I thought I'd pass this one along for speculation.
I have a regular buddy that I met a couple of years ago. Let's call him Bob. Bob and I have made a whole gob of dives together (a couple of hundred or thereabouts) including some pretty interesting ones and until a couple of weeks ago I've never seen the slightest hint of stress on him. In fact until a couple of weeks ago I thought you'd have to harpoon him to really get a rise out of him under water.....
So a couple of weeks ago Bob went North Sea wreck diving for the first time. He came with me and with another friend of mine who he knew.
The boat sailed at midnight or so and we (I should say *I*) went to sleep in our cabin. The next morning we got the wakeup call at about 6am and Bob told me that he had slept badly and was feeling a little sea sick but not enough that he was puking from it.
We discussed it briefly and Bob said that he was good to dive and thought that once he was in the water he'd feel better.
So fast forward and we're on the shotline. Surface currents are strong and the best way to make the decent is to pull yourself hand-over-hand along the shotline on the way down.
We assembled at 5 metres, everyone OK and ready and off we go. I"m in front and I check at 10 and at 20 metres if everyone is OK and they give OK back.
So we arrive a the bottom around 30 metres and suddenly Bob does something entirely uncharacteristic. He lets go of the shotline, sinks to the bottom and sits on his knees breathing heavily. I give buddy #2 --still on the shotline-- a forceful STOP! and rush over to Bob. I give him a "slow/calm" sign and he looks at me or through me and then slaps my hands away and takes off up the shotline again in a big hurry ....... Blooody hell!
I chase after him signing to buddy #2 to follow as we pass by and Bob doesn't start to slow down until he gets to about 15 metres. At about that time I catch up to him but didn't try pulling him to slow down because I could see he was breathing and I was worried if I grabbed him that he'd go into full panic mode and hurt one or both of us..... At 10 metres he slows down some more and flashes me OK and at 5 metres he stops.
I - am - totally - floored. This was the *last* thing I expected Bob to do. Ever!
After the fact we talked about it and he couldn't put his finger on one thing and say "that was it". Obviously he had slept badly and was feeling a little sea sick. He was also pretty pumped about the dive--being his first time on the North Sea--and the exertion of pulling himself down along the shotline during the descent was something he wasn't accustomed to. He said he was feeling OK until the 20 metre mark and then just lost it and started hyperventilating just before we got to the bottom. He remembered me giving him the "slow/calm" sign but he was already trying to get his breathing under control and just couldn't. When he realised he was losing the battle he made a 1/2 conscious decision to bail and once the decision was made instinct took over and it took most of the ascent for him to collect himself again.
Go figure
For me it reinforces something you hear all the time. Every dive is different and complacency can bite you. I assumed that since Bob and I had done many dives in similar conditions that he would be his usual self. I probably descended too fast for him that day and it started the stress chain induced by heavy breathing. We agreed the next time that Bob would lead the descent and that he would go at his own tempo. He'll also bring ear-plugs next time for better sleeping on the boat, and take motion sickness drugs before the fact, and try to get rested up better in the days before the event.
OK, have at it.
R..
I have a regular buddy that I met a couple of years ago. Let's call him Bob. Bob and I have made a whole gob of dives together (a couple of hundred or thereabouts) including some pretty interesting ones and until a couple of weeks ago I've never seen the slightest hint of stress on him. In fact until a couple of weeks ago I thought you'd have to harpoon him to really get a rise out of him under water.....
So a couple of weeks ago Bob went North Sea wreck diving for the first time. He came with me and with another friend of mine who he knew.
The boat sailed at midnight or so and we (I should say *I*) went to sleep in our cabin. The next morning we got the wakeup call at about 6am and Bob told me that he had slept badly and was feeling a little sea sick but not enough that he was puking from it.
We discussed it briefly and Bob said that he was good to dive and thought that once he was in the water he'd feel better.
So fast forward and we're on the shotline. Surface currents are strong and the best way to make the decent is to pull yourself hand-over-hand along the shotline on the way down.
We assembled at 5 metres, everyone OK and ready and off we go. I"m in front and I check at 10 and at 20 metres if everyone is OK and they give OK back.
So we arrive a the bottom around 30 metres and suddenly Bob does something entirely uncharacteristic. He lets go of the shotline, sinks to the bottom and sits on his knees breathing heavily. I give buddy #2 --still on the shotline-- a forceful STOP! and rush over to Bob. I give him a "slow/calm" sign and he looks at me or through me and then slaps my hands away and takes off up the shotline again in a big hurry ....... Blooody hell!
I chase after him signing to buddy #2 to follow as we pass by and Bob doesn't start to slow down until he gets to about 15 metres. At about that time I catch up to him but didn't try pulling him to slow down because I could see he was breathing and I was worried if I grabbed him that he'd go into full panic mode and hurt one or both of us..... At 10 metres he slows down some more and flashes me OK and at 5 metres he stops.
I - am - totally - floored. This was the *last* thing I expected Bob to do. Ever!
After the fact we talked about it and he couldn't put his finger on one thing and say "that was it". Obviously he had slept badly and was feeling a little sea sick. He was also pretty pumped about the dive--being his first time on the North Sea--and the exertion of pulling himself down along the shotline during the descent was something he wasn't accustomed to. He said he was feeling OK until the 20 metre mark and then just lost it and started hyperventilating just before we got to the bottom. He remembered me giving him the "slow/calm" sign but he was already trying to get his breathing under control and just couldn't. When he realised he was losing the battle he made a 1/2 conscious decision to bail and once the decision was made instinct took over and it took most of the ascent for him to collect himself again.
Go figure
For me it reinforces something you hear all the time. Every dive is different and complacency can bite you. I assumed that since Bob and I had done many dives in similar conditions that he would be his usual self. I probably descended too fast for him that day and it started the stress chain induced by heavy breathing. We agreed the next time that Bob would lead the descent and that he would go at his own tempo. He'll also bring ear-plugs next time for better sleeping on the boat, and take motion sickness drugs before the fact, and try to get rested up better in the days before the event.
OK, have at it.
R..
