An interesting thread. I had a similar experience last weekend at night off Shaw’s Cove in Laguna Beach. From the outset, I was out of my routine because I was staying at a nearby hotel for a conference and therefore did not pack my car as I normally would for my weekly dive. Due to the two-day delay I forgot to bring my dive water and some other comfort items. From there:
—showed up at the agreed on time and found my two buddies (both highly experienced) already suited up. I already felt behind the eight-ball.
—My knife strap broke. I reached for my save-a-dive kit and realized I had left it at home: a casualty of combining a dive excursion with a business trip. No spare strap meant no dive knife, which also put me on edge because that is a security blanket for me (fishing line, nets, or freeing the occasional marine life a six-pack ring). The forgotten bin with the save-a-dive kit also had my spare knife and dive shears.
—New gloves did not behave like my old gloves did and that created more stress on the sand before we entered the water (the Velcro straps didn’t work or fit like the previous ones did).
—On top of all this, my compass got stuck, leaving me to rely on an electronic compass or one of my two spares. I could navigate, but it was outside my normal parameters.
We made the dive and it was awesome...but due to my gear issues we kept to the outside of the reef where we could use natural navigation. My buddies were terrific and it helped that all of us were experienced. I felt comfortable diving the profile we did but would have been just as comfortable scrubbing the dive had my buddies wanted to penetrate the reef and to a profile that required actual compass navigation. We got in 45 minutes and were treated to sharks, rays, and a wide variety of fish. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday night!