@Marie13 posted earlier in “Cautionary tale for new divers” about a friend who is very early in his diving career, does not have experience to support good judgment, and appears to be an accident waiting to happen.
He’s not an accident waiting to happen. He was an accident that happened on Sunday and I rescued him.
I’m volunteering the details here for open discussion so that I can learn and improve for the next time that something like this happens.
Background
1. These dives took place on the wreck of the S.S. Wisconsin. She sits at roughly 110’ (~33m) to the top of the hull and 130’ (~40m) to the sand.
Edited to add: bottom temps on the wreck were 40-44°/5-6°C. There was one thermocline around 45 feet/14m.
2. We used a simple gas plan: monitor depth, air consumption, and NDL frequently; be back at the line and start ascent with at least three minutes of NDL and no less than 1000 psi (~70 bar) remaining in the tank.
3. After the dive, I learned that Buddy has only 25 dives and finished AOW earlier this week. He had a 40 cu. ft. (~6L) pony bottle with him. He does not have any rescue training.
Edited to add: neither of us had been to this wreck before. I have around 20 dives below 100' (~30m), a handful of which have been to 130'/30m. baed on our lack of familiarity, we didn't have a very set "itinerary" for our bottom time.
First Dive
4. Our first dive was uneventful. We descended to 115’ (~35m), swam a reciprocal course down the length of the hull (204’ long, ~62m), and returned to the line within our gas and time plan. Our ascent went well.
5. We had a one-hour surface interval.
Second Dive
6. We started with ten minutes of NDL time. On this dive, we stayed close to the ascent line on the bow. I made a very brief excursion to 132’ (~41m) to look at an object in the sand. I believe that Buddy was around 120’ (~37m) while I did this.
Edited to add: after my excursion, we formed up in a pair within a few feet of eah other. We then started returning to the line.
7. We were within ten feet of the ascent line with three minutes of NDL when I heard something, turned around, and saw that Buddy's primary reg was free-flowing (I think it was still in his mouth when I first saw him – I know he took it out at some point, but it might have been right before my next step.)
8. I immediately pulled my octo and attempted to give it to him. It felt like forever to get him to accept it. I’m not sure if he was too freaked out or narc’ed and didn’t follow what to do with it. Remember that pony bottle I mentioned? I never saw him reach for it, reach for the reg, etc. It was dead weight.
Edited to add: I had a very small amount of trouble getting him to cooperate for me to reach his valve and turn off his tank.
9. Once we had a good air source in his mouth and his tank off, we signaled OK and immediately started our ascent. I wasn’t sure how much of our remaining NDL we used up and I wanted to (a) avoid incurring a deco obligations and (b) get to a depth where our air would last longer. I believe I had 1200-1500 psi (~80-100 bar) in the tank at the start of our ascent.
10. Edited to add: I checked my computer and we had not entered deco at the start of the ascent. We ascended almost within kissing distance (36"/1m octo hose) for about 100’ to reach our safety stop.
11. I watched my SPG for the first 20 feet or so to get a sense of how much air we were using. Our consumption didn’t seem wild to me, so we ascended at 30fpm (~10mpm) to our safety stop.
12. During the ascent, I made eye contact several times and we signaled OK back and forth regularly. I showed him my SPG a few times so that he could see how much of our air supply remained.
13. When we hit the safety stop, I deployed his pony reg and handed it to him so that he could give me back my octo. The transfer between air sources went smoothly and we held the stop without further incident.
14. We conducted a short debriefing on the boat. I had managed to get his tank turned off with only 330 psi (~22 bar) left!
Edited to add: I had roughly 500 psi (~35 bar) remaining in my tank at the end of the dive.
15. I assumed that the freeflow was a mechanical failure (although he may have been breathing and inflating at the same time). At the time, I didn’t really think about the failure to deploy the pony as a skill issue, but I’m changing my mind on that.
As I mentioned, I learned after the dive that Buddy has relatively little diving experience and very little advanced diving experience. He has minimal training in self-rescue techniques (which I did not see him use), nor any other Rescue training.
I didn’t uncover this during the pre-dive briefing. Tactical error! All of my instabuddies going forward will have to sit through a much more thorough discussion and preparation. (However, I’m not sure how much of this would have affected the freeflow, other than changing the dive plan.)
