I’ve done a fair amount of SCUBA but this was my first time in cold water.  We were diving a 350’ vertical wall, but weren’t planning to go that deep.  I was enjoying the new conditions northern waters presented, but was having some minor difficulties with the rental gear.  As with most major accidents, my drowning was a series of little problems adding up to, and exacerbating a critical malfunction.

The rubber hood kept pushing my mask askew and I often had to clear the water out of it.  I also found the heavy mittens made doing things more difficult than using bare hands.  At 10 feet, I had balanced my buoyancy to neutral but now at a depth of 100’, pressure had squeezed the tiny air bubbles out of the thick neoprene wetsuit.  This made me heavier than water and as I swam out over the remaining 250’ abyss, I began to sink rapidly.

Strangely, I had the same vertigo sensation that I would’ve had standing at the edge of the roof of a twenty-story building.  I kicked my flippers and scrambled back onto the ledge.  My breathing became moderately heavier from the small amount of extra exertion and the mild fright.

ClickBank Pirate means Automatic Loot

I was about to adjust the air in my buoyancy control vest, when I checked my gauges.  My breathing air supply was down to only half a tank remaining which meant we should start heading back to the surface.  I indicated my breathing air status to my partner, and he signed back that we would start our slow ascent.

I still hadn’t solved my buoyancy issue, but I turned my head briefly to view a starfish on the rock wall.  I swiveled my head back and suddenly began to breath seawater.  My drowning death had now begun.