Navigation Problems

[Altamira]

I find it is too easy to lose track of fin kicks with all of the distractions that take place under water. Unless in a fast current, and assuming you set/start and monitor your time, and maintain a fairly accurate heading, you are not going to be too far off target just using heading and time.

 

[Rooster59]

I swim on my back every once in a while to keep track of the boat.

 

[CT-Rich]

This doesn't help for boat dives but here's what I do in small lakes and such - I have two compass, the left points to where I came from, the right points to where I am going. Simple. The left compass does not change until the next dive.

Hmmmm..... I am kind of hoping this was posted April first. All compasses point North. Are you talking about a reverse heading?

I agree it comes with practice. A reel with line will also work in the murkiest of water, but line management has it own problems.best just to practice.

 

[Reku]

Hmmmm..... I am kind of hoping this was posted April first. All compasses point North. Are you talking about a reverse heading?

I agree it comes with practice. A reel with line will also work in the murkiest of water, but line management has it own problems.best just to practice.

When I posted that I had been awake for 2 days straight lol. Now that I read it - it doesn't even make sense.

Anyway - I use the compass features on my petrel 2/perdix - one is marked to where I came in at, the other is marked on a point of interest. If that makes sense.

 

[tursiops]

... if I know it's at a specific heading, I swim in that heading until I get there.

For longer dives, I use time. If, in fact, you do count fin kicks then congratulations ... in 15 years and 3700 dives you're the first person I've ever heard of admit it outside of a class exercise ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I use fin kicks to estimate distances between things, length of things (like wrecks), viz. I use time for planning (100 ft per minute) and for rough in situ measurements. Both kicks and time require self-calibration. After 50+ years diving and 30+ years of certification and 2400+ dives I'll probably keep on doing it! Did fin kicks yesterday, in fact, on a dive here in Anilao.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I use fin kicks to estimate distances between things, length of things (like wrecks), viz. I use time for planning (100 ft per minute) and for rough in situ measurements. Both kicks and time require self-calibration. After 50+ years diving and 30+ years of certification and 2400+ dives I'll probably keep on doing it! Did fin kicks yesterday, in fact, on a dive here in Anilao.

The technique has limited use for mapping, but most divers aren't mapping ... they're out there looking at the scenery and marine life. From a practical perspective, for the recreational diver fin kicks are a poor use of their mental bandwidth. There are far easier ways to find your way around a dive site and back to your entry. I could never understand why the agencies push this technique as a practical way to do recreational diving. It's an interesting classroom exercise, but unless you're diving an out-and-back or a specific pattern such as a square, it's not a very effective way to find your way back to the anchor line or entry point at the end of the dive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, I can't recall ever using fin kicks other than in the courses. My (second) compass usually works well, but sometimes not so well (no metal or wrecks near me that I can see)--who knows why. Sometimes tapping it will help. Being that most of my dives are shallow, I more rely on natural navigation if I know the site very well, or seeing where the sun is. It's nice being retired and you can pick a sunny day.

 

[emoreira]

If I'm diving guiding students or for myself, I'm too busy to count fin kicks.
Taking care of students and/or enjoying the dive.

 

[Neilwood]

The technique has limited use for mapping, but most divers aren't mapping ... they're out there looking at the scenery and marine life. From a practical perspective, for the recreational diver fin kicks are a poor use of their mental bandwidth. There are far easier ways to find your way around a dive site and back to your entry. I could never understand why the agencies push this technique as a practical way to do recreational diving. It's an interesting classroom exercise, but unless you're diving an out-and-back or a specific pattern such as a square, it's not a very effective way to find your way back to the anchor line or entry point at the end of the dive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I could be wrong but I guess it is to give people an understanding of basic navigation. Most people who are doing OW or AOW probably don't use a compass enough to be comfortable with its use topside never mind below the water.

Similar to working topside, you don't say to someone "head down that road and take the exit" when there are multiple exits. You tell them " go down that road for 500 yards then take the exit". That way if they have done 1 mile they know something is wrong. The fact that if someone is walking they will not be stepping out an exact yard (unless very well trained or very lucky with leg length) so making the 500 yards a very approximate guide. It is a starting point and will hopefully make them think about it

 

[gypsyjim]

When I did a Navigation session at the time I took a PADI AOW class, for honing old, rusty skills, I found the kick count very iffy in real life situations...in fact on my last exercise for that class a wicked off shore current began during my navigating, a night navigation exercise, and I opted to abort the kick count and simply use the compass and depth.
Using "kick count" on that exercise I swear that I'd have ended up somewhere off the coast of Venezuela before making my turn, and the kick count on the return would have been a poor gauge of distance, indeed.

For boat diving I drop to the anchor point, and check the exact depth at that anchor and look for any possible, recognizable landmarks, check the direction of any current and go against it.
My return is along the opposite heading, returning gradually to the same exact depth as the anchor point, well before I expect to reach the area of the entry.
For shore diving I pretty much use the method Bob described. Take a heading directly off shore, I search along that heading till I locate a recognizable "landmark", again marking the depth and other nearby features at that depth, for my return trip.