Not a good dive

Mark Chase · 9th November 2007, 08:40

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

**RichClark** · 9th November 2007, 08:53

Thanks for the report Mark. Sounds like a crap day out!

I always carry a Jon line now after a similar dive in similar currents last year. I decided that I always need the use of at least one hand to be able to take appropriate actions.

Cheers

Rich

solocavediver · 9th November 2007, 08:59

Also,

you need something that will reliably clip you to the shotline (& can be deployed one-handed!). Buys you those extra seconds of thinking time.

- cheers,

Charles.

silent running · 9th November 2007, 09:04

Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase)

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

We start to ascend but by 25m things are getting very very uncomfortable. The tide is ripping through. 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. It turns out i have perforated an eardrum which explains all the symptoms and my earache for the last two days

Mark

Hi Mark, very glad you made it back with only a perforated ear drum. From talking with my cold water friends, it's not an easy thing to handle in these conditions. Thanks for the post.

Question for you: did you have frequent depth changes-up/down-while ascending on the shot line? And could this have been the cause of the perf eardrum? -Andy

Mdemon · 9th November 2007, 10:40

Hey Mark - between us we have a working set of ears!

Welcome to Deaf Club.

Interesting point about staying on the loop. In retrospect, that was the right decision since it was your ear that was the problem, not your gas. I think you did the right thing actually, other than not clipping onto the shot. Rather than staying on the loop, the question is more about staying on the shot.

Let go and you have less stress. Stay, and if the vertigo got worse you still have something to cling onto.

FWIW, I think I screwed my ear by late equalising too. Should that be the Deaf Muppets Club?

***caveseeker7*** · 9th November 2007, 10:54

Geez, Mark, everytime you start a thread I wonder (or in this forum worry) what the hell did he do now?
Chaos Chase at work again, glad the dive was just a bad experience.
Don't let complacency bite you in the arse, and thanks for the post, Mark.

Mark Chase · 9th November 2007, 11:07

Quote: (Originally Posted by caveseeker7)

Geez, Mark, everytime you start a thread I wonder (or in this forum worry) what the hell did he do now?
Chaos Chase at work again, glad the dive was just a bad experience.
Don't let complacency bite you in the arse, and thanks for the post, Mark.

Honstly, I do manage a few uneventfull dives between the f##kups

No big up and downs. 7.5m/min ascent rate to first stop.

**sfldiver** · 9th November 2007, 13:32

Sorry to hear about the ear thing Mark, but thanks for sharing.

Strong currents on deeper dives are never fun. I once had the second stage ripped clear out of my mouth, leaving the actual mouthpeice in my mouth, while completing a 130 foot deco stop while ascending from a 300 feet dive on open circuit. I certainly learned my lesson about turning my head sideways in strong currents!

What's the prognosis for the the perforated eardrum?

Mark Chase · 9th November 2007, 13:54

Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver)

What's the prognosis for the the perforated eardrum?

The usual

Neurophen anti inflamatorys and a wadge of cotten wool to keep the crap out when i go diving tomorow

ATB

Mark

solocavediver · 9th November 2007, 19:49

Hi again Mark -

glad you're ear is recovering but you might consider laying in a supply of Mexican antibiotics (if you've not already done so) so you can kill off any ear infection that you may now be more likely to get. I bust an eardrum yonks back due to nothing more than a heavy cold, and again once when diving (same ear) and I note it is more prone to infection than the other. But Mexican "amoxicilina" sorts out the problem nicely on the odd occasion it arises.

- cheers,

Charles.