I’m happy to answer more questions and take feedback and suggestions. My general feeling is that the rescue went well (we both arrived alive, un-bent, and with air in both tanks), but next time can always go better.
He’s not an accident waiting to happen. He was an accident that happened on Sunday and I rescued him.
I’m volunteering the details here for open discussion so that I can learn and improve for the next time that something like this happens.
Background
1. These dives took place on the wreck of the S.S. Wisconsin. She sits at roughly 110’ (~33m) to the top of the hull and 130’ (~40m) to the sand.
Edited to add: bottom temps on the wreck were 40-44°/5-6°C. There was one thermocline around 45 feet/14m.
2. We used a simple gas plan: monitor depth, air consumption, and NDL frequently; be back at the line and start ascent with at least three minutes of NDL and no less than 1000 psi (~70 bar) remaining in the tank.
3. After the dive, I learned that Buddy has only 25 dives and finished AOW earlier this week. He had a 40 cu. ft. (~6L) pony bottle with him. He does not have any rescue training.
Edited to add: neither of us had been to this wreck before. I have around 20 dives below 100' (~30m), a handful of which have been to 130'/30m. baed on our lack of familiarity, we didn't have a very set "itinerary" for our bottom time.
First Dive
4. Our first dive was uneventful. We descended to 115’ (~35m), swam a reciprocal course down the length of the hull (204’ long, ~62m), and returned to the line within our gas and time plan. Our ascent went well.
5. We had a one-hour surface interval.
Second Dive
6. We started with ten minutes of NDL time. On this dive, we stayed close to the ascent line on the bow. I made a very brief excursion to 132’ (~41m) to look at an object in the sand. I believe that Buddy was around 120’ (~37m) while I did this.
Edited to add: after my excursion, we formed up in a pair within a few feet of eah other. We then started returning to the line.
7. We were within ten feet of the ascent line with three minutes of NDL when I heard something, turned around, and saw that Buddy's primary reg was free-flowing (I think it was still in his mouth when I first saw him – I know he took it out at some point, but it might have been right before my next step.)
8. I immediately pulled my octo and attempted to give it to him. It felt like forever to get him to accept it. I’m not sure if he was too freaked out or narc’ed and didn’t follow what to do with it. Remember that pony bottle I mentioned? I never saw him reach for it, reach for the reg, etc. It was dead weight.
Edited to add: I had a very small amount of trouble getting him to cooperate for me to reach his valve and turn off his tank.
9. Once we had a good air source in his mouth and his tank off, we signaled OK and immediately started our ascent. I wasn’t sure how much of our remaining NDL we used up and I wanted to (a) avoid incurring a deco obligations and (b) get to a depth where our air would last longer. I believe I had 1200-1500 psi (~80-100 bar) in the tank at the start of our ascent.
10. Edited to add: I checked my computer and we had not entered deco at the start of the ascent. We ascended almost within kissing distance (36"/1m octo hose) for about 100’ to reach our safety stop.
11. I watched my SPG for the first 20 feet or so to get a sense of how much air we were using. Our consumption didn’t seem wild to me, so we ascended at 30fpm (~10mpm) to our safety stop.
12. During the ascent, I made eye contact several times and we signaled OK back and forth regularly. I showed him my SPG a few times so that he could see how much of our air supply remained.
13. When we hit the safety stop, I deployed his pony reg and handed it to him so that he could give me back my octo. The transfer between air sources went smoothly and we held the stop without further incident.
14. We conducted a short debriefing on the boat. I had managed to get his tank turned off with only 330 psi (~22 bar) left!
Edited to add: I had roughly 500 psi (~35 bar) remaining in my tank at the end of the dive.
15. I assumed that the freeflow was a mechanical failure (although he may have been breathing and inflating at the same time). At the time, I didn’t really think about the failure to deploy the pony as a skill issue, but I’m changing my mind on that.
As I mentioned, I learned after the dive that Buddy has relatively little diving experience and very little advanced diving experience. He has minimal training in self-rescue techniques (which I did not see him use), nor any other Rescue training.
I didn’t uncover this during the pre-dive briefing. Tactical error! All of my instabuddies going forward will have to sit through a much more thorough discussion and preparation. (However, I’m not sure how much of this would have affected the freeflow, other than changing the dive plan.)
I’m happy to answer more questions and take feedback and suggestions. My general feeling is that the rescue went well (we both arrived alive, un-bent, and with air in both tanks), but next time can always go better.
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