Another "WWYD?" question

[Nailer99]

I read through the other thread (What would you do?) and it made me think about my dive last week.
I'm new and still kind of an air hog, but I went diving with 2 new buddies last week. One of them just got his doubles rigged up, and the other has been diving doubles for a while. I was really excited to go diving, but I offered to sit out the dive because I didn't want anyone to cut their dive short on my account. They told me that I was more than welcome to tag along and buddy with them, but that the plan would be that they would escort me back to the float line we were descending/ ascending from, and I could do a solo ascent from 60 fsw if I was comfortable with that. I was, and I had a great 25 minute dive. They hung out below me and watched until I was at my safety stop. Surface conditions were calm, and the float was only a hundred yards or so from shore. I'd do the same thing again, if conditions were the same. Maybe this is different from the original situation, as it wasn't a boat dive, but I think it was all safe- there was no deco or anything, I could have dropped my weights and made a free ascent, if needed. Did I/We do anything terrifically unsafe with my solo ascent? I didn't think anything of it until reading the other thread below.

 

[Guba]

Makes me squirm a bit.
Call me an ol' fuddy duddy, but let's see what might happen. Let's say you did have a situation that needed assistance immediately. Now, you're caught in a bind. Either you you have to head back down for aid or your buddies have to make a rapid ascent in order to be of any assistance. Either way, it's not an optimum situation. And then there's that distance to shore...
I would probably be comfortable with them ascending to 15 feet with you, then watching you climb onto a crewed boat, but that's not the question you posted. In short, my humble opinion would be that some changes are needed to that dive profile.

 

[Walter]

If you were an experienced diver, I would be OK with it. Since you've already told us you are a new diver, I'd take you to shore.

 

[Nailer99]

Hmmm. I thought nothing of it at the time, but maybe you guys are right.

 

[Sharky1948]

In my opinion, you are the only one that can answer that question. For an experienced diver, that is pretty common practice and relatively low risk. As you point out, you can ditch your weights and do a ESA if necessary. I probably wouldn't have done it with as few dives as you have; but, that is my choice.

I'm sure this is a topic that could start a flame war. But, if you assume the risk and feel comfortable with your skills, then I think it's OK. But then again, I do at least half of my dives solo...

 

[CoyKoi]

I agree with Walter. New divers, just like new automobile drivers, need to religiously stick to all the safety rules you learned in diver/driver school. After you logged 50 hours behind the wheel of your car did you really turn on your blinker to signal you were turning into your driveway on that quiet residential street with no other cars around for miles? Same with diving. Experience teaches you which "rules" you can fudge on and which you cannot, and when.

 

[PerroneFord]

I'm guilty of doing the same thing. Done a solo ascent in a familiar spring. So I can't really condemn you for it. It's certainly not ideal. If they had just left you to your own devices, I'd feel worse about it. But if they watched you to your safety stop, probably not heinous. I wouldn't make a habit of it though!

 

[Puffer Fish]

Nailer - there are lots of solo divers on SB, so having one more will not make much difference. If you were trying to be safe, then it was a terrible practice.

However, the issue is one of not having a budy to start with, not how you acted without one.

 

[jtivat]

Nailer - there are lots of solo divers on SB, so having one more will not make much difference. If you were trying to be safe, then it was a terrible practice.

However, the issue is one of not having a budy to start with, not how you acted without one.

Yes but a real solo diver is perpared (hopefully) this is a buddy diver becoming solo.

 

[Ishie]

I've gone up first and I've sent others up first (ONLY if they're comfortable with it).

I won't do it on a shore dive, but I don't usually have a float, so that might make a difference. For a swim in, I figure a diver (experienced or otherwise) can have problems on the surface that impede their ability to swim in such as getting caught in currents, leg cramps, rocks, etc. The only time I've ever *really* needed to be rescued while diving was in approximately two feet of water caught in rocks and surf, and had I been alone, I think death would have been about 50/50. Not good odds.

It's all about your comfort level also and the conditions. The fact that they can watch you at your safety stop makes a difference versus 5' of vis where once you start going up the line you're on your own.

I'm normally comfortable, but if I'm not, I stop doing it. I was doing a series of advanced dives off a boat in Big Sur with an excellent buddy though one that has a bit less experience. First couple dives she went up first, but on the second dive, I felt uneasy, and when I got up, she had felt kind of freaked because I'd apparently gone under the boat and she'd seen my bubbles 'disappear', so for the last dive, despite being on the anchor line, we went up together.

Starting off, I'd say stick with procedures, but I'm very much about "If you're comfortable, evaluate it, and if you're not comfortable, even if it's well within your prescribed limits, don't do it."