Guy, Some very good points, and your swimming ability sure came in handy. Just curious as I don't dive dry--Are you more negatively buoyant in a flooded drysuit? Thus, how easy is it to float in one? If it's not too hard I imagine the boat could pull anchor and get you?
Boy, how did this thread return from the dead after two months?
I can't say how much more negative I'd be, except that I'm currently about +18 with minimum gas in my suit. I've never experienced a full flood in my suit (I need to try that for practice). Depending on how much gas you managed to keep in your suit, I might be anywhere from 0 to +18. What worries me is the sheer difficulty of swimming in the thing when it's waterlogged. I've swum 150-200 yds freestyle in my suit with fins, and the weight and restriction will tire you fast. I expect my CF200 may be one of the worst on this score, as it's quite heavy when the outer cover is saturated. Trying to do crawl in the suit sans gear, you aren't going to get much if any effective kick (and most peoples' kick only contributes 10-15% of their propulsion when doing freestyle under ideal conditions), so it's all on your arms. Now add several lb. to either, plus the restricted motion, and you can see how tiring it can be for even a good swimmer in good shape, who's comfortable in the water. Add some incipient panic and an inefficient stroke, and all that's likely to happen is that the person will exhaust themselves to no purpose.
A poor swimmer, especially in rough seas where they may be getting a faceful of water on a regular basis, is likely to be thrashing around, wasting energy and probably losing what little air bubble they have in the suit. Once they get tired, they're likely to be ingesting even more water, and not have the strength to keep their face clear. A good swimmer may just decide that they can't reach the boat, and concentrate on maintaining buoyancy; they're certainly far more likely to not panic in that situation, know how to breathe to avoid swallowing water, etc. Way back when, I had to learn how to inflate my pants and my shirt and use them for buoyancy, so keeping some air trapped in the suit and waiting for rescue is a possibility in the back of my mind.
As to waiting for the boat, yes that may work, but that assumes that the visibility is such that they can keep track of you (no fog, big swells, fast current etc.), that they can buoy the anchor rapidly, that the engine will start instantly ("I just had this fuel pump serviced, and it's still cutting out on me"), and on and on. So waiting for a boat pickup may be a valid choice, in some cases the only one, but given the option I'd much prefer to be able to get myself back to the boat and not depend on everything else going right. I much prefer taking active measures to ensure my own safety, unless they're doomed to failure.
Guy