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Dody

Contributor
Messages
917
Reaction score
506
Location
Amstelveen
# of dives
100 - 199
I am a DM today but just for the sake of it. I have no interest diving professionnally. Today, my instructor asked me if I I could be a DM for him and a family of 3 (50 years old, 15 and 14), closing the group. After a 15 minutes dive, things got complicated. Current. Strong or mild, I don't know. All I know is that I could not move forward. But what I found interesting is that I had the feeling that the group composed of the instructor and the three inexperienced divers was moving more efficiently that me. I tried to used my positioning with the reef to reduce the pressure but I failed at such a point that I lost them (vis was about 10 meters) and could only catch up following the bubbles. I know that I am more physically fit that the group of sunday divers. Why wasn't I able to follow them? Is it like in bicycling when being in a group is more efficient fighting wind than being alone? Or was the current stronger for me 10 meters in the back?
 
Being in a group will not have anything like the impact you describe. As for why they were diving more efficiently than you, I don't see how anyone can answer without seeing the event.

There are some other issues in this report that call for clarification.
  • What was your role as a DM in the dive? If you were asked to serve as a DM, you should have had a specific job. It sounds most likely that you were supposed to bring up the rear of the group, watching to make sure no one had trouble and intervening if they did.
  • You say you have no interest in diving professionally, but you did dive professionally on this dive. It does not matter if you were paid or not. The issue is whether the other divers were in any way dependent upon your actions as a DM. If you were asked to act as a DM on the dive, then they were indeed dependent on you to some degree.
  • Acting as a professional on a dive leads you open to liability in case of an accident. Do you have the appropriate DM insurance?
  • If you could only see the bubbles of the team, then you were not in a position to fulfill your role as a DM, which opens you up for liability.
  • If you could only see the bubbles of the team, then the instructor leading the dive was either unaware of your difficulty or did not care. The instructor should have slowed the group so you could maintain contact if the instructor wanted you to fill that role.
 
It sounds like you might have weak fins, or weak legs or weak technique or maybe a better understanding of how to hug the bottom in order to move efficiently into a current.

What kicking technique were you using? Did you use your hands to pull yourself along the bottom? How far above the bottom were you? Did you try to sprint and catch up or did you apply a steady and moderate kicking effort?
 
Swirling currents can be very weird sometimes. They can flow in narrow bands, layers, or eddies with dramatically different conditions surprisingly close together.
 
Dody's profile said he got to SSI AOW this past December. No other certifications are listed. For SSI DM, Diver Stress and Rescue certifications are required. To be a certified DM, you only need 60 dives. All of that can be done in 4 months.
 
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Not long ago u were doing your aowd. So how is it possible you are a DM now?
I did my AOW in December/ January. Then Stress and Rescue in January. I already had 50+ dives. I did DM training in 3 months after AOW.
 
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