cherieRombus

[cherinere]

As most know during your O.W.A. course there is a nav. dive to learn how to be more proficient with your compass. This is not an easy skill for me so my buddy and me were sent out to do a square, well I could of cheated and just followed him but was very intense on doing it myself. Well my buddy was low on air so he was doing a ascenting square so he could finish the skill and would still be safe, meanwhile I was so into the compass I lost site of him and was going into my third turn when I noticed him missing. Trying to finish the exercise and trying to find him at the same time, the instructor said my sorry square was a perfect Rombus. We two are the joke of the dive shop with Kevin's ascending square and my rombus. We both geared back up to do it again, but this time me and my bud stayed side by side. Never lose your buddy, it is one of the scarest things you'll do! Live and Learn.

 

[Fishkiller]

I was on a AOW dive doing my U/W Naturalist while my buddy was doing his Navigation. He hadn't dove in about 6 months, so his bouyancy was off to say the least. After decending I turned to watch a LM bass swim by lost sight of my buddy, Vis was a good 4 feet in the lake. Well I looked for my buddy I spot this diver face down. I swam over and as the diver turned I noticed it wasn't my buddy. I surfaced and found my buddy. The other diver was in the Rescue Diver class, with another instructor.

 

[greg somers]

Any skill not practiced regularly can give you a rombus..heheh.The fact is that being able to navigate and be aware of your surroundings WILL take time.You will be SO intent on getting the perfect square....it's normal for students.I did the same.Just keep practicing and you will get it.Good buddy practice also comes with practice.If you can,then find some you like and dive with them.It's hard sometimes when you have a new partner.You did the right thing by surfacing.I have done the same myself many times when my buddies feel the urge to do a "Lone Ranger".
Good luck with both issues...
There can be only one,
The Gasman

 

[Warhammer]

I've swam several rombuses myself, so at least you're not alone, and I've been using a compass practically all of my life. Course that is on land. The hardest thing for me, when diving a featureless bottom or midwater low vis, is keeping track of my kicks. I start counting a pretty soon I've forgotten where I was, guess and start counting again. What solved that delima for me is keeping track of the time instead.

 

[jbd]

I have the same problem keeping track of the kicks. I prefer to use time also. A lot of my recent diving is in 6 to 18 inches visibility so I am getting alot of compass practice.

 

[ktenhusband]

If you are comfortable with the compass by now go some where where the vis is good and there is a slight current. Swim a square and some other patterns and try to adjust your course for the prevailing ccurrent to return to the EXACT starting point.

You'd be suprised at how many people cannot do this yet still go into bluewater and dive in currents, depending on a boat to pick them up. UW navigation is a critical skill and quite a challenge to develop.

r/s k10

 

[jbd]

How accurately you could navigate in the conditions you are suggesting would be dependent on knowing what the speed and direction of the current is. How can a diver find this info?
I would suspect that navigating in these conditions would be similar to flying an airplane ie you need to know wind direction and speed to fly an accurate course to your destination.

 

[ktenhusband]

Well....it is exactly like flying...VFR (Visual Flight Rules).
The reason for needing good vis is so you can select a reference point that lies on your intended course. A landmark if you will. Determine your heading, find a landmark NOT TOO FAR AWAY and swim the lubberline as you would normally. See what kind of course deviation you get. Then swim back to the start and adjust for the current. You will find that even a small amount of current will require you to adjust your "heading" 3-5 degrees into the prevailing current. The objective here is to get a good sense of how even a little current affects your course.

There are a few ways to determine the direction and speed of the current. Just cast a little sand in front of you as you are looking down current and shoot the compass along the trail. You can estimate the distance it travels into some easily calculable formula and convert it into knots. Something like if it travels 1 and 1/2 feet in one second the current is moving approximately 1 knot.