A Free Ascent - the Last Resort? Part Il

We asked you if you had ever made a free ascent or CESA.

Although many readers who responded said they'd never been taught to do a free-ascent, some said they were limited to the lung-expansion-risk-free simulated free-ascent, making a 30-foot horizontal swim in a pool while continually exhaling.

Many PADI instructors, including Bob Halem (San Jose, CA), were quick to tell us free ascent from 20-30 feet is always taught during the open-water part of the PADI Open Water Diver course, with manual inflation of the BC at the surface. (We are sorry we got that wrong and apologise for our error.)

PADI Course Director Patti Stewart (St.Croix, USVI) said, "In open water, we perform [such] an ascent with physical contact to the student while the instructor maintains contact with a taut ascent line."

Trained or not, some readers have needed to make a CESAs (controlled emergency swimming ascent while diving. While equipment failures can be a cause, we're surprised how many people searching for lobsters ran out of air.

Equipment Failure and Diver Errors

Nothing mechanical is entirely reliable, and your regulator is a prime example, as Jeff Janak (Dallas, TX) found out. While diving at Palancar in Cozumel recently, he was 55 feet down and descending when he heard a boom and discovered that his tank O-ring had blown. "I checked my air. It was 550 psi only two minutes into my dive."

His divemaster quickly gave him her octopus, and they started ascending, but at 30 feet, "I exhaled and inhaled nothing but water. The mouthpiece had come off the octopus, and it was shooting all around in free-flow. I decided to do an emergency free accent. I did not rocket to the surface. I went as slowly as my breath would take me. I had never practiced a free ascent. I wish I had!" Nonetheless, he made it unscathed.

Presumption is the mother of diver failures, as Joe Smariga (Fort Lauderdale, FL) found out. "I started down 70 feet to the bottom, and then the tank sucked dry. I immediately started a free ascent -- no issues after that. I had a very slow leak in my second stage. I had not turned my tank off after aborting the previous day's dive and assumed the tank was full and never checked my gauges before that morning dive."

Mistakes can come back to bite you. Jim Lipow (Riverside, CA) was recently diving from the Roatan Aggressor. "I failed to remove my regulator's first stage after a dive. My buddy and I rushed to be first in the water on the following dive and made a routine descent to a 35-foot bottom. I checked my air gauge only to see I had an empty tank. [It had not been refilled.] Breathing became difficult, so I signaled to my buddy that I was out of air, [made a free-ascent] and started straight up, slowly exhaling."

He was only 35 feet away, but after that experience, he was optimistic. "To save my own life, I think I could do [a free ascent] from 60 feet, probably 45 feet no sweat, but 60 feet? It's definitely my limit."

We hope he's right.

A regulator failure is rare, but should it happen, it is tough to deal with, as Kevin Darnell (Wichita Falls, TX) learned. "My regulator had a swivel port, and the set screw came apart [with a disastrous leak]. I was at 60 feet and used my octopus until the tank ran out at 30 feet, where I had to make a CESA."

Lobsters Can Kill You!

Most divers learn whether they can make a controlled free ascent when circumstances dictate. Jeffrey Smith (Chalfont, PA), who trained in a YMCA scuba class in 1974, said, "I was 20 years old and ran out of air diving off New Jersey. I was more interested in getting the damn lobster out of the hole than paying attention to my pressure gauge. I was 85 feet down and swear I had sucked a dent into the side of the tank by the time I got up. Experience taught me well. I have not repeated that dumb stunt in the 2,400-plus dives since."

The hunt for lobsters seems to be a common thread among those with a tale to tell, among those who survive. Ken Kurtis (Beverley Hills, CA) wrote, "It's probably the single-most common cause of fatalities or close calls on the opening lobster hunt weekend in SoCal. People get 'bug fever' and are so focused on getting a lobster that they stop paying attention to air supply, sometimes with tragic results."

Tom Furkles (Boca Raton, FL) remembers, "Years ago, while grabbing lobsters at 70 feet, I ran out of air. Dumping the lobsters, I kicked off and began an ascent, watching the depth gauge and a timer, and exhaling slowly, I ascended to 30 feet, where my tank's air had expanded enough to deliver another breath."

Bob Speir III (Church Falls, VA), who started diving out of Destin, Florida, in the mid-1960s, wrote, "The only time I got in serious trouble was once when I was chasing lobsters at 75 feet and ran out of air when I was breathing hard. I lost eyesight, leg, and arm control just as I broke the surface . . . . should mention that the result of this type of diving is now considered careless and stupid."

He thinks CESA should be taught correctly in training. "Since the lowest level of training is so dumbed down now, it should be addressed but not attempted until the novice diver has more underwater time."

Ron Ball (Carlsbad, CA) told how "I didn't pay much attention to my gauge. I had just speared a halibut at 65 feet when I took my last breath. I nearly panicked, signaled my dive buddy I was going up, and exhaled all the way, but had to ascend very fast. When he got to the surface, my buddy exclaimed,' Do you always ascend that fast!' I should have asked for his octopus."

Life is What Happens to You ...

As John Lennon wrote, "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." You need to be prepared for unforeseen and unfortunate events. Things don't always work out as planned.

Ex-Costa Rica dive guide, Blaine Newlin (Tomball, TX), has made a free ascent twice. "Both times, I was guiding, and some tourists dropped their weight belts getting on the boat. [The first time] I went looking for the weights. I cruised around for quite a while before I spotted the weights on the sand. I descended to 80 feet, got on my knees, and pulled out a lift bag. My gauge barely registered any pressure. I'd taught what to do; now it was time to try it. It proved super easy ascending. I even got an additional breath halfway when the differential pressure was less."

Mike Dillard (Oklahoma City, OK) learned the hard way in similar circumstances. "It was 70 feet for me. I was out of air and struggling to free the anchor. Physical exertion made it hard to hold on to even the small amount of air in my lungs."

I make it a habit to exhale (with my regulator in my mouth) every time I ascend, pausing to take a renewed breath before continuing to ascend again. It's a good habit to get into. During the times I've been forced to ascend directly to the surface, such as when I had an SMB reel jam during deployment and was dragged up in a strong current, I exhaled all the way. So, any time I ascend, especially from the last 15 feet, I exhale. It becomes muscle memory.

That said, a controlled emergency swimming ascent is your last resort and one you should never have to take.

John Bantin