So Tuesday we trog off to to my local bit of saline solution for a easy 50-55m dive. Short run 90-100min as its getting colder. Good neaps, sun is shining sea state is 4-5 but mainly swell and not white caps so things are looking fantastic for November.
Once on the Sabac we find very poor viz so we move of to another mark in the shipping lanes 2 miles away 45-50m deep. Once on site the skipper is concerned that we have missed slack. He concludes it could be the wind on the water but it doesn't look good. Six of the 12 divers elect to have a look see and the rest can it.
Kitting up was fine no problem and Howard and I hit the shot from a fast drift. Then the fun started. Getting down was a nightmare. Hand over hand with rest breaks we took 11mins to get down 45m and the last 15-20m was easy enough (by comparison) I had to hold on with both hands on decent and i am the type of diver who needs to pinch my nose to equalize so I was leaving it till it hurt a bit then doing it rather than my normal method of every few Ms
Once on the wreck the tide seemed to have dissipated. There was obviously a current running but it was all do able. We took a break and got our heart rates back down then moved off for the dive.
Howard had a problem with his VR3, it had reset to air. My computer (Shearwater Pursuit) was fine but there is a known power issue with it (soon to be fixed) So i had said to Howard I would follow his VR3 just in case and just use the Shearwater for PP02. (confirmed with the HUD).
I had a depth and bottom timer and 46m was perfect for 1:1 ratio deco but 8mins after starting the dive and with Howard again trying to sort out his VR3 I decided to can the dive.
I signaled the "this dive is wank" sign to Howard and thumbed it which met with zero complaint.
A mear 10m back to the shot and we are looking at 14mins deco which I made 12 using DOTF so I reckoned the Shearwater was doing OK.
We start to ascend but by 25m things are getting very very uncomfortable. The tide is ripping through. My bailout tin connected to the BOV is free flowing on the OC reg so I have to switch it off. I try the 50% bottle but that starts free flowing as well so thats switched off too. The tide is trying to rip the loop out of my mouth so I go head down and rest the BOV on my chest.
Hanging on hurts but we only have 10mins to go.
Then a wave of vertigo hits me and I am spinning vision is dodgy I cant focus on the computer and i feel a little sick. My BOV is gas off so i cant bailout without turning it back on and I cant let go of the rope with one hand so I just blindly inject a healthy dose of 02, hang on and stay on loop.
The vertigo passes and i back up the line hitting into Howard. Id like to blow off all the 10mins of my 10/90GF right now but I cant get past Howard without loosing the line and i didn't fancy that idea. I cant read my hand set and I am having to count on the HUD for PP02 but it looks good
Turning around signaling talking etc were not an option. I felt if I let go Howard would follow and we were right in the lanes so that wasn't a good idea.
Looking at my situation I knew I was on fresh lime, the trip out was short and smoothish so very little chance of settlement channeling. Yes we had been working hard but my RMV never got to silly levels so I felt staying on the loop was probably my best option under the circumstances.
5mins to go so I reckon I can do 5mins but Christ those were long mins. I am feeling dizzy again and a little sick but mercifully its over and we surface to see the massive Sea France Ferry bearing down on us. The rush of the tide had been so strong we hadn't herd the engines.
The boat skipper had had to rescue another diver who had fallen off / bagged off the line and was in the path of the Ferry. Having forced the ferry to change course the damed ferry was now heading straight for Howard and me on the shot. Again the skipper did an excelent job of saving the day but that is as close to being hit by a ship as I ever want to get.
Back on board and I sit on unit on 02 till my head clears and my heart rate is back to normal. I feel OK and am soon tucking into chocolate and Sausage roles.
Back home after time to reflect I have to say i am disappointed that i didn't follow my own rules and bailout to OC just in case.
It turns out i have perforated an eardrum which explains all the symptoms and my earache for the last two days
Apart from the obvious Gun ho stupidity of trying to get a dive out of a bad situation I can justify all my decisions on the ascent with logic. However thats not the point.
It demonstrates again to me that the diver knows something is wrong, doesn't fully understand what it is, but somehow manages to justify to himself staying on loop. There was absolutely no reason why I had to. I had an Ali80 of 50% that would have done the job and ruled out totally any possibility of a unit issue. However on the day, under pressure, I chose to stay on loop.
This is surely the problem. We sit here and discuss safety options but once in the water some of us, like me, don't follow through with it.
Work in progress me thinks.
ATB
Mark