Out over New Years this year Dave, Dad, and I decided to do a dive at McEnery Cove. I had been there before, and had a good dive - seeing all kinds of wall life, 5 alabaster nudibranchs in one spot on the wall, and the largest sea pen I've ever seen.

We headed off into the deep, finding pleasant vis of 40 - 50 feet, and a stepped wall that displayed cup corals, sea stars, tube worms, anemones, etc. Dad flashed his light at me to show me a piece of rope that had a boom dog attached to it. We like to stay at log booms at times, so these little critters come in handy to tie the boat off.

Dad gave me a sign to slice this reward off the rope. I took out my dive knife and cut at the polly rope for all I was worth - noting the depth just before we stopped - 70 feet. I used the serrated part of the knife for a while, then used the sharp end (HA! HA!). Swapping back top the serrated end, and after about a minute or two of intense work, the rope separated to give us this precious $5.00 piece of metal.

We continued the dive, but I was somewhat out of breath. I pulled long deep breaths, but couldn't seem to get enough air. My instincts told me to head for air above - it's only 70 feet to the top - I could be there in only a matter of 70 seconds. Dave was checking out some of the local life, so I signalled to Dad to head up a bit. There was no way at this point I was going to give any definite sign that there was any stress caused by my overexertion, I was too close to panic to be able to do anything like that. Thinking back I'm sure Dave and Dad had no way to know there was even a problem. In the back of my mind I thought of the Rescue Training Course, STOP - BREATHE - THINK - ACT! I swam to a log, held on tight, and took long, slow, deep breaths, as my heart seemed to try to beat it's way out of my dry suit. In a matter of seconds all was well, and we continued our dive in a stress free environment - (we also had this precious $5.00 prize).

After the dive was over I talked with my buddies, and neither was aware of my situation. They couldn't have known unless they really watched my every movement at the time of the problem. This isn't the norm when diving. It's generally understood that we watch our buddies for any significant signs of problems, but nobody would have noticed this one.

Self rescue is an important skill in diving, every one should try to learn the different techniques involved to make your dives, and your buddies safer - more enjoyable.