Getting separated on a Coz reef dive...

[Sue Sue]

If you are separted from the group, and send up your on marker, then how does your captain know where to pick you up? What if the current changes and the rest of your group ends up in a different direction and you end up in a totally different spot. You are taking a risk of being missed. Or, your captain is busy looking for you and the group is missed. I would not enjoy being in your group. Just a thought. Sue Sue

 

[TSandM]

There was no question in the original post, really.

You can do whatever you want. I have good air consumption, too. I've done one total dive in the last year (my dive life) where I had to surface because I'd reached minimums, and that was from kicking into heavy current for ten minutes at the beginning.

I just seriously hope that you didn't agree to be somebody's buddy before you left the boat. My feeling is that, when my head goes under the water, the most important thing in the dive is that I have essentially contracted with my buddy to be there -- to be his reserve gas, his problem solving resource, or his companion and moral support if he's just not having a good time. Everything else on the dive is second to that. If I dive with you, you get that commitment from me. It doesn't sound like I get it from you . . .unless you are going into the water without a designated buddy, in which case, dive any way that suits you.

 

[alcina]

Looks like Christi and TSandM (and others) have it pretty nailed.

It doesn't matter so much about your abilities in this scenario. If you planned the dive as someone's buddy then it is your responsibility to be that buddy. If you plan the dive and you are part of the group, then it is your responsibility to dive the group plan. If you plan the dive as a single diver who will randomly follow the group and shoot your marker and ascend without regard to what everyone else is doing, then dive that plan.

It's a bit trite, but Plan the dive and dive the plan. When you don't, you're not a good diver.

 

[DennisW]

As far as I am concerned, if you have planned a solo dive and are diving solo, no problems. If you are buddy diving and have separated from your buddy, big problems.

My suggestion is to make sure you do not have a buddy depending on you as his secondary air source.

 

[charlesml3]

Agreed. I didn't. Everyone in the group including the DM knew I would be in the back.

Divedoggie: Excellent suggestion. I looked at pony bottles a few years ago and they were a PITA to travel with at the time. I just looked at a couple on some equipment websites and they have improved greatly. Looks like a 3 CF model comes in at under $200.

Thanks!

-Charles

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
I shoot the tube at 500 PSI and there's a knot in my tube line marking 15 feet.
..snip..

Now that is a really neat tip.
Sometimes in low vis I end up holding my depth gauge almost to my mask to read it.

 

[charlesml3]

Hey Mike,

Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest difference. I had another diver suggest that to me one day and the first thing out of my mouth was "Why didn't I think of that?" Ha! ha!

I dump all of the air out of my BC and that puts me slightly negative at 15'. That bit of weight on the line does a nice job of holding the tube vertical.

-Charles

 

[ggunn]

Now that is a really neat tip.
Sometimes in low vis I end up holding my depth gauge almost to my mask to read it.

I have a line to mine trimmed to 15 feet and clipped to my BC. I come up to about 20 feet, inflate the buoy, and let it haul me up to 15 feet, where I get myself slightly negative and hang from the line for as long as I need to.

 

[betsyinczm]

Just would like to point out that a 15 foot marker knot is not really that useful in Cozumel currents since your buoy may be blowing in a surface current and/or wind!. In which case you could end up at 5 feet happily looking at your little knot. The string RARELY goes straight up to the surface!

Secondly, this original poster claims that the DM's are fine with his being out of sight. I assume that he must dive with the same DM all the time, because no one is mentioning the stress of a DM not being able to SEE all his/her divers at all times no matter how far back they are. My two cents.

Betsy

 

[Christi]

Just would like to point out that a 15 foot marker knot is not really that useful in Cozumel currents since your buoy may be blowing in a surface current and/or wind!. In which case you could end up at 5 feet happily looking at your little knot. The string RARELY goes straight up to the surface!

Secondly, this original poster claims that the DM's are fine with his being out of sight. I assume that he must dive with the same DM all the time, because no one is mentioning the stress of a DM not being able to SEE all his/her divers at all times no matter how far back they are. My two cents.

Betsy

Thank you for addressing that Betsy I just have to shake my head sometimes I don't think I can ever recall a time I was actually at 15 feet with exactly 15 foot of line out...but what do we know?