Bratface
Contributor
I am a local diver who gets paired up with lots of insta-buddies. Today I had two of them. One had 38 dives and was a confident man in his late 30's. The other was 40 something guy with under a dozen dives. I am a female in very good shape and older than both of them coming up on my 300th dive.
We were diving a wreck in 60 feet of water, viz about 15 to 20 feet and a current. The most inexperienced buddy did ok, a little overweighted and signaled when he as at 1000 psi. I moved us toward the ascent line but we were still too far away when he signaled that he was at 500 psi. It didn't take him long to suck down that air. Our only choice now was to ascend, which we did and observed our safety stop. All three of us ascended together with me hanging onto his BC. He was forgetting all he had learned and I had to place his hand on my BC.
When we got to the surface I had him inflate his BC but he was sure it was leaking, and when he saw that we were away from the boat, panic started setting in. The boat captain saw us and we gave him the big OK. We were going to have to wait for the other divers to get out of the water before they could come for us. I talked to him calmly about what he needed to do. The other diver helped me by supporting him on the other side. I gave him my octo since he was not breathing at all well through his snorkel. It took a long time to get his breathing under control and to get the deer-in-the-headlights look off his face. He admitted he was scared, so I just kept reviewing with him what he needed to do, slow his breathing, keep his mask on his face and reg in his mouth at all times and to try to relax in the water and stop kicking.
When the boat arrived, he wanted to climb the ladder with his fins on. Everyone convinced him he was ok and he got them off and got onto the boat. When I was out of my gear, he gave me the tightest hug. He told me he thought he was going to drown, and the way he was struggling when he first got to the surface made me think he was going to be right if I wasn't able to calm him down quickly.
So it ended well and it was a huge lesson for him. It reminded me of how we always have to be prepared and able to help a buddy out. All three of us dove the next dive together in 25 feet of water where there were plenty of fish for him to look at. I was glad he got back in the water and was able to enjoy the dive.
We were diving a wreck in 60 feet of water, viz about 15 to 20 feet and a current. The most inexperienced buddy did ok, a little overweighted and signaled when he as at 1000 psi. I moved us toward the ascent line but we were still too far away when he signaled that he was at 500 psi. It didn't take him long to suck down that air. Our only choice now was to ascend, which we did and observed our safety stop. All three of us ascended together with me hanging onto his BC. He was forgetting all he had learned and I had to place his hand on my BC.
When we got to the surface I had him inflate his BC but he was sure it was leaking, and when he saw that we were away from the boat, panic started setting in. The boat captain saw us and we gave him the big OK. We were going to have to wait for the other divers to get out of the water before they could come for us. I talked to him calmly about what he needed to do. The other diver helped me by supporting him on the other side. I gave him my octo since he was not breathing at all well through his snorkel. It took a long time to get his breathing under control and to get the deer-in-the-headlights look off his face. He admitted he was scared, so I just kept reviewing with him what he needed to do, slow his breathing, keep his mask on his face and reg in his mouth at all times and to try to relax in the water and stop kicking.
When the boat arrived, he wanted to climb the ladder with his fins on. Everyone convinced him he was ok and he got them off and got onto the boat. When I was out of my gear, he gave me the tightest hug. He told me he thought he was going to drown, and the way he was struggling when he first got to the surface made me think he was going to be right if I wasn't able to calm him down quickly.
So it ended well and it was a huge lesson for him. It reminded me of how we always have to be prepared and able to help a buddy out. All three of us dove the next dive together in 25 feet of water where there were plenty of fish for him to look at. I was glad he got back in the water and was able to enjoy the dive.
