Down Draft and Inattentive Buddy

[tjmills]

I do understand the thumb up sign but lets take a look at what this sounds like as the panic was taking place and the diver starts racing for the surface and the buddy who is also very new got a clear sign that there was a problem. From the description of the incident, I doubt anything was clear to the diver at that time until they regained their composure and even much less to the buddy. We are talking about a buddy with very little experience watching a person race for the surface. This could have all happened in a couple of seconds but in the divers mind it was probably an eternity. (I am sure you know what I mean)

What frustrates me on here is that everyone wants to jump on the buddy right off the bat and it becomes their fault for the divers mistakes. They were not watching me all the time, they were looking at the reef for 15 seconds instead of watching me 100% of the time when I did something stupid, my buddy was more than 5 feet from me most of the dive...ect, ect. ect. They must be a bad buddy!!! And everyone jumps on their side and reinforces these insecurities. Its not good and its especially not good for NEW divers to think this way. They must take responsibility for their own actions and realize that they are responsible for their own saftey and that a buddy is "SAFETY MARGIN" and not their personal valet. (sorry, couldn't come up with a better word). This is why everyone practices skills and does things like remove their mask, remove their BC, ect. ect ect.

Now I realize there are exceptions to this and their are in fact...bad buddies but I would venture a large bet that it is far the exception than the rule. We are all taught buddy skills but the cold hard reality is that you need to be able to take care of yourself for the most part. You panic because you think you are stuck in some down draft vortex because you read something about this on scubaboard a couple weeks ago....don't blame your buddy as you go racing by them for the surface. You did something stupid and your brand new diver buddy didn't realize something was wrong and yet the diver thinks they were communicating perfectly???

Sorry, I don't mean to sound so gruff about this but this is one of those things on here that I have watched happen over and over on threads and it drives me nutz. Both experienced and inexperienced people on here fall into the same pattern of just agreeing with the complaint without taking a look whole issue here. By just agreeing with them, the are reinforcing bad practices to new divers and this is BAD BAD BAD.

I am sorry if I offended anyone as that is not my attention.

Designbysue, this is all not directed complety at you either and nor is it directed at anyone on this thread in particular either. You (and your brother) are only one in a long list on here and you have some pretty experienced company along the way. I just want new divers to analize the situation a little differently and learn from their mistakes and not just blame your buddy. I think you have for the most part based upon what you said. Many new divers are likely to read this and I think it was worth being said. No one is imune to panic but learning how to recognize and deal with it is especially important underwater and I am glad you overcame it and I am positive you learned a lot from it. I am glad you are ok too.

 

[Vayu]

they were looking at the reef for 15 seconds instead of watching me 100% of the time when I did something stupid, my buddy was more than 5 feet from me most of the dive...ect, ect. ect. They must be a bad buddy!!

True! Your buddy needs to have a large amount of situational awareness and this includes keeping track of you and your safety. If you do something stupid it also impacts your buddy to a large degree.

I do not think this diver did anything stupid. As many have said, fighting a current can be difficult. His buddy should never have waved goodbye - she should have been ascending with him. She pretty much forced him into a solo dive and even joined with someone else.

It goes without saying that a diver has responsibility for his or herself. Sounds like this diver took that responsibility seriously and came out of it in good health.

Bad buddies suck and it becomes increasingly obvious to me what sort of attitudes are required to be an educated, safe, and fun companion underwater.

Like darnold said - a thumb means its OVER. The water isn't going anywhere.

-V

 

[Charlie99]

I had dived the other 8 with her without incident, though I often surfaced earlier than her, but she was with other when I ended my dive.

(emphasis added) Perhaps this is part of what led to the miscommunication. You had repeatedly done solo ascents before, and from her point of view, this was just another case of you doing a solo ascent.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like you perceived a much higher current/downdraft/level of danger than she did.

In some locations, such as SE Florida, I often buddy with an inexperienced diver who will use up air much earlier than me. If we agree upon him ascending solo, we also agree that he can, for any reason or none at all, call for me to stay buddied up with him. The agreed upon sign is simply for him to point to me and signal up. The alternate sign is for him to point to me and then give the "buddy up" sign of tapping the side of the index fingers together.

In either case, our agreement is that, even if he does a solo ascent, that I will ascend as necessary to keep him in sight until the boat has come to pick him up.

A better buddy would have realized that you were aborting early for some reason and because it was unusually early would have gone up with you; but you also need to look at what you could have done differently.

 

[TSandM]

I would like to offer some thoughts about perceptions.

Somewhere around my twelfth dive or so, I did a drift dive off a boat in Maui. I did not enjoy it very much at all. I didn't like the feeling of being pushed by the ocean, sometimes where I did not want to go, and I got anxious when we swam against the current to stay and look at something. I didn't panic, but I didn't enjoy the dive.

