Washington down at Blue Hole again, working on skills. Took my 2 tanks, as well as 2 rentals. The Friday refills were just fine. As usual, after the day'so dives, the DMs fill the rentals, as well as the tanks we leave down there. My LDS has a shed at the hotel, where we have a compressor and extra tanks.
Grabbed 2 of the tanks for today's dives, and already had my own, which were filled Friday night. Hooked up a rental this morning, and we were rushing, just slightly, to catch up with a buddy diving a specialty. Didn't sniff the tank when I put it on. Got in, and started right down.
The first breath told me something was wrong. It tasted almost like stinky rubber. Since I've never had a bad tank of air before, I didn't know precisely what I had, but strongly suspected. I wrote on my slate, telling my buddy. He took a breath, and agreed. Now, due to my flying days, I'm trained on how to recognize various symptoms from breathing various airs. Told my buddy that we'd see how things went. My thought process was, I know how to recognize symptoms, but if one of the students got bad air, they might not, and things could go bad, quickly.
After 7 minutes, I started to get a pretty good headache, let my buddy know, and aborted. Once out, and breathing fresh air, I started to get better. We didn't go beyond 39ft. I went to the 2 instructors and 2 Divemasters, and let them know, and to let the students know. One guy had a tank that had a slight smell, but nowhere as bad as mine. Didn't bother with the other rental that was filled yesterday, but went to my own 2, that had been filled on Friday. They were fine. Took a 2 hour SI, and was fine after that.
Lessons learned: even if a little rushed, don't skip steps. Would have only taken a second to know that I had bad air. I did realize that diving what I believed to be bad air was a risk, but given my experience, felt that it was an acceptable one, given concern that a student may not know what to recognize. My buddy kept eyes on me constantly, if anything had gotten beyond my control. We've dove a lot together, and I trust him implicitly.
I'll be turning the tank in tomorrow, and the Course Director wants it analyzed. When I hear what the find, I'll post it hear. Since we stage 40 tanks down there, it's important to know if there is a problem, or just some person running their engine parked next to the shed.