Stupid new diver incident

[DaveDog]

I was diving in mine pit and had buddied up with another much more experienced diver who I had not met before. The dive went well and we were working our way back to the point of entry/exit in 30 feet of water when she signaled that she was going up. I didn't know this at the time, but she just wanted to see exactly where we were and thought I would just wait for her to come back down. So I slowly followed her up. I surfaced behind her and dropped my regulator and went to spin around to talk to her and she was gone. I as I did this I went under and was not ready and breathed in a huge amount of water. I did not have reg in hand so I did the arm sweep and recovered it luckily on the first try, coughed out the water. This involved no thought training took over. This stupid incident could have turned out much worse. After I got done coughing I went back down and she was right there coming back to look for me. Whole thing took about a minute. Never told her or anyone about it til now. I was too embarrassed. What I learned is you keep the reg in your mouth until you have all your s**t wired tight. Positive buoyancy established and floating comfortably on the surface and always breath cautiously. Just basic OW training material affirmed.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Gott'a learn it in practice, right? Congrats to you on your quick recognition and response to your situation.

Also, wait until you do that in a 3' sea. We get the regs in their mouths as soon as the Divemaster says, "Air check." and we do not want them taken out until they are back on the boat (you never know if they'll slip and fall back in the water).

One thing, you said that you, "...dropped my regulator and went to spin around to talk to her..." Being able to communicete in water with your buddy in non-verbal ways is so important; of course made so much the harder as you were, in this case, diving with a new buddy. Pre-dive planning... so important.

 

[bisonduquebec]

My buddies are still laughing at me when I climb on the boat, keeping my reg in mouth until I am completely in the boat and settle down. I get the usual "you know that you are out of the water right?" etc. But of course they all know Why I do it. If ever you fall back in the water, fall over the boat (waves...) or any other reasons, at least, breathing is not one of the problems you will be facing.

You experienced a very valuable lesson learned. Good for you.

 

[Diver0001]

I was diving in mine pit and had buddied up with another much more experienced diver who I had not met before. The dive went well and we were working our way back to the point of entry/exit in 30 feet of water when she signaled that she was going up. I didn't know this at the time, but she just wanted to see exactly where we were and thought I would just wait for her to come back down. So I slowly followed her up. I surfaced behind her and dropped my regulator and went to spin around to talk to her and she was gone. I as I did this I went under and was not ready and breathed in a huge amount of water. I did not have reg in hand so I did the arm sweep and recovered it luckily on the first try, coughed out the water. This involved no thought training took over. This stupid incident could have turned out much worse. After I got done coughing I went back down and she was right there coming back to look for me. Whole thing took about a minute. Never told her or anyone about it til now. I was too embarrassed. What I learned is you keep the reg in your mouth until you have all your s**t wired tight. Positive buoyancy established and floating comfortably on the surface and always breath cautiously. Just basic OW training material affirmed.

Consider this an initiation! I don't think there's a diver alive who hasn't swallowed a mouthful of seawater or had something like you had at one time or another. You handled it and were in control. That's what matters.

R..

 

[scuba1634]

Good thing is that you learned from your mistake. Always be a safe diver. Never take your regulator out of your mouth until you get back on the boat. I am happy you when right into recovery mode. Don't beat yourself up. You learn from your mistakes to be a better diver. Never take your regulator out of your mouth. You should see what happens when your in 3 - 5 ft seas. Not so much fun. There isn't a diver out there that hasn't made a mistake. Just jump right back in. You'll be a better diver and buddy.

 

[H2Andy]

well, you're not used yet to thinking FIRST of your regulator in this new
environemnt

it will become part of your muscle memory... first, make sure that reg is in
your mouth... check

you have to swallow a bit of water before you learn (if you're at all like me)



i wouldn't call your mistake stupid... it's part of learning how to operate
in watery places

 

[Web Monkey]

That's like the "helpful" boat crews who always want me to hand them my fins. The fins stay in my wrists and the reg stays in my mouth until my ***** hits the seat.

I thought the practice was really stupid until one day a wave knocked me off a boat ladder, and I realized I was still breathing and had my fins. .

Nice feeling.

Terry

My buddies are still laughing at me when I climb on the boat, keeping my reg in mouth until I am completely in the boat and settle down. I get the usual "you know that you are out of the water right?" etc. But of course they all know Why I do it. If ever you fall back in the water, fall over the boat (waves...) or any other reasons, at least, breathing is not one of the problems you will be facing.

You experienced a very valuable lesson learned. Good for you.

 

[Web Monkey]

have turned out much worse. After I got done coughing I went back down and she was right there coming back to look for me. Whole thing took about a minute. Never told her or anyone about it til now. I was too embarrassed. What I learned is you keep the reg in your mouth until you have all your s**t wired tight. Positive buoyancy established and floating comfortably on the surface and always breath cautiously. Just basic OW training material affirmed.

Congratulations! That's one more thing you'll never do again!

Pretty much everybody does this stuff at one time or another, so don't feel too bad.

Other classics are:

• Descending with a snorkel instead of a reg
• Descending with the drysuit zipper open
• Descending with the air off or not fully on (this one is more dangerous, which is why the pre-dive check includes breathing off both regs, inflating your BC and watching your SPG for a pressure drop)

Terry

 

[H2Andy]

[*]Descending with the drysuit zipper open

one of the advantages of being a warm water wus (such as myself)
is that you NEVER descend with your drysuit zipper open

(yank it again, dude! yank it... is it closed? yank it! are you sure it's closed??)

 

[vox]

Note to self!

Thanks for the post.