RePoRT:diving a Cayman Brac/Little

[caymaniac]

Trip from: March 28 to April 7 - 2007

Our trip left the cold in Mich. to sunny warm Tampa. We were picked up by another member of Scuba Board. We were treated to a trip to the Sponge Docks and then we went to Scully's for dinner. A little walk through the shops and on to David and Colleens home for an overnight. We spent a morning of the next day rumaging through some of David's photos and enlargements of their previous trips to exotic places, such as Papau New Guinea and others. When your host has the same interests as you do, it is enjoyable to share your diving stories.
On to Grand Cayman, we had some wait for the next flight to the Brac so we stopped at SunSet House for a snack and a drink. Off the runway five hours latter we arrived at the Brac near 10pm.
We stayed at the Caribe Sands. We spent the first day organizing, stopped at the Brac Reef to sign in for our dive pkg. How come these days are going by really fast???
On to the diving!
The first day was windy and rough, the reef line had 10 footers with 3 to 4 ft. chop at the dive site. "Charlies Reef". We had a diver that was new, not only green at diving but became green with the rock and roll. He started vomitting so we headed back so we could put him ashore then head out for our second dive at "End of Island". We wanted more so we dove a third dive at "End of Island".
Day 2, we went to the dive site Atlantis. Remember the new diver? He jumped in first and headed for the bottom, meanwhile I started my dive and was about 20 feet down, the sand was at 55ft. As my buddies were also just starting the dive, the new diver became sick at the bottom and panicked, he shot like a rocket to the surface. On board the dive boat he began vomitting again but now there was blood. The divemasters thought it could be an air embolism so they sounded the panick button, we had been previously briefed that we were to ascend to the dive bouy if we heard the emergency siren. There were 9 of us in the water, the Dm's started the boat to begin emergency procedure, contacted DAN, ect. We (the 9 left behind) had a tag line along and had to hang on to the line and wait for a pick when it would be available. It was crap in the 3 ft. chop, we dropped our weight belts and waited for an hour before we were then picked up by another boat. Fortunately the diver ended up okay although he spent the night in the hospital. We had to skip the next dive because of the emergency.
Day 3, the ocean calmed down. Each day the air temp was inbetween 80 - 90, the water was 81F. The dive was "West Chute", then "Buccaneer", then "StingRay Tower". "Sting Ray Tower" was my favorite dive on the Brac this trip.
Day 4, off to Little Cayman, Bloody Bay Wall at "Great Wall East", then to "Blacktip BLVD" , then "SGT. Major", the Little Cayman sites are always awesome.
Day 5, off to a deep dive at "School House Wall", then to "Snapper Reef" then "the Preachers Barge"
Day 6, we went to "East Chute" and, "Atlantis"
Day 7 we kicked back and went exploring on the Brac, there are plenty of caves to see, the Bluff to explore and the south east side has deposits of caymanite that can be found along the rugged shore.
Most every night we enjoyed the sun going down over Little Cayman.
Restaurants visited = Aunt Shaw's, LaEsperanza, the deli at Tibbbets markt., and the Brac Reef buffet.
Day 8, pack up head for home. The plane took us from the Brac to Little Cayman to Grand Cayman, to Tampa, to Detroit, to Grand Rapids. There we deplaned to about 3 inches of snow, I had to scrape the windshield :shakehead ! I think I need to go somewhere soon!
I'll post some pictures when I get my film developed....yes you heard me FILM, I'm still using Velvia.

 

[cdiver2]

Trip from: March 28 to April 7 - 2007

Our trip left the cold in Mich. to sunny warm Tampa. We were picked up by another member of Scuba Board. We were treated to a trip to the Sponge Docks and then we went to Scully's for dinner. A little walk through the shops and on to David and Colleens home for an overnight. We spent a morning of the next day rumaging through some of David's photos and enlargements of their previous trips to exotic places, such as Papau New Guinea and others. When your host has the same interests as you do, it is enjoyable to share your diving stories.
On to Grand Cayman, we had some wait for the next flight to the Brac so we stopped at SunSet House for a snack and a drink. Off the runway five hours latter we arrived at the Brac near 10pm.
We stayed at the Caribe Sands. We spent the first day organizing, stopped at the Brac Reef to sign in for our dive pkg. How come these days are going by really fast???
On to the diving!
The first day was windy and rough, the reef line had 10 footers with 3 to 4 ft. chop at the dive site. "Charlies Reef". We had a diver that was new, not only green at diving but became green with the rock and roll. He started vomitting so we headed back so we could put him ashore then head out for our second dive at "End of Island". We wanted more so we dove a third dive at "End of Island".
Day 2, we went to the dive site Atlantis. Remember the new diver? He jumped in first and headed for the bottom, meanwhile I started my dive and was about 20 feet down, the sand was at 55ft. As my buddies were also just starting the dive, the new diver became sick at the bottom and panicked, he shot like a rocket to the surface. On board the dive boat he began vomitting again but now there was blood. The divemasters thought it could be an air embolism so they sounded the panick button, we had been previously briefed that we were to ascend to the dive bouy if we heard the emergency siren. There were 9 of us in the water, the Dm's started the boat to begin emergency procedure, contacted DAN, ect. We (the 9 left behind) had a tag line along and had to hang on to the line and wait for a pick when it would be available. It was crap in the 3 ft. chop, we dropped our weight belts and waited for an hour before we were then picked up by another boat. Fortunately the diver ended up okay although he spent the night in the hospital. We had to skip the next dive because of the emergency.
Day 3, the ocean calmed down. Each day the air temp was inbetween 80 - 90, the water was 81F. The dive was "West Chute", then "Buccaneer", then "StingRay Tower". "Sting Ray Tower" was my favorite dive on the Brac this trip.
Day 4, off to Little Cayman, Bloody Bay Wall at "Great Wall East", then to "Blacktip BLVD" , then "SGT. Major", the Little Cayman sites are always awesome.
Day 5, off to a deep dive at "School House Wall", then to "Snapper Reef" then "the Preachers Barge"
Day 6, we went to "East Chute" and, "Atlantis"
Day 7 we kicked back and went exploring on the Brac, there are plenty of caves to see, the Bluff to explore and the south east side has deposits of caymanite that can be found along the rugged shore.
Most every night we enjoyed the sun going down over Little Cayman.
Restaurants visited = Aunt Shaw's, LaEsperanza, the deli at Tibbbets markt., and the Brac Reef buffet.
Day 8, pack up head for home. The plane took us from the Brac to Little Cayman to Grand Cayman, to Tampa, to Detroit, to Grand Rapids. There we deplaned to about 3 inches of snow, I had to scrape the windshield :shakehead ! I think I need to go somewhere soon!
I'll post some pictures when I get my film developed....yes you heard me FILM, I'm still using Velvia.

