Near Panic in WPB @ 85FSW

[mania]

OTH
I know at least one fatal accident (it was few years ago in SoCal) of a guy who died becasue...he lost his expensive torch and dived back for it.

So despite the price I will rather let the lost equipment go..

Good in your case it was a happy end.

Mania

 

[HowardE]

I did have to let go of something. It wasn't that I had to make a decision... It was that I was so stressed out that I couldn't make a decision. That is what happens on the verge of Panic I guess. The decision was obvious - to let go of the flag. I did have an SMB so that wasn't an issue.

The point is that when panic begins to set in actually stopping to think is what's important.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Really, this is all about training, isn't it????

 

[45yrold_newbie]

Really, this is all about training, isn't it????

How could you train for this incident. Is there a spearfishing cert offered by any of the agencies? I think it would be more about keeping your composure and like the OP said "Stop, Think, Act".
Very useful information anyway. Its posts like these that are helpful for those of us (me at least) to read and then fall back on in the same or simalar situations.

Glad you made out O.K. and were able to keep the gun!

 

[daniel f aleman]

Not that HowardE needs it, but to answer the question:

NAUI Underwater Hunter and Collector

If spearfishing or collecting underwater specimens interests you, the Underwater Hunter and Collector course may be just right for you. You'll learn about skin diving techniques, hazards and cautions, safety concerns, spear-fishing and collection equipment, and specific techniques on how to hunt and collect responsibly, while minimizing the diving risks of such activities.

Your instructor will also teach you about conservation, fishing laws and regulations, sportsmanship, utilizing your catch, selecting specimens, preservation, shell collecting, aquaria, and hunting and collecting dive locations.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Wow that must have been scary! Did it turn your hair white?

WPB is where I do most of my diving and we deal with strong currents often.
Were you using a large red float ball? If so, I bet you will now consider using 2 or 3 bullet shaped floats which are much, much better with respect to drag.

Did you have enough line (scope) to stretch at least 2.5 times the depth? If the float line is too short it will kick your butt.

Did you get a pair of real freedive fins, yet? They can really help when you need to power out of a situation?

Choosing to drop the float line is undesirable, not because it will be lost.. the boat driver will probably eventually pull it in, but because once you drop the float, you are now "lost" and the boat driver really doesn't know where you are. Dropping the float is not that big of a deal if you are sure that the boat driver will know what to do when the float ball begins to float gently along and then you surface 1/4 mile away (or more).

This is something that you needed to mentally review before it happens. It is not that uncommon that we lose our float ball, sometimes the line will break on a wreck, sometimes the hook will pop off the reef and fly away, sometimes you drop the hook and when the current is much faster on the top then bottom, you will never catch it. It might even happen that you hook into a wreck and move down-current and then you can not make it back up-current to the float and must surface far downcurrent of the float (of cource this is bad dive planning, but stuff happens). Sometimes the floats even gets sucked completely underwater when the hook is attached to the bottom (which can be really confusing to the boat driver).

In your situation, I might have tried to hook the reef hook (and reel) to the trigger of the gun and then pulled hand-over-hand down the gun line to the shaft, but even this would make it very tough to free the shaft when there is that much tension on the float line.

We spearfish in strong currents and there is one very simple solution to all the problems associated with a float line.. Make someone else pull it.

 

[HowardE]

Hey DumpsterDiver... Thanks for the analysis... I'll respond below

Wow that must have been scary! Did it turn your hair white?

YES! :laughing:

WPB is where I do most of my diving and we deal with strong currents often.
Were you using a large red float ball? If so, I bet you will now consider using 2 or 3 bullet shaped floats which are much, much better with respect to drag.

We were on a charter, and used their float.

Did you have enough line (scope) to stretch at least 2.5 times the depth? If the float line is too short it will kick your butt.

Only about 100' on the line. So yes it kicked my butt.

Did you get a pair of real freedive fins, yet? They can really help when you need to power out of a situation?

No

Choosing to drop the float line is undesirable, not because it will be lost.. the boat driver will probably eventually pull it in, but because once you drop the float, you are now "lost" and the boat driver really doesn't know where you are. Dropping the float is not that big of a deal if you are sure that the boat driver will know what to do when the float ball begins to float gently along and then you surface 1/4 mile away (or more).

Actually the boat captain wasn't uncomfortable at all with my choice. Like I said, I shot my SMB, and he picked us up. I immideately informed him that I dropped the flag. He had no problem with that.

In your situation, I might have tried to hook the reef hook (and reel) to the trigger of the gun and then pulled hand-over-hand down the gun line to the shaft, but even this would make it very tough to free the shaft when there is that much tension on the float line.

I would have hooked off... if I could get back to the bottom... It was just too strong that day. Even the DM on the boat commented that it was unusually strong.

We spearfish in strong currents and there is one very simple solution to all the problems associated with a float line.. Make someone else pull it.

That would have been my preference. But nobody else wanted to carry it

 

[Web Monkey]

and my only thought was to get my almost $800 Daryl Wong speargun safely back to the surface. I could feel the onset of panic and my breathing was seriously increased at this point. (also according to my computer) My breathing rate went from .4 CFM to well over 2.5 (the limit on the scale). After trying to calm down and think rationally, which was SO HARD TO DO; it finally clicked in my head... LET GO OF THE FLAG!

DUH!

. . .

FWIW, I would have dropped the gun and kept the flag and the other divers.

You can always buy another gun, and it might even be covered by insurance, but if the float takes off down-current with the boat happily following it, while you're trying to get your spear unstuck, and a bunch of other people are drifting on by, things could have turned out a lot worse than just losing a speargun.

At the very least, I think the captain would just about have a heart-attack after following the float for who knows how many miles, only to find that there are no divers under it.

Terry

 

[dumpsterDiver]

FWIW, I would have dropped the gun and kept the flag and the other divers.

You can always buy another gun, and it might even be covered by insurance, but if the float takes off down-current with the boat happily following it, while you're trying to get your spear unstuck, and a bunch of other people are drifting on by, things could have turned out a lot worse than just losing a speargun.

At the very least, I think the captain would just about have a heart-attack after following the float for who knows how many miles, only to find that there are no divers under it.

Terry

No, a decent capt. is not going to follow a lost float for miles. He will quickly recognize that the float is suspiciously "calm" and after a couple minutes of seeing no bubbles around, will carefully approach and pull the float in. It has happened dozens and dozens of times for me. Neve ditch your WONG (although if you do, give me the numbers) that thing is beautiful!

The boat will find you sooner or later, if you have a decent smb! I wrote up a little report of the last time I was floating north in that area a while ago.


http://scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=183072&highlight=planktonic

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

Hey DumpsterDiver... Thanks for the analysis... I'll respond below


YES! :laughing:


We were on a charter, and used their float.


Only about 100' on the line. So yes it kicked my butt.


No


Actually the boat captain wasn't uncomfortable at all with my choice. Like I said, I shot my SMB, and he picked us up. I immideately informed him that I dropped the flag. He had no problem with that.



I would have hooked off... if I could get back to the bottom... It was just too strong that day. Even the DM on the boat commented that it was unusually strong.



That would have been my preference. But nobody else wanted to carry it

Why didn't you go with the DM in the water who would have carried the flag, was it because you were hunting?