like to add as well:
Judging from your profile (I know the feature has been down for a while, but it works now and you can update it if it is incorrect) you have less than 20 dives, yet you were doing a night dive while hunting for lobster (see above.) Is it safe to assume that this was your first opening night? What about your buddy? Had you dived this site in the daytime before and were familiar with it? These are questions you should have asked yourself before you plunked down $100 for the trip.
It also sounds to me like you were over weighted. You may want to recheck your weighting as to not be so negative on the surface with an almost empty tank.
I hope this does not sound too harsh. We were all where you are at one time or another. Dive often, improve your comfort in practice your skills regularly. You have a family that would miss you if this had gone bad.

Take care,
Robb

 

[hilti]

About two years ago I did a dive that was a "lesson learner", I had gotten in early after the ice melted (which is the very best time to dive around here for visibility, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for it in the spring) and at the end of the dive surfaced and began making my way back to the point of entry, I pulled my snorkel out of my mouth and a slight wave hit me in the face as I was inhaling, I choked and inflated my BC some more, but this left me coughing for awhile during which I realized that when I was diving I was a diver, when I'm not I am a land dwelling human (NOT AMPHIBIOUS)~ I decided that the most important time of the dive was the time spent on the surface, because your really not dressed/practiced for that existence. To me there are alot of rules for diving, very few of them pertain to the time from boat/shore to beneath the surface, but I've developed a healthy respect for this part of the dive. I can share your fear to some extent on the surface, I'm glad you're OK~ you live in a beautiful state, safe diving, Jim

 

[mthirsc]

Thanks for sharing your story.

Whenever I add air to my BC on the surface, I do it manually for two reasons: to save a breath of air for the dive (if before dive) and also to practice the technique. After reading your story I guess it's not such a silly idea.

 

[namabiru]

I, too, thank you for posting your experience. I'm sorry you had such a trouble-plagued dive, but I'm also glad that you remained relatively in control of yourself.

One of the other things I noticed too was that your buddy was unable to release your weights. I do know that when you're starting out that's one thing you're drilled on--understand your buddy's equipment, and particularly how to release weights if there is an emergency. This is a message to all of us that we have to think more about emergency procedures, and maybe even spend a bit of time practicing. If I dove with a buddy using integrated weights and she/he needed them ditched quickly, I wouldn't know how to do it, unless I was shown... (because I trained on, and have dived with, a traditional setup).

 

[scubacalifornia]

C.......
I applaude your candor, honesty and introspection. When I heard about this incident through our mutual buddy, I wondered how it would impact you in the longer term. I also asked myself, "is this the kind of guy I want to buddy with (again)". After reading your post, there's no question in my mind the answer is "yes". I have no doubt you've found treasure in what was otherwise a frightening experience and are a wiser diver for it.

Kevin G.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Wow, I had missed this thread till now. Glad you're still here. I always try to go through these and do a what would I have done and this made me realize a few things. I just realized that I have never dropped the weights from my Zeagle Brigade. I honestly can't even say for sure that the pull will work. I will definetely try out my pull handle for my weight dumps and make sure it works as well as in the future practice some oral inflation of the BC. Thanks for your post.

 

[Otter]

.... The only real problem this caused was that you eventually had to disconnect the supply. That, in and of itself is not a problem as all divers used to have to orally inflate their BCDs. ....

One thing that was missed was that it was an integrated Air2-DUO. So when he disconnected the LP hose, he basically was down to a single second stage to breathe from and now forced into a situation of having to buddy breathe should his BUDDY need air....neither he nor his buddy were trained to buddy breathe. I believe this is one of the reasons that he was more emphatic about the need to abort the dive once the leak became uncorrectable.

 

[Finatik]

neither he nor his buddy were trained to buddy breathe. I believe this is one of the reasons that he was more emphatic about the need to abort the dive once the leak became uncorrectable.

No I aborted the dive because I was at 1000 and that's where I had told myself I was going to abort the dive.

One of the things that my trainer did point out that disconnecting my air hose now left my buddy without and alternate air sorce if his was to malfunction. The way things seem to compound (Murphy loves a Night Lobster diver) this isn't out of the relm of possiblities.