First diving mishap

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Here is a good one for the travel blog.....don't assume your dive master has their dive gear in 100% perfect condition. After 42 dives now under my belt, I had my first "serious incident" Granted their were some outs and I was not 100 feet below the surface but it did give me quite a stir, which I thankfully was able to shake off once back in the boat. The day started off good, however after getting on the dive boat, the divemaster looked hungover, the weather was questionable and the waves seemed to be getting worse once we headed out of the bay. First stop the King Cruiser wreck dive...my first wreck dive so I was excited, i can't say the same for two of the other four divers, who were quickly becoming sea sick with the choppy waves and rocking boat. During our pre dive brief we were told to expect a stong current up top and a mild current down below near the wreck. With some areas being stronger then others. Anyway to make a long story short, on the way back up to the surface we had to do a safety stop which means we hover about 15 feet below the surface for approx. 5 mins to clear our bodies of nitrogen before we can surface. Because of the current we were all hanging on to a buoy, so that the current didn't take us away. So with five divers, one dive master and one dive master in training, plus three divers from another group we are all hanging onto a line as the current is trying to sweep us away, quite the experience to start with. I am positioned next to the dive master and she looks at my gauges and decides I should do away with my air supply and use hers (guess she thought I was out of air soon), so not too concerned I figured why not, we train for this anyway, so pull out my regulator and put in her spare. Right away i notice something is strange as along with air I am also taking in ocean water, which SHOULD not be happening, I should only be inhaling straight air. Not getting too worried I just continue to hang on the line, plus hang on to the dive master, because I am using their spare regulator which only has a foot of air hose. Everytime I get pulled away from the divemaster, i end up taking in more water then air.....now realizing something is wrong and not getting any better i decide i will take my chances with my own air supply and try to find it somewhere on my right hand side. Problem is with everyone so close to one another and lines getting mixed up I can't find my line, but for reasons I have yet to remember I spit out the divemasters regulator before i have mind in hand (think it was because i took a mouthful of water and it freaked me out. So now i have no way of breathing and no regulator in hand to put in my mouth....at this point I want to shoot up to the surface as fast as I can, screw the health implications of doing so and the fact that my other two dives later in the day would be scrapped....i remember my dive master telling me not to surface....too funny i have no air and my DM is saying stay 15 ft below the surface it will be ok.....easy for her to say, she has a reliable source of air! I don't know how long all this took, but i do know that was probably the closest to drowing I can remember ever getting, yet my training and experience being below the surface taught me to stay as relaxed as possible, there are options, in the end I put back in her back up regulator spit out what ocean water i had in my mouth choaked a few times and collected my wits for another 90 seconds until it was time to surface. Once on the surface I told her that when I was using her regulator i was taking in water as well as air. After looking over your back up regulator she noticed that there was a tear in the mouthpiece (once which I didn't create!). She became quiet very fast and quickly replaced the mouthpiece. Having every right to be pissed off, I was just happy I made it to the surface, and also salvaged the dive enough to continue on for the rest of the day. After some discussion and thought, she completely dropped the ball, the DM's are to be trusted with one's life, their equipment are to be in 100% working order and that day she failed miserably. So much for a short story! I was a close call but could have been a lot worse, I learned many things from that experience and will be better for it in future dives. And thankfully my subsequent dives that day were not upsetting or traumatic. I was too busy watching and assisting other divers who were sick from the rocking boat and high seas!!

Gerry (bubbles) Melenka

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