Narced at 110'!

[RonFrank]

I thought I'd share a story.

I'm a reasonably experienced diver, and have many dives over 100'. I've never really experienced getting narced to any large degree, and this dive was really not much different with the exception that I was a bit task loaded.

We were doing the Grove during some difficult conditions. Very strong current, and 15' vis added up to advanced conditions. I had formed a buddy trio with a couple that lived in the Keys who were both very experienced local divers.

We were doing the ship as a drift dive which was a good thing with strong current. We descended down the line, and we were doing some light penetration. I was in the middle of the group, and we were going through a hallway that only allowed single file entry.

We were slowly poking along at approx 110' near the beginning of the dive when I noticed our lead buddy was fouled in some thick monofilament. I grabbed the line, and started winding it around my hand. I got to the point that he was basically free from the tangle, but I still needed to cut the line as it was caught somewhere on the ship. I went to reach for my dive knife, and I could not remove it from the sheath! WTHell!

It did not take me long before I found the release and got it out. I cut the line, shoved it in a pocket, and then had even a harder time putting the knife back in!

Now I've practiced this move a lot as I sometimes use my knife as a tank banger. While I was able to remove and replace the knife, it seemed like it took me forever to do so even if it was likely no more than 15 seconds to perform either task.

At the time I did not think much of it. We had a bit of a situation, and fortunately no one panicked, and once the problem was resolved we just continued on our way.

Later I realized... I was Narced!

[mitsuguy]

you sure it was narc'ed and not just the way things tend to slow down under critical / stressful conditions?

[No Misses]

RF, that was a good call, recognizing that you were narc'ed. Anybody that says that they do not get narc'ed is fooling themselves. How many drunks have you met who said they were not impaired. Recognizing the impairment is critical in making good judgment calls. When I do deep dives, I try to take extra time evaluating risks.

[RonFrank]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

you sure it was narc'ed and not just the way things tend to slow down under critical / stressful conditions?

His finance (hot chick behind me, and a wonderful lady) did not realize her SO was entangled, but she offered me her knife right as I finally got mine out. So she saw me fumbling to get mine out, and was quicker to the draw, but not my much. I did have one hand wrapped with about 25' of line, so that also added to the situation.

Things do seem to slow down sometimes when a bit of stress is added to a situation, but in this case, I think I was narced. Heck, we'd been below 100' for more than five minutes, likely closer to 10, so while I did not feel narced, I think I was to the extent that I was not able to function as effectively as normal.

[gibson1525]

amazing how it comes out in what seems like a relatively simple task. to have trouble removing a knife that you have done hundreds of times before, it really shows how strongly it can influence you.

[kenmendes]

Glad that everything turned out allright and nobody got hurt

[No Misses]

Originally Posted by RonFrank

His finance (hot chick behind me, and a wonderful lady) did not realize her SO was entangled, but she offered me her knife right as I finally got mine out. So she saw me fumbling to get mine out, and was quicker to the draw, but not my much. I did have one hand wrapped with about 25' of line, so that also added to the situation.

Things do seem to slow down sometimes when a bit of stress is added to a situation, but in this case, I think I was narced. Heck, we'd been below 100' for more than five minutes, likely closer to 10, so while I did not feel narced, I think I was to the extent that I was not able to function as effectively as normal.

Wow, your buddy must have been narc'ed too (or in love), He left his finances with his fianc'e (sorry, geeky spell check humor)

[CompuDude]

Been there. It's amazing how your body can change one time to the next... I have only been recognizably narced once in my life, and it was on a relatively routine dive at 115'. Have had many dives before and since in deeper, colder conditions without the same effect, but that one time, wow, the sensation hit me like a bag of bricks.

[texdiveguy]

Ron, thanks for sharing, and like everyone above have stated...happy things went well over-all for you guys. I too have only had one real 'noticeable' narc hit during my diving, and it was a text book situation of cold/dark/new site and deepish at 110ffw. Hope the balance of your trip was great!!

[RonFrank]

Originally Posted by texdiveguy

Hope the balance of your trip was great!!

Originally Posted by kenmendes

Glad that everything turned out allright and nobody got hurt

This dive had a bit of drama involved. I also banged my head into a column (who exactly put that there! ), and saw stars for a second or two. Maybe that is also attributed to being narc'd, but more likely I just did not see it because one does not have the best field of vision staring at the world from behind a dive mask.

That was nothing compared to when we hit the surface, and realized that we were missing two divers! That's another tale, but four dive boats, three coast guard vessels, a couple of police boats, a helicopter, and a couple hours later, the helicopter spotted our missing dives over a mile off the dive site, and drifting towards Lauderdale.

So, after the memorable Grove dive my trip ended as the last dive of the day and my trip (Snappers Reef, one of my favorites) was swallowed by a very stressful Search and Recovery Op. Fortunately the only thing our missing divers injured was pride, and they walked away with an experience, and lesson they won't ever forget.