Buddy separation

[Kevfin]

The general rule for a lost buddy in a recreational dive is to look around for 1 minute and then surface. This neither of you did. With a max depth of 40 feet you could have skipped the safety stop or completed it after rejoining at the surface.

Agreed. Should be discussed beforehand and part of the dive plan.

I'm just glad it turned out okay. If my wife went missing, I know my heart would skip a few beats.

Said many times on S/B ---Plan your dive and dive your plan. Before you hit the water come up with a "buddy separation" plan... stick to it.

 

[Sasquatch]

As Tollie stated, one minute looking followed by slow ascent and surface. This works if you pre-agree that this is what you will do. We get lots of practice up here in the summer where we dive in miso soup!

 

[PerroneFord]

Out of curiousity, were either of you using a dive light?

 

[Vayu]

Did you punish her for swimming off?

-V

 

[mstroeck]

Been there... Swimming single-file generally sucks, especially in low visibility and when you don't have strong lights for communication. I never do it any more.

 

[Lucy's Diver]

The thing that strikes me is that they had no "lost buddy" plan, or at least they didn't implement it.

The part where I said "I swam around for about a minute (never leaving easy return to the line) looking for her and went up the line, including my safety stop." conforms to the PADI taught lost buddy plan, and it is also exactly what my wife did as well. That would be implimenting a lost buddy plan.

I know I could have done without the safety stop, and she could have too, but I also know that she is ultra-conservative about nitrogen loading issues and would be doing the safety stop, plus I figured she might be doing a moving safety stop -- after looking around for a minute, I felt she would go to 15 feet and do the safety stop while swmming around looking for the line. She did just that.

She was actually certified in 1987 and dove a lot then, but had been out of diving for a few years so she took the whole course again (like I said, she's ultra conservative).

Taking my equipment off was a safety issue on the boat. The captian met us all at the ladder to remove tank/BC at the ladder. This was a small boat in 6 foot chop, there was enough tripping and falling going on without the gear on. I knew I had 1200 psi or so left and could have gotten back in ASAP if needed, but what would that have done? In 8 foot viz I'm going to go in solo and look for someone when I have no idea of their direction, depth, or distance from the boat? Then we have two missing divers.

I certainly would have preferred her to have blown the safety stop and deployed her safety sausage and horn right away, but she, reasonably, felt in no great danger. There were several moored boats in the area, including a party boat down current of her. She does tend to err on the side of sticking to the plan vs. adapting to a change in circumstance, but I think she did OK. When we set out to pick her up she was at the point where she was about to blow up the sausage.

We each had a back-up dive light, but neither of us thought to use it. I was pretty task-focused on just looking into the murk.

We discussed it after the fact, and if we or either of us comes up that far from a boat again the suasage is getting deployed.

 

[piikki]

Taking my equipment off was a safety issue on the boat. The captian met us all at the ladder to remove tank/BC at the ladder. This was a small boat in 6 foot chop, there was enough tripping and falling going on without the gear on. I knew I had 1200 psi or so left and could have gotten back in ASAP if needed, but what would that have done? In 8 foot viz I'm going to go in solo and look for someone when I have no idea of their direction, depth, or distance from the boat? Then we have two missing divers.

Let me only comment on this since it refers back to what I had said earlier. No way did I mean you'd dive after her. There was already one too many divers submerged after separation. I understand the safety point of view now that you explained more, and it might have been beyond your control anyway if you were told so (and the boat should have had someone more qualified to jump in anyway).

The thing was that if my spouse was missing, I could have maybe been able to provide surface rescue at least until someone else on the boat was informed of the situation (sounds like it was a mess), and geared up to replace me. At least I would have made sure someone was willing to come in the chops if she was popping to the surface is distress (and seconds/minutes counted) before doffing. I do not even know if this is recommended but I am thinking IF the buddy was my spouse I would not have left the water that hastily. But noway I recommend any solo-diving in a situation like this, especially returning to water with drained tank and distressed yourself.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

From my point of view you did exactly the right thing under the circumstances. Side by side would have been a better choice but the fact is you did not and most of your dive went fine considering the conditions. That you grabbed the line and she missed it and in an instant was out of your sight is one of those things that can and does happen in low vis. We go thru this all the time and therefore usually have prearranged signals in case of seperation either by tank banging, rattle, or my instructor has a hammerhead on his bc. Sometimes tho you end up getting seperated so fast that you my be unable to determine how far away they are. Best thing to do then is what you did, ascend, make your stop, surface and wait, either on the surface or in the boat or dock or whatever. Being that you are newly certified and from what I gather diving in new, perhaps unfamiliar conditions you again did the right thing. As far as looking around for a minute that does not mean you do a search. You were where you were supposed to be she was not. Staying within proximity of the line was the correct thing. You probably could have tried to signal her but without a prearranged plan it may have meant nothing to her. The first priority is your own safety. PERIOD. You can do nothing if you put yourself in danger or in a situation you are not ready to handle. Your wife however should have stopped looked for a minute or so, did her ascent and stop as soon as she realized you were no longer with her. This would have been proper procedure for the team member leading the dive. It sound like she did this to the point where she saw the boat and went back down to try and swim under the current. 1st rule of rescue is insure your safety. She should have stayed on the surface and deployed the sausage and used her signal horn. The boat has a motor. What would have happened if you or one of the others had come up hurt and needed out of there immediately? Or what if one of the others deployed a sausage while she was back down and the boat had to move? In the direction opposite where she was? This could have resulted in her overtiring, or going down again to fight the current more and risking an loa or ooa situation. Also you are not rescue trained and staying in the water in 4-6 ft chop would be foolish. If you plan to continue diving and I hope you do because you have good judgement for it I strongly encourage you to do aow and pick some good option dives like uw nav, deep, search and rescue, night and peak performance buoyancy. Then do please do rescue. It will show you just how right you were and teach you more that you will always take with you. I'll say it again, you're judgement was good, you did not lose your cool, and you and your wife are safe. As for yours and her buddy skills a little more detailed planning and communication is called for but that will come with time. Right now tho I'd dive with you anytime. As long as the dive was planned and we dove the plan. Jim, PADI Master Scuba Diver, Divemaster Candidate, and Dive Shop Manager

 

[Lucy's Diver]

Thanks Jim. We do plan on contuing diving, and getting AOW (focusing on nav skills as much as we can) in a LDS sponsored week long Bonnaire diving trip in January, and maybe nitrox at that time as well.

In retrospect, this incident was just not that big a deal, though it certainly felt that way during the 2-3 minutes when my wife was missing. The lessons I'm going away from this is to be much more conscious of buddy proximity in low vis and to deploy a safety sausage as soon as one comes up in a similar situation (and in fact I will begin carrying a second sausage with an overpressure valve and 15 feet of line for use on a drifting safety stop when diving in bad conditions).

 

[Tollie]

One more observation. You mentioned that viz was 8 feet. In water this murky even a compass will not help for nav. You need to use a reel to find your way out and back to the up line. Believe me when you begin to use one you and your buddy will need additional training to avoid getting fouled up in the line. You will also need to work on team skills as well.