You never told me about the newb diver. Did he have an experienced buddy? the report makes it sound as though he was diving solo but I doubt it?.
Glad everything eventually calmed down for you (sea conditions and diver).
That Velvia you just got ta love it, looking forward to seeing the photos.

 

[caymaniac]

The new diver was with a group from New York. The new divers inexperience and panick took presidence over his dive training, I don't think anyone could have stopped him from surfacing as quickly as he did. He was very fortunate that he was not bent or embolized (is that a word?). I'm not sure who his direct buddy was as most of his group were together all week in a group (7?) dive, it may have been his 14? year old daughter (also a new diver) and if that was the case then certainly there would be no stopping him.

 

[cdiver2]

The new diver was with a group from New York. The new divers inexperience and panick took presidence over his dive training, I don't think anyone could have stopped him from surfacing as quickly as he did. He was very fortunate that he was not bent or embolized (is that a word?). I'm not sure who his direct buddy was as most of his group were together all week in a group (7?) dive, it may have been his 14? year old daughter (also a new diver) and if that was the case then certainly there would be no stopping him.

Was he lucky. I think that may be a couple of divers the sport has lost.
If only they would buddy with someone with a bit of experiance....at least until they get there feet wet. No pun intended

 

[AggieDiver]

I had a similar experience during a dive in 6-8 footers off Ambergris Caye in Belize. The only thing that stopped me from trying to make it to the surface before I puked was the recent rescue diver training I had had where the instructor discussed how to deal with a puking diver underwater. He emphasized that you CAN puke underwater if you stay calm and pay attention to what you are doing. I stayed calm and my lovely wife got to hang on to me to help me maintain my buoyancy while I fed the fish 3 times on that dive. I really think that topic is one that should come up in basic open water, as it is a very real danger, especially for new divers.

 

[cdiver2]

I had a similar experience during a dive in 6-8 footers off Ambergris Caye in Belize. The only thing that stopped me from trying to make it to the surface before I puked was the recent rescue diver training I had had where the instructor discussed how to deal with a puking diver underwater. He emphasized that you CAN puke underwater if you stay calm and pay attention to what you are doing. I stayed calm and my lovely wife got to hang on to me to help me maintain my buoyancy while I fed the fish 3 times on that dive. I really think that topic is one that should come up in basic open water, as it is a very real danger, especially for new divers.

I am supprised it do's not come up (no pun intended ) in training.

 

[caymaniac]

I was never trained or heard talk about being sick with a regulator in your mouth when I was certified. I have heard that you can puke in your regulator and you can still breath through it. After all the dives I've done, I just can't imagine someone shooting to the surface from 60ft., whether your sick or not sick.

 

[AggieDiver]

I was trained NOT to try to puke through the regulator. Not to be too graphic about it, but if you get a chunk stuck in the regulator while puking and then try to inhale without clearing the regulator, you could suck the chunk into your windpipe and then suffocate. Instead, what I was trained to do (and it worked quite well) was to hang the regulator in one corner of your mouth and then just as you feel the end of a puke episode coming, push the purge button as you put the reg back into your mouth. What that does is allow the puke to go out of your mouth without going through the reg, and also allows the purging reg to clear any chunks before you try to inhale from it. The immediate urge when you puke is just as you finish puking to take a great deep breath. So you need to have the reg right at the corner of your mouth ready to go so that you don't suck in water...but the risk of getting chunks caught in the reg and fouling the diaphragm or clogging your windpipe is very real, so puking through it is less than ideal if you can avoid it.

 

[fergusonjlf]

I asked about it during my open water training. I've never had to use that training (thank goodness), but my son did on our last trip.

A very disagreeable topic, but one that should be covered in open water training. A bit of discomfort talking about it, is better than a life lost.


JoAn