Trouble...??

[OystrPir8]

OK - Here's an interesting topic (at least I think so.)

Would be very interested to hear any stories of troubles in the deep.

I have heard the warnings about not diving this vintage stuff in the ocean, not going below 50 feet, not using a BCD, etc. I understand that this is old equipment (although hopefully properly maintained) and that diving is inherently risky and that we all assume that risk.

Rather than dealing in hypotheticals I would LOVE to hear actual stories of sticky situations any of us have experienced while in the water.

Animal attacks, stings, bites,etc.
Out of air emergencies
flooded regs, etc.
Missing Diver situations
Emergency decompression situations.
Currents, Surf, Boating Accidents, etc.
and DEFINITELY Equipment Malfunctions!!

Let's make these like short stories. Share the dates, who you were with, what equipment you were using, the diving conditions, etc. Think beginning middle end... drama, suspense, etc. Then maybe we can comment and learn. I personally would love to know what happened, how the situation was solved, and so on. I'd especially love to her from you original vintage divers and military folks!

Robb

[OystrPir8]

etc.

[Deleted]

I was recently in Cozumel last June......dove my Royal Aqua Master with Chuck Broxtons banjo adapter and my hookahport adapter.......I had no problems with the reg or the local boat captains or divemasters..........I also used my cheap plastic Tekna and had no problems with it either.....nah nah nah.......... ;D

Dangers?.......strong currents.......difficult to swim against.....need lots of air.........just roll to one side a bit........all the air you need....of course the Tekna breaths just fine without rolling.

[swimjim]

My second dive, this was many years ago and it was before I was certified, I was diving solo on a local wreck. Now, although I wasen't certified I did do considerable study before attempting this. Anyways I had a J Valve equiped steel 72, Dacor Olimpic single hoser and no Spg. I was swimming along about sixty feet minding my own business when the reg started to breath hard. No problem, I'll just pull the J valve rod and swim to the surface. I reach around and I'll be darned if I could find it. I obeyed the first rule of diving which states, "whatever happens to you, do not panic. Stop, think react. And thats exactly what I did. Like I said, I wasen't certified at this point, but I knew enough to follow my bubbles and thats what I did. The last ten feet seemed like a mile, but I made it. and wouldn't you know, as soon as I got to the surface I found the f***ng J valve rod and pulled it and had a nice lesurly swim back to the boat.
That was back in 77 when I was paying for my scuba stuff by baling hay and working the fields in summer. I bought an spg soon after that and got certified the next fall. October 78 to be exact.

Jim

[OystrPir8]

These are great!
MORE MORE Tell me MORE!
Make them juicy - write like Cousteau!

[SeaRat]

Dive Location: Clear Lake, Oregon
Participating divers: John Ratliff & Bruce Higgins
Date: 28 July 1974
Dive #: 193/194
Entrance Time: 5:20/6:30
Exit Time: 6:03/7:20

Water Conditions:[/U]
Extreme Clearity (Visibility ~100-150'), Altitude 3001'
Dive Plan: Make repetitive dives to test the newly procurred dry suit under field (Temp) conditions (Aquala front entry dry suit).

Observations:[/U]
Undergarments for the suit were: 1/8" neoprene boots, 1/4" neoprene vest, a connon long underwear shirt under two sweaters, the second a turtleneck, and a wool stocking cap under the hood. Three-finger mitts and a full-face mask were used with the dry suit. (Ed: this was a USD full-face mask which was used on a Trieste II double hose regulator.) Two dives were made, the first 43 minutes long & the second 50 minutes long. Twenty-five pounds oof lead were needed to submerge and I was still a bit light on the 1st dive. Thirty pounds were used during the first part of the second dive, which was too much. THere was some water in the suit aat this time, and it therefore had lost buoyancy. Some water came in through the oral inflation tube, but most came through the front seal. At one point the oral inflation tube didn't deflate the suit & led to an inadvertent (but not dangerous as the ascent was slowed by turning upside down and swimming down) ascent. The legs of the suit did not balloon, which would have happened with a Unisuit. During the first dive no cold was felt at all except on the hands and chin. During the second dive water entered the suit, and my feet and left arm began to feel cold (but still not as bad as with a wet suit). The hood stayed dry, and the only disadvantage here appears to be the tight seal pushing against the lower jaw and alse leaving the chin exposed. THe inflation mechanism worked very well to compensate for the loss of suit volume and preclude suit squeeze.

