Four divers plan to charter a boat to dive the USS Oriskany. A sunken Aircraft carrier off the coast of Pensacola, FL. Three of the divers are familiar with each other, have trained together, and have been diving together. One diver, me, is new to the group. Two of the regulars are doing a decompression dive to approximately 160ft. The other two divers are planning a "recreational" profile.
Pre-meeting communication:
Attempts to contact my recreational dive plan buddy were problematic, and the first real communication was 2 days prior to meeting face to face for the first time. No real dive plan was laid out. My dive plan would have to be done without my partner, and then discussed the night before the dive.
At the fill station:
Since the dive was to be recreational the gas choice was EAN32. This would allow for fewer bubbles, and more bottom time inside NDL. EAN32 has a 1.4 pp02 at 111 and 1.6 at 132ft. The large flight deck of the Oriskany lies at 135ft. Mix choice was not changed understanding that if things went south, the deck could be used temporarily if need be.
Pre-Dive:
Profile of the ship was discussed. Island starts at approximately 70ft, control deck is at about 110ft, flight deck at 135, hangar deck at 160, sand is at 212. Dive plan was put forth to limit soft bottom at 100ft, and hard limit of 110 was set. MOD 132ft. During dive planning, dive buddy's opinion was solicited, but no discussion was forthcoming. It was determined that dive buddy had not done gas planning, or deco stop planning. Intended plan was to "dive his computer". I acknowledged that plan, and left my plan in place as a backup or bailout. Other two divers did their dive plan on tables.
Dive day:
Trip to the Oriskany was uneventful, taking about 55 minutes from engines fired to preparation to tie in. Captain announced once on site, that he would be splashing with the recreational divers. This was not discussed prior. Waivers divers were asked to sign indicated that no free descent or ascent would be possible, and that divers were to keep hands on the line all the way down and all the way up.
Dive conditions:
Air was about 86F degrees, surface temps were in the lower 80s. Temp at max depth was about 78F. Surface current was brisk and swimming against it difficult. Current was strong but manageable at 75ft.
Chain of errors:
1. Dive buddy learns during pre-dive, that he has forgotten his computer. He now has no depth or time measuring ability and will be reliant upon his buddy for that information. (Yellow Flag 1)
2. Captain splashed with the recreational divers though he had done no planning with the team. Effectively turning a buddy recreational dive into a loose team of three. (RED FLAG 1)
3. Upon descent to the island, captain proceeds to begin a strong flutter kick into the current to swim around the island. He does NOT check to see the position of the divers behind him. (Red Flag 2)
4. My dive buddy elects to try to match pace with the captain while I am keeping a slow and steady pace. I quickly realize that if I do not keep up, I am going to be a solo diver at 100ft. I choose to try to keep pace. (Yellow Flag 2)
5. After working above my comfort, I signal hold to the team to catch my breath. We are now at 110ft. After about 10 seconds, the captain takes off again, down to the railing. My buddy turns and leaves me yet again to follow the captain. I follow them around the back side of the island and around to the swim through that the captain wants to take us through. I call hold again. Check my gas, and check my depth. I am now at 121ft. I debate thumbing the dive. I elect to continue the dive, but pass on the swim through. I have now violated my soft and hard limit for the dive (Red Flag 3), I have violated recommended MOD (Red Flag 4), but do not worsen my situation by entering an overhead while tired, and mildly narced.
6. I elect to meet the divers on the other end of the swimthrough, so I am solo for a short time.
7. Upon meeting up with the divers again, we begin our ascent. We move up at a safe pace to the 70ft line, and spend a bit of time there swimming to the ascent line. I check my gas again. My dive buddy has not yet asked about my gas supply and has not checked on my welfare. MY mask has flooded at least 5 times in the 20 minutes we've been underwater at this point, and he's seen it a few of those times. (Yellow Flag 3).
8. On ascent, I ignore the hand over hand on the line instruction because the vertical position is making my mask flood. For the first time in the dive, I am actually relaxed and in full control. I slow my ascent at 20ft and we head to the tag line at 15ft. We do our safety stop there, getting moved around a bit by the current/surge.
9. We struggle our way to the ladder which has become unhinged and make our exit. As I sit on the stern of the boat, I ask the DM to take certain pieces of gear so I can just relax a moment before doing anything strenuous.
10, I sit down in the boat, open the large cooler in the back, and see there are only a couple of waters. At this time I realize that the captain had not brought anything for the divers to drink. (Red Flag 5). Fortunately, I have brought my own gallon of Gatorade. I am feeling a bit nauseated, and a bit tired. I collect my thoughts and do a quick post dive analysis in my head. I make the decision not to splash any more that day. After about 45 minutes on the surface, I communicate this decision to my dive buddy and the captain.
I proceeded to simply sit in the boat for the remaining 3 hours we are onsite. I further reflect on my dive, what I did wrong and what I could have done better.
Takeaways from the dive:
1. Doing a dive that will push the recreational limits with someone who is "riding a computer" is a challenge. It obfusticates proper planning and protocol. There was no way I could attempt to teach someone about deep stops, slow ascents, profile shape, spending time shallow, etc., the night before the dive.
2. The pre-dive brief was inadequate. There was no discussed team protocol. The captain should NOT have splashed or should have clearly mentioned his intention to do so prior to arriving on site to allow proper plan to write him into the dive plan. My buddy was not familiar with 3 man team protocol and abandoned his dive buddy to follow the captain. I was not able to communicate effectively with him underwater to stay with me.
3. When my dive buddy realized his computer was not with him, he should have thumbed the dive. Period. In his absence of doing that, I should have done it myself.
4. I should NOT have allowed the captain to dictate the profile but left with a choice of violating my plan or diving solo, I chose to violate my plan. This one has kept me up nights. It can be argued either way. Yes I was in doubles. Yes I could have done an effective ascent on my own. However, surface support was weak, there was a strong current, we were tied in, in such a way as to make getting the boat untied to follow my bag would have been difficult. I was also secure in my understanding that I had left margin for error and could have gone to the deck if NEED be.
5. I wanted to do a deep stop, but our time spent at 70ft sufficed, but was not optimal. The ascent to 15ft was a bit faster than I would have liked, but still within recreational limits.
6. The decision to not splash for the other dives was prudent, and I feel the correct decision.
7. My obsessive nature about hydration saved the day for me since I was the only diver who had adequate supply of liquid post dive.
Summary:
Know when to call a dive. The correct time to do so on this occasion would have been before entering the water. Once commited to the dive, stick to your plan.
Do NOT let others change your plan for you.
Communicate the dive plan clearly to all members of the team.
Choose your buddies well on dives that will stretch your limits.
Edited by PerroneFord, 15 August 2006 - 08:26 PM.
