drifting versus being carried away

[maggs_the]

Cozumel is known for its drift diving, and it was fantastic but we did have a scary incident. I'm not sure exactly how scary because I still do not know how close we REALLY were to having an incident.

Cozumel gets nortes.. it's some kind of current that passes thru twice a year i think? anyway, it should have been gone, but we were going to the Santa Rosa wall for an 80ft dive and the currents were unreal! we got down and the dive master tried to abort the dive, but several of us (me included) did NOT understand what he wanted.. we continued to think he was telling us to stay put while he checked up top. he finally began swimming straight into the current and we of course followed. for 15 minutes, we kicked like crazy.. wondering the entire time WHY we were heading INTO the current. turns out, the current was far too strong for us to have attempted the wall dive and when we did not follow him to the surface, he just lead us away from the wall and a potential 300 meter dive.

i know i'll be blasted for this one, but i was one of the ones who could not understand "abort".. while i was not alone, i do feel pretty stupid now. but we'd heard about strong currents before and really didnt think too much about it but it was a wake up call for me and my buddy. scuba is not dangerous. WE are dangerous.

 

[Charlie99]

i know i'll be blasted for this one, but i was one of the ones who could not understand "abort".. .

What signal did he use? "Thumb up" for ascent? Twirling index finger for turnaround?

 

[Rick Inman]

...the dive master tried to abort the dive, but several of us (me included) did NOT understand what he wanted...

What signal did he use? "Thumb up" for ascent? Twirling index finger for turnaround?

Good question, because "turn around" is not "abort". My guess is that everyone would have understood thumbs up, but that the signal was something different.
But the part about the DM where "he checked up top"... hummm...??

 

[String]

We tend to use hand/fist on head to signal "knock it on the head" to signal end of dive.

 

[diverrick]

RE: the last post. " Today, 04:20 PM * #4
String
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Wales
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We tend to use hand/fist on head to signal "knock it on the head" to signal end of dive.

That sound like the signal for O.K. when your at a distance. I would be thinking of nothing else If I saw someone with thier hand or fist on top of their head. I agree.. The DM should use a "thumbs up" signal to indicate that you should ascend. I wondered why this kind of thing was not covered in the predive talks? And what You should do if it occurs, what he WILL do, What will THE BOAT do. Etc. All these should be mentioned before you get in.

 

[ScubaTwo]

It hasnt yet been indicated what signal was used.

 

[maggs_the]

It hasnt yet been indicated what signal was used.

he used PADI signal of flat palm holding other hand showing thumb's up.. I'm SSI but to be honest, I don't know the SSI "abort" sign either. The way I interpreted his signal was more of a "wait here.. I'm going up.." which seemed logical enough when I thought (1) the boat captain may have dropped us in the wrong spot so the DM was looking for a point of reference and (2) the DM did not want us to bob up to the surface and back down again since we were already at 50ft when he gave the signal. I had not prepared myself for the possiblity of needing to abort a dive. Up to that point, all of my dives have been very recreationally easy, so I lulled myself into a sort of false security that there wouldnt be a need to abort a dive.

We did not discuss topside prior to the dive what to do in case of an aborted dive. We naively thought as long as we followed the DM, we were doing our part. The lesson I learned from this is to take this whole scuba thing much more seriously and make sure I understand the critical signs. Who cares what the sign for baracuda or eel is. In the future, I will know ABORT before I dive.

 

[Rick Inman]

he used PADI signal of flat palm holding other hand showing thumb's up..

If I see a thumb and a guy heading for the surface, I am so outta' there.
However, if I was in Wales and some guy started pounding his head, I don't know what I'd do (maybe stay away from the fish n' chips).

 

[Stirling]

he used PADI signal of flat palm holding other hand showing thumb's up..

Do you mean with one hand he showed a flat palm ("stop") and with the other he signaled thumb's up?

 

[String]

That sound like the signal for O.K. when your at a distance.

Different agencies different signals i guess. We dont have a distance "ok" signal trained.

Then again youre never really more than 3m from a buddy (more than that you wont see them) so its probably not needed.