No decompression limits are easy enought to exceed at sea level when a diver is warm andt he diving itself very interesting. Add to this the altitude factors and factors which increase the likelyhood of decompression sickness such as extreme cold and work during the dive, and it's very easy to exceed no decompression limits. Factors which probably helped us to avert a decompression problem were that we did not experience any extreme factors which would have increased the likelyhood of decompression sickness other than altitude, and the fact that we spent a lot of time at depths shallower than the deepest depths used for docom calculatons. On the 1st dive the deepest depths reached were down in conical springs and most time was spent at ~45'. On the second dive we spent ~15-20" at depths of 5-15 feet and this time was included as bottom time at 45' indicated feet, which wasn't truely a bottom time. However, this does show that more planning is necessary on my part for these dives to preclude an actual problem involving t ime spent underwater in exces of no decompression limits. To deal with this problem I will do the following:

1. Use a divemaster's log sheet to keep track of times, epths, bottom times, etc.
2. Include in my diving log a slide rule, depth guage corrections for altitude and resh water and keep a copy of the dive tables &/or Nuway or No-Calculaton dive tables &
3. figure and plan 2nd and 3rd dives before the dives, allowing either surface interval time or setting depth limits to keep within no-decompression repetitive dive limits.

Special Problems & their proposed solutions:[/U]

1. Oral inflator can't dump air fast enough to ppreclude an inadvertent ascent, and may be pinched so that no air can escape (ed: this was a home-made device from a oral inflation system with a 1/4 inch opening). Solution--replace it with a 1" diameter hose & oral inflation system from vest buoyancy compensator.

2. Get a clamp or some other system which will close the suit entry chute watertight.

3. Tape sharp edges on the Mar-Vel Pak to keep it from cutting the dry suit, then use it to take some weight off the belt (looks like ~ 40 lbs for salt water).

4. No decompression repetitive dive time was inadvertently exceeded. See description on reverse side of this sheet for solution to this problem.

5. Buoyancy/weight ratio with the suit is very critical. Used 25 lds on the 1st dive & 30 lbs on the second, and was too heavy on the second dive. THe air tended to bleed from the face seal and would not allow me to gain much + buoyancy. A life vest is required for emergencies.

Dive info:
1st dive: depth 65', time 43", corrected depth (x0.921 guage correction)--60', corrected depth for altitude (3000')--67'.
Surface Interval: 27", Residual Nitrogen time: 61"
2nd dive: 45', time--50", corrected depth (x0.921 guage correction): 41.5', Corrected depth for altitude (3000'): 56'.

Bottom time for 2nd dive, 61" residual nitrogen time + 50" actual bottom time = 111" bottom time for decompression purposes. 60' for 120" requires 26" of decompression at 9'.
_______________

The above is from my hand-written dive debriefing sheet. Here is a photo that Bruce Higgins took during one of those dives, showing me in Clear Lake using the Aquala Dry Suit. All decompression times and infomation came from tables available in 1973.

[Creed]

Make them juicy - write like Cousteau!

So, there I was, in my speedo and stocking cap, smoking a cigarette....

[duckbill]

creed said:

Make them juicy - write like Cousteau!

So, there I was, in my speedo and stocking cap, smoking a cigarette....

[nemrod]

"I have heard the warnings about not diving this vintage stuff in the ocean, not going below 50 feet, not using a BCD, etc. I understand that this is old equipment (although hopefully properly maintained) and that diving is inherently risky and that we all assume that risk."

Who told you all of that horsecrap?

Fortuantely I have very few problems diving.

OK, there was the time we took the 14 foot Novurania inflatable out of Galveston and did some bottom mucking, then I caught a shark and he got in the rubber boat and started biting it, we had to get out--for a bit.

There was the time I swam out a bit to far on a beach dive some place in california and could not get back, well, I did but it was tiresome whcih brings me to another dive at the Destin Jetties long ago where I went to far out and wound up swimming several miles and then walking several more but I was young and so I hitched a ride with some girls that turned out to go to my school

or the time I encountered some "bodies" in a cave and was told by the sheriff to never come back to Florida (the first time I was banished from Florida)

or the time I I was nearly swept away from the boat on the Flower Gardens and used the Hawk to flash a signal the boat for rescue

or the time I ran out of air at around 130 feet while pulling a drift bouy at a place called the Cave near Jupiter Florida and began an ascent but my wife who was at 100 feet caught me coming up and we buddy breathed to the surface--before octapus era

or the time, I Nemrod, got mad at the jerk captain of a boat in Pensecola and he kicked me off and I told he he isn't kicking me off I am leaving and jumped in and started swimming, it was only five or so miles, big deal. He decided he might oughta give me a ride after all but I made him chase me.

or, well there are so many but one of the more recent was the Great Manatee Massacre of SDII where I was banished from Florida for the second time!!!!!!

