What Should I have done?

[Calmseas]

I am an on again, off again diver with about 30 dives over a course of 25 years. Taken the full certification course twice ( PADI and SSI) and some refresher dives.

Last week in the Caribbean I was doing the second dive of my trip ( did a refresher dive for the first dive) and I was with my son and a guide. My son was doing his second discovery dive as he liked his first one so much. So three of us in the water doing a shore dive swimming out to a reef and swimming back. I was in back, son in front of me and guide leading the way. My son is very comfortable in the water and had no problems all dive. I had no problems other than my mask was ill fitting ( old mask) and it filled with water a little. We were only 40 feet down and I simply kept clearing as I went along the dive.

As we turned to head back to the shore at the midpoint of the dive the guide asked how much air I had and it was about 1800psi. I thought that seemed pretty low for just making the turn but it was warm, fish were everywhere, I was calm and the guide seemed unfazed.

As we were swimming back it got shallower and shallower and we were in about 35 feet and I checked the gauge to find I had about 700psi. We were still a decent ways from shore and I started to think about what I do when I take a breath and no air in the tank. I figured I could simple do an ascent if needed so all was good.


As we swam farther, the depth got to about 15 feet and I got to about 400 psi. We still had about 100 yards or so to swim and I was thinking I would definitely drain the tank. We finally got to the stopping point in about 10 feet of water and I hit the BCD to give it a shot of air and nothing. No bueno. I kicked to the top and inflated my BCD orally. My tank was on zero.

Told the guide I drained the tank and he made a cringe type of face and we then climbed the ladder out of the water. Told him I felt OK as I knew I could always surface if needed, so didn't worry about it too much.

If going by the book, should I have swam up to him when I had 800 or so PSI in the tank and showed him? Should I have surfaced with some air in the tank and surface swimmed back to the get out point?

Thoughts?

 

[Cthippo]

Remember, you can call a dive at any time for any reason.

I probably would gave headed for the surface at 700 psi so as to have a margin to inflate my BCD and deal with anything that happens.

Did you communicate your air status to the DM at any point? Was this discussed in the pre-dive briefing?

The short version is that you need to be responsible for your own dive and your own safety, and that means heading up when you need to.

 

[MidOH]

Next time dont tell the guide.

Seems reasonable to me.

Friend and I, were on a boat with a 750psi rule. He made it back to the ladder with 750. I had over 1250. We checked in, only a few groups back. We proceeded to play around the boat, in the water for a bit.

They gave him a hard time about being under 750psi. So we didn't tip. Some people in diving, are schmucks. Just move on. No big deal.

 

[Calmseas]

No didnt' discuss air pre-dive. The guide asked about air at 1800 psi but not after that. He was about 20 yards in front of me and rarely looked back at me. Was focused on my son the discovery diver.

I felt if it all went sideways, I could simply ascend ( as I was not that deep) so felt I was in control of my safety but curious on other thoughts. If I did it again, I probably would have just broken off at 500psi and gone to the surface and swum back on the surface.

 

[jadairiii]

No didnt' discuss air pre-dive. The guide asked about air at 1800 psi but not after that. He was about 20 yards in front of me and rarely looked back at me. Was focused on my son the discovery diver.

I felt if it all went sideways, I could simply ascend ( as I was not that deep) so felt I was in control of my safety but curious on other thoughts. If I did it again, I probably would have just broken off at 500psi and gone to the surface and swum back on the surface.

I think you are forgetting, your son was with you. Based on your "logic" you were putting your son's safety completely in the hands of the DM.

As you say, if it went "sideways" for you....but you weren't considering if, when you were bordering on sideways, the DM or your son's dive goes sideways? Not to mention, you heading to the surface on an empty tank, now you are no help to anyone and possibly a hindrance.

What to do different, the dive's not just about you, you want everyone to come back. Manage your gas and let the DM or your buddies know you need to turn.

 

[lowwall]

I felt if it all went sideways, I could simply ascend ( as I was not that deep) so felt I was in control of my safety but curious on other thoughts. If I did it again, I probably would have just broken off at 500psi and gone to the surface and swum back on the surface.

That's what you should have done. Actually, you should have been tracking your gas better and notified the DM when you were around 800psi. But even if you failed to do this, you should have ascended and followed along at the surface when you found yourself at 15' and 400psi.

What you need to change is the mindset that you can passively rely on the DM to manage your dive. As a certified diver, you are entirely responsible for tracking your gas, depth and NDL time. The DM is a guide and a resource if you need help with something, not a babysitter.

Now, most of the time a DM will try to track everyone's gas. But when they are leading a DSD that has to take precedence because the DM does have the responsibility to manage all aspects of the discovery student's dive.

 

[scubadada]

So, your son was on a DSD dive, how much air did he finish the dive with? Do you know your gas consumption? Maybe you would benefit from a larger cylinder.

 

[Outbound]

The one thing I'm stuck on is the part where you went to inflate your BCD while in 10' of water. Why? It's not an elevator button to get to the surface. In 10' of water you shouldn't have had any - or very little - air in your BCD. You fin up to ascend and dump air as necessary to remain neutral throughout the water column.

 

[KenE]

I believe there are several items here that could use some improvement. First, your gas plan is your responsibility, not the DM's. He is responsible for your son. So, if your gas plan had a turn pressure at something above 1800psi then you failed yourself on this task. Your gas plan should also have an abort pressure, basically the pressure where you must ascend to your safety stop, perform stop and continue to the surface and surfacing with a minimum pressure defined in your gas plan. These are very basic items of your gas plan and you should always know these pressures.

Next, I am concerned about the statement that you can always ascend if out of gas. This is very dangerous thinking. 15' on compressed air is not the same as 15' in a pool holding your breath. The last 20-30' to the surface are the most critical when it comes to DCS and lung issues. The pressure change is most significant in the last 30'. So, a very calm and very slow ascent from the safety stop is the most critical in my opinion.

@Outbound hit on the other issue I noticed. Your BCD should be empty at your safety stop especially since you are very low on gas. Never ever inflate BCD to go up, most are dumping gas as they ascend, adding gas only compounds the problem. Can I suggest you take a very large inhale and only exhale small bubbles until you start to ascend, then exhale to maintain a slow ascent. As you ascend all those items that have compressed with depth will start to uncompressed and add buoyancy. You may find yourself exhaling to empty lungs to slow down, especially very low on gas. I assume you were overweighted and used the BCD to over come that ballast. Please be sure to check your weighting.

The last item I noticed was your distance from your buddy. 20 yards is too far. If your dive went sideways there is no way you can get to your buddy for assistance. I know clear water makes it harder to stay closer, but it is your life, unless you carry redundant air. I personally would have kept the distance closer and communicated more often.

This is only my observations, not criticism, each of us dive differently, so I am sure there are different opinions.

 

[boulderjohn]

The one thing I'm stuck on is the part where you went to inflate your BCD while in 10' of water. Why? It's not an elevator button to get to the surface. In 10' of water you shouldn't have had any - or very little - air in your BCD. You fin up to ascend and dump air as necessary to remain neutral throughout the water column.

Outbound's comment needs to be emphasized. You should never begin an ascent by adding air to the BCD with the inflator button. You should have been able to make a lazy kick or two and begin a s l o w ascent to the surface. That last 10 feet may be the most dangerous part of the dive because it is when changes in air volume, both in your BCD and especially your lungs are the greatest. If you inflate your BCD and rocket to the surface, even in only 10 feet of water, you can create a lung overexpansion injury, even a fatal one.