Lobster hunting off the “Island Diver” boat with the Divevets Group

Secret Location: 41 20 74 77 65 6e 74 79 20 6d 69 6e 75 74 65 20 72 69 64 65 20 6f 66 66 20 74 68 65 20 53 70 61 6e 69 73 68 20 52 6f 75 6e 64 20 42 65 61 63 68 20 69 73 20 61 20 66 61 72 6d 20 77 68 65 72 65 20 6f 6e 6c 79 20 70 69 70 65 73 20 61 72 65 20 67 72 6f 77 6e 2e

Solo diving/night diving

In With: 2700 psi
Out With: 500 psi
Max depth: 100 feet
Waves: Light chop
Visibility: 10 feet, silty
Water Temperature: Cool, but warmer than the air
Total Bottom Time: 25 minutes
Notable Event: One rescue assist/tired diver tow

Another charter with the Divevet’s crew.

Everyone dove except Laila, who was the DM and had a cold.

We had originally intended on going last night, but the swells were too big and the trip was canceled.

I was one of the first off the boat and went South.

About half way through I grabbed three lobsters.

The dive was pretty barren, but I was only looking for lobsters.

I surfaced probably 100 yards from the boat; it was a long and slow surface swim back.

Laila and the Captain greeted me; I was the first one back.

I was double checking my lobsters as Kathy K was climbing back on board.

In the distance we heard, “Help me! Please help me!”

Someone on the boat said, “No, please not tonight.”

Again to the South East, “Help me! please help!”

I grabbed my fins and jumped in the water; Kathy K followed behind.

I lost site of the diver and yelled, “Where are you?”

“Over here.”

Kathy K ordered him to drop his weights; the diver did, either upon Kathy K’s instruction or beforehand.

I corrected course and got to the diver.

The diver complained of breathing problems and needed a tow.

I started towing the diver.

I think another diver named Ed made it to us at this time (no relation to ‘Instructor Ed’ from previous posts).

Kathy K instructed the diver to take the BC jacket (tank, rig, etc) off; she handed it to Ed.

So now I’m thinking, “How the hell do I tow this diver?”

Relying on my deadly Jiu-jitsu instincts, I looped my arm underneath his arm pit from his back and kept swimming towards the boat.

Kathy K initially called over to Captain Alec that, “Alec, we need the boat!”

Captain Alec responded, “You’re doing fine, just keep coming.”

Within a few minutes, we were all at the boat.

The diver regained his breath and eventually crawled on to the boat.

A Lifeguard boat came to check the diver out.

There was only one diver in the water by that time and it must have surprised him to see the lifeguards there; they were careful not to run him over.

The diver didn’t like the oxygen mask and after the Lifeguards talked to the diver for a while, all further assistance was refused.

Casino Point, Catalina, CA

Dove with Instructor John and his Open Water students Pedro, Leeza, Cheech and his two advanced students.*

John’s wife Rebecca came along to bubble watch.

In With: 2000 psi
Out With: 1200 psi
Max depth: 60 feet
Waves: 1 to 2 feet, insignificant
Visibility: 25 feet
Water Temperature: Cool
Total Bottom Time: 15 minutes
*Student names have been changed.
Notable Event: Dealt with a tired and panicked diver.

The idea was to go to the barge with the group.

I went down first, the rest followed.

Cheech was a little lost getting down, it took him a little over a minute.

John lead, I took up the back.

Leeza’s fin fell off; I put it back on.

We followed John through some kelp down to a sandy portion of the floor at 60 feet.

Leeza just stopped, kneeling on the sandy bottom.

She didn’t seem panicked, maybe just tired.

I gave her the “Are you OK?” sign.

No response.

I asked again.

No response.

She opened her eyes a little, looked over, raised up her middle towards me and gestured “up” – maybe she was just giving me the finger?

I grabbed her by the BC shoulder strap and started slowly dragging her towards the surface.

I had to kick hard, but was happy to see the bottom get smaller.

It seemed like the longest swim to the surface that I can remember.

Once we broke the surface, I noticed we were outside the park.

I told Leeza to put air in her jacket; I thought she did.

I asked her if she wanted to go in – that was a stupid question!

I won’t ask next time in a similar situation.

“Yes, let’s go in,” she said.

The class had continued without us.

I lifted the buoy line up and towed Leeza under the park’s border.

I then continued to tank tow her to the stairs.

“We need to go in right now!” she yelled.

I said calmly, “We’re going there; it’s just going to take a few minutes.”

As we approached the stairs, the rest of the class was climbing out.

“John!” I yelled.

He looked over, as he was looking for us.

“How’s Leeza?” John asked.

“She’s really tired.”

We helped her out and up the stairs; she was exhausted.

Leeza later explained that she was nauseas.

The only thing that she had to eat was a cup of coffee for breakfast.

John thinks she’s hyperglycemic and is requiring her to eat before she dives from now on.