9th November 2007, 08:40	#1 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,690	Not a good dive 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 __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System Last edited by Mark Chase : 9th November 2007 at 08:43.
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9th November 2007, 08:53	#2 (permalink)
RichClark Classic KISS No. 226 Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hove, UK Posts: 779	Re: Not a good dive Thanks for the report Mark. Sounds like a crap day out! I always carry a Jon line now after a similar dive in similar currents last year. I decided that I always need the use of at least one hand to be able to take appropriate actions. Cheers Rich __________________ The more I learn about women, the more I want to go diving... just don't tell my wife I said that To taste something a little different, try http://www.thechillikitchen.co.uk
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9th November 2007, 08:59	#3 (permalink)
solocavediver New Member Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Leeds UK Posts: 106	Re: Not a good dive Also, you need something that will reliably clip you to the shotline (& can be deployed one-handed!). Buys you those extra seconds of thinking time. - cheers, Charles.
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9th November 2007, 09:04	#4 (permalink)
silent running Mature mouth breather Current Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: U.S.A. Brooklyn, New York Posts: 1,836	Re: Not a good dive Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase) 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 We start to ascend but by 25m things are getting very very uncomfortable. The tide is ripping through. 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. It turns out i have perforated an eardrum which explains all the symptoms and my earache for the last two days Mark Hi Mark, very glad you made it back with only a perforated ear drum. From talking with my cold water friends, it's not an easy thing to handle in these conditions. Thanks for the post. Question for you: did you have frequent depth changes-up/down-while ascending on the shot line? And could this have been the cause of the perf eardrum? -Andy
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9th November 2007, 10:40	#5 (permalink)
Mdemon SiegeEngine II Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Home Build Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SWUK Posts: 1,931	Re: Not a good dive Hey Mark - between us we have a working set of ears! Welcome to Deaf Club. Interesting point about staying on the loop. In retrospect, that was the right decision since it was your ear that was the problem, not your gas. I think you did the right thing actually, other than not clipping onto the shot. Rather than staying on the loop, the question is more about staying on the shot. Let go and you have less stress. Stay, and if the vertigo got worse you still have something to cling onto. FWIW, I think I screwed my ear by late equalising too. Should that be the Deaf Muppets Club? __________________ www.southwestmafia.com "small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!" The WRONG Attitude will get you killed. "Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"
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9th November 2007, 10:54	#6 (permalink)
*caveseeker7* Who loves ya, baby Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Too far from Neverland Posts: 5,494	Re: Not a good dive Geez, Mark, everytime you start a thread I wonder (or in this forum worry) what the hell did he do now? Chaos Chase at work again, glad the dive was just a bad experience. Don't let complacency bite you in the arse, and thanks for the post, Mark. __________________ Cheers Stefan "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"
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9th November 2007, 11:07	#7 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,690	Re: Not a good dive Quote: (Originally Posted by caveseeker7) Geez, Mark, everytime you start a thread I wonder (or in this forum worry) what the hell did he do now? Chaos Chase at work again, glad the dive was just a bad experience. Don't let complacency bite you in the arse, and thanks for the post, Mark. Honstly, I do manage a few uneventfull dives between the f##kups No big up and downs. 7.5m/min ascent rate to first stop. __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System
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9th November 2007, 13:32	#8 (permalink)
sfldiver S.C.R.U.B.'S Photographer Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 784	Re: Not a good dive Sorry to hear about the ear thing Mark, but thanks for sharing. Strong currents on deeper dives are never fun. I once had the second stage ripped clear out of my mouth, leaving the actual mouthpeice in my mouth, while completing a 130 foot deco stop while ascending from a 300 feet dive on open circuit. I certainly learned my lesson about turning my head sideways in strong currents! What's the prognosis for the the perforated eardrum? __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera *Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes.
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9th November 2007, 13:54	#9 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,690	Re: Not a good dive Quote: (Originally Posted by sfldiver) What's the prognosis for the the perforated eardrum? The usual Neurophen anti inflamatorys and a wadge of cotten wool to keep the crap out when i go diving tomorow ATB Mark __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System
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9th November 2007, 19:49	#10 (permalink)
solocavediver New Member Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Leeds UK Posts: 106	Re: Not a good dive Hi again Mark - glad you're ear is recovering but you might consider laying in a supply of Mexican antibiotics (if you've not already done so) so you can kill off any ear infection that you may now be more likely to get. I bust an eardrum yonks back due to nothing more than a heavy cold, and again once when diving (same ear) and I note it is more prone to infection than the other. But Mexican "amoxicilina" sorts out the problem nicely on the odd occasion it arises. - cheers, Charles.
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