Not many people have been banished from a state twice, going for three!

Nemrod

[JES]

nemrod said:

... Not many people have been banished from a state twice, going for three!

Nemrod

Nemrod,

I just purchased a Mako DPV. If you and Bryan bring your Tekna DPV's with you to Sand Dog IV next year and we'll see what we can do to help you achieve that dubious distinction.

[Captain]

Drift diving with a group of divers and two boats in Cozumel. Only my buddy and I on one boat and the rest of the group on the other boat. The group splashed first and when we splashed they were nowhere to be seen so we went swimming off along the reef. When we surfaced the boat was nowhere to be seen. We finally saw it about half a mile away and started waving, after a while they saw us and motored over. Seems the group and the two boats went one way and we went another. I wasn't particularly concerned as we were only about a mile off the beach. My wife said the boat captain was frantic and she told him not to worry we would just swim to shore if he couldn't find us.

[nemrod]

"I just purchased a Mako DPV. If you and Bryan bring your Tekna DPV's with you to Sand Dog IV next year and we'll see what we can do to help you achieve that dubious distinction."

Cool, yes, excellent idea, I have that red rocket stll under construction, I am beginning to hate scooters, they are a pita. I am quite sure we could all wind up in jail and banished from Florida, headline news, Vintage Divers banished from Florida!!!!!!

Oh, yeah, we were out of Lauderdale, my wife and I on a small cattle boat with a very sincere retired ex cop captain. It was a typical sunny day with some clouds about. We splashed on a drift and my wife and I went on along, each group splashed seperaely, four groups total. Well, about half way through the dive I noticed it was getting dark and I figured it might be raining on top. I suppose the other wuss divers surfaced and got back on the boat so they could stay DRY! We continued to dive, as we hit our safety stop I noticed flashes of light so I figured it was quite a fuss going on up top. I poked my head up for a look see, mask placed correctly on forehead, and saw nothing but water whizzing at a hundred miles per hour. Nothing, I went back down where my wife sat at ten feet. I shrugged. She was confused. It was then that I realized we were alone. I went back up and the wind nearly sucked me out of the water--damn water spout it was. I figured the boat had backed out of the storm and was waiting for us to swim out ffrom under so we dropped back down and began swimming west. Well, the captain had taken to fretting over us and he decided to go in after us becuase, indeed, he had backed away from the water spout. So, we popped up in the clear, still no boat, I could see the water spout though and my wife was freaking. So, I figure the captain went in after us so we dropped back down and headed east to the spout, guess what, the captain, not finding us and seeing nothing and everyone getting to see a water spout up real close had once again backed off and held to the west. We surfaced on the edge of the spout and could barely see the boat's huge orange dive flag over the waves and torrents of water and wind. Somehow he saw us and I saw the stern drop on the boat as he gunned the engines, he came at us at full speed like a Navy patrol boat after banditios and swung the boat around us and his crew, a huge Cuban man, reached down in the water and grabbed my wife and me at the same time and lifted us into the boat and we were out of there. The captain was so upset he had been crying, I am sure of it, but he said it was just salt spray. Well, as we ran for the inlet, the sun came back out and we all had a nice shallow dive on Moray Reef and the captain was happy again and the big cuban fellow was too. Every time I tell a story it changes but that comes from being olld-er and from the South, lol.

Nemrod

[OystrPir8]

How long ago was this? Were you double hosing it at the time too? I guess im wondering are you as comfortable diving this equipment as you are modern gear.

Keep the stories coming! This is great!

Note to self: get a slide rule...

[OystrPir8]

John - thats a great photo! Killer range of highlights and darks. Do you know was he using a filter on that? What kind of film were you using in those days?

[swimjim]

1973, black and white, very little grain. Probably Kodak Plus-X ASA 100. 1/60th wide open I would guess. I shot a few rolls of that back in a day.

Jim