Scary first deep dive

[Fuzzmutton]

Hi Guys,

I went out for my AOW this last weekend and was doing my first deep dive to 80'. The deepest I had been before that was about 42'. I heard my instructor tell the DM that my buddy and I were pretty much OK on our own and I guess that meant he was going to focus more of his attention on some of the others.

I went descended fine, swam around for awhile, then my buddy motioned firmly that he wanted to go back up. I found out later that he thought we were to go up at 1700 psi but we were told 1500 psi. I followed him to the anchor line anyway. He started up ahead of me and when I looked up I saw another group coming down. I got off the anchor line to let them pass but I had let too much air out of my BCD in preparation for ascending (I wasn't sure exactly how to do it from that depth) and I started to sink, so I started finning thinking I would just start my ascent and get above them and get on the line again. I wasn't going anywhere. In fact, I was exerting myself too much and in retrospect, at that depth, I think I got a little narced at that point. I started to feel panic even though there was nothing wrong. I felt like I had all this water over my head and I wasn't going to make it to the surface. I even felt like my regulator was pulling away from my mouth, so I was biting down on it.

Fortunately, I had read up on all this (Diver Down!, Lessons for Life, etc.) and I knew what was happening to me unpleasant as it was. I made it to the line and worked on relaxing and watching my gauge and my ascent rate. I was able to finally slow my breathing. Whew! I had been panting like a dog. My buddy!! Wait 'til I get my hands around his neck! He was up at the safetly stop looking at me like "what took you so long?"

Any pointers on what I did wrong would be appreciated (be nice people ).

Fuzzmutton

 

[Matteo]

there shouldn't have been a need for you to abandon the ascent/descent line just because others were coming down...plenty of room to work around each other, just going hand over hand...also, take some time to work on buoyancy skills, as it sounds like you may have been overweighted...all of these skills and more will come with time and practice....glad you had a good resolution to the situation

 

[Fuzzmutton]

I had four people coming down as a group, not single file, and they saw me but it did not appear that they were going to make room. They were all pretty much newbies too. Next time I will just horn my way through.

Are you supposed to let out all your air from your BCD at the bottom or just some? Buddy dumped his so I did the same.

 

[EvaL]

I don't think you did anything totally wrong - it's your choice whether to hang on (with one arm stretched out to provide more room for descending divers) and let them pass or let go and make it easier for them. You'll do better with more practice (more deep dives). As you become more experienced, you should feel it or know when you are descending when you are not supposed to (by comparing your position to a spot on the anchor line, looking at your depth gauge or your ears feeling the change in pressure). Your breathing rate should also get better as you get more dives in and you can stay down longer. You did well by watching your ascent rate. Your buddy gets the rap for not staying close to you - he should be within reach in case of any emergency.
As you get more dives in, you'll eventually do deep dives with no ascent line. That's when your skills of maintaining a specific depth come into play. So my recommendation is dive more and if he doesn't stay closer to you in future, dump that buddy of yours. Dive safely.

 

[JohnW]

and I knew what was happening to me unpleasant as it was. I made it to the line and worked on relaxing and watching my gauge and my ascent rate.

The Fact that you had this kind of situational awareness, and that you stayed in control is what kept this as a situation and not a crisis. The ability to stop and think is what seperates poor divers from good and great divers.

Good Job on averting a crisis, as Matteo suggested a little work on skills and weighting helps also.

 

[lamont]

I had four people coming down as a group, not single file, and they saw me but it did not appear that they were going to make room. They were all pretty much newbies too. Next time I will just horn my way through.

Are you supposed to let out all your air from your BCD at the bottom or just some? Buddy dumped his so I did the same.

You should try to stay neutral at all times. That means that you should be dumping constantly on the way up.

Dumping all your gas at the bottom and then finning up means that you'll be reliant on finning up all the way to the surface to maintain depth -- if you cramp, for example, then you will start to sink back down to depth...

Being neutral also will make it easier to deal with getting off the line away from piles of newbie divers on their way down...

It also helps if you can maintain horizontal trim on the upline. This will tend to ensure that you are maintaining neutral buoyancy (often divers kick up to maintain position and are not neutral). When you get a little more advanced, horizontal trim is also useful because you can easily break trim either up or down and kick to change position.

Also, your buddy shouldn't have left you -- and you were probably building up CO2 ("panting like a dog") and should work on controlling your breathing, and yes, you were probably suffering narcosis from the CO2. You should work on taking controlled, deep breaths, with full lung volume and then a complete exhale to expell all the CO2 in your lungs...

 

[Jibeho]

The Fact that you had this kind of situational awareness, and that you stayed in control is what kept this as a situation and not a crisis. The ability to stop and think is what seperates poor divers from good and great divers.

Good Job on averting a crisis, as Matteo suggested a little work on skills and weighting helps also.

Good post! I agree 100%.

 

[ChrisA]

Any pointers on what I did wrong would be appreciated (be nice people ).

First off you should always remain neutral bouyent. had you done that then when you let go of the anchor line you would have remained floating at that same depth going neither up nor down. When ever you change depth using a line out not always be neutral. Make frequent adjustments. In fact you should be able to acend or desend without using a line. Practise this. Watch your depth gage. Controled asents without a line should be effortless. But practice in 30 feet of water first.
You should be venting air and remaining neutral al the way up. One good idea is to remain in horizontal trim as you ascend. When I use a chain to go up I keep a very light grip unless there is a current. To verify that you are neutral cross your ankles so that you can't fin. Sometime divers fin without knowing it. So when pracising cross the ankles and tuck the thumbs in the waistband

In my opinion diving below some shallow depth if your bourncy is no "spot on" is dangerous. You could get into a run away asent. Sometimes when you are deep you loose the up-line and are forced to asend with no line. If you can't do this safely you should not be down there. It is not hard.

As for the turn around pressure. Figure it out yourself and agree with your buddy when you are going to turn.

 

[nadwidny]

Any pointers on what I did wrong would be appreciated (be nice people ).

Fuzzmutton

What did you do wrong? You were holding on to the anchor line. Get off of it.

Practice ascending and descending off the line while maintaining a more or less horizontal position. Good trim and good buoyancy skills will be necessary.

 

[wallacm]

I had four people coming down as a group, not single file, and they saw me but it did not appear that they were going to make room. They were all pretty much newbies too. Next time I will just horn my way through.

Are you supposed to let out all your air from your BCD at the bottom or just some? Buddy dumped his so I did the same.

If I am ascending I stay on the anchor line because I'm the one with the less amount of air in my tank. As for letting air out of your BCD to ascend, I start my ascent and deflate as nesscary. I do little shots of deflate, just as if i was trying to achieve neutral buoyancy on my descent. As someone else has stated, just keep on diving and you'll get it down.