What Troubles?

[Jeff=Dive]

Just curious :06:

Being an Eagle Scout... our Motto is "Be Prepared" which goes right along with the old attage "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

Safety seems to be a popular subject on this board, prep/gear/attitude/ect, which beggs my question... What kind of troubles HAVE you run into SOLO DIVING (I.E. no one to pull you out, no one to swim to your aid, no surface support... ect.) And perhaps what you did prior and post of the dive to prevent the occurance.

jP

 

[Nemrod]

Haven't really run into any problems to speak of. The assumption that because your solo there will be problems from which you must extricate yourself is probably false. I cannot recall a time either I have had to have a buddy rescue me. The closest I ever came to drowning was in the Galvezton Tri in 1987 I think it was. The water was rough with rips and swimming out to the turn bouy in the waves crashing over me being kicked by dozens of thrashing competitors I suddenly found myself exhausted, choking on water and graying out, disoriented. Then I remembered that I had swam miles and miles in rougher water and that there was simply no way I could be exhausted and so I just started swimming.

"Being an Eagle Scout... our Motto is "Be Prepared" "

That is a good motto you Eagle Scouts have, mine is don't quit no matter what, don't quit. I am not much into safety anyways, I much prefer danger. N

 

[2TH DIVR]

I did get my manifold hung up going into a wreck once on a window in the pilot house.
It was a tight fit and no matter which way I turned or tried to push down to back up I couldn't.
I dive a custom harness on my b/p with quick release buckles. I popped the buckles pushed forward and then pulled the tanks in and redonned them. It was just too small of an openning that the edge of the widow frame wedged between the top of the tanks and the manifold and the lower sill was against my chest. That hole looked alot bigger going into it.
I exited through the door.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Have you ever seen a gillnet? Have you ever seen one underwater? Right now they are fishing with gillnets here in Puget Sound. They loose the net sometimes.

I did a solo dive one day (years ago) with the family on the boat. Figured I would go down and pick up some crab. We were anchored right outside of Everett in about 20' of water. When I got to the bottom I literally couldn't see my hand in front of my face the viz was so bad. Not being able to find any crab with that kind of viz I came back up the line and once onboard proceeded to pull the anchor. It was all a couple of us could do to get it up to the boat and when it broke the surface of the water we saw the gillnet the anchor had *retrieved*. That day could have ended quite differently had mucked around on the bottom at the end of the anchor line.

 

[Tod]

Hmmm, I wonder if that's what they meant when they talked about diving in unfamiliar waters or in poor conditions when you're solo as being a bad idea?

Seriously, sometimes it's good to have a near miss so you can successfully learn from it. Kind of a "reverse logic," but educational nevertheless.

I have been tangled up in my own float line once. The current moved the float to the other side of me while I was swimming along and didn't notice that the excess line had wraped itself around my pony bottle's k-valve. Since I couldn't see which way it had wrapped, I had slip the BC half-way off and unwrap the line. I was kind of laughing at myself because I was with a buddy (I often dive solo) and out in the middle of wide open water without any obvious hazards except for the one I brought!! Sure enough, I caught myself. My only concern was trying to get free before my buddy saw it, didn't want to lose any style points!

 

[Uncle Pug]

Hmmm, I wonder if that's what they meant when they talked about diving in unfamiliar waters or in poor conditions when you're solo as being a bad idea?

It wasn't unfamiliar waters... and the poor viz is often just a fact of life here. Wayward gillnets come unannounced. Jeff needs to be prepared for them.

 

[SwimJim]

My BC originally had quick release integrated weights. As the velcro wore out after about a hundred dives or so, they became self ditching weights. Fortunatly the last time they did that while I was diving solo was when I was preparing to get back on the boat in about twenty feet of water. I simply free dove down and retrieved the missing pouch. I still use that BC but I use a weight belt with it now. Although I dive solo from time to time, I am pretty picky about the conditions in which I will dive. That and being anal about my gear pretty much keeps me out of trouble.

Jim

 

[Snowbear]

Speaking of gillnets.... here is a story about a macho pararescue diver who was probably glad there was a backup diver ready to assist :11:

He was in the water alone until the backup diver got there, but technically he wasn't "solo" diving :dry:

 

[mjh]

Pug,

Seems "just going to get a couple of crabs" is often sighted in many local diving accidents. Maybe mother nature getting even?

 

[Uncle Pug]

Pug,

Seems "just going to get a couple of crabs" is often sighted in many local diving accidents.

I know. I've noticed that.