A couple of months later, I did a dive with my husband on Whidbey Island where we got into some current. Once again, I did not at all like the feeling of fighting with the ocean, and I called the dive early. My husband went in with me, but once on shore, said, "Why'd you call the dive?" I explained that the current was making me uneasy, and he just didn't understand at all.

This last week, we had some current in almost every dive, and one dive was a pretty rapid clip drift dive, and you know what? I enjoyed all of them. I've learned I CAN swim against some current, I've learned how to crab into current, I've learned how to find shelter behind something to get out of the current, and overall, I have a lot less anxiety about most things underwater than I had six months ago.

When you realized you were being pushed where you didn't want to go, you had several options -- swimming at right angles to the current, changing your depth (which you did, but not as a rational decision) to see if the current was less higher or lower, taking cover behind some part of the wreck, or swimming hard forward and taking hold of the mooring line if you were only three or four feet from it. You had only just descended, so you actually should have had plenty of air, even if you go through it more quickly than others.

This is a good case where you can look at it according to Diver0001's steps for dealing with task loading: Air -- you should have had plenty. Buoyancy -- get neutral, and remember you swim ACROSS currents. Communication -- signal buddy that you want to swim across current, or suggest than you go up ten feet or down ten feet and level off, or whatever strategy you have for dealing with the current. Then Dive -- execute the plan you've come up with.

Admittedly, your buddy should not wave off a thumb, but as has been previously observed, if you were in the habit of surfacing first without your buddy, there was no reason for her to believe she was to accompany you this time.

Severe downdrafts that take people a hundred feet down are rare. Mild up or down movements of the water are common along abrupt changes of relief in the topography (edges of things). More experience will help you remain calm and assess your situation more accurately, to know just how bad the risk really is. But this is a good experience to think through carefully and see how you could have handled it better as a reference for the next time.

 

[Michael Schlink]

As has been pointed out you probably weren't in as sever a "downdraft" current as you thought. Especially since you swam up without any great difficulty. Some of the "downdrafts" or currents I have been in you couldn't have overcome.
What is great about your experience is you survived unscathed and willing and able to dive again! Analyze what YOU did wrong first and then look to see where the buddy fits in.

Rule #1 DON'T dive alone, you don't have the training, experience or skill to be diving alone. When you make an ascent by yourself, you're diving alone-period-inarguable. Find a buddy that doesn't mind coming up a little earlier than their air supply would permit and then return the favor later in your diving career. There will come a time when you'll be the experienced diver, trust me, we've all been there.

Another suggestion, with 25 dives what are doing with a "wreck reel", lose the reel and don't task load your diving just yet.

As far as some suggestions to swim perpendiculr to the current, that may or may not work. If it is a small area that we're talking about you may be able to swim out of it but more than likely you'll burn more air swimming period. A better plan would be if you can swim against the current COMFORTABLY and get to where you're going so be it. If you are having a problem swimming or are getting out of breath quickly STOP swimming altogether, signal your buddy that you're calling the dive and start a NORMAL ascent, if this happens during your initial descent to the dive site, reef or wreck you can probably get the boat to put you on top of the divesite easier than trying for the swim.
With all that said, I'd dive with you anyday because you are THINKING and that's what it's all about-Dive safe-M

Doc's advice on how to handle it is spot on.

NEVER be afraid to call a dive (it's better to run away and live to fight another day so to speak)

The post regarding thumbing a dive is on target also. The "thumbing a dive" comes form cave diving. When you call a dive the dive is over and the only reprecussion that should come your way would be FRIENDLY teasing and the possibility that dinner's on you. If you are diving with people that you aren't comfortable telling " I'm not up to this" then you need some new buddies.

 

[Willie]

... Then I calmed enough to remember what we were taught. I focused ...

Thank you for sharing your experience. Congratulations, you did the most important thing you can do.

I also believe that it is unwise to ascend alone. A look at the 2005 DAN report for fatalities occurring in 2003 shows an alarming number of fatalities happen on the surface either before or after the dive. Of the 89 fatalities that DAN analyzed, in 31 of the cases when and where the accident occurred could not be determined. That leaves 58.

• In 5 cases the accident occurred on the surface before submersion
• In 12 cases the problem became apparent after ascent
• In another 13 the problem became apparent during the ascent, sometimes after the safety stop

I find those stats sobering. Over half of the accidents resulting in fatalaties for which the cause could be analyzed happened before the dive, during ascent or after the dive.

Willie

 

[Kevfin]

I think the best part of your dive is that you learned something. You knew something wasn't right, discussed it with your brother, and realized things can be done better.

Yeah, your buddy and you made some errors. You're new, you're going to make some mistakes, what do you expect? You came out alive, wiser, and with more experience.

Thanks for sharing what happened so that you and others may learn.

It's all good. Keep diving.