What things in diving give you the willies?

[Leftyjeb]

It's true, that I haven't been so sanguine about that sort of thing since.

Had to look it up...
san·guine
ˈsaNGgwin/
adjective
adjective: sanguine
1.
optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.

Thanks! You learn something every day.

 

[j2s]

Cave-ins while cave diving.....Had a small one several years back, was able to dig/push it out of the way....Never thought about it until it happened, now it's always in the back of my mind !!!

 

[Scubawankenobi]

No particular occasion other than a few seconds of adrenalin rush and the ensuing sphincter pucker.

This happened when I did not immediately recognize the path in front of me after a sharp turn, 800 feet in a cave.

The Empress of Ireland, I have not been there but was told of the spirit of a teenage victim haunting it.

The encounter of witch was possibly brought on by a dark narc, who knows...

The ocean liner sank two years before the Titanic and more than a thousand lives were lost. It went down in 14 minutes, in ice cold waters.

It lies in 140 feet in the St-Lawrence estuary, dark cold waters, strong currents and a gloomy environment make it a challenging dive.

A few years ago two divers lost their way and died a horrible death inside the hull. They were found in a cabin, the place bore traces of fighting, probably caused by panicked divers running out of air and fighting for the last remaining puffs. They could see outside trough a porthole.

A dark aura surrounds the place.

Few corrections: The Empress sank about two years AFTER Titanic. Just over a thousand people died. Technically more civilian deaths than on Titanic, however the history of the sinking was most likely forgotten due to: 1. less "famous" people dying/on-board as on Titanic (or drama of maiden voyage) 2. Outbreak of WW I eclipsing the tragedy.
I'm planning on diving Empress. My family crossed on her and the history of the wreck intrigues me.
I believe ~6 divers have died in/around diving that wreck.

---------- Post added July 7th, 2014 at 09:35 PM ----------

I've had a couple of "willies" moments over the years.

1. caves and big sharks
Diving in Australia found some caves where some really large wobbegong (7'+, confirmed by swimming/crawling beside it & measuring head-to-fins) sleep at night.
So night diving those caves, there were squeezy spots where you can't go up/down and just crawl along beside these big fish and hope you don't agitate them.
One dive had agitated a big one and was trying to squeeze-crawl away from it when turned my head and light to see another massive head just inches away from my face. hehe...got the blood pumping. So - dark+cave+tight quarters with big sharks, gave me willies...or perhaps just adrenaline rush.

2. night dives and free descents + hanging on surface
When I first started diving, night diving after a long surface swim (cold water off California) where you can't see kelp/bottom/etc and dropping into the black was a bit creepy. Just hanging out on the surface in the dark without something to focus on was an odd feeling. That and knowing we were in sea lion infested waters (Monterey, part of the "red triangle") made me think about hanging on the surface when the "big fish" could be out hunting.

3. big surf / low air
Had a couple of big surf situations after long dives/swims, getting bit low on air and worrying about needing a reg if/when getting tumbled. Get the willies when I'm worried I might need to switch to snorkel quickly (have had to do that dropping off some rocks after failing to hold on to a ledge getting out) & worried tank might be dry.
Had a similar one back in late 1980s where was real low on air, after swimming under a ceiling of jellies off of Monastery (aka "Mortuary") Beach in Monterey, and my weight belt had spun around on me (release was behind/under tank) and worried while getting tumbled that next breath might not come.
[ Note: being more conservative/careful now...avoid more dangerous situations... ]

All in all, I've found that most things that gave me the willies when I was a young/new diver, have gone away with experience and familiarity.

A funny story comes to mind, after reading others comments about large wall drop-offs. We used to dive/teach in Lake Tahoe, California. There's a wall there (up to 1500ft dropp-off, the Rubicon Wall). I'd go out there with divers, cruising along the rocks, say we're in 50-60ft+ and then you come up to the ledge and see the deep dark abyss below. I swim out over it ... and on several occasions have had divers just STOP and not want to swim out, like they were gonna "fall off". I've also spat my reg out laughing one time when a diver not only stopped but grabbed hold of a boulder to hang on & peek over the ledge.

So at this stage...no real consistent "willies" experiences - other than diving with an insta-buddy and not knowing what they're gonna do/be like.

 

[Belmont]

Thank you for the ONE correction, you must be a lot of fun at parties. :blinking:

 

[Scubawankenobi]

Well, more than ONE correction: date & # of lives lost.
Should've said "couple" instead of "few" I 'spose.

Parties - yes, big-time socializer!

In the future I'll make sure & not offer any corrections if I see any inaccuracy in your posts. Don't want to step on toes here.
Personally, I like it when I learn something new/was mistaken about - like to acquire knowledge & appreciate propogating accuracy.

FYI... Empress is a wreck I'm very interested in due to the family history.
If anyone's keen on some history of diving (and re-discovery of the wreck) - "Dark Descent" is a good starting read.

The topic of "Willies" might apply well to some of the dive stories contained in that book about diving the Empress, including discovering small boneyard and (saddening) artifacts of the lost.

BTW - Have you happened to have dived the Empress?
I'm really keen on finding people who might be interested in diving her with me. Thinking of starting a thread/invite to dive her. I've not been doing a lot of deco diving lately, but pulled out my pony's and am gonna start some practice runs off local wall dives and simulate depth/duration. If I had more deeper wrecks on my bucket list, I'd be tempted to finally get a rebreather.

 

[DeputyDan]

boat props and boat ladders...