Whats your closest call?

[mcc2318]

Whats your closest call, could if have been avoided?

[nathanbarlow]

Not really a close call but scared me at the time - was diving at Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand with what in hindsight was a crap operator. He took us out in this old tin-can of a boat, no briefing of the area, and he buggered off to collect crays while me and my uncle were to do our dive. About half way through I got sent to the surface from around 15m at mach3 speed, surfacing like a polaris missile, locking my computer out and scaring the bejesus out of me and my uncle. Turns out that there's upcurrents around that area - and the so called dive professional didn't even mention that! At that point, we cancelled the second dive and demanded half our money back. Finally got half back after thinly veiled threats to report him to PADI and to OSH for negligence on his behalf, a for not leaving a surface watch and b for failing to mention something as serious as strong upcurrents. Rest of that day, I sat around with the worst headache ever and generally worrying about the crazy speed I had ascended at. Could have been avoided by refusing to go out once we saw the crappy boat, however we didnt know he was planning on diving solo until he started gearing up and told us he was going for some crays "over there" and the best views were found "over here" . . should have aborted then, but we wanted to dive... upcurrents were out of our control, as he didnt mention them... long story short, dont compromise your safety just to get some diving done...

[Matt P]

1st check out dive in BOW class. I was in a fresh water spring fed from the bottom. I was at 25 ft following the DM. He swam around the spring feed jetting form the bottom. I didn't see it, had not been briefed on it in the pre-dive & never really considered that such a thing existed. I was shot to the surface. It scared the heck out of me. I inhaled instead of exhaling. Lungs hurt for a couple of days afterward. I still didn't realize how dangerous that was until later in my dive career.

[Matt P]

Second closest call...my wife almost saw the receipt for my dry suit. But, I dodged that bullet...shwoo!

[Xspect]

while diving in belize. we were new and rented gear and regs (yuck !!). My wife primary reg was started to leak water and the octo mouthpiece was biten thru she was scared to death this all happen at 75 ft on her 4th dive

[CaribbeanDiver]

not exactly a close call but one that surely could have been. On my first dive trip, a liveaboard. I had about 12 logged dives at the time, including my 5 checkout dives. I was alone and was paired up with a very experienced diver from Canada. Sort of a nice guy, but kind of snooty, not receptive to pre-dive discussion for signals, equipment checks, turnaround pressure, etc.
Being new, I thought well I will just follow him. Turns out this guy had a breathing rate around 1/2 of mine and we just tolled around with him in front and me trying to keep up.
When I ran low on gas, I signaled the up sign and he signaled the see ya later sign. I looked at him puzzled and remembered my training about anyone can end a dive at any time and stick with your buddy, etc.
There I was in the ocean, god knows how far from the boat. I managed to get back to the boat but it was truly by the grace of God.
I did two dives with him and then went to the dive master on the boat to complain and say I am not diving with this guy again. The dive master didnt seem to care but luckily for me I befriended a couple of Irish guys who were great divers and great dive buddies.
The lesson is, regardless of whether it is your 1st dive or 1000th dive, if your buddy is not buddy-like, do not dive with him/her.

[No Misses]

Here is a spearfishing story from 2005. It was a closer call than we realized at the time. Could this have been avoided? Absa-freakin-lutely!

This is the Dive that makes you glad to be alive. It started like any other dive. Visibility was ~30 feet. Jim spotted a 20-30 lb Black grouper. He got a good hit on it but the spear pulled out. This left the grouper with a large white spot in his back, directly behind the head. Jim lost sight of the fish in the ensuing silt cloud. I was able to stay high and follow the grouper as he fled. If it was not for the white spot / wound in his back, I would have lost him completely. I followed that distant white spot until it disappeared under a rock. I hovered over the grouper's new hiding spot, while I waited for Jim to catch up. When we both descended on the rock, the grouper started freaking out. He kicked up a huge silt cloud. There was no way to see him or shoot him. Jim went in with both arms up to his shoulders. I could tell by the amount of kicking and flailing that he was getting his hands on the fish. After what seemed like forever, but was probably less than a minute, Jim backed out of the hole to regroup and relax. Since I had a long sleeve wetsuit, I decided to try my skills at extracting a "pissed off" grouper form his hole. I reached both arms under the coral head. After some fumbling around I realized that I had a fish tail in each hand. What the heck it going on here? There were two grouper in this hole! I decided to concentrate all of my efforts on the largest tail. After much twisting and pulling, I was gaining ground and the grouper was coming out. While holding his tail in my right hand, I tried to slide my left up the fish's body until I could get a hold of his gills. Before I could accomplish this, he gave a mighty flip with his tail and pulled out of my hands. He went straight into Jim's face. He knocked off Jim's regulator and mask. I did not notice any of that (great dive partner. Don't tell PADI). I had my own problems to deal with. I was breathing way too fast. To top it off, Jim kicked me in the face while getting his arms around the fish and now my regulator was someplace other than my mouth. I found my reg and cleared my flooded mask. Even in his newly handicapped state, Jim was able to get the fish in a bear hug. Knowing that Jim did not yet have 100% control of the fish, I jammed my hand into its gills and clamped shut. I had him now. There was no way he was getting away. Jim let go of the fish and I swam to the bottom and lay there and regroup. I had to get my breathing under control. I closed my eyes and made a conscious effort to relax. Luckily, Larry was nearby shooting mutton snappers that were attracted to the commotion. He saw all of this and came to our aid. He grabbed Jim by the arm and led him to his lost mask. After verifying that Jim was OK, Larry saw me lying face down on the bottom. He thought that I had passed out. He grabbed my arm and brought me over to where Jim was waiting. We proceeded to the surface with Larry maintaining the proper accent rate. It was freaking him out that I kept closing my eyes. But, that was the only way I could concentrate on slowing my breathing. He would shake me and I would signal that I was OK. I was still breathing way too fast and knew that I needed to get it under control. Half way to the surface Larry ran his stringer through the fish's mouth. I finally let go my death grip on his gills. By the time that we reached our 15 ft safety stop, I had my breathing under control. After the recommended 3 minute stop, we surfaced. What a great feeling of relief. We were shaken, but jubilant.

Facts:
1. Overbreathing your reg @ 74 fsw is stressful.
2. Loosing you mask and reg @ 74 fsw while breathing hard is stressful.
3. Knowing that you are running low on air, have lost your mask, and can not see your depth gauge or air remaining (due to lost mask) is stressful.
4. No fish is worth your life.

[wheelman]

[quote=Matt P;104728]Second closest call...my wife almost saw the receipt for my dry suit. But, I dodged that bullet...shwoo![/quote

The only treatment for that is new furniture. Your a lucky man.

[captain]

Getting hit on the arm by a dragging anchor. I was diving in Toledo Bend Lake when a thunder storm came up with high winds and a boat that was anchored near by broke loose. Vis was only about 5 feet so even if I would have been looking in the direction it came from I probably would not have had time to dodge it. Luckly it was my arm and not my head.

[dannybot]

Cozumel last December. First trip, took kids. We all had AOW, but no real open water dives. When we came out of a swimthrough at the edge of the wall, my 13 year old son was not neutrally buoyant, went over the edge of the wall and fell from 80 ft to 106 ft before I could catch him. We could only see dark below us. All subsequent dives, the adults led the way.