I don’t want to leave you hanging about Roy but his family and friends have asked that I take down the post regarding his disappearance. The last thing I want to do is offend anyone and I know how hard it is to deal with the loss of loved ones and dive partners.
When you start diving you usually don’t even know what Shallow Water Blackout is or maybe have a vague idea. As years pass and you get more into the sport, you learn that it is something as Freedivers will encounter and more and more find that many, if not all of your friends have had an episode at some point in time and are usually reluctant to talk about it.
I don’t know quite how to explain it, but it is something that we don’t talk about.
When someone blacks out. They are usually in denial about it. I don’t know if they are embarrassed by it or just want to forget about it or just don’t quite believe it could happen to them. It happens, we learn from it.
As a dive partner you can only do so much. It is up to you as an individual to take some responsibility for your own diving and respect the ocean and your abilities and realize that anything can happen at any time.
I’ve done it, you’ve done it, and the best in the world have also pushed the limits at some point. We are cheating ourselves and our friends and every kid who is reading the forums or magazines thinking they need to dive 120 feet to get fish before they are ready. Some of us just aren’t built to do it.
I see too many people go to a Freediving class and claim to be 127 ft divers because they hit that mark in a controlled environment when they were relaxed and in the optimal diving conditions to make that happen.
When you get out of those classes you hit the real world of diving and while it will make you a better, safer diver, there are many who outside of the class can barely make 60 feet. It is a different world. Don’t feel the pressure to prove yourself to your friends or anyone else, just dive in your comfort zone and enjoy it. There are plenty of fish at 60 feet!
First, understand that the best thing you can do to become a safe diver is to go to one of these classes, don’t mistake my words, they are essential to becoming a safe diver. It will save your life and your friends when the time comes.
The most important reason to go to these classes is to learn the safety.
Most of the people I know that have blacked out have taken the classes already. Some of my best friends have had blackouts and another friend was there to save them. Its a smack to our ego and hopefully a bit humbling, but we move on and dive again.
But do you ever hear about it?
No.
When someone does pass away diving. We remain quiet, out of respect for them and their loved ones. Its a Catch-22 and I hope that it can change.
Talk about your SWB, Samba, blackout, etc. Let the rest of the world know what happened. If we are the “brotherhood” or “tribe” that everyone always talks about then lets do each other the justice of learning more about it and learning from mistakes that have already been made before someone makes them and isn’t around to tell the story.
I’ll write one of my screw ups diving every few that you all write each day for the next week in the comment section below. We all make mistakes. I am sure after reading mine and yours lives will be saved in the future.
If you ever used to get the magazine SKIN DIVER, their last page was always a story titled: I LEARNED ABOUT DIVING FROM THAT
It was always the first thing I turned to as a kid and I learned so much about what NOT to do from those who had already made those mistakes. Its your turn now.
If you care about the rest of us, your friends, family and fellow divers around the world. Share your story. I promise you it will save someones life.
Cameron Kirkconnell
photo courtesy of DJSTRUNTZphoto.com
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10 Responses to “I learned about diving from that…”
It was only the second tournament I’d ever done and I was feeling the pressure of competition and doing well and impressing the other divers. I guess it was the pressure of having other divers on the same spot without that camaraderie that I’m used to when we go out and just dive for fun.
I shot a big amberjack and there was a lot of current over the wreck, I was fighting him hard trying to keep him away from the sharks and out of the wreck and pulling hard on my float line as I was coming to the surface to keep the heat on him. Just as I was almost out of breath a sequence of bad things happened all at once:
1. the fish got in the wreck
2. when I slacked the line it somehow made a loop around my ankle and came tight
3. I blew out all my air since I was only 2 feet from the surface preparing for a breath
It stopped me so close to the surface that i could literally reach my hands into the air but could not get there.
All composure lost I flailed for a few seconds and frantically tried to untangle myself to no avail.
At the last second before I was blue in the face the fish came out of the wreck and I came gasping to the surface.
Still woozy I pulled the fish up and just as I got him to my hands, to make matters even worse, a 10 ft bull shark came blazing in to the frothing fish and tried to take him from me. There was another boat right there and they saw the commotion on the surface and I don’t think to that point I had ever been so happy to lay at the bottom of the boat.
I pushed my limits, overstressed myself for a competition and nearly lost my life with 8 other divers in the water who were all thinking about landing fish and not watching each other.
First and foremost. I should have taken care of myself first and not pushed my limits.
