Diving into current

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Frequently we experience a light or moderate current on the reefs and wrecks here in the Florida Keys. As boat crews brief divers about the dive site we always discuss how to dive when a current is present. You were probably also taught this in your open water diver class.

My expectation is that all of us were trained to start our dive into the current so that we do not end up a long way behind the boat and having to struggle to get back to the boat. Sounds like common sense to me.

I see a few folks who apparently do not consider the current as part of their dive plan and just go dive. Only yesterday we saw 3 divers surfacing about 200 yards behind their boat. Luckily for them the boat went and picked them up. These divers were just not paying attention to where they were. No situational awareness.

We have had to send rescue swimmers out over and over to divers who were oblivious to the current and then were physically unable to swim back to the boat.

Please do yourselves a favor .. pay attention to the dive briefing...be aware of the current. Conduct your dive in front of the boat..not behind the boat.

The divers I see getting into trouble and needing rescued get themselves into that situation because they do not listen to the dive briefing and/or do not use any critical thinking skills when conducting their dives.

Be smart...think before you jump in....ALWAYS remember the ocean is not Disneyland.

 

[Donnah]

We were diving in the Keys. On the boat were two loud young men boasting about all the dives they had done. One asked me "Are you REALLY diving or are you just watching bubbles?" Dive briefing: "Current, swim into the current, watch your compass and terrain, turn back with 2/3 tank, drift back to boat." Dive over, most are back on boat -- except for the two young men. Did anyone see them during the dive? No. By this time everyone on board is looking for them. Finally we spot a diver way down current. Captain throws a long line -- not long enough. DM jumps in, grabs the diver and pulls him to the line. Where's your buddy? I don't know. We ran out of air and couldn't find the boat. We don't see another diver. Finally get a call from another dive boat -- Hey, you missing a diver? We've got one.

We're all glad they are OK, but also very annoyed. They obviously didn't listen or follow instructions. Both sat out the next dive, in the back of the boat with heads down. One was crying. Lesson learned, I hope.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Lesson learned, I hope.

I sure hope so...but the lesson should not have to be learned this way...

 

[radtype]

Not long after I was certified, I went to Hawaii and did almost wrong in the current. I did know the golden rule about swimming up current but I didn't think about staying low if you need to swim up current, using body trim to assist in going up or down, and the impact of surface/wind generated current. On a recent trip to Hawaii, I was fortunate to pass some of this knowledge to another diver. Please don't knock My OW class because it was great.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Please don't knock My OW class because it was great.

I do not think anyone has "knocked" your open water class.

One thing to think about is "You do not know what you do not know". For instance if your instructor was a great person who you really liked and your dives were a lot of fun you would think it was a GREAT class, and it was from your perspective.

But what if your instructor forgot to teach you how to do a emergency swimming ascent? You'd still think the class was great because you did not know s/he was supposed to teach you that ....I would think the class was substandard.

 

[nolatom]

And watch your pressure gauge. A lot. Going up-current will wolf down air. If you conserve air, then you can stay on the bottom where less current. And if you can stay on the bottom, you conserve air (in a relative sense, by less exertion, though not by depth). "pull and glide" wherever you can (while not touching coral). A scissors in one hand and knife in the other is a "pull and glide" for a sandy bottom.

Better yet, yeah, listen to the briefing and go upcurrent first.

Second thought--if there's that strong a current, should it have been a drift dive? Probably not in the described incident since all but two divers managed it by the book, but food for dive-planning thought.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Second thought--if there's that strong a current, should it have been a drift dive? Probably not in the described incident since all but two divers managed it by the book, but food for dive-planning thought.

Drift or move somewhere else....

 

[Storker]

the lesson should not have to be learned this way...

Why not?

They didn't die, they didn't get bent, they didn't get injured. Only hurt pride. If they're lucky - and reasonably intelligent - they'll remember that lesson pretty well...

 

[Ste Wart]

In the UK our boats move and come pick us up.

Maybe it's different in the States?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

In the UK our boats move and come pick us up.

Maybe it's different in the States?

Boats will come pick you up anywhere, any country if need be. The safety of the divers is the most important thing, of course. However a dive plan should be made for that to happen. If divers are not trained well enough to get back to the boat, therein lies the root problem. These divers did not plan a drift dive but they did one & luckily the boat captain saw them and was able to pick them up before they drifted to Miami.

Why not?

They didn't die, they didn't get bent, they didn't get injured. Only hurt pride. If they're lucky - and reasonably intelligent - they'll remember that lesson pretty well...

You are correct they will likely remember the lesson pretty well. My point is that they should have been cognizant enough of the conditions and *thinking* while they were on the bottom to realize they were a long way from the boat. Just because the outcome was Ok does not mean the dive was conducted satisfactorily.

I am hoping we have trained divers to *think* about what they are doing while they are doing it and not just going with the flow.