worst ff thing to lose

"David LaCourse" wrote

Dave ( who was NOT a diver in the Navy)



tales of the weird: about 30 years ago, pamlico jim and i and another guy
were way up a tiny tributary to the alligator river in far eastern nc, jump
shooting ducks. water was black as tar. the boat owner/operator was
reckless as hell, and we were winding our way upstream far to fast. he
rounded a turn in the creek, the boat hit something (never found out what),
and out we all went, asses over elbows. my brand new browning pump came
along for the ride. miraculously, no one was hurt, and the boat simply
stuck itself in shoreline flora. i figured my gun was a goner. jim said he
would come back with some equipment and look for it, but i didn't figure
there was any chance.
next weekend, i'm back in greensboro, and jim calls. says he has my
gun, but it's "frozen up". he had taken another buddy back to the scene of
the crime, and they dove in 6-8' of black water feeling along the bottom.
amazingly, they found the damn gun. i asked him to take it to a gunsmith
and have him try to render it at least minimally operative. a couple weeks
later, i go down to pick up my browning, once again thinking the gunsmith
would just sadly shake his head and present me with a bill for his failed
efforts.
long story short, the damn gun, which was a pump, had been transformed
into the smoothest, sweetest functioning firearm i have ever experienced.
the smithy had torn it completely down, and cleaned/honed/polished every
surface. the action would operate by gravity alone. yeah, i paid him a ton
of money, but it was worth it. i ran a bunch of shells through "ol' swampy"
for about the next couple decades, until it was stolen from my old homeplace
by some sonofabitch from southern rowan county.
i hope it blew up in his face in some godforsaken dove field.

yfitons
wayno

On Sep 28, 1:33*pm, "Wayne Harrison" wrote:
"David LaCourse" wrote

Dave ( who was NOT a diver in the Navy)

tales of the weird: *about 30 years ago, pamlico jim and i and another guy
were way up a tiny tributary to the alligator river in far eastern nc, jump
shooting ducks. *water was black as tar. *the boat owner/operator was
reckless as hell, and we were winding our way upstream far to fast. *he
rounded a turn in the creek, the boat hit something (never found out what),
and out we all went, asses over elbows. *my brand new browning pump came
along for the ride. *miraculously, no one was hurt, and the boat simply
stuck itself in shoreline flora. *i figured my gun was a goner. *jim said he
would come back with some equipment and look for it, but i didn't figure
there was any chance.
* * next weekend, i'm back in greensboro, and jim calls. *says he has my
gun, but it's "frozen up". *he had taken another buddy back to the scene of
the crime, and they dove in 6-8' of black water feeling along the bottom.
amazingly, they found the damn gun. *i asked him to take it to a gunsmith
and have him try to render it at least minimally operative. *a couple weeks
later, i go down to pick up my browning, once again thinking the gunsmith
would just sadly shake his head and present me with a bill for his failed
efforts.
* * long story short, the damn gun, which was a pump, had been transformed
into the smoothest, sweetest functioning firearm i have ever experienced.
the smithy had torn it completely down, and cleaned/honed/polished every
surface. *the action would operate by gravity alone. *yeah, i paid him a ton
of money, but it was worth it. *i ran a bunch of shells through "ol' swampy"
for about the next couple decades, until it was stolen from my old homeplace
by some sonofabitch from southern rowan county.
* * i hope it blew up in his face in some godforsaken dove field.

yfitons
wayno

Great story. We call that Nth order effects in the military. Very
cool.
Frank Reid

On 2009-09-28 14:31:30 -0400, Bill Grey said:

Yes indeed a simple mistake for the uninitiated but with possible long
lasting consequences. The trick would have been to surface no faster
than your bubbles assuming you were breathing out.

Correct! Years later when I got my NAUI ticket I thought of that day
in Back Lake.

Dave

On 2009-09-28 14:33:32 -0400, "Wayne Harrison" said:

it was stolen from my old homeplace
by some sonofabitch from southern rowan county.

