Scuba diving at Point Lobos State Park and Marine Sanctuary.

The year was 2005, wow, when I write that date down it seems so far away but feels like yesterday.  We had recently come off of a dive trip to Cozumel with some friends, and planned a post dive trip to Point Lobos State Marine Preserve in Carmel, CA.

The Point Lobos State Marine Preserve only allows 30 divers per day, so if you have a large party or want to make certain that you can dive on a specific day, then securing a reservation is the only way to go.

We took a beautiful hike called the North Shore trail along the banks of the ocean. The weather was beautiful and there were plenty of wild flowers.  The weather was beautiful and the water looked flat in Whaler’s cove.

Our dive plan was to take a Zodiac boat around the entrance to Whalers Cove and dive the Cannery Point Pinnacles.  We were all advanced divers, the water was rougher than I would have asked for on this day, but since we had a reservation we did not have an option to wait until the next day.  It appeared that the waves were crashing and peaking right where we planned to enter.

The captain of our boat had been diving since he was 13.  He was very experienced. He was diving with our family friend Mike, which is how we met the group.

There was another couple in the group, they had their own zodiac boat.  They were advanced divers as well.   We were all confident in our experience, maybe overly so.

The sea was rough this day, once we past the surf, and motored out past Whaler’s Cove, the swells were 3-5’ feet high.  One second you saw the second boat, the next second they were behind the swell.

I did not want to get into the water. I was afraid.  I was starting to feel sea sick, so I knew that the best option for me was not to be waiting for the team on the surface. I don’t normally get sea sick. I needed to get into the water and get down below where the water should have been calmer.

We stopped and dropped the anchor. There were markings on the rope to measure the depth.  10’, 20, 30’ etc. I was expecting the depth to be 60’ as that is what we had discussed in the plan, it kept going 70’, 80, and finally it rested on the bottom at 90’.  Well that was deeper than I expected to be diving today.  And deeper than I wanted to be diving today.

I was an experienced diver; at this time I had been diving for 7 years.  I had made hundreds of dives during these seven years. I had certainly dove deeper than 90’, as I had dove Devil’s Throat in Cozumel at 132’.  Just recently we made a dive to 122 feet… in warm water.  This was cold Pacific water, and we were weighted down with our farmer john 7 mil dive suite, bcd, tanks, regulators, depth meters, dive computers, hood, gloves, weights and flash lights.

One of the most important rules of diving is that if you are diving outside of your comfort zone or experience level abandon the dive. This rule came to mind on this day. But I gave myself a good pep talk and told myself that I was surrounded by experience, had plenty of my own experience, and I been afraid to dive before and had a great time.  Plus, it was not going to go well for me on that boat with these swells.

I got into the water. It was cold. The swells were making me nauseous at the surface.   The experienced team was quickly ready to descend and so was I.  We started our descent, it wasn’t bad the water was a murky army green, with a hint of yellow.  I could feel myself relaxing into the water, and focused on my breathing and equalizing, relieving the pressure in my ears.

I reached for my depth gauge; 20’, 30’ the water was getting darker, 40’, 50’, 60’ the light was gone but I had my flashlight in one hand, 70’, 80’, 86’ we hit bottom and I couldn’t see a thing.

I landed on my feet.  Not being able to see wasn’t my biggest problem.  There was a 10’ surge on the bottom, so it was difficult to see anyone.  It was impossible to stand still. Where was my husband? Where were the other experienced divers? I started to panic.

This was not the calm that I expected to find at the bottom.  I could see my husband and a few flash lights.  My heart was beating rapidly as I was terrified.  It was dark, pitch black, cold, impossible to see, and because of the surge, I couldn’t get organized.  I like to take a moment to take inventory of my dive gear when I get to the bottom but I couldn’t.  I didn’t feel comfortable enough to take the next step and find neutral buoyancy.  With better visibility I would have never allowed myself to hit the bottom, but I couldn’t see.

I felt frazzled. I was hanging onto my husband for dear life.  I could see Mike, he looked and gave me the signal if I was ok.  I was alive.  I gave him the symbol for ok back. I was not ok.  The next thing I see was his fins kicking in the distance.  Wait. I wasn’t ready.  I am not ready yet.  Why are they leaving us?

