Turns out it was the internal post that had gotten loose. The o-ring was completely mashed (see picture). Swapped it out and we’re ready to go again.

#scuva #diving #sidemount

And if you dive the Vapper and happen to find a black RK3 fin in perfect condition, 🤙; I’m happy to negotiate its return, or give you the missing one ;).

I’m also definitely going to redo a bunch of training to regain some muscle memories.

#diving #sidemount #scuba

Now, depending on who you ask, within recreational limits we should be able to shoot to the surface and be fine.

This being said, I immensely appreciate the team’s reaction and focus on my safety. They were ready to call a helicopter if I developed any symptoms.

What I took away from the experience:

- I need to fix my dump valve. I have a tendency to close it at the bottom out of a fear to get wet.
- I need to build muscle memory using the butt dump valve.

#diving #sidemount #scuba

At that point, someone on the boat yelled I only had one fin. They gave me another one, told me my buddy was on the line, and I joined them for a extended safety stop.

Back on the boat, the guys from the club were awesome: I was given a few tasks: sit, relax, drink a bunch of sodas and empty the O2 cylinder. I spent 1.5 hours on O2. I wasn’t allowed to lift anything, so everyone else carried my stuff to my car when back on shore.

#diving #sidemount #scuba

When I felt myself going up, I tried dumping everything, but couldn’t get the ascent under control. I went upside down and tried kicking to go back down. A big air bubble went to my legs and it appears I lost a fin. My computer vibrated to alert about rapid ascent (I presume, didn’t look), and I turned back around and held my arms up to brace in case I was going to hit the boat. I surfaced a couple meters from the boat, dumped air and tried to go back down.

#diving #sidemount #scuba