Odd event at depth

[Tortuga68]

as I prepare to shoot the bag, Peter signals again, "expedited exit"

What is your signal for expedited exit?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

What is your signal for expedited exit?

Point your index finger toward the exit with your thumb extended surfaceward ... it means, basically, "we need to end the dive, but a direct ascent isn't necessary" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Cave Diver]

Point your index finger toward the exit with your thumb extended surfaceward ... it means, basically, "we need to end the dive, but a direct ascent isn't necessary" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

"Dive is over and we're going THAT way..."

 

[Qnape]

Thanks for the moral support, everybody. But I was trained by people with very high standards, and I can certainly hear their debrief! We got through a simple problem reasonably smoothly, but there are definitely lessons for me to take home, and hopefully, the next problem (which I pray is a LONG time away) will be handled more adeptly.

If anything, this taught me that you can run all the drills you want, but nothing burns stuff into your nervous system like executing under stress.

For what it is worth, there are those of us out there who are trying to learn from these forums how experienced divers handle REAL situations to prepare themselves for the inevitable problems they will face themselves. To paraphrase a famous quote I am too lazy to search for and properly credit, "no plan of battle survives contact with the enemy". The most rigorous training I have received so far in my short time diving has been NACD Cavern, which certainly opened my eyes and if nothing else hinted at how much I still don't know. For one thing, it taught me the value of accident analysis, the method by which many of the rules of cavern and cave diving were developed. I can only hope that my training translates to action under stress as well as yours did; my dive buddy (16 yr old daughter) and I drill but I still worry that in a real emergency my fears and concerns for my buddy will replace my training. I hope that when the day comes I will retain and react as much within my training as you did, despite any Monday morning second analyses that may be running through your mind or in these posts. For example, I think it may be too much to ask under the present scenario for Peter to have chosen someone other than Lynn when asking for air on the basis of where each tank was filled (since Lynn's was filled at the same time, in the same place). After all, as I have learned here there can be enormous variations in fill quality tank to tank from the same compressor on the same day. Sure. that would have been better but in the real world it would take enormous presence of mind and detachment from stress to make that connection at a time when you need to find replacement gas, fast. Perhaps too much to ask for under the circumstances.

Thank you for sharing this experience with us; please know that there is great value in sharing your incident to many of us. I can only hope my buddy and I can react as well under similar circumstances.

TS&M; my "handle" has a common source with yours, I think. You reference the Borg unless I am badly mistaken; mine refers to Q, also from Next Generation, after whom I named our devious yellow nape parrot. Thanks again for sharing!

 

[Peter Guy]

I do want to correct one bit of information -- our tanks were filled at the same shop but some time apart -- not that that I had even considered the issue. What I wanted to breathe off someone else's reg to see if I could detect a difference.

In retrospect I wish I had breathed off my backup to see if it was the gas or the second stage (assuming it wasn't just me!). Anyone know if narcosis can effect taste?

 

[TSandM]

Well, the user name is from our horse breeding operation, but the avatar and user title are definitely Borg-related. When I discovered DIR diving, I became a rather vocal partisan, and got christened the Borg Queen as a result

 

[Soakedlontra]

Peter and Lynne,

I am glad to read that everything turned out to be OK!

There is a lot good info here that Sam should read too. I am forwarding this thread to him right now.

 

[Thalassamania]

"No plan of battle survives contact with the enemy." is often credited to von Clausewitz, but it was actually von Moltke who said: "No campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy."

Back on topic: we had a problem at the Aquarius Dive Shop in Monterey many years ago. We filled over thirty tanks and three of them were clearly bad. It turned out that the air intake, which was on top of the building near the corner had sucked in diesel fumes during the short time that a delivery truck was parked there idling.

 

[sambolino44]

Glad to hear it turned out OK. I'll be interested to see the results of the testing.

I called a dive several months ago, not because of a taste, but I could smell the air when I exhaled through my nose to clear my mask. It was a strange, plastic smell I'd never encountered before, but have been able to detect it, although much weaker, in scuba tanks since. I never found out what it was, and have been given answers ranging from, "You should never detect any smell at all in your air." to "A slight smell is common and harmless."

I'll be looking closely to see how much that new Analox CO analyzer will cost.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think that you all handled the situation pretty much flawlessly.

It is funny, I NEVER do air share drills with my normal buddies, so if one gave me the sign, I would not even consider "why is he doing a drill NOW??", I would be 100% thinking that this is a true emergency and respond accordingly in an immediate fashion . Not that it is bad to train for this stuff...

The only part of the story that I didn't like was an apparent "need" to use and deploy the SMB for an openwater, nightime ascent. I know that if I were in that situation, I would not like a guy sucking off my tank, doing an ascent in the dark, zero fixed reference and not knowing what the problem is. However, I honestly don't think I would even be considering the possiblity of screwing around with an SMB in an emergency unless I felt that there was imminent danger from boat traffic (or something similar) that made the smb essential. Can't imagine it would do much good as protection at night anyway.

Basically, I wouldn't be out there night diving, if I was not confident I could make a safe and controlled openwater, night time ascent with zero fixed references from whatever depth that we planned.

In a true emergency, I would want to be on the surface in the fastest and cleanest manner possible (without the potential complexity and entanglement hazards a SMB brings to the table). At the very least, I would want to get up to 15 feet and then consider deployment (especially if deco were involved).

I know that this does not apply in this case because you two decided to swim up the slope. This would DEFINITELY woud been my choice as well, just as long as the "victim" was suggesting that means of egress.

One last thought... This is another reason why I like the redundancy of pony bottles (full of air). If the main tank tastes funny, I am on the pony bottle and probably on my way UP with very little extraneous activity.