Beat this for bottom time (this is not a challenge)

[campervandave]

no disrespect, but you should have binned the dive long before you got into that state, say, at the apprehensive stage, having said that you were quite lucky realy and im glad your ok, few lessons learned there i think, for all of us!

[Polly]

I think in all fairness many of us have still dived at the 'apprehensive stage'. It's really difficult to know where the line is between being a little anxious about something new and different and the gut feeling of knowing when something just isn't right. There are also many buddies who would still tell us 'don't worry, you'll be fine' by way of encouragement, rather than meaning to apply pressure.

I've only ever once dived when I was really unhappy with the situation and I swore I'd never do it again. I felt I was being pressured by the people on the boat into something I didn't want to do but they were being quite impatient so I didn't feel I could take any longer to descend. Luckily, I didn't have a panic but I did go through my air in about half the usual time. If I felt like that now, I wouldn't even contemplate the dive, but that's with hindsight...and a lot more experience. The story could well have turned out differently.

I'm glad that someone was honest enough to post such a detailed account of what it feels like to have a full-on panic underwater...if anyone else were to find themselves in such a horrible situation it might bring them some comfort to know that they're not the only one it can happen to. Though probably not at the time - it seems pretty obvious you don't give a crap about anybody or anything other than getting to the surface once you hit a certain level, which is what we're taught in Rescue but it can be difficult to comprehend as an observer.

Anyway, m00c0w - get your mask and blow some bubbles in the bath for now and keep us updated with your news!

[Bobco]

Agree with the above, if in doubt , then don't, peer pressure is the last thing to think of in the situation you found yourself in. As you note, PANIC, can be the thing that stops a recoverable situation, and turns it into a life threatening one. The ability to control the welling fear takes training and experience.

I fear many divers embark on testing dives without a vast amount of either of the above, and this is meant in no way as a criticism of your good self, I have no right to judge.

Good luck, as as above, get back on the house, but walk around it a few times before you take it ovet the jumps .

[m00c0w]

Thanks for all the support and comments. At no point did I feel any pressure for my buddie(s). Of course there were words of encouragement but I suppose the only pressure was what I had put on myself. I've ditched a dive in the past so I'd have no problems doing that again, and that felt worse than this instance. In fact my buddies were great and are giving me encouragement to get back in the water. I'm surprised they want to dive with me again! Not exactly the best first impression eh!? If I wanted to ditch they wouldn't have a problem at all.

My dive club are also great (Phoenix Divers). If I get the all clear then they will have a chat about who to buddy me with if I go to Ireland. I've fallen on my fins with those guys.

I also think I was probably slightly overweighted on this dive too, so that's something else to take away from it.

Onward and upwards - although with stops this time!

[neilh]

Good to see you're well enough to post and tell us about your incident, hope you recover both physically and mentally soon enough.

As others have said already don't be afraid to bin the dive on the surface. I'd much rather have an unsure or apprehensive buddy on the boat than underwater. There's always another day

I'm sure you'll be able to sort out some dives with the good folk of UKD to get you back into things gently whenever you're ready - or even to hook up for a chat and some banter without diving

[rick]

The experience sounds awful. Good to hear that at least you are in once piece.

All the best with getting back in the water (whenever you are ready)... hope the recovery goes well
As others have said, if you are 'up north' and fancy a shallow dip in capernwray then feel free to shout out

... and keep us posted as to how things are going... as Polly says, snorkelling can be pretty cool, too

[Carlylove]

I had an incident a while back, although mine was the opposite to yours and I was trying to stay down due to a stuck dry suit wrist dump (feet first like a rocket eventually but only from 8m after loads of slow ascents and some stops to load up with rocks - Thanks Dougalsdad ).

I dived not long after and didn't want to descend past 15M as that is where my fear (panic - apprehension - scaredecatedness) crept in.

Dived on holiday without a dry suit (25m) and all was well apart from my buddy dropping back down when I was at 50bar at 20m to get more pics (French t*sser) so DM forced him up (not literally but with lots of rude gestures) with me ascending with the DM's student,.

Maybe a little more experience (bad vis does feel a little claustrophobic) and a dive with no DS could get you back into it more slowly.

Hope you get back into this as there is obviously a reason you got into it in the first place

[divingdoc1]

hello again bud,,,is that phoenix in lyme bay?

[Devon Diver]

RE: Beat this for bottom time (this is not a challenge)

Total of more than 15 and a half hours over three days last October!

Seriously though, I had a hit (undeserved) last October and spent the next two months going through "do I want to dive? will it kill me next time? is it worth it? etc. (I might add I am a professional diver)

Got back in the water Christmas Day and am now back doing the same diving I was doing before.

A hit really screws with your head for a while, but after a couple of dives you remember the good times and the bad memorys fade.

Wishing you the best with future diving.

Roy

[m00c0w]

divingdoc1 Wrote:hello again bud,,,is that phoenix in lyme bay?

No, Phoenix based in Billericay, Essex.