Today's lesson, courtesy Mother Ocean

[TSandM]

I never did figure out why it wasn't clearing. Either something got trapped under the skirt or the skirt got crimped or whatever.

Mike, thanks for the description of how you clear -- I'll get in the pool today and play with trying to do it with my eyes open and see if that helps.

gcbryan, that was actually one of the take-home lessons from the dive. Bob had described the wall, the depth at the top of it, and the fact that we weren't going to go to the bottom but cruise just under the lip (because that's where the wolf eels are). But I did not get straight in the initial discussion how deep the foot of the wall was, and this incident drove home that I should have known that. I didn't ask the right questions.

 

[gcbryan]

As long as we're talking about masks leaking my experience is that once it does leak I can rarely completely stop it from leaking until the dive is over. Mine doesn't leak that often and if it's a bad leak I can generally fix the situation so that it becomes a much slower leak but it rarely stops for the rest of that dive.

 

[Diver Dennis]

The good thing that comes out of incidents like this is that if it happens again, you have been through it successfully and if it happens again you can lean on your previous experience to get through it again.
I have had a few close calls that I worked through and it does make you more confident in dealing with other problems that might arise.

 

[TSandM]

Dennis, that's really true. I have that kind of mind, which is part of why I like drilling emergency procedures so much. If I have a strategy for dealing with a given scenario, I can be very calm and methodical in implementing it -- It's far more stressful to have to come up with something on the fly.

I'm expecting a friend in a little while -- we are going to do some pool time to work on her buoyancy issues and my mask problems. It's great having a pool in the back yard!

 

[Diver Dennis]

I think you will find that it will help you in any situation where panic starts to creep in too Lynne. It takes a incident like the one you had to recognize that feeling and I find that it is easier to control now that I know I can overcome it and I know what it feels like. I do think panic can be controlled and when you learn to do that you have learned a very valuable lesson. Although a diver might still be breathing hard and certainly be agitated you can stop it before it takes over completely.

 

[TSandM]

I know panic can be controlled. I've had to control it any number of times. Elbow deep in blood, trying to patch together a shattered liver, listening to the anesthesiologist tell me the patient isn't doing well . . . I've had lots of training in grabbing myself by the nape of the neck and shaking myself and saying, "You can NOT lose it now." We used to say that the second year of surgical training was having your panic button pushed so many times that it didn't work any more

I honestly think that those experiences have stood me in good stead in diving. A lot of people never face that much stress in their lives until they get underwater.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Exactly Lynne, sorry I forgot you were a doctor. You have been in the thick of what could be extreme panic situations. You KNOW how to control it. I agree that in handling so many medical scenarios, you are dealing with life and death situations that perhaps only a single digit percentage of people will ever deal with. That can give you the tools not to let panic take over in almost any U/W problem situation.

 

[TSandM]

MikeFerrara, THANK YOU. Your description of how you clear helped me enormously today. Rather than take a big deep breath and try to clear the mask with it, I just kept my breathing completely normal and exhaled through my nose. Took a couple of breaths to clear the mask, and with my eyes open, I could be entertained by watching the water level drop as I did it. NO change in buoyancy!

I must have done fifty mask flood/clear mask remove/replace mask off swim flooded mask swim drills today. Way worthwhile, even if my eyes feel like I've shoveled the gravel from my driveway into them.

 

[DLR06]

My daughter and I are new divers. We were on our 2nd dive trip. We were practicing descending and hovering near a dock line at 30'. I was within 15 feet of her. She overpressurized her bc, it dumped and she could not lift. She panicked :11: at started ascending as fast as she could. Before I could grab her she was past me. She had air, but panicked. She was fine, but scared. Personally it did her some good, because as a 18 year old she did not want to practice our skills and thought she could dive anywhere. Lesson learned.


Thrilled to be diving!!!

 

[fmw625]

I was with my son during his ow cert. I had borrowed a mask from the LDS because he was trying to find a leak around the glass for me. I was sitting on the rail of the underwater platform taking pictures of the exercises. The mask began to fog so I was going to let in a little water to clear it and then purge. I let more water in than i had expected, no problem. I tried to clear the mask and it just would not clear. I got some water up my nose. I wanted to go to the surface so badly that I had to hook one leg under the rail. I finally got the mask cleared and settled down and continued to take pictures. Seems the only one who noticed my delima was the instructor. A mask that is diffrent from your usual mask may have to be cleared diffrently than you are use to. That was my problem. Took just a little time to figure it out.