I should have cut the line straight away but at the time my knife was in a sheath on my leg. I will never wear one there again. It was what was wrapped in the line and I couldn’t get it out of the sheath.
Lesson learned. I got lucky.
I take exception to the line about freediving classes in a supervised environment versus “real world”.
I feel that the education and exposure to correct and safe methodology in the classroom and calm cove translate directly to the spearo’s ability to ehance his performance and safety. Pushing it, over exerting, trying for that last foot or second are comparable to the struggles encountered while trying to horse a fishout and up. The classes teach, or should teach that the best way to avoid the accident is the calm, trained awareness. Fighting a big AJ in an event only to have it nearly put the lights out on you is something that anyone espousing safety should just flat out say that they weren’t thinking. Its easy to back seat this instance but the first inkling of a sketchy outcome should have triggered letting go of the gun. A properly administered Freedive class and the follow through of training are as real world as spearing.
Thanks for sharing that experience with us- there’s so much to be learned from each other mistakes!
You just reminded me why carrying two knifes is a must for spear fishing- just in case you can’t get to one- hopefully you can reach the other one!
Roy always carried one big knife strapped to his leg. I know of a very experienced spear fisherman that doesn’t even carry a knife?! He told me that it’s dangerous because your lines can get wrapped on the knife? I’m not following the logic on this? I thought the main point of carry a knife is for diver safety in case we get wrapped in a line.
The other great lesson is about how loose lines can become a death trap. Just last year Roy and Toyota were out with a few inexperienced divers from Russia that they reluctantly accompanied to the tuna pinnacles. The second they hit the water Roy had them sized up and new he’d made a mistake. They were taking pot shots at anything and everything regardless of the distance or situation. They had their lines all over the place and wrapped around them as well. Some unlucky 40# GT swam by to take a look at what all the commotion was about- and one of the guys got lucky enough to get a spear into it. The guy who made the shot had his tag line wrapped around his leg and it quickly cinched tight with the fish dragging this huge-(300Lbs+) man towards the bottom. Roy swam down as fast as he could, grabbed the line below the guy and was able to put enough pressure on the fish to stop it’s tracks, which allowed the line to slack just enough around the guys leg that he was able to kick free and get to the surface- just before he was about to drown. It was one of closest calls Roy and Toyota can ever remember having with almost loosing one of their guests. If Roy hadn’t saved the day that guy most certainly would have drown.
Box cars? You did get lucky! Seriously, that “calm awareness” can’t be taught in a class. I think it comes with experience. Even so, the most experienced among us can fall prey to happenstance and bad things can happen. Cam and I both have a water polo background were we basically spent 50 hours a week in college in an all out war in the water. The water is our home. He has more diving experience than most anyone, but he is still sucpetible to it. No one is immune.
The longer I do this and the more I hear about terrible things happening to people, the more I am convinced that there is only one answer – a good dive buddies working together with a plan and sticking to it. Up down, up down. The Tampa area recently lost a diver over in Dubai. He was a very good diver, but was diving with inexperienced people who could not help when he got tangled in a net just 60 feet down.
Cam and I grew up diving “against” each other. Every trip was a two man tournament. Jump out of the boat and head in opposite directions. We are really lucky that we lasted long enough to realize how important it is to stick together. Now, I do the opposite, I am make sure I am always around the other diver. And I make sure there is a plan. With Cam or Ed or most other guys, there is no need to even talk about it. We just get in a sequence and go.
I was diving “against” Cam on the day I think he is talking about. I’m glad it worked out because I would have carried that loss the rest of my life. I am fortunate to learn the lesson before the tragedy happened.
Yep that was at the box cars. Got my ass handed to me. I did not have my gun in my hands I was letting the float line run through my hands as I ascended and just at the last minute it got ugly. From then on I wear my knife on my belt so I can reach it with either hand.
Correction: we only practiced and played water polo about 20-25 hours a week.
Since no one else seems to have ever screwed up when diving… I’ll just keep going!
When I first got certified to Scuba Dive we went the next week lobster diving in 80 ft of water. I found a big lobster in a hole that was on the underside of a low ledge and I somehow worked myself underneath it to get a hold of him in this funky hole. So my left arm is above me in the rock and the hole takes a 90 degree turn and I’ve got the lobster or so I think. I’ve worked myself so tight underneath the ledge and my other arm is on my side pretty much immobile so I can’t do anything to push myself out.