Yeah, ya gotta watch out for those scalliwags from Rowan County.

Good story.

Dave

Bill Grey wrote:
Ken Fortenberry writes
I took a swim in the Pere Marquette a short while back. The canoe
got snagged on a submerged log and got sideways to the current at
which point the dog (that's right, I'm gonna blame it on the dog ;-)
decided to bail tipping one gunwale under water and sending me
flying out of the boat.

I trust the dog was OK - I'm not worried about you :-)

Oh yeah, she was fine until I pulled the canoe off the snag,
emptied the water out and told her to get back in. She has
no use for the canoe at all and she enjoyed her swim a hell
of a lot more than I enjoyed mine.

--
Ken Fortenberry

In message , Ken Fortenberry
writes
Bill Grey wrote:
Ken Fortenberry writes
I took a swim in the Pere Marquette a short while back. The canoe
got snagged on a submerged log and got sideways to the current at
which point the dog (that's right, I'm gonna blame it on the dog ;-)
decided to bail tipping one gunwale under water and sending me
flying out of the boat.
I trust the dog was OK - I'm not worried about you :-)

Oh yeah, she was fine until I pulled the canoe off the snag,
emptied the water out and told her to get back in. She has
no use for the canoe at all and she enjoyed her swim a hell
of a lot more than I enjoyed mine.


Damn! My Lab won't swim! He loves the water and will paddle in any
puddle, pond or even stream but backs off when the water level reaches
his undercarriage :-)

I once waded the river with Lab on tow but swimming apparently happily.
When I re-crossed the river I took off his rope lead and he had to swim
back himself. He did this well and I stopped halfway across and he just
swam around me. I thought he was "cured" but the following day he
didn't want to know about swimming.
--
Bill Grey

David LaCourse wrote:
On 2009-09-28 14:31:30 -0400, Bill Grey said:

Yes indeed a simple mistake for the uninitiated but with possible long
lasting consequences. The trick would have been to surface no faster
than your bubbles assuming you were breathing out.


Correct! Years later when I got my NAUI ticket I thought of that day in
Back Lake.

Dave



You wouldn't have had to worry about the bends (nitrogen narcosis) at
that depth. What you should have worried about was the buildup of a
toxic concentration of carbon dioxide in the diving bell.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Sep 28, 3:48*pm, rw wrote:
David LaCourse wrote:
On 2009-09-28 14:31:30 -0400, Bill Grey said:

Yes indeed a simple mistake for the uninitiated but with possible long
lasting consequences. *The trick would have been to surface no faster
than your bubbles assuming you were breathing out.

Correct! *Years later when I got my NAUI ticket I thought of that day in
Back Lake.

Dave

You wouldn't have had to worry about the bends (nitrogen narcosis) at
that depth. What you should have worried about was the buildup of a
toxic concentration of carbon dioxide in the diving bell.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.


Isn't an air embolism different than nitrogen narcosis?

I don't know anything about it, I was just curious after reading
Dave's very interesting story . . .

Air embolism - a condition resulting from excess pressure in the lungs-
is probably the second most common cause of scuba fatalities. When a
man loses his air supply under water, he has an overwhelming instinct
to hold his breath and surface immediately. The lack of adequate
exhalation during ascent in panic creates excessive pressure in the
lungs. This condition has produced air embolism in less than 15 feet
of water. Increased lung pressure may also occur in a normal ascent if
the diver fails to breathe continuously.

nitrogen narcosis
n. A condition of confusion or stupor resulting from increased levels
of dissolved nitrogen in the blood, as that occurring in deep-sea
divers breathing air under high pressure.

In message , rw
writes
You wouldn't have had to worry about the bends (nitrogen narcosis)

The bends are NOT Nitrogen Narcossis.
--
Bill Grey

In message
,
mr.rapidan writes
Isn't an air embolism different than nitrogen narcosis?

Yes indeed!
--
Bill Grey