Now it’s just me and my husband in this deep dark ocean.  I am still clinging to my husband I motion to him that I want to go back to the surface.  I am abandoning this dive.  I can’t breathe enough air in this tank to manage my fright.  He agrees.

There is a dive ascent/descent line attached to the anchor with lights.  We make our way over to the ascent line.  We start to Ascend. I feel so much better.  We get to about 60’ and I can start to see some light in the water. My dive computer alarm goes off, I am ascending too fast.  I stop kicking my fins, but the alarm does not stop, it’s the swells that are taking us up with them but I do not know that at the time. I assume I have too much air in my BCD.

I attempt to release some of the air but release too much and quickly descend back to the bottom of the ocean. What the heck just happened? I just dropped 25 feet in seconds. Why am I on the bottom again in total blackness?  Now I am hyper ventilating into my regulator. My husband is right there next to me so the same thing happened to him. Thank God. I don’t know what would have happened if I were alone.

This time I am getting out of here.  I add a little air to my bcd and start to gently kick for the surface. I focus on my breathing as to not damage my lungs. I am breaking dive rules and my dive alarm is going off, I don’t care. I just want out of this water.   I make it to the surface, and relief floods my body. I feel like crying but I am in a kelp bed and I can’t move, but I am so happy to be alive. I am also slight terrified and expect the bends to set in at any minute.

I see my husband at the surface a few minutes later. He is trying to make his way over to the boat. The other team is also trying to get into their boat too.  They have also abandoned the dive. I can’t move towards the boat at all, as I am completely wrapped in the kelp.  My husband comes to my rescue and starts cutting me free.

I make my way to the boat.  I’m too heavy and too tired to get into the boat.  I cling to the side.  My husband gets into the boat and pulls me into the boat.  I feel more relief.  The other dive group is leaning over the side of the boat getting sick.  I am sitting in the middle of the boat waiting to get the hell out of here.

About 20 minutes later, giving us a chance to calm down, the other dive team surfaced.  I am pretty pissed that these experienced divers would just abandon us but I don’t let it show.  They are not paid guides.  They are our friends.

I sit and suffer in silence waiting to see if I experience any symptoms related to the Bends.  I told my husband the first thing I want to do when we get off this boat is to seek medical treatment. So far I have no signs.

We travel back to land mostly in silence.  Mike is still excited about his trip and tell us what he saw.  I am trying not to spoil his dive high, so I smile at him. I am not smiling on the inside.

We get back to land and I help the team put the boat away.  We pack up our dive gear.  My husband is not overly concerned about the bends, as we were not at depth long enough.  I feel some relief but I would feel better getting looked over by a medical professional.  Needless to say, there are not a lot of doctors that specialize in diving.

I call my dive insurance and they offer to rush a team out to me.  I tell them I don’ think that is necessary at the time since I am not experiencing any systems.  The give me the location of two hyperbaric chambers that are close to me.  If I choose the treatment, I must stay in the chamber 48 hours.  I decide I should wait to see if I experience any systems, but at least I have some answers.  I promise to see a dive doctor as soon as possible. The give me the name and number of a doctor in Sacramento.

Since I’ve opted not to get into the hyperbaric chamber.   I did see the physician when I returned and received a well-deserved lectured me on diving outside of my experience or comfort level.

I am almost embarrassed to tell this story as I do have a beautiful friend Liz McTernan with a dive experience that almost killed her and left her paralyzed from the waist down.  She did get the bends, when her BCD malfunctioned at 130′ towards the end of her dive. She is now a competitive para-triathlete, and is about to compete in the 2017 Iron Man World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in later this month.

Wishing Liz the best, and I hope she wins.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4843370/Para-triathlete-left-paralysed-diving-accident.html#ixzz4ulAzBlgL

Knowing Liz’s story makes me appreciate and understand how fear can drive you make a stupid mistake while diving.  She was an experienced diver and had not made any mistakes.  Her circumstance was out of her control. What if I had panicked towards the end of my dive? Would the story have a different ending?

After 20 years, I am still diving today and I know I would not make these same mistakes today.

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Have you ever had a diver experience that embarrasses you?

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