So I’m stuck underneath this rock at depth and can’t even see my gauges to tell how long I have to live. I can’t get out, can’t take my gear off, and can’t get my arm out.
I’m trying to relax and figure out what to do when I feel a hand grab my ankle and my dad pulls me out by one leg.
Back on the boat he says, “Bet you won’t do that again?!?”
I am sure I said something smart ass like ‘Yeah next time I’ll take my tank off first before I go under there…’
I was 12 years old. A lot has changed since then and I’ve become a much safer diver. If it hadn’t been for a good dive partner that day I might still be stuck under that ledge.
Cameron Kirkconnell
On one of my first shore-dives ever, I was diving alone in about 10 – 12meters of water in the Transkei (Wild Coast) in South Africa.
I had shot a stringer full of really decent fish, a big “Garrick” or Leatherfish, a nice musselcracker and an assortment of reef fish near an exposed rock about 700m offshore. As I was on my way in, I saw a big black musselcracker swimming underneath me. I had a feeling that I had already shot more than my fair share but I just had to dive and give chase.
Mistake 1:
I chased the fish for quite a distance until it offered a shot. I rushed the shot as I was tired after a hard swim and missed. My spear went straight through a clump of redbait attached to a rock as I had stupidly shot downwards towards the reef. I was a little upset with my stupid decision but thought I should recover my spear without too much hassle.
My actual shock came when I wanted to swim to the surface and came to the realization that in my blind pursuit of the Mussel Cracker, I had unknowingly swam towards the exposed rock and was now in water only about a meter deep. So, I stood up out of the water and what greeted me was a wall of water which at the time seemed like the most immense thing in the world. The wave broke over the rock and slammed into me like a brick wall.
Mistake 2: I was diving with a 1.1m Rob Allen reel gun (Still my favorite gun) which I had attached to myself with a 1m Bungee Chord. So, when the wave it me, it washed me back, tumbling about 80m – until all the line on my reel was gone, then, I was pinned to the bottom as the wave kept on pushing over me.
Mistake 3: When I realized what was happening, I decided to cut the line on the reel to free myself. The only problem was that the knife I was using was so blunt that it couldn’t cut through anything. Repeatedly, wave after wave came over, allowing me only seconds to get slight breaths but things were looking bad and I was sure I was a goner.
After what seemed like forever, I clicked that all I needed to do was drop my weightbelt as the gun was attached to it. Et Voila, I was free. I managed the swim to shore and I think I resembled a drowned rat when my friends came to greet me. I was able to swim out again an hour or so later and managed to retrieve my gun, But I learnt some valuable lessons.
1. Don’t dive alone – it’s a bad idea.
2. Don’t shoot more than you need. I think that day Neptune was out to teach me a lesson.
3. Always stay alert of your surroundings and what’s going on around you, even if you’re focused on a fish.
4. Always have a sharp knife with you.
5. Don’t attach a reel gun to your body, unless that attachment point is a belt reel.
6. Don’t think twice about dropping your weightbelt when you need to.
I’ve had quite a few other blunders, but let me think about those first…
Cam, I think this is a very good idea. If you all post things you’ve learned..maybe the hard way, it may make someone think about the way they are diving and change a thing or two that could save their life. By not second guessing each other, just putting it out there…it can be very valuable. I know most of you take diving safely seriously but there are so many variables. Each of you is too important to lose…take care of yourselves!
years ago, while in between scuba dives, the boat anchored near a tiny tropical island and we swam to it barefoot with just masks (sort of liberating after the scuba gear and boot/fin constriction.
at the island, mostly huge boulders, i couldnt resist a bit of freediving, telling myself that as long i dont go deep it should be fine and without a weightbelt or fins there was no way of it.
went down, looking at the huge stone wall at thousands of clams, found a tunnel. at the end of which i could see light. it was a long one but the excitement go hold of me and i somehow overlooked the fact i had no fins or weight belt on. went through it as fast as i could but half way through i started floating and felt my calves get shredded by the sharp clams and corals on the ceiling of the tunnel…i was stuck there running out of O2. luckily i had the calm of mind to quickly turn over facing the ceiling and crawled myself out.
the other side was a little lagoon surrounded by huge boulders. found another tunnel, a short one, out to the open sea. on the other side i was greeted by a shark the must have been attracted to my bleeding legs and all the commotion. i think i must have broke an olympic record by speed at which i swam to the boat!