stew
21-11-07, 18:27
Ok, I will go first….
Dive one……
Last year sometime I intended on diving the Clyde, conditions were good, low wind & slack water was late morning.
We headed north from Troon, bound for the Wallachia.
Onboard was my dive buddy for the day who although experienced in diving, he had never dived the Clyde before.
On the way up we discussed whether or not he would dive, conditions were perfect when we arrived, the water like a sheet of glass & slack water.
Jobs a good one & so we splashed, the deck of the Wallachia lays around 30m so nothing too outrageous.
Trying to find the shot line for the ascent proved to be difficult as the viz had been poor through the dive, I deployed my DSMB from 30m & we headed on back to the surface.
My buddy had been using nitrox 32, myself on air. I incurred a 2-minute decompression penalty on the dive.
This dive went well although I had noted that my buddy didn’t look comfortable on the dive.
Dive two….
Heading south we stopped off at the Cuirassier behind Little Cumbrae Island.
We splashed but my buddy could not leave the surface, more weight from the boat was added & he then descended, unbeknown to me (& him) at this time, he was still underweighted. Mistake 1.
On the Cuirassier at 36m I turned the dive as my independent twin 10’s showed 80 bars & 50 bars with no decompression commitments.
Heading back to shore seemed to take an eternity so I decided to bag off, by this time I was in unplanned deco (mistake 2), my buddy wasn’t since he had used Nx32 on the previous dive.
At this time im breathing from the cylinder with 50 bar in it, (mistake 3) I’m very aware of this & intended on changing demand valves once I got settled on the ascent.
On reaching 22m the stakes were upped in the favour of Murphy’s Law when my reel decided to part company with the spool & line, thus collapsing in my hands.
The line was everywhere, all over the front of my wing, round the cylinders, over my arms & legs, looked like I had been in a vicious knitting accident.
Coming through 10m im aware that I have 4 minutes of decompression to complete.
At this point my legs are both tied together pretty tightly when mistakes 1 2 & 3 all come back to haunt me at the same time.
I drew my last breath from the cylinder, as I had not changed valves, whilst changing valves, my buddy went buoyant due to not having enough weight.
Attempting to not hit the surface he grabbed hold of my cylinder handle, thus dragging me with him to near the surface before he let go. He hit the surface; I descended back to 6m with a screaming computer. I completed my deco before surfacing.
Why it all went wrong….
My buddy was in a new drysuit, that’s why he had not been comfortable on both dives.
We reverse profile dived, which accumulated unplanned deco.
I failed to manage my gas in favour of dealing with the defective reel.
Boyle, Dalton & Archimedes laws do work!
Dive one……
Last year sometime I intended on diving the Clyde, conditions were good, low wind & slack water was late morning.
We headed north from Troon, bound for the Wallachia.
Onboard was my dive buddy for the day who although experienced in diving, he had never dived the Clyde before.
On the way up we discussed whether or not he would dive, conditions were perfect when we arrived, the water like a sheet of glass & slack water.
Jobs a good one & so we splashed, the deck of the Wallachia lays around 30m so nothing too outrageous.
Trying to find the shot line for the ascent proved to be difficult as the viz had been poor through the dive, I deployed my DSMB from 30m & we headed on back to the surface.
My buddy had been using nitrox 32, myself on air. I incurred a 2-minute decompression penalty on the dive.
This dive went well although I had noted that my buddy didn’t look comfortable on the dive.
Dive two….
Heading south we stopped off at the Cuirassier behind Little Cumbrae Island.
We splashed but my buddy could not leave the surface, more weight from the boat was added & he then descended, unbeknown to me (& him) at this time, he was still underweighted. Mistake 1.
On the Cuirassier at 36m I turned the dive as my independent twin 10’s showed 80 bars & 50 bars with no decompression commitments.
Heading back to shore seemed to take an eternity so I decided to bag off, by this time I was in unplanned deco (mistake 2), my buddy wasn’t since he had used Nx32 on the previous dive.
At this time im breathing from the cylinder with 50 bar in it, (mistake 3) I’m very aware of this & intended on changing demand valves once I got settled on the ascent.
On reaching 22m the stakes were upped in the favour of Murphy’s Law when my reel decided to part company with the spool & line, thus collapsing in my hands.
The line was everywhere, all over the front of my wing, round the cylinders, over my arms & legs, looked like I had been in a vicious knitting accident.
Coming through 10m im aware that I have 4 minutes of decompression to complete.
At this point my legs are both tied together pretty tightly when mistakes 1 2 & 3 all come back to haunt me at the same time.
I drew my last breath from the cylinder, as I had not changed valves, whilst changing valves, my buddy went buoyant due to not having enough weight.
Attempting to not hit the surface he grabbed hold of my cylinder handle, thus dragging me with him to near the surface before he let go. He hit the surface; I descended back to 6m with a screaming computer. I completed my deco before surfacing.
Why it all went wrong….
My buddy was in a new drysuit, that’s why he had not been comfortable on both dives.
We reverse profile dived, which accumulated unplanned deco.
I failed to manage my gas in favour of dealing with the defective reel.
Boyle, Dalton & Archimedes laws do work!