I know I can always do at least an hour dive-usually longer. I always know within a couple 100 psi what my pressure is. Not today.
Zen Diver & I planned 3 dives today ending with a Lumpy dusk dive. On the first dive we decided to do the usual boat, boat, boat profile. I had a short fill (3000 psi in my HP80) and let Valerie know that and that I would more than likely need to switch to my deco bottle by the end of the dive if we did a normal dive for us. Off we went, had a great dive but stayed at depth, even going out to the 4th farthest boat, a bit long. The last time I checked my gauge I had 1500psi but we were still at depth at that point.
We got to safety stop depth and were just hanging out. I took a couple of photos then took a breath and thought, "I know what this feels like." I immediately flashed back to my OW class when the instructor turns off your gas to let you feel what leading up to out of air feels like. I checked my gauge-OUT OF GAS!!!!! I immediately switched on my deco bottle, still breathing from my primary although it was getting harder, and switched to it. No problem. I also had two other options-Valerie was an arm's length away, and we were in 18' of water and I had realized the problem in plenty of time to do a normal ascent if I wanted to.
There was no real danger. I wasn't panicked. Valerie, of course, didn't even know that I was really OOG until I started pointing to myself and indicating that I was a loser. But what a lesson for me. You can't ever take diving for granted. Having a good foundation of knowledge & skill can only take you so far. You really need to pay attention!!!!
We went on to do 2 more great dives (although we got skunked on the Lumpy dive-fortunately we saw one on the deep dive).
And I learned a valuable lesson. Actually, 2 lessons. The second one was call your wife before posting on facebook that you had an OOA situation.
![d'oh! #-o](./images/smilies/eusa_doh.gif)
Everybody be safe out there. And check your gauge!