07-01-2003, 01:53 AM
I think it is time I share the "incident" that happened on Pelican Lake on June 21st at the Pierz-Marine clean-up dive (Fred's domain!!!). There were three of us in the buddy team: Myself , Becky and a 3rd diver.
The wind was blowing very hard from the south causing great numbers of white caps out on the lake. It was too rough to dive from the barges so they decided on using pontoons. I went in first , Becky last with the other diver in the middle. I noticed just how high the waves were when I was "paddling" over to join them. Becky noticed right away that something wasn't right. The other diver was going into a panic on the surface. Right away , we signaled diver in distress. :o
The other diver grabbed onto my left arm with a grip I have never felt before!!! The pontoon came towards us and we headed for one of the sides. Becky yelled that we have to get his weights off. We removed the belt but the buckle got caught on Becky's arm and took her down. She got it loose (finally) and when she came up the pontoon had blown quite a ways away.
Meanwhile I stayed with the other diver. I had the pontoon driver throw me a line attached to an anchor to use as a tow/swim line. All of a sudden the other diver lost his grip as a large wave slapped against us both. I lost my grip on him and he started to float away. The wind blew me and the pontoon away from him. I grabbed the line and started out after him. I screamed at him to put hig reg into his mouth. I had to grab it and put it right in front of him before he responded (thank goodness!!!). I then told him to grab onto me and I pulled us back to the pontoon using the rope line.
All this time , poor Becky had been trying to swim towards the pontoon but the wind was just too much to pick up any distance. We grabbed onto the pontoon again and just rested for a few minutes. My arms were just about gone by that time. I proceeded then to remove the other diver's BC. That seemed to take forever. Finally , we got it off. But as I learned , "NO LADDER"!!!. So the only way in was for the driver (a huge , strong guy thankfully) to lift his gear and then him out of the water.
With him safely on board I removed my harness (as best I could). As I yelled at them to pull it up , my 2nd bungied reg got caught in my hair. Gee Jean , no hood??? They pulled it out (YOUCH) but then who forgets their dry-suit inflator? My arms were so tired by that time they had to reach down and un-clip it for me. (Besides , I wouldn't let go of that pontoon for all I was worth) They got my gear up and then both of them reached down and pulled me up!!! A deck of the boat never felt so good beneath me!!!
We then were able to finally go over to Becky and throwing her the line she was able to swim over to the pontoon. She got her gear off and then was pulled aboard.
We then stopped and picked up the other divers that had been "cleaning-up" the bottom all this time. And who happened to be crusing around with them...Fred!!! We then headed for shore. I was so drained by the whole experience. And of course , Becky was too!!! It was quite a harrowing experience , to say the least!!!
The problem was that the other diver was over-weighted (we found out later) and had an BC inflator problem. With the high waves , it turned out to be almost disastrous!!!
My thanks to Becky for taking control of the situation right away. She was just great!
I know next time to check for a ladder , darn it!!! I certainly learned a lot that day and we all came back safe. That's the only thing that counts anyway. And of course , my Rescue class starts in about 2 weeks. Boy , do I ever realize now just how important that class is to take!!!
Jean
P.S. Hey , thanks Fred for all your help that day!!! And it was super to meet you for the 1st time , of course.
The wind was blowing very hard from the south causing great numbers of white caps out on the lake. It was too rough to dive from the barges so they decided on using pontoons. I went in first , Becky last with the other diver in the middle. I noticed just how high the waves were when I was "paddling" over to join them. Becky noticed right away that something wasn't right. The other diver was going into a panic on the surface. Right away , we signaled diver in distress. :o
The other diver grabbed onto my left arm with a grip I have never felt before!!! The pontoon came towards us and we headed for one of the sides. Becky yelled that we have to get his weights off. We removed the belt but the buckle got caught on Becky's arm and took her down. She got it loose (finally) and when she came up the pontoon had blown quite a ways away.
Meanwhile I stayed with the other diver. I had the pontoon driver throw me a line attached to an anchor to use as a tow/swim line. All of a sudden the other diver lost his grip as a large wave slapped against us both. I lost my grip on him and he started to float away. The wind blew me and the pontoon away from him. I grabbed the line and started out after him. I screamed at him to put hig reg into his mouth. I had to grab it and put it right in front of him before he responded (thank goodness!!!). I then told him to grab onto me and I pulled us back to the pontoon using the rope line.
All this time , poor Becky had been trying to swim towards the pontoon but the wind was just too much to pick up any distance. We grabbed onto the pontoon again and just rested for a few minutes. My arms were just about gone by that time. I proceeded then to remove the other diver's BC. That seemed to take forever. Finally , we got it off. But as I learned , "NO LADDER"!!!. So the only way in was for the driver (a huge , strong guy thankfully) to lift his gear and then him out of the water.
With him safely on board I removed my harness (as best I could). As I yelled at them to pull it up , my 2nd bungied reg got caught in my hair. Gee Jean , no hood??? They pulled it out (YOUCH) but then who forgets their dry-suit inflator? My arms were so tired by that time they had to reach down and un-clip it for me. (Besides , I wouldn't let go of that pontoon for all I was worth) They got my gear up and then both of them reached down and pulled me up!!! A deck of the boat never felt so good beneath me!!!
We then were able to finally go over to Becky and throwing her the line she was able to swim over to the pontoon. She got her gear off and then was pulled aboard.
We then stopped and picked up the other divers that had been "cleaning-up" the bottom all this time. And who happened to be crusing around with them...Fred!!! We then headed for shore. I was so drained by the whole experience. And of course , Becky was too!!! It was quite a harrowing experience , to say the least!!!
The problem was that the other diver was over-weighted (we found out later) and had an BC inflator problem. With the high waves , it turned out to be almost disastrous!!!
My thanks to Becky for taking control of the situation right away. She was just great!
I know next time to check for a ladder , darn it!!! I certainly learned a lot that day and we all came back safe. That's the only thing that counts anyway. And of course , my Rescue class starts in about 2 weeks. Boy , do I ever realize now just how important that class is to take!!!
Jean
P.S. Hey , thanks Fred for all your help that day!!! And it was super to meet you for the 1st time , of course.