The last week or so has been plagued with bad weather and ongoing personal issues that will soon be over – God! I hope so!

Last Friday night we were suppose to take the Red October out to a deep lobster spot.

Although there was a high surf advisory, the ocean was calm at 5 PM.

When we got to the boat at 6:30 PM, the wind had kicked up and the waves were crashing against the breakwater.

We canceled the boat trip and called off the weekend with the supposed approaching storm.

Sunday was shot, and I was a no show, but apparently some brave souls from Kansas decided to test the Pacific sea gods by daring to enter the Cove at Terranea Resort, regardless of the warning signs.

Thanks once again Max Bottomtime for the following video:

To view the video on YouTube, click here.

We have another lobster trip scheduled for tonight.

Hopefully, we will make it out and stuff our bags.

Thank you, Crazy Ivan for bringing this to my attention.

This seems, or at least initially appears to be, a shear case of panic, followed by a mad dash to the surface.

There also seems to be some speculation on the thread at Scubaboard.com, that the student’s ascent was initially slowed by the instructor, but the student fought him off.

As ScubaBoard user Merxlin speculates, “Based on the symptoms (frothing, etc.), it was probably a barotrauma caused by rapid ascent due to panic. From my conversation with them, the rapid ascent occurred in the final 15 to 20 ft.”

Not becoming an instructor is getting to be a better and better idea, at least for me.

My condolences to the family.

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November 1, 2009 – AVALON, Calif. A Redlands woman died after suddenly surfacing during her deep-sea certification test on Catalina Island Sunday, deputies said.

Mona Towle, 56, died while being rushed from Avalon to Two Harbors, where she was to be treated for apparent decompression sickness, L.A. sheriff’s deputy Robert Domin said.

Emergency personnel worked to revive Towle after she suddenly surfaced from more than 65 feet below the water at a marine sanctuary just north of Avalon’s casino, another deputy said.

Towle was reportedly experiencing problems with her scuba equipment while ascending to the water’s surface. Divers must ascend at a rate slow enough to avoid “the bends,” a painful physical condition caused by an excessive concentration of nitrogen in the bloodstream.

The diver was being transported by boat for treatment at a hyperbaric chamber when her heart stopped, deputies said.

The original article is here.