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I think a lot of instructors don't stress awareness enough. In Mexico I think they often go a little overboard with removing / swapping directional arrows in classes but they seem to put a greater emphasis on it than what most Florida instructors do.
I've been on at least five dives where a member of my team missed either that T or the one farther in, so don't feel bad about it and thanks for sharing. The only advice I have to offer is to pay close attention to where you are going. I've also been in parallel lines and Angel's Fear in Ginnie multiple times where my buddies (with hundreds of cave dives) have missed a T. It only takes a minute of distraction to go the wrong way and a camera (or survey, or dpv, or other activity) tends to add distraction to the dive.
Hey, you did look like a badass!
:)
inb4 the call to remove gold line T's
Dominick,
My wife and I had a wakeup call, kind of similar in France. Theres is a cave that bifucates then comes back together. It has a notoriously hidden T, and the lines in France are not nice like here. On the way in we saw the T from the high side and marked it. The line was exactly the same as the main line and drops down to the other side of a rock ledge. On the way out we saw a yellow line coming down to the mainline we were exiting on. The thin yellow line was coming from the back side of a rock. We assumed it was a jump and continued along since it was nothing like the line we saw from the top side. After a couple of minutes, the cave looked different and our exit time didn't fit our time on the way in. I knew the cave map well, so I knew we were in the lower section exiting as opposed to the upper we came in through. Rather than distressing my wife, I continued the exit. Several minutes later she turned to me with "I think we just killed ourselves eyes" and a note in her wetnotes that said "R we lost". I gave her a smile and a signal to continue on. The whole exit she hoped I was right, but secretly thought I may be going the wrong way. After the dive we had a long sit down debrief on situational awareness and making sure both team members know the cave map thoroughly ( I did, she didn't). Once back at our chalet, our local contact smiled and laughed because the T is missed on a regular basis. The reason is it's very hidden and the line setups in France are non-standard and change monthly sometimes. At the time this particular line was patched together with several different types and colors of line. We saw the white side coming in, but couldn't see the yellow line tied into the white on the opposite side.
So I get that stuff happens and applaud you sharing. It's how we get better and learn. It can happen to anyone, as it did my wife and I.
But, just an added opinion....Everyone's been pretty easy on you since they know s*it happens. But to miss that huge ass T in little river and nobody in a 3 man team not realize it until you make it back to the Florida room? That's pretty bad. While that huge T can be missed it's not that hard to miss. Especially in a team of 3. And making it all the way back to the florida room and not realizing how far off of time you are is a pretty huge miss in it's own right. I'm not "scolding" you, but I think it's time reassess a few things:
-If you're missing the split T in Little River, then maybe reassess if you really need to be taking photos. Photos are like a scooter, you need to have your crap together before considering adding it to your diving. I think at least Abe Davis level
-If your team of 3 all missed the T and got that far back into the cave, you all really need to reassess your team skills. I would consider that 3 solo divers following each other blindly, which is not a team.
Again, I commend you airing the mishap. Most people wouldn't. When we had our screw up my wife and I took a day off of diving to do some strong assessments of our diving. At the end of it all we came up with it just being a mistake. We never again will assume an odd line is a jump. Any unknown connecting line gets close examination. So I think taking a really contemplative look at the situation together with your teammates is a smart idea.
So, I can chime in on this one. It was just a few months back, my buddy and I had taken the shortcut tunnel between the Ts on the merry go round side. I was #2 diver, so first out as we were exiting. As my buddy was wrapping up the jump reel, from the short-cut tunnel, I slowed to let him catch up. I did not immediately see his light, so I did a quick look-back. Once I confirmed he was right behind me, I turned straight to head "out".
That quick "look back" in High flow was all it took for me to blow right by the Triangle. It was only a few seconds before I got that sinking feeling, that something was NOT right. I don't even think it was the flow, but the direction of the cave was all wrong. A couple more fin kicks and a line arrow confirmed, that I was going in the wrong direction. The problem at that point, was that It was not clear how I had gotten turned around. I thought: how could I have possibly missed that big @$$ arrow.
My buddy was still right behind me, so I turned, and gave the thumb. Withought any fuss, we swam back to the arrow and safely out. FWIW, post dive, my buddy said he noticed me blowing past the arrow, but wanted to let me figure it out. Not thrilled about that... I would prefer signals and a WTF signal in the future. :-/
To the OP, ..I know the flow is way down, and it's not hard for that to change some of the aspects of this dive.
Having said that, you did swim past a couple sets of double arrows that should have given you a clue that you were going back into the cave.
Glad it all turned out ok!
My first time on the parallel line I missed the first T. Didn?t know it until I turned on thirds. Then saw it. Was glad I had studied the map and familiar with the hill 400. Went back the next day and did it again but did not do any of the T?s. Then the next day went from the other direction. Still have a cookie on the first one. Need to go back and get it [emoji3]Quote:
Originally Posted by EGIB
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I had a similar experience in Jackson Blue about 10 years ago, on a scooter. Exiting, went on the merry-go-round, crusing along and then I saw the same marker again. Awareness is key - Cameras and task loading are typically the culprits.
JB can be a real bi***, here is my story. The first time I scootered past the 3rd T I got hung up real bad. It was horrible!Quote:
Originally Posted by mfascuba
Ended up doing 5-6 full loops on the circuit at the 4th T right at the very end of the rabbit hole and went back out the upper route to the 3rd T by the Kings Canyon.
In between, at the 4th T, I waitet at the stop light each time for it to change to green but the darn thing wouldn't so I just kept turning right on red.
Glad that stupid red light was on the way in and not the way out...
:roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by nakatomi