A couple weeks ago, I was on a live-aboard dive boat suffering for the greater good in the Bahammas. I was on Dive 5 and noticed my BC inflator valve had a slow leak in it. I disconnected it before I had any real horrible issues like rapid ascent. I checked with the DM to see if she thought it was fixable and she said nope. No rentals were available either.
The good news: The BC would stay inflated once inflated as needed.
Would you:
a) call the other dives, equipment is broken
b) leave it connected and hope for the best
c) disconnect it and inflate orally or connect when needed
d) ___________
I chose c. After practicing the connect disconnect many times, with gloves and eyes closed and felt comfortable with it I told the DM and with her consent jumped in the water. No problems with it the rest of the trip and Friday it will be serviced.
Note Learning Lesson, after reflecting on this, I should have noticed it at dive 3 because my BC inflated fully before I got in the water. They sit on a rack secured and hooked up the whole time. I had assumed it was the sun warming the black jacket, but in hindsight that assumption was wrong.
The good news: The BC would stay inflated once inflated as needed.
Would you:
a) call the other dives, equipment is broken
b) leave it connected and hope for the best
c) disconnect it and inflate orally or connect when needed
d) ___________
I chose c. After practicing the connect disconnect many times, with gloves and eyes closed and felt comfortable with it I told the DM and with her consent jumped in the water. No problems with it the rest of the trip and Friday it will be serviced.
Note Learning Lesson, after reflecting on this, I should have noticed it at dive 3 because my BC inflated fully before I got in the water. They sit on a rack secured and hooked up the whole time. I had assumed it was the sun warming the black jacket, but in hindsight that assumption was wrong.